Dark horse Ozanne seals title on debut

TRISTAN OZANNE won it the hard way. Better known on the local snooker circuit, Ozanne beat John Skillett in an epic island pool championship final at the Happy Landings. The former raced into a 5-0 lead, including two total clearances, before Skillett went for broke and won five on the bounce himself.

Both players had chances to win the title, but Ozanne held his nerve to become champion for the first time, 6-5, and at his first attempt.

'I have always known that John is a very good player and capable of staging a recovery like that, but it was a bit unnerving and it put the pressure back on me,' said 23-year-old Ozanne.

'I was glad to scrape home in the end and delighted to have won the title because I did not really expect to - I just entered hoping to win some matches.'

Ozanne was the dark horse of the tournament, known to other players as being a contender, but not at the peak of his form.

'I have recently been away travelling for six months and, literally, I had been back in the island for a couple of weeks, picked up a cue for the first time in ages and found some form straight away.'

The men's singles had a record entry, with 12 preliminary matches needed before the first round proper could start.

Ozanne had chalked up a win against Alan Opie, Jez Rowe and Steve Moullin on his way to the semi-finals in his first championships. There he faced the highly-fancied Martyn Desperques, who had dropped only two frames in his previous three matches. Desperques went into a 3-1 lead before Ozanne took four on the bounce, including three total clearances. However, the score was soon level at 5-5 to take the match to a deciding frame and it was Ozanne who came out on top.

'Everyone in the competition was of a good standard so no match was easy and some of mine went to the wire,' said the champion.

'In the first round against Alan Opie, I went 4-2 down in a first-to-five match so the odds were stacked against me making it through my opening match. I just thought I had nothing to lose at that point so I just went for it and it paid off.

'I also went 3-1 down to Martyn Desperques and at that stage you have to think the odds are against you, so I was really delighted to come back and win. That really gave me confidence going into the final.'

In the other half of the draw, Skillett, who has been out of the picture for the last couple of years, showed that he is still a force to be reckoned with as he overcame Mick Le Noury 5-1.

He then came through a tough quarter-final against Simon Le Tissier 5-3 to set up a last-four clash with long-standing adversary Lenny Bullock, whom he defeated 6-2.

There were also new winners in the other three categories of the International Leisure Guernsey Championships.

The junior event saw last year's winner, Kevin de Carteret, face the up-and-coming Jez de la Haye in the final and it was the latter's all-out potting that saw him win it 4-1.

Denise Corbet became women's champion as she beat the highly-rated Diane Gaudion 3-0 in the final after an earlier victory over Ruth Vaudin (3-1) and Rachael Chandler (3-2).

Desperques tasted success in the doubles as he joined forces with Silvi Magloire.

In the final, they beat Adam Shorto and Tommy Simon 4-0, having earlier claimed a victory over Le Noury and Cell, Opie and Page and Duncombe and Moullin.

Shorto and Simon had beaten Andy Mildner and Ady Holley as well as Skillett and Dave Bullock on their way to the final.