Read turned professional in 1991, making an immediate impact at the 1992 Asian Open; there, in only his fifth ranking tournament, he reached the quarter-finals, defeating seven players - including Fred Davis, John Virgo and Rex Williams - to qualify for the final stages in Bangkok before also eliminating Brian Morgan and David Roe.

Requiring only one more win to reach the Crucible Theatre for the first time, he lost 9–10 to Tony Jones, finishing the season ranked 78th.

Having came close to reaching his second ranking event quarter-final at the 1995 Welsh Open - where he lost 4–5 to Peter Ebdon in the last 16[2] - Read was one of the players invited to compete in the 1996 Malta Masters in May 1996.

As part of a sixteen-man field, he defeated amateur Amnuayporn Chotipong 4–0, Gary Wilkinson 4–2 and Suriya Suwannasingh 5–3 to reach the first final of his professional career.

However, after beating Davis, Neal Foulds and Morgan to qualify, he lost 4–10 in the first round to the eventual champion, Mark Williams.