Dene O'Kane
| Dene O'Kane | |
|---|---|
| birthday | 24th February 1963 (age 57) |
| place of birth | Christchurch |
| nationality |
 New Zealand
|
| professional | 1984-2001, 2006/07 |
| Prize money | £ 394,353 |
| Highest break | 140 |
| Century Breaks | 46 |
| Main tour successes | |
| World championships | - |
| Ranking tournament victories | - |
| Minor tournament victories | - |
| World rankings | |
| Highest WRL place | 18 ( 91/92 - 92/93 , 95/96 ) |
Dene O'Kane (born February 24, 1963 in Christchurch ) is a New Zealand snooker player.
Life / career
In 1970, O'Kane's family moved from Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island , to Auckland, on the North Island , - the largest city in New Zealand. There he attended Northcote College.
At the age of eleven, he too was spellbound by the colored Pot Black tournament and decided to become a world champion snooker player himself. To prove the seriousness of his intentions to the family, Dene practiced at home on a ping-pong table covered with a tablecloth, using ping-pong balls and a broomstick as a substitute for a cue.
To develop his skills, he borrowed the book "Spencer on Snooker" by the English snooker professional John Spencer from a local library . He borrowed this book so many times that the library wanted to give it to him.
He bought his first cue for NZ $ 12. At the age of 17, Dene became New Zealand's youngest snooker champion in 1980 . Since he could no longer find any serious competition in snooker in New Zealand, he went to England, the motherland of snooker, in 1980 to further improve his skills.
Still playing as an amateur, he won several tournaments in 1981/82. In 1983 he returned to New Zealand before becoming a professional snooker in 1984. In the first year he reached the quarter-finals of the British Open and the finals of the World Snooker Championship .
The next two seasons then did not go so well until the end of the 1986/87 season when he beat Cliff Thorburn and Doug Mountjoy and finished in the last eight in the World Cup. 1987/88 he again reached the quarter-finals of the British Open and the second round of the UK Championship . That was enough to bring him to number 23 in the world snooker rankings at the end of the season .
In the following season he could not quite build on his success and slipped five places. The following season, however, he was in good shape and reached the finals at the Hong Kong Open . He lost in the decisive frame against Mike Hallett , but later in the season he was able to play among the last eight at the European Open . That helped him to get his best player placement in 18th place of the 1991/92 season.
The following season he was the second quarter-finalist at the World Cup at the Crucible Theater , as well as reaching the round of eight at the Asian Open . O'Kane managed to defend his 18th place in the rankings over the next three seasons, but never made it to the top 16. Nevertheless, he held a placement between 18th and 22nd place and reached the 1995 semifinals of Thailand Classic . This was his last good performance and in the course of the following seasons he lost more and more ranking positions. At the end of the 2000/01 season he fell completely out of the ranking.
In the following years he played at several smaller tournaments and when the IBSF launched the Senior Event in 2004 O'Kane was the first winner. He repeated this success in the following year and brought himself back to the Main Tour for a year in 2006/07. At the end of the season, however, he had to say goodbye again.
At the World Seniors Championship tournament in 2011 he was able to prevail in the first main round with a 2-1 win over Neal Foulds , but clearly lost 2-0 to Steve Davis in the quarter-finals .
successes
Ranked tournaments
| British Open | Quarter-finals 1985 , 1988 |
| World Snooker Championship | Quarterfinals 1987 , 1992 |
| Hong Kong Open | Finalist 1989 |
| Classic | Quarter-finals 1990 |
| European Open | Quarterfinals 1991 |
| Asian Open | Quarterfinals 1992 |
| Thailand Classic | Semifinals 1995 |
Invitation tournaments
| New Zealand Amateur Championship | Winner 1980 |
| Australian Open | 1994 semi-finals |
| OBSF Oceania Championship | Winner 2005, 2006, 2007 |
| World Seniors Championship | Quarterfinals 2011 |
Others
Dene O'Kane still lives in Auckland today and is among other things a Master Coach for the NZ Billiards Confederation. As a master coach he trains the coaches of the New Zealand billiards association.
Web links
- Dene O'Kane in the snooker Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Profile of Dene O'Kane at CueTracker (as of March 27, 2016)
- ↑ a b c player profile on SnookerArchive.co.uk ( Memento from November 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Speakers New Zealand ( Memento from May 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ cues´n views
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | O'Kane, Dene |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | New Zealand snooker player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 24, 1963 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Christchurch , New Zealand |