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]
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]
^ abcdNew players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.
^The event ran under a different name as Professional Players Tournament (1982/1983 to 1983/1984).
^The event was known as British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982 to 1983/1984).
^The event ran under different names such as European Open (1988/1989 to 1996/1997) and Irish Open (1998/1999).
^The event ran under different names as China International (1997/1998 and 1998/1999)
^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)
^The event run under the name Canadian Open (1979/1980 to 1980/1981)
^The event ran under different names as Australian Masters (1979/1980 to 1987/1988 and 1995/1996) and Australian Open (1994/1995).
^The event run under different names as Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)
^The event ran under different names such as Asian Open (1989/1990 to 1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994 to 1996/1997).
^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).
^The event was known as British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982 to 1983/1984)
^The event ran under different names as Australian Masters (1979/1980 to 1987/1988 and 1995/1996) and Australian Open (1994/1995).
^ abMorrison, Ian (1988). Hamlyn Who's Who in Snooker. London: Hamlyn. pp. 43–44. ISBN9780600557135.
^ abcdHayton, Eric; Dee, John (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. pp. 490–493. ISBN978-0-9548549-0-4.
^"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