Wayne Carey (Auckland) beat Paul Stocker (Hawkes Bay) 528-478 to win the North Harbour Open, the first ranking tournament of the New Zealand 2001 season. Carey took an early lead with a break of 103, the only century of the tournament, and retained the lead to the end, Stocker unable to take full advantage of the opportunities he had in the last 30 minutes. The tournament attracted 13 entrants, large by New Zealand standards, and saw consistent scoring with many 50 breaks and seven players making over 600 in two hours.
New Zealand number 1 Wayne Carey made it two from two so far for the 2001 season when he won the Auckland Masters Open Billiards tournament held on 24th and 25th March at Snooker World, Auckland. In a thrilling finish, Carey had to come from 40 points behind in the final with time nearly up. On his last visit he compiled a break of 30 before being interrupted by a player from another table searching for a lost ball. The clock was stopped to sort out this unwelcome intrusion, then on resumption, with just 8 seconds left, Carey held his nerve and his concentration to play 3 more shots (including a 6 shot for his last shot), to take his break to 42 unfinished and win the match.