1990 Shoot-Out

Shoot-Out
Tournament information
Dates26–28 September 1990 (1990-09-26 – 1990-09-28)
VenueTrentham Gardens
CityStoke-on-Trent
CountryEngland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£40,000
Winner's share£5,000
Highest break Tony Knowles (ENG) (120)
Final
ChampionWales Darren Morgan
Runner-upEngland Mike Hallett
Score2–1
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The 1990 Shoot-Out was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place from 26 to 28 September 1990 at Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent, England.[1][2]

Darren Morgan won the tournament, defeating Mike Hallett 2–1 in the best of three frames final.[3] All other matches were decided by a single frame.[4][5]

Jimmy White, the fourth seed, withdrew from the tournament at short notice, explaining that he had broken his cue.[6] Bill Oliver was injured in a road traffic incident collision whilst driving to the venue on 27 September and withdrew from the tournament; Hallett, his passenger, was uninjured.[4][7] The reigning world champion, Stephen Hendry, was eliminated by Alan McManus in the first round.[8] Hallett, who was seventh in the Snooker world rankings 1990/1991, was the highest-ranked player to progress through to the third round;[4] only Hallett, Dean Reynolds and Neal Foulds from the top 16 in the rankings progressed into the last-16 round.[9]

Both losing semi-finalists were in their debut season as a professional player. Jason Whittaker, who at 18 was the youngest professional player at the time, was eliminated by Morgan. McManus, the other losing semi-finalist, had progressed after requiring his opponents in both the last-16 and quarter-final to concede penalty points when only the final pink and black were left on the table.[4]

Hallet won the first frame of the final, and led by 22 points in the next frame, but Morgan made a break of 53 and drew level. During the deciding frame, Hallett accidentally forced the final brown ball off the table; Morgan went on to win the frame 65–32 and take the title. After his victory, Morgan commented that "In a tournament like this, there is a lot of luck involved, and I had mine at exactly the right time."[4]

  1. ^ "One Frame Shoot-Out". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  2. ^ "I'm quitting". Grimsby Evening Telegraph. 20 September 1990. p. 24.
  3. ^ "Morgan's big pay night". South Wales Echo. 29 September 1990. p. 59.
  4. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference SCENE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Hayton, Eric. Cuesport Book of Professional Snooker. p. 158.
  6. ^ "Famous five go through in the Stoke shoot-out". Grimsby Evening Telegraph. 27 September 1990. p. 26.
  7. ^ "Hallet in driving seat after car scare". Grimsby Evening Telegraph. 28 September 1990. p. 22.
  8. ^ Holmes, Bob (26 September 1990). "Hendry falls in snooker's shoot out". Evening Standard. p. 56.
  9. ^ Smith, Terry, ed. (1991). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year (Eighth ed.). London: Pelham Books. pp. 58–59. ISBN 978-0-7207-1983-3.