Mike Hallett

For the American football coach, see Mike Hallett (American football).

Mike Hallett

Born	(1959-07-06) 6 July 1959 (age 65) Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England
Sport country	England
Professional	1980–1997, 1998/1999, 2000/2001, 2004/2005
Highest ranking	6 (1989/90)
Tournament wins
Ranking	1

Mike Hallett (born 6 July 1959) is an English former professional snooker player and commentator. He won the 1989 Hong Kong Open.

Career

Hallett was born in Grimsby on 6 July 1959. ^[1] Having won the national under-16 title in 1975, he turned professional in 1979. ^[1] His world ranking peaked at number six, in the 1989/1990 list. ^{[2] [3]} His only ranking tournament victory was at the 1989 Hong Kong Open in which he defeated Dene O'Kane 9–8. ^[2]

In a semi-final match against John Parrott in the 1988 Benson & Hedges Masters, he recovered from needing three snookers to win the decider 6–5. ^[4] However, he lost 0–9 to Steve Davis in the final, the first whitewash in the Masters final. ^[5]

Three years later, in 1991 he reached the Masters Final again at Wembley where, in the best-of-17-frame match, he surged to a 7–0 lead over Stephen Hendry and missed a pink which would have put him 8–0 ahead. He then moved into an 8–2 lead and needed just the pink and black to clear for the match in the eleventh frame, but missed the shot with the rest. Hendry took that frame and managed to spring a comeback to win the match 9–8. ^[6] Hallett would go on to win two invitational World Series of Snooker events later in the year, but did not win another professional title after 1991. ^[2]

Hallett did reach the quarter-finals of the World Championship twice, but never progressed further. His final season on the main tour was in 2004–05, after which he went on to play in the Pontin's International Open Series. ^{[7] [2]}

At the start of the 2011/12 season Hallett entered the Players Tour Championship and after winning his first two matches against Duane Jones 4-3 and Elliot Slessor also 4–3, he played Ronnie O'Sullivan and managed to take two frames in losing 4–2. ^[8]

In August 2021 the World Snooker Tour tweeted that Hallett was recovering from a stroke. ^[9]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1979/ 80	1980/ 81	1981/ 82	1982/ 83	1983/ 84	1984/ 85	1985/ 86	1986/ 87	1987/ 88	1988/ 89	1989/ 90	1990/ 91	1991/ 92	1992/ 93	1993/ 94	1994/ 95	1995/ 96	1996/ 97	1997/ 98	1998/ 99	2000/ 01	2004/ 05
Ranking [10]	[nb 1]	[nb 2]	29	31	32	25	28	27	16	9	6	7	8	17	19	23	34	46	[nb 1]	[nb 2]	[nb 2]	[nb 2]
Ranking tournaments
Grand Prix [nb 3]	Not Held			2R	3R	3R	2R	3R	1R	3R	2R	3R	3R	2R	2R	1R	1R	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ
British Open [nb 4]	Non-Ranking Event					2R	2R	2R	F	SF	2R	QF	2R	2R	2R	3R	2R	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ
UK Championship	Non-Ranking Event					1R	2R	3R	QF	1R	QF	2R	1R	3R	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ
Welsh Open	Tournament Not Held												1R	QF	1R	2R	1R	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ
Malta Cup [nb 5]	Tournament Not Held									SF	1R	1R	1R	2R	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	NH	LQ
Irish Masters	Non-ranking Event																					LQ
China Open [nb 6]	Tournament Not Held																		NR	LQ	LQ	LQ
World Championship	LQ	LQ	1R	1R	1R	1R	2R	QF	2R	QF	2R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	F	1R	1R	F	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Premier League [nb 7]	Tournament Not Held				A	Not Held		A	A	A	A	A	RR	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Former ranking tournaments
Canadian Masters [nb 8]	NR		Not Held				Non-Ranking			SF	Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Open [nb 9]	Non-Ranking Event									NH	W	Tournament Not Held				NR	NR	Tournament Not Held
Classic	Non-Ranking Event				2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	1R	2R	SF	QF	Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open	NH												1R	MR	NR	Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic [nb 10]	Tournament Not Held									NR	1R	QF	1R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held
German Open	Tournament Not Held																LQ	LQ	A	NR	Not Held
Thailand Masters [nb 11]	Tournament Not Held				Non-Ranking Event				Not Held		2R	SF	2R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	NH
Scottish Open [nb 12]	Not Held		NR	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	1R	SF	2R	2R	Not Held		2R	2R	3R	1R	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Bass & Golden Leisure Classic	Not Held		SF	Tournament Not Held
UK Championship	1R	1R	1R	2R	2R	Ranking Event
British Open [nb 13]	LQ	RR	LQ	LQ	LQ	Ranking Event
Costa Del Sol Classic	Tournament Not Held					F	Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Open [nb 14]	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	F	NH	R	Tournament Not Held				A	A	Tournament Not Held
Fosters Professional	Tournament Not Held					A	A	A	A	W	Tournament Not Held
English Professional Championship	NH	1R	Not Held			2R	SF	QF	QF	W	Tournament Not Held
New Zealand Masters	Tournament Not Held					A	Not Held			F	QF	Tournament Not Held
International League	Tournament Not Held										RR	Tournament Not Held
London Masters	Tournament Not Held									A	QF	A	Tournament Not Held
Shoot-Out	Tournament Not Held											F	Tournament Not Held
Norwich Union Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held									A	QF	QF	Tournament Not Held
World Masters	Tournament Not Held											3R	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters	Tournament Not Held				A	A	A	A	Not Held		Ranking		QF	Ranking Event								NH
Hong Kong Challenge	Tournament Not Held				A	A	A	A	A	A	NH	QF	1R	Tournament Not Held
Indian Challenge	Tournament Not Held												QF	Tournament Not Held
World Matchplay	Tournament Not Held									QF	1R	1R	QF	A	Tournament Not Held
Belgian Challenge	Tournament Not Held												SF	Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	1R	1R	SF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	R
European Challenge	Tournament Not Held												SF	A	Tournament Not Held
Belgian Masters	Tournament Not Held											QF	W	QF	Not Held		A	Tournament Not Held
Pot Black	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held					1R	A	F	Tournament Not Held
Scottish Masters	Not Held		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	NH	QF	1R	W	QF	A	QF	A	A	A	A	A	NH
Pontins Professional	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	F	QF	F	F	QF	SF	QF	QF	QF	QF	QF	QF	Not Held

Performance Table Legend
LQ	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-finals
SF	lost in the semi–finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament
DNQ	did not qualify for the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament	WD	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.

1. He was an amateur.
2. New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.
3. The event ran under a different name as Professional Players Tournament (1982/1983 to 1983/1984).
4. The event was known as British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982 to 1983/1984).
5. The event ran under different names such as European Open (1988/1989 to 1996/1997) and Irish Open (1998/1999).
6. The event ran under different names as China International (1997/1998 and 1998/1999)
7. The event was also called the Professional Snooker League (1983/1984), the Matchroom League (1986/1987–1991/1992) and the European League (1992/1993–1996/1997)
8. The event run under the name Canadian Open (1979/1980 to 1980/1981)
9. The event ran under different names as Australian Masters (1979/1980 to 1987/1988 and 1995/1996) and Australian Open (1994/1995).
10. The event run under different names as Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)
11. The event ran under different names such as Asian Open (1989/1990 to 1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994 to 1996/1997).
12. The event ran under different names such as International Open (1981/1982 to 1984/1985, 1986/1987 to 1996/1997) and Goya Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986).
13. The event was known as British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982 to 1983/1984)
14. The event ran under different names as Australian Masters (1979/1980 to 1987/1988 and 1995/1996) and Australian Open (1994/1995).

Career finals

^[11]

Ranking finals: 2 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1988	British Open	Stephen Hendry	2–13
Winner	1.	1989	Hong Kong Open	Dene O'Kane	9–8

Non-ranking finals: 16 (6 titles)

Legend
The Masters (0–2)
Other (6–8)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1984	Costa Del Sol Classic	Dennis Taylor	2–5
Winner	1.	1986	Clacton Professional	Tony Jones	5–3
Runner-up	2.	1987	Australian Masters	Stephen Hendry	226–371 points
Winner	2.	1987	Clacton Professional	Jack McLaughlin	6–1
Runner-up	3.	1988	The Masters	Steve Davis	0–9
Runner-up	4.	1988	Pontins Professional	John Parrott	1–9
Runner-up	5.	1988	New Zealand Masters	Stephen Hendry	1–6
Winner	3.	1988	Fosters Professional	Stephen Hendry	8–5
Winner	4.	1989	English Professional Championship	John Parrott	9–7
Runner-up	6.	1990	Pontins Professional (2)	Stephen Hendry	6–9
Runner-up	7.	1990	Shoot-Out	Darren Morgan	1–2
Runner-up	8.	1991	The Masters	Stephen Hendry	8–9
Runner-up	9.	1991	Pontins Professional (3)	Neal Foulds	6–9
Winner	5.	1991	Scottish Masters	Steve Davis	10–6
Winner	6.	1991	Belgian Masters	Neal Foulds	9–7
Runner-up	10.	1993	Pot Black	Steve Davis	0–2

Pro-am finals: 4 (3 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1989	Dutch Open	Darren Morgan	6–5 [12]
Winner	2.	1991	Pontins Spring Open	Wayne Brown	7–5
Winner	3.	1993	Pontins Spring Open (2)	Steve James	7–6
Runner-up	1.	2003	Pontins Spring Open	Judd Trump	2–4

Team finals: 3 (2 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team/partner	Opponent(s) in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1986	World Doubles Championship	Stephen Hendry	Steve Davis Tony Meo	3–12
Winner	1.	1987	World Doubles Championship	Stephen Hendry	Cliff Thorburn Dennis Taylor	12–8
Winner	2.	1991	World Masters Doubles	Stephen Hendry	Brady Gollan Jim Wych	8–5

References

1. Morrison, Ian (1988). Hamlyn Who's Who in Snooker. London: Hamlyn. pp. 43–44. ISBN   9780600557135.
2. Hayton, Eric; Dee, John (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. pp. 490–493. ISBN   978-0-9548549-0-4.
3. Turner, Chris. "Historical World Rankings 1975/76 to 1989/90". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 8 June 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
4. Lancaster, Joe (31 January 1988). "Masterly Hallett". The Sunday Telegraph. p. 45.
5. "The Masters". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
6. "Winning the hard way". BBC News. 11 February 2002. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2005.
7. "Snooker Player Ranking – Mike Hallett". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
8. "Livescores". 7 November 2011. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2011. 121 Round 3 RONNIE O'SULLIVAN 4 - 2 MIKE HALLETT
9. "World Snooker Tour on Twitter". 19 August 2021. Archived from the original on 11 April 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2022– via Twitter.
10. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
11. "Relive Mike Hallett's fantastic snooker career in Sport Bygones". Grimsby Telegraph. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
12. "Hallett wins a Dutch thriller". Pot Black. Brentwood: Pot Black Publishing. July 1989. p. 29.