Shaun Mellish (born 10 January 1970) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

former professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

player.

Career

Born in 1970, Mellish turned professional in 1991. In his first season, he enjoyed a run to the last 48 at the 1992 World Championship, defeating six opponents including Mike Dunn,

Mike Darrington Mike Darrington (born 13 September 1931) is an English former professional snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a gree ...

Marcel Gauvreau Marcel Gauvreau (born 9 January 1955) is a Canadian former professional snooker player. Career Gauvreau was born in 1955, and turned professional in 1983. He reached the last 32 at the World Championship at his first attempt in 1984, losing 5� ...

Les Dodd Les Dodd (born 11 February 1954) is an English former professional snooker player. He was runner-up in the 1987 English Professional Championship. Career Dodd was born on 11 February 1954 in Southport, and turned professional in 1982. In hi ...

and

Tony Chappel Tony Chappel (born 28 May 1960) is a former Welsh professional snooker player, whose career spanned seventeen years from 1984 to 2001. Career Tony Chappel was born in Wales, on 28 May 1960. He started playing snooker aged 14. He reached the fi ...

before being drawn against New Zealander

Dene O'Kane Dene O'Kane (24 February 1963 – 14 May 2024) was a New Zealand professional snooker player. Career O'Kane won the 1980 New Zealand Amateur Championship, and represented New Zealand at the 1982 IBSF World Snooker Championship, winning six ...

. In their match, O'Kane compiled a

century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...

in eliminating Mellish 10–4. Beginning the 1992/1993 season ranked 120th, Mellish reached the last 64 at the

1992 UK Championship The 1992 UK Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Guild Hall in Preston, England. The event started on 13 November 1992 and the televised stages were shown on BBC between 21 and 29 November 1992. It w ...

, where he lost 7–9 to

Alan McManus Alan McManus (born 21 January 1971) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player, and a current commentator and pundit for ITV and Eurosport on snooker coverage. A mainstay of the world's top sixteen during the 1990s and 2000s, he has wo ...

, and the same stage at the International Open, where Steve James beat him 5–3. At the World Championship, entering at the seventh qualifying round, he overcame Simon Morris 5–2, Karl Burrows 10–4, Ian Graham 10–7, Wayne Jones 10–7 and

Ken Doherty Kenneth Joseph Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player who also works as a commentator and pundit on televised snooker broadcasts. From Ranelagh in Dublin, he is the sport's only World Snooker Championship, wor ...

10–4 to qualify for the final stages at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...

for the first time in his career. Mellish was drawn to play

Willie Thorne William Joseph Thorne (4 March 195417 June 2020) was an English professional snooker player. He won one ranking title, the 1985 Classic. He also reached the final of the 1985 UK Championship, losing 16–14 to Steve Davis after leading 13– ...

but, having recovered from 1–5 to trail only 6–7, could not prevent a 6–10 defeat. The performance in the World Championship had earned Mellish £8,000, and he began the following season ranked 85th - a career best. However, that season went poorly, producing only two match wins - over Declan Hughes in the European Open, and Bradley Jones in the International Open - and he dropped to 94th as a result. Mellish improved with three wins during the 1994/1995 season, but earned no prize money; the next two years brought no upturn in fortunes, and he was relegated from the main tour, ranked 314th, in 1997. Mellish next played competitively in the 2001 World Championship, where he reached the fourth qualifying round before losing 4–5 to

Ricky Walden Ricky Walden (born 11 November 1982) is an English professional snooker player from Chester. Walden turned professional in 2000 and it took him eight years to win his first ranking title at the Shanghai Masters. He has since won the 2012 Wuxi ...

. During the following two seasons, he entered various Challenge Tour events and qualifying for the World Championship, but was unable to re-qualify for the main tour.

References

English snooker players 1970 births Living people {{England-snooker-bio-stub