Arrived Friday night, only just realised as I was getting in to Gatwick Airport station I was not at the Travelodge I thought I was!
Quick bite to eat and couple of beers
then sleep for 12.Saturday - woke at 8:30, shower
, bus, MaccyD's brekkie, bus and at the K2 I arrive. Flakes of snow in the air, baltic cold. Usual meet and greets, plenty of new markers - so we have a new marker between my board (3) and board 4.I settle down, and here we go:
Last 256
Ronny Huybrechts Steven Pearson 6-2 - think this was Ronny's first match on the tour outside Q School, so a decent honour to have.
John Part Sam Hill 6-2 - not marked John before, so this was another World Champion to add to my list!
Campbell Jackson Andy Hamilton 6-4 - I remember Campbell being 3-0 up, and I must admit I hadn't heard of him before, but if he continues like this, he'll do well. And boy, the darts arrive in the board with some force!
Co Stompe Leon De Geus 6-5 - enjoyed this game. Co is constantly talking during his throw which is pretty comical.
Peter Wright Andy Blackwell 6-2 - Peter was Mr Consistency, hitting steady 100s/140s throughout.
Josh Payne Matt Clark 6-4 - don't remember much of this one.
Last 128
Ronny Huybrechts Shaun Liptrot 6-3 - Ronny hitting consistent good scores was enough for this one.
Peter Wright Josh Payne 6-0 - Peter was too strong for Josh here.
Last 64
John Part Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 - great game, John's experience shone through
Last 32
Peter Wright John Part 6-2 - great game again, but Peter was playing superb
Last 16
Michael van Gerwen Peter Wright 6-3 - you needed your sunglasses with the bright green shirt from MVG, and the bright pink one from Peter! The darts were pretty dazzling too - always a pleasure to see the darts whizzing in with such velocity!
I was given the option of a semi final to mark, but to be honest I was absolutely shot as I'd been tired for the last couple of weeks, and my sauna of a room at the Travelodge didn't help! So I declined the invitation, and took a few cold beverages
to relax and watch the remainder of the games - the highlight being MVG busting 181 with a 180 in the final as mentioned by others.Normally, Saturday night is markers' party night - but given the final didn't finish until 8:45, I took the opportunity of a burger from the bar, and a couple of Stella Cidres
instead, and watched the first half of MOTD before falling asleep!!Sunday - same routine pretty much until I arrived at the venue.
A couple less markers today - but I was floating between boards 11-12 as I needed to leave the venue at 5pm to be able to catch the last bus to Scarborough via East Croydon, St Pancras International, Kings Cross and York!
So, the first hour was stood watching the boards, waiting for the other lads feet to start aching before I was called in to action on board 11.
Jamie Caven Colin Fowler 6-1 - knowing Colin did so well yesterday, I was expecting a closer game - but it wasn't to be.
Then I moved over to board 12 for a couple:
Ian Jopling Chris Aubrey 6-0 - an interesting game this. Chris missed D12 for a 9 darter, but Ian took out at least 3 100+ scores.
Steve Brown Adrian Gray 6-4 - I saw a few ladies swooning to the board for this one(!) - a decent enough game.
Seeing board 10 didn't have a spare marker, I jumped over to give my assistance here:
Vincent van der Voort Chris Wickenden 6-3 - another fast Dutch player to contend with - but to be honest I do find them a lot easier to mark as it's so instinctive and automatic!
Back to board 11 to finish off my day:
Darren Whittingham Jamie Caven 6-2 - not the highest quality match, but Daz did what he needed to do. Jamie (from what I remember) had so many 60s with all 3 darts on the wire
Steve Hine Andrew Gilding 6-1 - a decent enough match - with the Muffin Man coming out on top
Raymond van Barneveld Jelle Klaasen 6-4 - a good quality game, watched by a decent crowd from what I could see after the match. Barney averaged 103, and Jelle 95.
Connie Finnan Darren Whittingham 6-3 - Connie played well enough to beat Daz.
So that was the end of the first weekend of 2013. Time to go and catch my train
. However, when I got to Kings Cross, I found there had been a fatality on the line at Northallerton - this was causing serious congestion to trains - and as a result, the guard on the train I was on had only just arrived in on another train and had to have their statutory break(!) - so we departed 30 minutes late. The train was late in to York, and by rights I should have missed my connection for the last train to Scarborough - but those nice people at Transpennine Express held the train for 10 minutes so the 30 or 40 people could jump on the train home to Scarborough.Home at 11:30pm, shattered - but another good weekend.
