Jonathan Birch (born 15 February 1968) is an English former professional snooker player.
Career
Born in 1968, Birch turned professional in 1990, and his first season was a successful one; he reached the last 16 of several tournaments, including the 1991 World Masters, where he was defeated 4–7 by Steve Longworth.
He was unable to repeat this good form until 1993, when he reached the quarter-final of the 1993 Dubai Classic; there, he beat Mike Hallett, Dennis Taylor and Terry Griffiths en route to being whitewashed 0–5 by Stephen Hendry. Birch's performances were inconsistent, but such inconsistency was enough to warrant his position as a middle-ranked 'journeyman' player; he appeared in the last 16 at the 1997 European Open in 1996–97, where again, he lost to Hendry, this time 5–3. At the end of the next season, he reached his career-highest ranking of 42nd.
In the 1997 Benson & Hedges Championship, Birch played Mark Fenton in the last 128, compiling three century breaks in five frames as he beat the Welshman 5–4; Birch would progress to the quarter-final, where he lost 1–5 to another Welshman, Paul Davies.
He defeated a declining Steve Davis 5–2 en route to losing to Ali Carter by the same scoreline in the last 32 of the 1999 Grand Prix; Birch had made a 52 break in the final frame against Carter but lost it 59–69.
Birch maintained sufficient form to hold a position within the top 50 in the rankings until 2003, but slipped to 64th at the end of the 2003/2004 season, and after dropping a further twenty places to 84th during the next, was relegated from the tour in 2005, aged 37.
Performance and rankings timeline Tournament 1990/91 1991/92 1992/931993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2011/12RankingIt shows the ranking at the beginning of the seasonNew players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking5544445063644542534450474864He was an amateurRanking tournamentsUK Championship3RLQ1R1RLQ1R1R1R1R1R1RLQLQLQLQAGerman MastersThe event was called the German Open (1995/1996-1997/1998)Tournament Not HeldLQLQLQNRTournament Not HeldAWelsh OpenNHLQLQ2RLQ1RLQLQLQ1RLQLQLQLQLQAWorld OpenThe event was called the Grand Prix (1990/1991-2000/2001 and 2004/2005), and the LG Cup (2001/2002-2003/2004)LQ1R1RLQLQ1R2R2RLQ2RLQ2RLQLQLQAPlayers Tour Championship Grand FinalTournament Not HeldDNQChina OpenThe event was called the China International (1997/1998-1998/1999)Tournament Not HeldNR1RLQLQLQNot HeldLQAWorld ChampionshipLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQAANon-ranking tournamentsShoot Out2RTournament Not HeldAThe MastersLQLQLQLQALQLQLQAAAAAAAAFormer ranking tournamentsClassic2RLQTournament Not HeldStrachan OpenThe event was called the Strachan Open (1991/1992) and the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993-1993/1994)NH3RMRNRTournament Not HeldAsian ClassicThe event was called the Dubai Classic (1990/1991-1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)2R1R1RQFLQLQLQTournament Not HeldMalta Grand PrixTournament Not HeldNon-Ranking EventLQNRTournament Not HeldThailand MastersThe event was called the Asian Open (1990/1991-1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994-1996/1997)1R1RLQLQLQLQLQ1RLQLQLQLQNRNot HeldPlayers ChampionshipThe event was also called the International Open (1992/1993-1996/1997) and the Scottish Open (1997/1998-2002/2003)Not Held1RLQLQLQ1RLQWD1RLQLQLQLQNot HeldBritish OpenWDLQLQLQ2RLQLQLQ1R1R1R2R1RLQLQNHMalta CupThe event was called the European Open (1990/1991-1996/1997 and 2001/2002-2003/2004) and the Irish Open (1998/1999)LQ2RLQLQLQLQ2RNHLQNot HeldLQLQLQLQNHIrish MastersNon-Ranking EventLQLQLQNHFormer non-ranking tournamentsWorld Masters3RTournament Not HeldStrachan ChallengeNHRMRLQWDTournament Not Held Performance Table LegendLQ lost in the qualifying draw#R lost in the early rounds of the tournament(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)QF lost in the quarter-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD withdrew from the tournament NH / Not Held means an event was not held.NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.PA / Pro-am Event means an event is/was a pro-am event.
Career finals Non-ranking finals: 1 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1993 Finnish Masters Peter Francisco 6–1
Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1988 Dutch Open Alex Higgins 6–2
Amateur finals: 2 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1987 World Under-21 Championship Stefan Mazrocis 5–1Runner-up 1. 1989 World Amateur Championship Ken Doherty 2–11
References
External links