Darts

The draw has been done for the UK Open next month.

2007 Blue Square UK Open

Preliminary & First Rounds - (P) denotes Preliminary Round tie

Board One (Main Stage)
Chris Daglish v Cliff Lazarenko (P)
Ray Carver v Mark Hylton (P)
Chris McTernan v Michael van Gerwen
Steve Cusick v Toon Greebe
Eddie Hughes v Richie Burnett
Paul Knighton v Alan Green

Board Two (Second Stage)
Ian Gunion v Sean Dowling (P)
Stuart Holden v Darrel Thorpe (P)
Mick Savvery v Ray Farrell
Vernon Sheppard v Michael Barnard
Paul Whitworth v Andy Roberts
Rico Vonck v Noonan/Riley

Board Three
Brian Cathcart v James Keogh (P)
Kevin Harris v Richard McLaughlin (P)
Peter Green v Dylan Cook
Mark Frost v Chris Allen
Daglish/Lazarenko v Payne/Macken
Carver/Hylton v Mark Robinson

Board Four
Nigel Payne v Ross Macken (P)
Barry French v Ian Branks (P)
John Burton v Nigel Heydon
Geoff Wylie v Mark Stephenson
Hunion/S Dowling v Sam Rooney
Mark Wilson v Birch/Turley

Board Five
Andrew Gourlay v Rikki Williams (P)
Geoff Harkup v Wayne Brown (P)
Dave Blenkarne v Ian Wise
Ian Walters v Darrell Townsend
Harris/McLaughlin v Rick Andrews
Aaron Turner v Whitehouse/N Turner

Board Six
Johnny Haines v Steve Hardy (P)
Steve Whitehouse v Nicky Turner (P)
Jason Crawley v Mark Pooke
Dale Newton v Gourlay/R Williams
Simon Craven v Henshaw/Blades
Harkup/Brown v Haines/Hardy

Board Seven
Justin Henshaw v Gary Blades (P)
Rob Hawker v James Barton (P)
Stephen Davidson v Bob Crawley
Andrew Coulter v Ian Whillis
Hawker/Barton v Danny Pinhorne
Scott Mitchell v Cathcart/Keogh

Board Eight
Nigel Birch v Alf Turley (P)
Gary Noonan v Pete Riley (P)
Henry O'Neill v Matty Dalwood
Mick Rodgers v Mark Thomson
Holden/Thorpe v Kieron Leal
French/Branks v Doug Walker


Second Round

Board One

Mitchell/Cathcart/Keogh v Jelle Klaasen
Kirk Shepherd v Roger Carter
Garry Spedding v Dave Honey
Andy Callaby v Sean Palfrey

Board Two
Mark Walsh v Garrett Gray
Alan Reynolds v Pete Allen
David Platt v Matt Chapman
Robbie Green v Blenkarne/Wise

Board Three
Kevin Dowling v Matt Sheehan
Stuart Dutton v Cusick/Greebe
Lee Palfreyman v French/Branks/Walker
Wylie/Stephenson v Shaun McDonald

Board Four
Holden/Thorpe/Leal v Wilson/Birch/Turley
Craven/Henshaw/Blades v Knighton/A Green
Chris Thompson v Hughes/Burnett
Rodgers/Thomson v O'Neill/Dalwood

Board Five
D Newton/Gourlay/R Williams v Darren Latham
Gunion/S Dowling/Rooney v Tom Wilson
Savvery/Farrell v A Turner/Whitehouse/N Turner
Frost/C Allen v Darren Webster

Board Six
Paul Watton v Carver/Hylton/Robinson
Sheppard/Barnard v Paul Williams
Harris/McLaughlin/Andrews v Davidson/B Crawley
Burton/Hayden v Simon Whatley

Board Seven
Coulter/Whillis v McTernan/van Gerwen
Martin Burchell v Daglish/Lazarenko/Payne/Macken
John Quantock v P Green/Cook
Hawker/Barton/Pinhorne v Mark Cox

Board Eight
Tony Randell v Lyndon Davies
Whitworth/Roberts v Walters/Townsend
J Crawley/Pooke v Vonck/Noonan/Riley
Harkup/W Brown/Haines/Hardy v Josephus Schenk

Third Round

Board One

John Part v K Dowling/Sheehan
Mark Dudbridge v Ronnie Baxter
Alan Warriner-Little v Wayne Jones
Bob Anderson v Brendan Dolan

Board Two
Alex Roy v Dave Smith
Martyn Turner v Colin Monk
Dave Askew v Dennis Smith
Rodgers/Thomson/O'Neill/Dalwood v Chris Mason

Board Three
Gary Welding v Darren Williams
K Shepherd/Carter v Walsh/Gray
Dave Jowett v Spedding/Honey
Callaby/Palfrey v Harris/McLaughlin/Andrews/Davidson/B Crawley

Board Four
Jason Clark v Dutton/Cusick/Greebe
Reynolds/P Allen v Watton/Carver/Hylton/Robinson
J Crawley/Pooke/Vonck/Noonan/Riley v Darren Johnson
R Green/Blenkarne/Wise v Lionel Sams

Board Five
Coulter/Whillis/McTiernan/van Gerwen v Dave Ladley
Craven/Henshaw/Blades/Knighton/A Green v Keith Deller
Palfreyman/French/Branks/Walker v D Newton/Gourlay/R Williams/Latham
Owen Caffrey v Wylie/Stephenson/McDonald

Board Six
Tony Martin v Mitchell/Cathcart/Keogh/Klaasen
Jamie Harvey v Gunion/S Dowling/Rooney/T Wilson
Platt/Chapman v Harkup/W Brown/Haines/Hardy/Schenk
Frost/C Allen/Webster v Alan Caves

Board Seven
Whitworth/Roberts/Walters/Townsend v Chris Hook
Sheppard/Barnard/P Williams v Wayne Atwood
Thompson/Hughes/Burnett v Quantock/P Green/Cook
Matt Clark v Burton/Heydon/Whatley

Board Eight
Holden/Thorpe/Leal/M Wilson/Birch/Turley v Steve Brown
Randell/Davies v Burchell/Daglish/Lazarenko/Payne/Macken
Savvery/Farrell/A Turner/Whitehouse/N Turner v John Kuczynski
Hawker/Barton/Pinhorne v Mark Holden


The Preliminary and 1st Rounds are played on Thursday June 7th, and the 2nd & 3rd Rounds will be played on Friday June 8th. All these games are best of 15 Legs, and coverage on Sky Sports begins at 7pm each day. Then on Saturday afternoon the top 32 come in at the 4th Round, and the tournament continues until the Final on Sunday evening.

Unfortunately I have to play a Prelim, against Justin Henshaw. I don't know anything about him at all, but to get through the Punch Tavern qualifiers he must have played well. If I win that one, I face Simon Craven in the 1st Round. Looking at his results in the PDC recently, they look very similar to mine, so this could be a toss of a coin job. The 2nd Round would be either Alan Green or Paul Knighton. Again I don't know too much about Knighton, but he has played in the BDO World Championships before if its the same one I think it is. Green has played on TV a couple of times recently, and this would be a very tough match. Then if I was to get through all 3 games I would face former World Champion Keith Deller!

After almost 2 months without a tournament, it now gets pretty busy until the end of July. Tournaments I am entering are:

Sunday 27th May - Broken Cross Open - Broken Cross Club, Macclesfield
Sunday 3rd June - Northants Eagle Open - The Band Club, Burton Latimer
7th-10th June - Blue Square UK Open - Reebok Stadium, Bolton
Saturday 16th June - PDPA Players Championship - Lakeside Holiday Village, Hayling Island
Sunday 17th June - PDPA Players Championship - Lakeside Holiday Village, Hayling Island
Sunday 1st July - PDPA Players Championship - Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
2nd-3rd July - Las Vegas Desert Classic VI Qualifiers - Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
6th-17th July - World Series of Poker Main Event - Rio, Las Vegas (Not Darts, but hey!)
Saturday 21st July - Bobby Bourne Memorial Trophy - Winter Gardens, Blackpool