Pool: Double whammy for Bay kingpin Dean Garnett

Dean Garnett on his way to victory in the North Island 8-ball singles final. Photo / Mike Ryan

Hawke's Bay cueist Dean Garnett's self-imposed struggler for consistency tag has been shaken off in emphatic fashion.

"It's the highlight of my career. To get the doubles title was huge but to complete the double whammy with the singles and to beat Harry Haenga in both finals was phenomenal," Garnett said as he reflected on his success at last week's North Island 8-ball championships in Wellington.

Playing with his regular doubles partner for the past two years, Palmerston North's Brent Wells, Garnett beat the Wellington pair of Haenga and Iti Talosaga 5-1 in the final of the pairs which attracted 72 combinations and was played on Wednesday and Thursday at the Upper Hutt Cosmopolitan Club. In their semifinal Wells and Garnett beat Aucklanders Garry Simpson and Mike Ryan 5-2.

The 144-player singles event was played from Friday until Sunday and Garnett, 51, beat Haenga 5-3 in the final to capture the $1500 first prize. In his semifinal he beat experienced Bay of Plenty snooker and billiards exponent George Elvin 5-3.

A Zeagold Foods truck driver, Garnett was unbeaten in his singles campaign which involved five section-play matches and last 64, 32, 16, quarter-finals, semifinals and the final in post-section play. He was the fifth best qualifier for post-section play.

"I've been playing in New Zealand for 10 years now and my previous best in the singles at North Islands was a quarter-final exit last year. Up until last weekend I had always struggled for consistency," Garnett recalled.

"Everyone knows about Harry ... he is still a tough customer no matter what version of cue sports he is playing," Garnett said referring to Haenga who is a former national snooker champion and a six-time winner of the former Heretaunga Classic snooker tournament which used to be played in Hawke's Bay.

"Harry plays a lot more 8-ball these days because it is more social and there is more money to be won," Garnett said.

The 2017 singles champion, Wells was eliminated in the last 16 last weekend by Elvin. Before the North Island double Garnett's previous career highlight was winning the $5000 first prize at the Levin Classic in 2016.

Despite his success, Taradale Club's Garnett, who started playing in Britain as a 12-year-old, said he still has a couple of major work-ons.

"One is finding enough time to play and the other is my break. You have a bad break in 8-ball and you lose ... simple as that."

In the wake of the North Island double Garnett knows he will be a highly sought after scalp at the Christchurch-hosted nationals in October where he will again play with Wells in the doubles. Later this month he will tackle the first qualifying tournament for the national Super League in Tokoroa.

The final weekend of the Super League will be played in Christchurch before the national championships. Garnett is looking forward to the Taradale Club's inaugural open singles event to be played on June 16 and 17.

"Some big names including former national and North Island champions have entered. It's going to be good to have a quality event like that in the Bay," Garnett said.