Slightly odd feel to the event with the top 16 at The Masters and a feeling that success was up for grabs to help qualify for Players Champs and World Champs places for players who might not otherwise figure in the later stages.
Was on Board 7 which panned out like this.
Rd 1
Peter Hudson 6-4 John Scott
Peter won the bull and won the first leg with John blobbing all the way down (he asked if I'd give him a panning in the write-up, I said only for the first leg so now that's out of the way!
)Thereafter the scoring was consistent with legs going on throw with John having 1 dart at tops to break in leg 5, one at tops in leg 7 and one at the bull and 3 at D17 in leg 9. Having missed those chances zemblanity struck with Peter breaking in leg 10 to win the match.
Scott Rand (29) 6-3 Jyhan Artut
High scoring and quality game this with the first 4 legs against the throw. Jyhan finally held for 3-2 but just dropped his average at little from that point and Scott took full advantage with some heavy scoring and consistent finishing to reel off 4 straight legs for the match.
Mark Frost 6-3 Richie Howson - had a break at that point for some caffeine and solids and floating marker Tom marked this one. In know that Richie was disappointed with his performance though.
Rd 2
Paul Nicholson 6-0 Peter Hudson
Staggering from Nicholson, quite staggering. Checked out in 12, 13, 11, 12, 14 and 15 darts for a 117.12 average. Spoke to Nicho a bit later and he suggested it was 120+ average, but I stand by my numbers! Peter didn't do a lot wrong and probably averaged around 97-99 but was blown away by Paul's brilliant darts.
Mark Frost 6-4 Scott Rand
Scott started where he left off in Rd 1 opening with 2 x 14 darters but Mark battled his way back to 2-2. Legs went on throw then with very solid scoring from both guys before Mark broke at 5-4 to win the match.
Rd 3
Mark Frost 6-5 Paul Nicholson
Paul didn't quite hit the heights of the previous round and again Mark hit the big shots at key times in the game. Winning the bull proved critical as he held with a 15 darter in leg 11.
Rd 4
Ian White 6-5 Darren Webster
Darren had been throwing some incredible stuff with a cracking average in a 6-0 win over Colin Lloyd in the previous round and this was another high quality encounter from both players. Ian broke with a 164 c/o in the first leg but Darren took out a ton plus to level. Legs went on throw with both players pressurising the opponent's throw, Darren pulling out a superb 141 c/o to hold at one point.
At 5-5 both players felt the pressure before Ian pulled out a superb 174 to leave 32 and nailed D16 1st dart for the win. Cracking contest.
QF
Ian White 6-0 Mark Frost - The Frosty run came to an end with a clinical performance from Ian who outscored and out-finished Mark throughout the match including a superb 11-darter in the final leg. Mark had had those wins over Richie Howson, Scott Rand, Paul Nicholson and Richie Burnett so he can take solace from a good day at the office and £1500 for reaching the QF. Hopefully for Ian my days as his 'bogey' marker are over.
So that was marking duties done but with the football traffic next door to fight it seemed sensible to watch the semis and final before heading home.
Ricky Evans beat Ian White 6-1 despite being 4 points behind in the averages but took out some critical finishes to reach the final where he met Brendan Dolan who easily beat Mensur Suljovic, who'd thrown well all day but ran out of steam in the semi.
Ricky went 3-1 up in the final and was on a double when Brendan took out an massive, game changing 160 c/o. Very good scoring from both players all the way but Brendan's finishing was superb from that point as he made it 5 legs in a row and a 6-3 victory for his first ProTour win with 101.57 average. Ricky is clearly a prodigious talent with that lightning scattergun throw, I suspect we'll see plenty more of him and if he actually starts aiming his darts he could be a phenomenon!!
Good day 1 that, roll on day 2 tomorrow.
n.b. Nicho - it was definitely 117.12 average
