Pat Houlihan

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Pat Houlihan
birthday November 7, 1929
date of death 8th November 2006 (age 77)
nationality EnglandEngland England
professional 1971 - 1993 (?)
Prize money £ 21,509
Highest break 108 ( WM 1980, Q )
Century Breaks 2
World rankings
Highest WRL place 18 ( 1978/79 )
Best results
Ranked tournaments 1 × round of 16
Other professional tournaments 4 × round of 16
Amateur tournaments 1 × English champion 1965

Patrick "Pat (sy)" Houlihan (born November 7, 1929 , † November 8, 2006 ) was an English snooker player who won the English Amateur Championship in 1965 and between 1971 and 1993 spent twenty years as a professional player.

Career

Houlihan was born in 1929, came from south London and started playing snooker as a teenager. In 1953 he played the highest amateur break of the year and then dominated the London snooker championship for a decade. At the same time, he was building a reputation for being a specialist in gambling for money. Houlihan first attracted attention when he reached the quarter-finals of the English Amateur Championship in 1954 . In 1960 he retired after a victory over Geoff Foulds in the fourth qualifying round against Mark Wildman , 1963 and 1964 he then retired in the first round of the South qualification. In 1965 he defeated Ray Reardon in the final of the qualification and thus qualified for the final of the championship, in which he defeated John Spencer 11: 3 . He also won the BA&CC television tournament , a television tournament organized by BA&CC . In the following years no Houlihan games are recorded until he became a professional player in 1971. According to other sources, he became a professional player in 1969. The late date was because Joe Davis , who was responsible for selecting new professional players, disapproved of games for money and thus prevented an earlier start. By the time Houlihan became a professional player, his prime was already behind him.

First professional years

Houlihan played his first professional game as part of the World Snooker Championship in 1972 , which he just lost to John Dunning at 10:11 . During the next year's edition , he defeated Jackie Rea 9-2 , but then lost to Alex Higgins in the round of 16 .

In the next season , Houlihan took part in two tournaments: At the Norwich Union Open he defeated John Virgo and lost in the round of 16 to Cliff Thorburn , before losing his opening game to Jim Meadowcroft at the World Snooker Championship . In the following years, Houlihan did not play any more professional games. Despite this, he was ranked 22nd and last in the Order of Merit for the 1975/76 season , the forerunner of the snooker world rankings .

It was only during the 1977/78 season that Houlihan appeared again as an active professional player, but lost his opening game at the UK Championship , but defeated the Scottish Chris Ross and Jim Meadowcroft at the World Snooker Championship before losing to Cliff Thorburn in the round of 16. As a result, he was ranked 18th in the world, the best place in his career.

Meanwhile farewell to the world rankings

During the 1978/79 season , Houlihan again took part in only two tournaments; at the UK Championship he lost his opening game again, at the Snooker World Championship he was eliminated after an opening win against John Barrie in the round of 24 against Doug Mountjoy . On the world rankings, he fell two places. The next season he reached the round of 16 at the UK Championship and the round of 32 at the World Snooker Championship . He also took part in the British Gold Cup and the Pontins Camber Sands Open . In the first tournament he survived the qualifying group stage, but then retired without a win in the main group stage, in the second tournament he was defeated in the second round to Dennis Taylor . In the world rankings, he deteriorated to 21st place.

In the 1980/81 season Houlihan took part in three tournaments with manageable success, losing his opening game at the UK Championship to Tony Meo and at the English Professional Championship to John Spencer and was eliminated at the Yamaha Organs Trophy despite two wins in the main Qualification. As a result of this season, Houlihan lost his world rankings again and was now active as an unsettled professional player. In the course of the following season , Houlihan retired from the International Masters in the pre-qualification and reached the second round at the International Open and the World Snooker Championship . At the UK Championship he moved from the second to the fifth qualifying round, in which he then lost to Graham Miles . Furthermore, he remained unset on the world rankings.

During the 1982/83 season Houlihan could only win a single game on its own when he defeated Eddie McLaughlin at the International Masters , but was eliminated in the pre-qualifying group stage. In the next season he could only win games at the International Masters ; he moved with victories over Marcel Gauvreau and John Hargreaves in the main qualification, in which he was eliminated despite a victory over Rex Williams . In the 1984/85 season , when the International Masters were now held under the name British Open and with a new mode, Houlihan won not a single game. Even during these three seasons he remained unset.

Return to the world rankings and last professional years

However, the 1985/86 season went a little better for Houlihan , in which he completed the round of the last 96 of the UK Championship , the round of the last 64 of the Classics and the round of 32 of the English Professional Championship , a non-ranking Tournament, achieved. During the following season , however, he only won his opening game in one tournament, but he also won two more games at the International Open and was only eliminated in the round of 32. In the meantime, Houlihan was able to place himself on world number 91, which he was able to improve to 64th after the 1986/87 season.

In the 1987/88 season he only won one opening game on his own (he also benefited in World Cup qualification from Dave Gilbert's abandonment without a fight ) when he advanced to the round of 32 at the Grand Prix with two wins. In the world rankings, he improved to rank 59. But after he won the opening game in three tournaments in the following season , but were eliminated in each case, he slipped to position 81. In the 1989/90 season he again won half of all games, which meant seven first wins. However, he was eliminated in four tournaments in the subsequent round and in three other tournaments in the next round. So he deteriorated to 96th place in the world rankings.

During the 1990/91 season Houlihan won four opening games, left three times in the subsequent round, defeating the Classic also David Taylor before moving into the Round of 64 against Barry West lost. On the world rankings he lost another eight places and was now ranked 104. After he had won only two opening games over the next season and then lost each, he fell to 153rd place. In the 1992/93 season he won only one game against Jamie Rous at the Dubai Classic and lost all other games. After losing his world rankings again at the end of the season, he ended his career after a total of twenty years as a professional.

Houlihan died on November 8, 2006, the day after his 77th birthday. He left behind his wife and a son and daughter. Houlihan was considered a workhorse and was recognized by Jimmy White as "the greatest snooker player I have ever seen". White's attacking style of play was also based on Houlihan's style of play. On the occasion of his first title at the London Snooker Championship, the billiards magazine “The Billiard Player” described Houlihan as “a real artist and natural talent in snooker.” Houlihan's modest character and his ability to tell stories, especially snooker, are also highlighted -Anecdotes.

Successes (selection)

output year competition Final opponent Result
Amateur tournaments
winner 1965 English Amateur Championship - South WalesFlag of Wales (1959 – present) .svg Ray Reardon 6: 5
winner 1965 English Amateur Championship EnglandEngland John Spencer 11: 3

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Ron Florax: Career Total Statistics For Pat Houlihan - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Ron Florax: Ranking History For Pat Houlihan. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Luke Williams: Patsy Houlihan. The Guardian , January 8, 2007, accessed May 3, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1953-1954 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1959-1960 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1962-1963 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1963-1964 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1964-1965 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  9. ↑ a b Chris Turner: On this week: Five-ton Rocket. Eurosport , November 9, 2009, accessed May 3, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1971-1972 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1972-1973 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1973-1974 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Chris Turner: Historical World Rankings. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, 2011, archived from the original on June 8, 2012 ; accessed on May 3, 2020 (English).
  14. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1977-1978 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1978-1979 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1979-1980 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1979-1980 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  18. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1980-1981 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1981-1982 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1982-1983 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  21. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1983-1984 - Professional Results. Cuetracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 (English).
  22. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1984-1985 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  23. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1985-1986 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1986-1987 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1987-1988 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  26. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1988-1989 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  27. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1989-1990 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  28. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1990-1991 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  29. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1991-1992 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
  30. ↑ Ron Florax: Pat Houlihan - Season 1992-1993 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 3, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Houlihan, Pat
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Houlihan, Patrick (full name); Houlihan, Patsy (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English snooker player
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1929
DATE OF DEATH November 8, 2006