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Mike Dunn (snooker player)

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Michael Dunn
Dunn at the 2014 Paul Hunter Classic
Born (1971-11-20) 20 November 1971 (age 52)
Middlesbrough, England
Sport country England
Professional1991–1997, 1998–2020
Highest ranking32 (October 2010)
Maximum breaks1
Best ranking finishSemi-final (x1)

Mike Dunn (born 20 November 1971) is an English retired professional snooker player who lives in Redcar.[1]

Having first turned professional in 1991, Dunn has been ranked within the top 64 players in the world since 2002, reaching his highest ranking, at 32nd, in October 2010. He has enjoyed the best form of his career since 2013, reaching the last 16 stage of three tournaments, and the semi-finals of the 2014 China Open and the 2015 Ruhr Open. He announced his retirement from the game after losing in the third qualifying round of the 2020 World Championship.

Career

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1991 to 1997

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Born in 1971, Dunn turned professional in 1991.[1] His first six seasons came without any success, and although he improved his ranking each year, he was relegated as the world number 139 in 1997, as the secondary UK Tour was formed to run below the professional main tour.

Competing on the UK Tour for the 1997/1998 season, Dunn reached the last 16 at Event Three, where he lost 2–5 to former world number two Tony Knowles. His performances that season were sufficient for him to regain his professional status at its conclusion.

Since 1998

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In his first season back on the main tour, Dunn reached the last 32 at the 1999 Welsh Open, where he beat five opponents, including Munraj Pal, Ian Brumby, Paul Wykes and Mark King, before being eliminated 5–1 by Alain Robidoux.

Beginning 1999/2000 ranked 134th, Dunn would enter the 2000s within the top 100 professional players; a run to the last 32 at the 2000 Thailand Masters, where Matthew Stevens beat him 5–1, contributed to £13,000 in prize money for that season, and he finished it in 93rd position.

Dunn's stock continued to rise steadily the following year, but his only showing in the latter stages of an event came at the 2001 Thailand Masters; there, he recovered from 1–3 down to 3–3 against Stephen Lee, but lost 3–5.

As the world number 72 for the 2001/2002 season, Dunn enjoyed his best form yet at the 2002 World Championship, defeating Stephen Croft 10–2, David McDonnell 10–8, Lee Walker 10–2, David Finbow 10–5 and Billy Snaddon 10–9 – having trailed 1–5 – to qualify for the main stages at the Crucible Theatre for the first time. Drawn against Stevens, he came to trail 1–7 and, although he recovered well to 6–9, could not prevent a 6–10 loss. Nevertheless, the performance earned Dunn £14,500, and he broke into the top 64 as a result.[2]

The next few seasons were anticlimactic, Dunn's best progress being a run to the semi-final of the non-ranking Benson & Hedges Championship, where he lost 3–6 to Mehmet Husnu; however, 2005 heralded a first-ever last-16 finish, at the 2005 Malta Cup. There, he beat Leo Fernandez, Michael Judge, Marco Fu, local wildcard entry Simon Zammit and David Gray – whitewashing the latter 5–0 – before losing 3–5, again to Stevens. Having begun 2004/2005 ranked 53rd, Dunn finished it 54th – the first time he had ever finished a season in a lower position than at the start.

At the 2006 UK Championship, Dunn defeated Jamie Jones, Mark Davis and James Wattana to reach the last 32, but was heavily beaten by the resurgent Ken Doherty, losing 1–9 to the Irishman.

Doherty again overcame him at the China Open the following season, this time a 5–2 victor; Dunn came within one match of making his second Crucible appearance in 2008, but having led Dave Harold 4–3, went on to lose 4–10.

2008/2009 brought a run to the last 16 at the inaugural – and only – Bahrain Championship, where he beat Shaun Murphy 5–4 in the last 32, but lost by the same scoreline in his next match against Barry Hawkins.

After several last-64 finishes at the start of season 2010/2011, Dunn briefly entered the top 32 in the rankings in October 2010, but dropped back out within several months; he beat Stevens, Alfie Burden and Stuart Bingham in the 2011 Snooker Shoot-out, but lost his quarter-final 'match' 14–90 to Ronnie O'Sullivan.

By 2014, Dunn had endured several years of poor form and was in danger of losing his place on tour at the end of the season. However, at the 2014 China Open, he mustered the best performance of his career, beating Tom Ford, Peter Lines, Tian Pengfei, Craig Steadman and world number one Mark Selby to reach the semi-finals. There, he faced the home favourite, Ding Junhui, for a place in the final, but was outclassed, losing 6–0. This run earned Dunn £21,000 and was enough to ensure he would begin the 2014/2015 season ranked 58th, keeping his professional status.

The next season brought only one last-16 finish, at the 2014 Haining Open, where he lost 3–4 to the eventual finalist, Peter Lines's son Oliver, but Dunn's results were sufficient to move him up to 42nd in the end-of-season rankings, his highest position since 2011.

On 25 July 2020, Dunn announced his retirement from competitive snooker, ending his 29-year career as a professional.[3]

Personal life

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Mike Dunn is now the manager of Q House Snooker Academy Darlington, He is also a WPBSA director for World Snooker, and was in the presentation party at the final of the 2007 UK Championship. Dunn supports Middlesbrough F.C.[4]

Performance and rankings timeline

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Tournament 1991/
92 		1992/
93 		1993/
94 		1994/
95 		1995/
96 		1996/
97 		1997/
98 		1998/
99 		1999/
00 		2000/
01 		2001/
02 		2002/
03 		2003/
04 		2004/
05 		2005/
06 		2006/
07 		2007/
08 		2008/
09 		2009/
10 		2010/
11 		2011/
12 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19 		2019/
20
Ranking[5][nb 1] [nb 2] 320 282 219 156 150 [nb 3] [nb 4] 134 93 72 60 58 58 53 53 59 47 38 33 38 49 63 58 42 37 43 53 64
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters[nb 5] Tournament Not Held MR LQ LQ LQ 1R
International Championship Tournament Not Held LQ 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR 3R 1R 1R
English Open Tournament Not Held 1R 2R 1R 2R
World Open[nb 6] LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ 1R Not Held 1R 1R 1R LQ
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R QF 1R 1R
UK Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ 1R 2R 2R 2R 2R 2R 1R
Scottish Open[nb 7] NH LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held MR Not Held 3R 2R 2R 3R
European Masters[nb 8] LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ NH LQ Not Held LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ NR Tournament Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ
German Masters[nb 9] Tournament Not Held LQ LQ A NR Tournament Not Held LQ LQ 1R 1R WD LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Welsh Open LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A 2R 1R 2R LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R 1R 2R 2R 4R 3R 1R
Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event 1R 3R 3R 4R
Players Championship[nb 10] Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ QF DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR 2R 1R 1R WD
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World Championship[nb 11] Tournament Not Held 3R A A NH A A A A A A A A
Haining Open Tournament Not Held MR A A 4R A
The Masters WD LQ A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ WD LQ LQ LQ A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A
World Seniors Championship A Tournament Not Held A A A A WD LQ A A A A
Former ranking tournaments
Classic LQ Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open[nb 12] LQ MR NR Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic[nb 13] LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix Not Held Non-Ranking Event LQ NR Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters[nb 14] LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A LQ 1R 1R LQ NR Not Held NR Tournament Not Held
British Open LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ LQ NH NR Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not Held NR 2R 1R 1R Tournament Not Held
Bahrain Championship Tournament Not Held 2R Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic[nb 15] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open[nb 16] Not Held NR Tournament Not Held LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ Not Held
Shanghai Masters Tournament Not Held WR LQ LQ WR LQ LQ 1R LQ 2R LQ LQ Non-Rank.
Paul Hunter Classic[nb 17] Tournament Not Held Pro-am Event Minor-Ranking Event A 3R A NR
Indian Open Tournament Not Held 3R 1R NH 1R 1R LQ NH
China Open[nb 18] Tournament Not Held NR LQ LQ LQ LQ Not Held LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ SF 2R 2R 2R 1R LQ NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held QF 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R Ranking Event
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
DQ disqualified from the tournament
NH / Not Held event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event means an event is/was a pro-am event.
  1. ^ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  3. ^ He was not on the Main Tour.
  4. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  5. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  6. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (1991/1992–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010), the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)
  7. ^ The event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
  8. ^ The event was called the Irish Open (1998/1999) and Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
  9. ^ The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
  10. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
  11. ^ The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)
  12. ^ The event was called the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993–1993/1994)
  13. ^ The event was called the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and the Asian Classic (1996/1997)
  14. ^ The event was called the Asian Open (1991/1992–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
  15. ^ The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  16. ^ The event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996)
  17. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
  18. ^ The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mike Dunn". wst.tv. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  2. ^ "The Independent: Contenders wait on O'Sullivan's shoulder". Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  3. ^ @mikedunn147 (25 July 2020). "Very happy to say..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ @mikedunn147 (23 September 2014). "Proud to be a Middlesbrough FC..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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