Blah, blah, blah, drove to Wigan on Sat, blah, blah, met other markers, blah, blah pies for breakfast.
The darts - Board 6
Round 1
Simon Whitlock (84.91) 6-4 (80.61) Campbell Jackson - steady game without either player pulling up too many trees but Simon always had that extra gear that made the difference to the result.
Steve Hine (88.49) 6-4 (90.25) John Henderson - Hendo went 3-1 up with some pretty heavy scoring but lost his way and his consistency and Steve hit his doubles clinically for the fightback win including a ton-plus bull finish to win it in the 10th leg.
James Wade (98.17) 6-5 (91.91) Matt Padgett - Nip and tuck this one going down to the wire as Matt played some solid darts. Killer 13 darter with the darts in the decider from James.
Arron Monk (87.91) 3-6 (86.69) Mick Todd - Bizarre game. Could easily have been 6-0 to Arron who scored superbly on the big trebles but couldn't hit a double to save his life. Missed so many chances and got punished my Mick's solid finishing.
Round 2
Simon Whitlock (95.81) 6-2 (83.44) Steve Hine - Much improved performance from the Aussie from Round 1 beating Steve in both the scoring and the finishing departments.
James Wade (84.28) 6-0 (80.12) Mick Todd - James hit six doubles, Mick didn't hit any. Not much more to be said.
Round 3 - Board final
Simon Whitlock (102.34) 3-6 (100.09) James Wade - After some average games in previous rounds this one woke up with a bang. Not the highest overall averages I've ever marked but a stunning exciting game of brilliant quality. Simon broke 1st leg but James broke back immediately with a Bull-Bull-D16 132 finish. More class darts made it 3-1 to James. Simon broke again for 3-2 then started the next leg 177, 180 before levelling at 3-3. Next leg Simon is on a 9-darter again after Starting 180, 180. After leaving 56 after 9 darts he doesn't even get a shot at a double as James hits 25, T20, D20 for a 125 out and a 12-darter. At this point both players were averaging 107+. The next 2 legs saw a few missed doubles that brought the averages down but James nicked them both for a 6-3 win. Tremendous game of darts.
Last 16
Robert Thornton (103.89) 6-1 (80.67) James Wade - After his exploits in the previous round James didn't get out of the blocks for this one and Roberts 103+ average was more than enough to see him home comfortably. James will be disappointed after the way he had been throwing.
Marking finished, Thornton went on to win it.
Blah, blah markers cup, blah, blah, dartitis, blah, blah went home.
Day 2 - PC 8
For start of day see 1st paragraph of Day 1.
The darts - Board 16
Round 1
Wes Newton 6-4 Zoran Lerchbacher - Wes was not at his best but his scoring was still more consistent than Zoran's and a solid hold in leg 10 got him over the line.
Josh Payne 6-4 Darren Johnson - Another close game but Darren's scoring deserted him at 4-4 and he got punished, as happens when scoring deserts you at this level.
Paul Nicholson 6-1 Adam Hunt - Paul's 6 legs were won in 16, 14, 15, 15, 15 & 15 with an overall average of 99.14 for the match. Adam is capable of playing much better than this and he'll be disappointed but Nicho chucked some good stuff.
Steve Grubb 6-5 Tomas Seyler - Grubby went 3-0 behind early on as Tomas hit 4x180s in the first 3 legs but Steve turned it around, upped his scoring and his finishing was excellent. Fair play, a great fightback.
Round 2
Wes Newton 6-5 Josh Payne - After 10 close legs of darts it could have gone either way. Not the highest standard but a good darting scrap. Wes had won the bull and a 13 darter with the darts was plenty to give him the win.
Paul Nicholson 6-0 Steve Grubb - no fightback from Steve this time. Nicho very consistent again without averaging as high as Round 1 but absolutely clinical on his doubles so that whenever Steve had a sniff of a finish, Paul closed it out. (Hard luck Grubby, well played, Grubby
)Round 3 - Board final
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Wes Newton - Paul is still getting used to using his new Winmau darts (similar shape to his Unicorn's but different finish, colour-scheme and grip-cut) but he is certainly finding his consistency on the treble. Wes missed a D13 for a 146 and Bull for a 167 which would have made the game much closer and after leaving a double after 12 darts in leg 8 could only watch on as Paul smacked in T20, T17, Bull for a 161 out and the match.
Last 16
Christian Kist 6-1 Paul Nicholson - Paul's form (like Wade the day before) dipped slightly in the next round and it cost him. Christian had come from 5-2 down in the previous round to beat Jason Lovett with 4 superb legs and he picked up straight from that point breaking in the 1st leg and not looking back, the main difference between the two was the Dutchman was hitting lots of 140s to Paul's consistent tons. He also finished pretty well too.
Last 8
Simon Whitlock (90.86) 6-2 (91.07) Christian Kist - the 2 legs Christian won were in 11 and 13 darts. Lots of tons from both players (37 in the match) but Simon was well ahead on the 140s. Game better than the averages suggest, again dragged down late in the match by some scrappy finishing. A good quality game that was tighter than the scoreline suggests.
So, that was it for another Wigan weekend, blah, blah, blah, went home, blah, blah, M6 roadworks, blah blah, wrote this post.