O’Kane beaten in snooker

Press, 24 May 1988, Page 44

O’Kane beaten in snooker

PA Wellington The leading New Zealand professional, Dene O’Kane, was ousted from the $lOO,OOO Lion Brown Rasters Snooker Tournament at Parliament’s Legislative Chambers last evening. O’Kane, after being gifted the first frame in the best-of-nine firstround match, played at times lack-lustre snooker on the way to a 5-1 defeat at the hands of the rising English star, Mike Hallett. Bemused and somewhat indignant afterwards, O’Kane said he would see the tournament out before taking a break from the sport. In the other first-round match played yesterday, the former world champion, Joe Johnson, scraped home 5-4 against his aspiring fellow Englishman, Dean Reynolds. Johnson had swallowed the pill of defeat before Reynolds in-offed on the final black of the match to gift a second-round berth to his more experi-

enced but equally nerveaffected rival. O’Kane could not have asked for a better start to his’ match with Hallett, whom he had beaten in ranking tournaments twice before. Hallett duffed a long red which set up a match-winning 45-break for the New Zealander.

Hallett, unsettled and showing obvious disdain for his form, potted just one red before conceding after O’Kane sunk the ’ first two colours to take a 78-13 lead.

O’Kane appeared set to take a 2-0 lead when racking up breaks of 24 and 37 in the next frame, but left Hallett enough balls to tie the match when duffing his positioning on the green. Hallett grabbed the opportunity. His screwback on a long, angled pink to get perfect position on the frame-tying black was brilliantly executed.

O’Kane was offered two slight chances before stacking Hallett up on the frame-deciding black.

Hallett overplayed a shot to beckon a hesitant break of 31 by O’Kane in the,first scoring action of the third frame. The Englishman, growing in confidence as O’Kane began to waver, answered with a break of 29 and a safety shot. O’Kane missed a long red in response to set up a 27 break for Hallett. He finished with a snooker, which O’Kane duffed, then boldly swept away all but the black to seal the frame 80-38. Hallett, assured and unafraid to use a strong arm, was all fire in the fourth frame which, preceded the interval. A brilliant pot of the blue and a cruel snooker swept him to a 47-26 lead. O’Kane then despairingly missed a difficult red, an unlucky kiss setting up a frame-winning 58 break for Hallett. O’Kane conceded at 4-105. O’Kane had ample opportunity to claim the fifth frame, with his opponent momentarily off his form. But he conceded

the frame and the match at 41-94. He said afterwards he was thrown slightly by the match’s rescheduling. It was due to have been played this morning, but an injury to the topranked Stephen Hendry (to have played Darren Morgan last evening) forced organisers to swap the time slots of the two matches. “I was in the wrong frame of mind,” O’Kane, world ranked No. 24 to Hallett’s No. 9, said. “The rescheduling of the match had something to do with it, though it would have had the same effect on Mike. “It’s been not so much all the snooker lately as everything else.” O’Kane said Hallett, the runner-up in the British Open and the Benson and Hedges Masters and winner with Hendry of the world doubles championship this year, had improved markedly since their last encounter. "His game’s improved all round.!’