Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Scotland
Last weekend were the Scottish PDPA & UK Open Events. Apart from the World Championship Playoffs in December these were my last tournaments of the year, as I'd decided that with the costs involved in going to Ireland & Holland I'd be better off saving the money and having a proper run of tournaments in the New Year.
The PDPA Players Championship Tournament was on Saturday, and the draw wasn't kind. A first round against Kevin Painter. I know Kevin through a couple of friends who are good mates of his, and I'd already played him a couple of times in exhibitions beating him both times, so I was hoping to keep my 100% record against him! My form has been very strange. Practising I've been hitting everything, but in Super League I've been terrible. But I went in to it very confident. I won the bull, and in the 1st leg both of us took a few darts to get into it, but I got to the double 1st and took it out. Kevin was struggling slightly, and a 13 darter from me took the 2nd leg and the 1st set. In the 2nd set he started to play, and took the 1st leg pretty easily. In the 2nd, missed doubles from me let him in, and he took the set 2-0. The 3rd set was almost faultless from both of us, with both holding the throw in the 1st 2 legs. Another 13 darter from me in the 3rd meant I took the set and went 2-1 in front. The 4th set was where the match turned. After Painter had missed a dart at a double in the 1st leg, I took out 93 to steal the darts and go 1 leg from the match. After this, I lost a bit of concentration and scored 30 on my first throw of the second leg, letting him back in. I never really recovered after this, and Kevin started showing why he's a professional punishing every bad throw I had. He took the next 2 legs to make it 2-2, and then in the final set took both legs to win the match 3-2. While it was very disapointing to be so close to winning and blowing it, I suppose playing that well and pushing him as I did should boost my confidence.
On Sunday my draw was a little kinder, at least in the 1st couple of rounds anyway. 1st Round was James Keogh from Ireland, who while not one of the top names is still a very good player, and he got to the 3rd Round of the World Masters last month, beating Andre Brantjes. After losing the bull, and him starting well and me having a couple of sloppy first scores, I started playing and after he missed his double I took advantage and won the 1st leg. After this, I matched every good score he hit, which seemed to get to him. While I don't think I played quite as well as against Painter, I still had far too much for him, and won the match 4-1. In the 2nd Round I was due to play Josephus Schenk, but he hadn't made the trip over from Holland and it meant I had a bye into Round 3 picking up 4 Ranking Points, and more importantly £50 towards the UK Open Order of Merit towards qualifying for Bolton next year. It also gave me a 3rd Round match against 3 time World Champion, and current World No.3. It was my worst game of the weekend, but having said that I still had chances. Missed doubles in the 2nd and 6th legs cost me, as I lost the match 5-1.
Overall the weekend has given me alot of confidence, and if I can repeat that at Villa Park in 4 weeks then I have as good a chance as anyone of qualifying for the World Championship.....
The PDPA Players Championship Tournament was on Saturday, and the draw wasn't kind. A first round against Kevin Painter. I know Kevin through a couple of friends who are good mates of his, and I'd already played him a couple of times in exhibitions beating him both times, so I was hoping to keep my 100% record against him! My form has been very strange. Practising I've been hitting everything, but in Super League I've been terrible. But I went in to it very confident. I won the bull, and in the 1st leg both of us took a few darts to get into it, but I got to the double 1st and took it out. Kevin was struggling slightly, and a 13 darter from me took the 2nd leg and the 1st set. In the 2nd set he started to play, and took the 1st leg pretty easily. In the 2nd, missed doubles from me let him in, and he took the set 2-0. The 3rd set was almost faultless from both of us, with both holding the throw in the 1st 2 legs. Another 13 darter from me in the 3rd meant I took the set and went 2-1 in front. The 4th set was where the match turned. After Painter had missed a dart at a double in the 1st leg, I took out 93 to steal the darts and go 1 leg from the match. After this, I lost a bit of concentration and scored 30 on my first throw of the second leg, letting him back in. I never really recovered after this, and Kevin started showing why he's a professional punishing every bad throw I had. He took the next 2 legs to make it 2-2, and then in the final set took both legs to win the match 3-2. While it was very disapointing to be so close to winning and blowing it, I suppose playing that well and pushing him as I did should boost my confidence.
On Sunday my draw was a little kinder, at least in the 1st couple of rounds anyway. 1st Round was James Keogh from Ireland, who while not one of the top names is still a very good player, and he got to the 3rd Round of the World Masters last month, beating Andre Brantjes. After losing the bull, and him starting well and me having a couple of sloppy first scores, I started playing and after he missed his double I took advantage and won the 1st leg. After this, I matched every good score he hit, which seemed to get to him. While I don't think I played quite as well as against Painter, I still had far too much for him, and won the match 4-1. In the 2nd Round I was due to play Josephus Schenk, but he hadn't made the trip over from Holland and it meant I had a bye into Round 3 picking up 4 Ranking Points, and more importantly £50 towards the UK Open Order of Merit towards qualifying for Bolton next year. It also gave me a 3rd Round match against 3 time World Champion, and current World No.3. It was my worst game of the weekend, but having said that I still had chances. Missed doubles in the 2nd and 6th legs cost me, as I lost the match 5-1.
Overall the weekend has given me alot of confidence, and if I can repeat that at Villa Park in 4 weeks then I have as good a chance as anyone of qualifying for the World Championship.....
