UK Open Qualifier 7 - 27/4/13 - a write-up

[Deleted User]

After the high-scoring that I witnessed at the Euro-Qualifier on Friday evening it was back to Wigan on the Sat for the penultimate UK Open Qualifier.

Having got back home on Friday I decided to indulge in a few libations and left the car at the pub for a 15 min walk home. Walked down in the morning to retrieve it only to find that my car won't go anywhere unless I have the keys! So back home on foot again and then back to the car leaving me running late - yes, I am an idiot.

Good news though that I made it to Wigan in time for the off.
Board 8 was the allocation and a good list of names in the draw. Not quite Board 13 (that had Taylor, Whitlock, Anderson, Thornton and Michael Smith on it!) but some fine throwers nonetheless.

1st Round
Steve Beaton 6-4 Simon Burt - really high standard from both guys and at 3-3 there had been 2x15s, 2x14s and 2x13s. Steve won 3 of the next 4 (18, 13, 16) whilst another 14 from Simon wasn't quite enough. Simon must have been gutted to throw that well but run into another player in great form.

Steve West 6-0 Alan Tabern - Tabby didn't do a lot wrong but Steve was on fire hitting several 180s and check-outs of 153 and 157 in successive legs. Again, some superb scoring and finishing.

Mark Webster 6-4 Steve Brown - nip and tuck game that could have gone either way, Webby surged from 4-3 down to take the win but Steve had chances to take the result the other way.

2nd Round
Peter Wright 6-3 John Bowles - last time I saw John play was his brilliant 6-4 win over Mervyn King (108.67 average). John didn't quite hit those heights and Peter being the very solid floor player that he is took the few chances that John gave him but nothing wrong with either players' scoring.

Steve Beaton 6-2 Joey Palfreyman - Steve carried on with his silky, sublime darts from the first round and raced to a 5-0 lead in no time. Joey pulled a couple back but the way Steve was throwing it was only a matter of time.

Steve West 6-4 Jamie Lewis - Steve and Jamie are good friends and perhaps this was in their minds as the opening legs were a little scrappy. Steve upped the tempo and the scoring in the latter half of the match and ran out a narrow, but deserved victory.

Mark Webster 6-4 Alex Roy - mercurial game with flashes of brilliance and the odd wobble. Legs on throw to 4-4 then Webby (who'd been great on his own throw but not really threatened Alex's) found a 12-darter to break and held on for the win.

3rd Round
Steve Beaton 6-4 Peter Wright - a third classy game from Steve who was scoring really heavily all day and despite Peter's solid scoring it was Steve who took the single-break win.

Steve West 6-4 Mark Webster - This one never quite got going with Mark getting frustrated with his form and Steve making the most of the chances afforded to him. Don't get me wrong there was not a great deal wrong with this game but in my mind I was comparing it to some of the high-scoring and finishing that had preceded it

4th Round (Board Final)
Steve Beaton 6-2 Steve West - leg one was a little comedic with both players missing oodles of doubles before Steve W took it on D1! Steve B then recaptured his form from earlier in the day with heavy scoring and greater consistency than Steve W to close out a 6-2 win.

QF
John Part 6-3 Steve Beaton
Having got through another round, this time Steve didn't quite produce the silkiness of earlier in the day and John showed his class (and his usual great counting) to consistently put the pressure on with his set-up shots. Clinical on the doubles too. If Steve had brought his earlier form this would have been an outstanding game but John still has the skills to pay the bills and moved through into the last 4.

Was nice to see Kim Huybrechts get his maiden ProTour win over John in the final as he's been knocking on the door for a while now and on the day had beaten Ian Moss, Bernd Roith, Adrian Lewis, MvG, Jason Hogg, Gary Anderson and John in the final giving him a very deserved win.

So, 100 legs of quality arrows done with it was back down the M6 (with car keys).
All players on the day were charming and appreciative and (I think) still remember what it was like to self-mark boards when they lost matches. Couldn't do the Sunday due to family commitments so roll on next weekend and return to the (relative) normality of 128 players on 16 boards as the Players Championships begin in earnest.



(Well, in Wigan again actually, not Earnest).

[unob]

...the Players Championships begin in earnest.

It all went wrong for Freddie Mercury when he began in Ernest

[Deleted User]

Indeed! If he'd seen that coming it would have been high levels of zemblanity

[Deleted User]

One thing I should add is that some of the players go the extra mile and make the markers extra welcome. This is not an all-encompassing list and sorry if I overlook anyone but always made very welcome by Richie Howson, John Scott, Steve Maish, Alex Roy, Ken MacNeil, Nick Fullwell, Jim Walker, Steve Grubb, Kevin McDine, Ian White and Dean Winstanley. Great blokes, all.

[nikkiboy]

You can add jabba and Steve Beaton to that

[Deleted User]

You can add jabba and Steve Beaton to that

Definitely!

[MDA]

The job you guys do is mental crazy even

[Deleted User]

The job you guys do is mental crazy even

Not quite sure what you mean, but thanks. The toughest part is the speed of thought. Players know where they are aiming and hence what they've scored when it lands. We don't know until it lands, then we need to calculate what the dart has scored and the running/overall total. I think that's why some excellent players can count very well when playing but struggle to mark.
Oh and if you try to anticipate where a dart is going to set-up a finish you can guarantee that the player goes another way!!!

[nikkiboy]

The job you guys do is mental crazy even

Not quite sure what you mean, but thanks. The toughest part is the speed of thought. Players know where they are aiming and hence what they've scored when it lands. We don't know until it lands, then we need to calculate what the dart has scored and the running/overall total. I think that's why some excellent players can count very well when playing but struggle to mark.
Oh and if you try to anticipate where a dart is going to set-up a finish you can guarantee that the player goes another way!!!

Yep, someone will hit a treble with the last dart to leave a double and I instantly know what's left - its what he scored than can take a few seconds to compute

[STEVE M]

Good write up,have always thought that myself about Steve Beaton when on song and at his best is a real class act.full respect to all the markers as is not an easy job and requires the same amount of concentration as the players.would imagine marking Priestley v pipe would allow you to have a quick fag between throws where as a mvg v klassen could use 2 markers.

[Deleted User]

One thing I should add is that some of the players go the extra mile and make the markers extra welcome. This is not an all-encompassing list and sorry if I overlook anyone but always made very welcome by Richie Howson, John Scott, Steve Maish, Alex Roy, Ken MacNeil, Nick Fullwell, Jim Walker, Steve Grubb, Kevin McDine, Ian White and Dean Winstanley. Great blokes, all.

And I should definitely have included Andy Smith in that list too. I'm sure there's others I'm missing as well!

[Deleted User]

Good write up,have always thought that myself about Steve Beaton when on song and at his best is a real class act.full respect to all the markers as is not an easy job and requires the same amount of concentration as the players.would imagine marking Priestley v pipe would allow you to have a quick fag between throws where as a mvg v klassen could use 2 markers.

Steve threw some epic stuff and has such a great throwing action.
Pipe v Priestley I see as 2 very determined players who play the game their own way - MvG v Klaasen would be pretty damn fast. Marked for both but never at the same time!

[STEVE M]

not knocking them,just saying that marking a game like that would put you under a little less pressure to think,although must be automatic to you marking so many legs back to back has got to be frazzling on the brain at times.

[Deleted User]

not knocking them,just saying that marking a game like that would put you under a little less pressure to think,although must be automatic to you marking so many legs back to back has got to be frazzling on the brain at times.

I agree, the faster players are harder to mark for. And it's not just the speed of throw.
Some start throwing as soon as their opponents darts are out of the board so you're still writing the scores and there's one or two of the next throw already landed

[Ravanell1]

Steve Farmer offered to buy me a drink!
Even my pub team don't do that lol