Dene O'Kane (24 February 1963 – 14 May 2024) was a New Zealand professional snooker player.

Career O'Kane won the 1980 New Zealand Amateur Championship, and represented New Zealand at the 1982 IBSF World Snooker Championship, winning six of his nine group matches, but failing to qualify on difference. He turned professional in 1984.

In his first professional tournament, the 1984 International Open, he won four qualifying matches (5–2 against Maurice Parkin, 5–1 against Eddie McLaughlin, 5–4 against Jack Fitzmaurice and 5–4 against Mike Hallett) before losing 3–5 to Willie Thorne. Also in his debut season, he reached the quarter-finals of the 1985 British Open, and progressing through the qualifying rounds with four wins and a walkover, reached the last 32 of the 1985 World Snooker Championship, in which he lost 4–10 to David Taylor.

O'Kane reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship in 1987 and 1992. He reached the final stages (last 32 or better) of the World Championship six times, but never in consecutive years. He was the runner-up in the 1989 Hong Kong Open, losing 8–9 to Mike Hallett after leading 8–6.

O'Kane first reached the top 32 in the world rankings for the 1985/1986 season, returning three years later. In 1991/1992 he reached his career high position of 18. He remained in the top 32 until 1996/1997.

Having won £415,000 in prize money during his career, O'Kane started a career in real estate in 2007.

Death O'Kane died after suffering a brain bleed caused by a fall at his place of residence on 14 May 2024, aged 61.

Performance and rankings timeline Tournament 1984/85 1985/86 1986/87 1987/88 1988/89 1989/90 1990/91 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 2006/07 2008/09 RankingFrom the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season. New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.32393523282318182220182735577796New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking. He was an amateur. Ranking tournaments Grand Prix1R1RLQLQ2R1R3R3R1R3R1R3R1RLQ2RLQLQAA UK ChampionshipLQ1R2R3R2R2R1R2R3R2R2R2R1R2R1RLQWDLQA Malta CupThe event ran under different names such as the European Open (1988/1989 to 1996/1997) and Irish Open (1998/1999) Tournament Not Held1R2RQF1R1R1RLQLQLQNRLQ Not HeldLQNH Welsh Open Tournament Not Held2R2R1R1R1R3RLQLQLQLQLQA China OpenThe event also ran as the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999) Tournament Not HeldNRLQLQLQLQA World Championship1RLQQFLQ1RLQLQQFLQ1RLQ1RLQLQLQLQLQLQA Non-ranking tournaments Six-red Snooker International Tournament Not Held2R The MastersAAAAAAALQAAALQALQAAALQA Former ranking tournaments Canadian MastersNH Non-RankingLQ Tournament Not Held Hong Kong OpenThe event also ran as the Australian Masters (1983/1984–1987/1988 & 1995/1996) Non-Ranking EventNHF Not Held NR Tournament Not Held ClassicLQ2RLQLQ2RQF3R1R Tournament Not Held Strachan Open Tournament Not Held3R Tournament Not Held Dubai ClassicThe event ran under different names such as Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997) Tournament Not HeldNR2R2R2R1R1R1RSFLQ Tournament Not Held German Open Tournament Not HeldLQLQWDNR Not Held Malta Grand Prix Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event LQ NR Not Held Thailand MastersThe event ran under different names such as Asian Open (1989/1990 to 1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994 to 1996/1997) Non-Ranking Event Not Held2R2RQF2R1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ NR NH Scottish OpenThe event ran under different names such as International Open (1984/1985, 1986/1987 to 1996/1997) and Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986)2R2R2R1R2R1R Not Held2R2R1R1R3R1R LQ LQ LQ Not Held British OpenQF1R LQQF2R1R1R1R2R2R3R2R1R1R LQ LQ LQ Not Held Former non-ranking tournaments New Zealand Masters A Not HeldQFQF Tournament Not Held Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held2R Tournament Not Held Hong Kong OpenThe event also ran as the Australian Masters (1983/1984–1987/1988 & 1995/1996)AAA1RNHR Not HeldSFA Tournament Not Held Performance Table LegendLQ 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-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD withdrew from the tournament NH / Not Held means an event was not held.NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.RV / Ranking & Variant Format Event means an event is/was a ranking & variant format 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.VF / Variant Format Event means an event is/was a variant format event.

Career finals Ranking finals: 1 Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 1989 Hong Kong Open Mike Hallett8–9

Team finals: 1 Outcome No. Year Championship Team/partner Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 1989 World Cup Rest of the World

Amateur finals: 12 (8 titles) OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore Winner 1. 1980 New Zealand Amateur Championship Peter Mischefski4–1Runner-up 1. 1981 Junior Pot Black Dean Reynolds79–151Final decided on aggregate score over two framesWinner 2. 2004 World Amateur Championship – Masters Eugene Hughes5–2Winner 3. 2005 Australian Open Championship Glen Wilkinson8–7Winner 4. 2005 World Amateur Championship – Masters (2) Joe Delaney5–4Winner 5. 2006 Oceania Championship Aaron Mahoney6–5Runner-up 2. 2006 Australian Open Championship Steve Mifsud7–8Winner 6. 2007 Oceania Championship (2) Daniel Haenga6–5Winner 7. 2008 Australian Open Championship (2) Stuart Lawler6–2Winner 8. 2008 World Amateur Championship – Masters (3) Geet Sethi5–1Runner-up 3. 2009 World Amateur Championship – Masters Darren Morgan0–6Runner-up 4. 2020 Oceania 6-red Championship Kurt Dunham3–5

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