Jack Halligan 2003
19th July 2024
Good morning Australia,
We have learned this morning of the passing of one of Australia’s pool playing legends ‘Jack Halligan’
There are so many stories about this great man and I’m sure many will be shared when remembering Jack and the impact he had on our game and many thousands of people in every corner of Australia.
He was a story teller, a character, a larrikin and an entertainer.
He
was the centre of attention and could capture a room with his charisma and would leave you with a belly ache from laughter.
He was deadly accurate on the pool table and was one of Australia’s pool playing pioneers that help build the foundation of where Australian Eight Ball is at the moment.
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Thanks for the memories Jack.
Miss ya mate.
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2003 – AEBF Hall of Fame
1992 – Aust Singles Champion
1987 – Aust Doubles Champion (Gordon Whittaker)
1985 – Aust Doubles Champion (Avelino Defreitas)
1996 – World Team Champions
* Multiple Australian Team Member
* Australian Captain
* World Player of Carnival
* Western Australia State Rep
* Victorian State Rep
* Queensland State Rep
Travis Crawley
AEBF President
Jack Halligan Australian Tour
Jack Halligan 2003 has virtually achieved everything possible in the sport of 8-Ball (Pool) – Australian Open Individual and Doubles Championships plus 13 State Titles are testimony to his outstanding skills as a cue-man.
Jack has also been captain of five Australian and ten State Teams and was a member of our victorious Australian team in our stunning victory against England in the final of the 1996 World Team Championship’s in Manchester.
Jack has traveled regularly to England to compete for Australia since 1993 and has produced some outstanding results. At the 1993 World Titles, Jack completed the week-long tournament with an amazing 88.89% winning average to win the “World Player of the Year” Award. This achievement is to this day, still, a World Championships record and is widely considered as a record most unlikely to ever be broken.
Winning this award was regarded as a once in a lifetime feat as the opposition players were the very finest from throughout the world. Amazingly however, after finishing 3rd at the 1994 Titles Jack again topped the averages (82%) in 1995 to win his second “World Player of the Year” title. On all three occasions Jack was selected in the “World All Stars” Team.
In 2000, Jack was awarded the “Australian 2000” Sports Medal, presented by the Prime Minister and Governor General, on behalf of the Queen for outstanding sporting achievement.
The Kalgoorlie Kid
Jack Halligan has virtually achieved everything possible in the sport of 8-Ball (Pool) – Australian Open Individual and Doubles Championships plus 13 State Titles are testimony to his outstanding skills as a cue-man.
Jack has also been captain of five Australian and ten State Teams and was a member of our victorious Australian team in our stunning victory against England in the final of the 1996 World Team Championship’s in Manchester.
Jack has traveled regularly to England to compete for Australia since 1993 and has produced some outstanding results. At the 1993 World Titles, Jack completed the week-long tournament with an amazing 88.89% winning average to win the “World Player of the Year” Award. This achievement is to this day, still, a World Championships record and is widely considered as a record most unlikely to ever be broken.
Winning this award was regarded as a once in a lifetime feat as the opposition players were the very finest from throughout the world. Amazingly however, after finishing 3rd at the 1994 Titles Jack again topped the averages (82%) in 1995 to win his second “World Player of the Year” title. On all three occasions Jack was selected in the “World All Stars” Team.
In 2000, Jack was awarded the “Australian 2000” Sports Medal, presented by the Prime Minister and Governor General, on behalf of the Queen for outstanding sporting achievement.
In 2001, Jack won the “Player of the Carnival” at the Australian National Titles in Cairns, the 2002 “Queensland Open Singles Championship” and in 2003 became the first inductee into the Australian “Hall of Fame”.
Jack has appeared as a player on Australian, American and British television and has also been a guest entertainer on “Hey Hey it’s Saturday”.
Jack is touring your area soon, taking on all challengers, entertaining, with great trick shots, educating, with helpful hints and throwing in humour, with some great jokes and yarns.