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. Having won the national under-16 title in 1975, he turned professional in 1979. His world ranking peaked at number six, in the 1989/1990 list. His only ranking tournament victory was at the 1989 Hong Kong Open in which he defeated Dene O'Kane 9–8.
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. However, he lost 0–9 to Steve Davis in the final, the first whitewash in the Masters final.
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. 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.
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.
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.
In August 2021 Hallett suffered from a stroke with rehabilitation taking place at the wellness hub at Grimsby Health and Wellbeing Centre.
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 RankingHe was an amateur.New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.2931322528271696781719233446 Ranking tournaments Grand PrixThe event ran under a different name as Professional Players Tournament (1982/1983 to 1983/1984). Not Held2R3R3R2R3R1R3R2R3R3R2R2R1R1RLQALQLQLQ British OpenThe event was known as British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982 to 1983/1984). Non-Ranking Event2R2R2RFSF2RQF2R2R2R3R2RLQALQLQLQ UK ChampionshipNon-Ranking Event1R2R3RQF1RQF2R1R3R2R1RLQLQALQLQLQ Welsh Open Tournament Not Held1RQF1R2R1RLQALQLQLQ Malta CupThe event ran under different names such as European Open (1988/1989 to 1996/1997) and Irish Open (1998/1999). Tournament Not HeldSF1R1R1R2RLQ1RLQLQALQNHLQ Irish Masters Non-ranking EventLQ China OpenThe event ran under different names as China International (1997/1998 and 1998/1999) Tournament Not HeldNRLQLQLQ World ChampionshipLQLQ1R1R1R1R2RQF2RQF2R1R1RLQLQLQLQLQALQLQLQ Non-ranking tournaments The MastersAAAAAAAAF1R1RF1RAAAAAAAAA Premier LeagueThe 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)Tournament Not HeldANot HeldAAAAARRAAAAAAAAA Former ranking tournaments NR Not Held Non-RankingSF Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event NHW Tournament Not HeldNRNR Tournament Not Held Classic Non-Ranking Event2R1R2R2R1R1R2RSFQF Tournament Not Held Strachan Open NH1RMRNR Tournament Not Held Dubai ClassicThe event run under different names as Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997) Tournament Not Held NR1RQF1R2RLQLQLQLQ Not Held German Open Tournament Not HeldLQLQANR Not Held Thailand MastersThe event ran under different names such as Asian Open (1989/1990 to 1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994 to 1996/1997). Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event Not Held2RSF2R2RLQLQLQLQALQLQ NH Scottish OpenThe 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). Not HeldNRLQLQLQ1R1RSF2R2R Not Held2R2R3R1RLQALQLQNH Former non-ranking tournaments Bass & Golden Leisure ClassicNot HeldSFTournament Not Held UK Championship1R1R1R2R2RRanking Event British OpenThe event was known as British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982 to 1983/1984)LQRRLQLQLQRanking Event Costa Del Sol Classic Tournament Not HeldF Tournament Not Held AAAAAAAAFNHR Tournament Not HeldAA Tournament Not Held Fosters ProfessionalTournament Not HeldAAAAWTournament Not Held NH1RNot Held2RSFQFQFWTournament Not Held New Zealand Masters Tournament Not HeldA Not HeldFQF Tournament Not Held International League Tournament Not HeldRR Tournament Not Held London Masters Tournament Not HeldAQFA Tournament Not Held Shoot-Out Tournament Not HeldF Tournament Not Held Norwich Union Grand Prix Tournament Not HeldAQFQF Tournament Not Held World Masters Tournament Not Held3R Tournament Not Held Thailand Masters Tournament Not HeldAAAA Not Held RankingQF Ranking EventNH Hong Kong Challenge Tournament Not HeldAAAAAANHQF1R Tournament Not Held Indian Challenge Tournament Not HeldQF Tournament Not Held World Matchplay Tournament Not HeldQF1R1RQFA Tournament Not Held Belgian Challenge Tournament Not HeldSF Tournament Not Held Irish MastersAAAAAAAAAQF1R1RSFAAAAAAAAR European ChallengeTournament Not HeldSFATournament Not Held Belgian MastersTournament Not HeldQFWQFNot HeldATournament Not Held Pot BlackAAAAAAATournament Not Held1RAFTournament Not Held Scottish Masters Not HeldAAAAAAA NHQF1RWQFAQFAAAAANH Pontins ProfessionalAAAAAAAAFQFFFQFSFQFQFQFQFQFQF Not Held
Performance Table LegendLQ 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-finalsSF lost in the semi–finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD 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.
Career finals
Ranking finals: 2 (1 title)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 1988 British Open Stephen Hendry 2–13Winner 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 ScoreRunner-up 1. 1984 Costa Del Sol Classic Dennis Taylor 2–5Winner 1. 1986 Clacton Professional Tony Jones 5–3Runner-up 2. 1987 Australian Masters Stephen Hendry 226–371 pointsWinner 2. 1987 Clacton Professional Jack McLaughlin 6–1Runner-up 3. 1988 The Masters Steve Davis 0–9Runner-up 4. 1988 Pontins Professional John Parrott 1–9Runner-up 5. 1988 New Zealand Masters Stephen Hendry 1–6Winner 3. 1988 Fosters Professional Stephen Hendry 8–5Winner 4. 1989 John Parrott 9–7Runner-up 6. 1990 Pontins Professional (2) Stephen Hendry 6–9Runner-up 7. 1990 Shoot-Out Darren Morgan 1–2Runner-up 8. 1991 The Masters Stephen Hendry 8–9Runner-up 9. 1991 Pontins Professional (3) Neal Foulds 6–9Winner 5. 1991 Scottish Masters Steve Davis 10–6Winner 6. 1991 Belgian Masters Neal Foulds 9–7Runner-up 10. 1993 Pot Black Steve Davis 0–2
Pro-am finals: 4 (3 titles) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1989 Dutch Open 6–5Winner 2. 1991 Pontins Spring Open Wayne Brown 7–5Winner 3. 1993 Pontins Spring Open (2) Steve James 7–6Runner-up 1. 2003 Pontins Spring Open Judd Trump 2–4
Team finals: 3 (2 titles) OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipTeam/partnerOpponent(s) in the finalScoreRunner-up 1. 1986 World Doubles Championship Stephen Hendry Steve Davis Tony Meo3–12Winner 1. 1987 World Doubles Championship Stephen Hendry Cliff Thorburn Dennis Taylor12–8Winner 2. 1991 World Masters Doubles Stephen Hendry Brady Gollan Jim Wych8–5
References