A weekend of UK Open qualifying

[paul_butler]

The write up begins on Friday, but I hadn't yet travelled to Wigan as I was running the Rileys Victoria amateur UK Open qualifier, and a field of 59 players (capped entries due to evening start) took part, with former UK Open qualifiers Aaron Turner, Ben Burton, Alan Casey and Terry Dunford in the field. It was one of those previous qualifiers who prevailed again this time, Alan Casey beating Terry Dunford in the semis and beating Michael Power in the final, Michael having beaten Lewis Venes in the other semi final.

6am train from Euston, arrived in Wigan around 8.30am, into Wetherspoons for a breakfast, and as it was raining I decided on taking a cab through to the venue rather than walking. Checked the draw for my board, number 28 was my number for the weekend, and noted that Richie Burnett was the seed. First game up was Steve West v Leon de Gus, Steve winning 6-2 without really getting out of 2nd gear, next up Michael Mansell disposed of Paul Carter 6-1. hitting a few 180s along the way, this was followed by a yo-yo game between the speedy Matthew Edgar and the slow and methodical Mick Todd, Matt winning 6-5. John Henderson took out Steve West 6-3 after a slow start, Steve was swearing away at himself wondering how he'd thrown the game away, don't think John was too impressed by this and he came over after the game to ask if Steve was swearing at me, he was definitely just beating himself up though. Michael Mansell reached the board final by beating an out of sorts Richie Burnett 6-3, Richie really didn't play well, starting most legs with scores under 60. One of the best games I've ever marked came up next, with Matt Edgar beating John Henderson 6-4. John hit 7 treble 20s into a 9 darter and narrowly missed the treble 19, Matt had one leg with three 140s in a row and he didn't get a go at the 81 as John held his throw in 12 darts, it was an absolute classic and played at some pace. The board final was a slightly more steady affair, with Mansell keeping to his slower style and not being sped up by Edgar, who won 6-3 in the end. I then marked Matt's last 32 game, and he really failed to reproduce the form he'd shown all day so far, and was swept aside by Daryl Gurney, who didn't have to play very well to win 6-2. I have to admit to being shocked to hear that Daryl beat MVG in the following round, he must have upped his game hugely on the game I marked.

An early night to try to catch up on some sleep, and then back nice and early on Sunday morning. Was pleased to see that the seed on my board (28 again) was Steve Beaton, who I've marked for and played against before, and always found him to be a very nice bloke. First up was one of those awkward situations for a marker where you don't know either of the players so aren't sure which one is which, luckily David Murphy's Ireland shirt gave it away, and he was quite easily beaten by Steven Mead 6-1. Mensur Suljovic was next up, hitting a 170 finish in the first leg and beating Jeff Batham 6-1. Josh Payne beat Tony Tasker 6-2 in the match where I made my only major error of the weekend, for some reason writing a score on the wrong side, it was quickly corrected by the players but shook me up a bit and broke my concentration for a leg or two. Steve Beaton started very slowly against Steven Mead, going 2-0 down and should have been 3-0 down, and Steven will be disappointed he didn't take full advantage, Beaton coming back to win 6-3. A real contrast in styles between Mensur Suljovic and Josh Payne, a very high quality game was won 6-5 by Mensur. Steve Beaton took Mensur out in the board final 6-4, another good game, and that was me finished. I stuck around until the end and was delighted to see Phil Taylor hit his 2nd 9 darter of the day in the final. Arrived home at 3am after delayed train then night buses.