'Apprentice' Ian's debt to former World Champion

SNOOKER legend Dennis Taylor aims to bow out of the game at the scene of his greatest triumph in four weeks time.

And his apprentice, Ian McCulloch, hopes to be right on cue to take over his mantle.

The East Lancashire pair must battle their way through three gruelling qualifying rounds in Telford at the end of the month.

If successful, they will then join up with 30 others at The Crucible in Sheffield to fight it out for the World Championship.

For Taylor, it would mark the end of the road after a magical mystery tour in which he has experienced all the sport's highs and lows.

For McCulloch, a former fitter at Leyland Bus, it would signal his arrival in the big time.

And who would he owe it all to?

Taylor, of course.

It was the former World Champion who took the Preston man under his wing and launched him on the road to potential stardom back in 1995.

So it was with great irony then that I tracked down McCulloch this week to a snooker club in Accrington where he was practicising with World number 74 Nick Walker from Chester - Taylor's first qualifying round opponent at Telford in two weeks time. Should McCulloch fight his way through to the last 32 of the biggest snooker event on the planet, you can bet your bottom dollar at least one pair of Irish eyes will be smiling.

For Taylor's legacy would live on through his 28-year-old protege.

"I don't think anyone has ever influenced me as much or helped my game quite like Dennis.

"I learned so much off him when we practised day-in day-out that I suppose he was a dad to me in a way.

"If I did him a favour every day for the rest of my life I still don't think I could repay him enough for what he's done for me.

"We've had our little tiffs but that was more me being hot-headed and not listening to his advice and experience.

"But I'm still learning off him even now."

McCulloch turned professional in 1992, where he began life ranked 443.

Within the space of two years he broke into the top 250.

But even then that seemed a relative wilderness until a phone-call one day changed his life.

"I used to practice over in Preston with Shokat Ali who was good friends with Dennis.

"When Dennis rang my house one day I couldn't believe it - I thought it must have been a wind up.

"He came over to the club and I was in complete awe of him to begin with.

"But after two weeks or so the novelty began to wear off and I started to settle down.

"In his prime, Dennis had the best safety game in the world. "So when I play matches now and people try and get me into trouble it seems easy after playing with him."

Taylor's expert tuition paid instant dividends.

McCulloch leapt from 190 to 84 in the rankings and since then has broken into the World's top 64 overtaking his old mentor, now ranked 86, in the process.

That's not bad for a guy who used to be beaten by his mum and his sister when he first started out on a 4ft table in their family home.

At first, he had no aspirations of becoming a snooker star.

Only when he began playing more regularly in his teenage years did he suddenly become snooker loopy.

At Leyland Bus he was nicknamed sicknote for taking time off work to step up his practice.

During the evenings he would play six hours a night.

His game soon came on and he made his first century break within eight months.

So when he was made redundant in 1991the option of turning professional suddenly seemed an attractive proposition.

But he found it tough going at first.

"I probably went into it too early because I was getting mauled all the time when I first started out.

"At first I thought I was a bit of a superstar. I really thought I was the boy.

"But I suppose you've got to lose to learn, though, because it only dawned on me after a while that this was now my job and I had to start pulling my finger out to pay the bills." Linking up with Taylor proved to be the catalyst his career needed. And now Mick Caddy, a close friend of Alex Higgins, has taken up the challenge of helping McCulloch achieve his dreams.

The pair have been working together at Accrington Snooker Club for the last couple of years working on technique and positive thinking.

And it's a partnership which looks tailor-made to take McCulloch to the top.

"Mick puts me through all kinds of things and it really drives me mad.

"We do a lot of work on positive thinking where we'll sit down and talk about situations.

"A lot of the game is concerned with the mind.

"You can get your technique up to a certain level but it's got to be good under pressure.

"You'd be surprised at how many matches you can win by psyching someone out.

"Anyone can win when they're playing well.

"But you've got to be able to win when you can't pot two balls together because that's where your strength of mind comes in."

Over the last few months that side of his game has let him down.

In January this year he was 4-2 up against defending champion Paul Hunter in the £200,000 Welsh Masters in Cardiff and ended up losing 5-4.

And last month he surged into a similar lead against World number 11 Peter Ebdon in the £370,000 Regal Scottish in Aberdeen but again lost 5-4.

Hopefully, he won't be so generous against World number 115 Barry Piches in a fortnight's time as he sets his sights on winning through to the televised stages of the World Championships at snooker's theatre of dreams.

If he makes it, it will be the first time he has played at The Crucible.

And he is all too aware of just how special a stage that would be. "For the next two weeks everything's about Barry Pinches," said McCulloch.

"Every tournament is a special one but this is something else.

"I vowed I'd never go until I qualified to play there but I went to pick something up off the table fitters last year and I couldn't resist going in and having a look.

"Even then, it was absolutely amazing.

"Just imagine what it's like when it's full."

That's something Taylor can tell him about but McCulloch's hoping to find it out for himself.

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