The Class of 2010 Part 3: 2011 – The Difficult Second Year, by Callum Harris
Posted on January 11th, 2012
By Callum Harris, Missed Parts 1 & 2? Click here
Part 3 – 2011 The Difficult Second Year
Just like that difficult second album year two would see the honeymoon over but all the Class of 2010 started steadily in the Pro Tour events.
The first major of 2011 was the Players Championship Finals and following his first round exit from the World Championships Steve Farmer had said to me “enough of this first round s**t, that’s the last of them!”
And he was not wrong. A superb run saw the 2010 debutant reach the semi finals in fine style with wins over Mark Walsh, Colin Osborne and Colin Lloyd. An in-form Gary Anderson proved too strong in the semi final with a 10-7 victory but Farmer had shown what he was capable of and was hungry for more.
Back on the Pro Tour Scott Rand was making his presence felt with two quarter finals, a semi final and three last 16 appearances in the first couple of months. Some huge scalps had been taken along the way and `Cool Hand’ was showing just how good a player he was and was well positioned for the upcoming majors.
Ian White had a great start to 2011, qualifying for the UK Open and reaching a Pro Tour final along the way.
Antonio Alcinas had started with an even bigger bang getting to a Pro Tour final on the first weekend, in Germany, thus also being right in the mix for major tournament qualification.
Following his sterling efforts at the World Championships, Mark Hylton had begun 2011 in steady fashion and had himself qualified for the UK Open. Then one May weekend in Austria Hylton exploded into form, reaching a quarter final and a semi final on consecutive days, moving him into pole position in the Players Championship Order of Merit.
Steve Farmer’s form had dipped during the first part of 2011 and he slipped up, as Hylton had in 2010, by failing to qualify for the UK Open in Bolton.
Scott Rand had qualified and made a decent debut but was nudged out early on the back of some superb finishing from Steve Beaton.
Ian White was the highest qualifier of the bunch but a tough draw saw him blown out by Gary Anderson in the last 64.
Meanwhile Mark Hylton was on something of a roll. Wins over Brian Woods, Geoff Whitworth, Andy Jenkins, and the dangerous Andrew Gilding preceded a superb last 16 defeat of Peter Wright and brought a quarter final against Denis Ovens. Despite a disappointing 10-6 loss it was another leap in the right direction for the man who was now top of the Class of 2010.
Immediately following the UK Open were more critical qualifiers and another big effort from Hylton brought another semi final. During this wonderful run Hylton produced some top class darts. Over the course of four matches he won over twenty legs without reply and was, at times, unplayable.
Scott Rand was also maintaining his own run of form and, despite a few minor wobbles as the deadline approached, both he and Hylton made it to the Winter Gardens for the World Matchplay in July. Such was Hylton’s form he only narrowly missed out on the toughest major to qualify for – The European Championships.
In Blackpool both men received difficult first round draws and failed to clear the first hurdle, Rand gaining more vital experience against the wily Wayne Jones and Hylton earning plaudits for averaging nearly 100 and running Phil Taylor close. The pair took away many positives from their experience of matchplay format against the big guns of darts.
Following the World Matchplay the summer break would prove tough for some of the players as Scott Rand and Nigel Heydon found themselves desperately disappointed at not being able to attend the Pro Tour events in Canada due to sponsorship issues.
Meanwhile after a slow start on the Pro Tour Ian White was working closely with Mile High and his management, results were soon coming in as morale and determination were boosted. Steve Farmer, meanwhile, seemed content to dip in and out of the tour with what must have been another plan to come strong at the end of the year.
The hard work put in at the start of the season ensured that once again the Class of 2010 would be represented at the World Grand Prix in Dublin. Now a force to be reckoned with, Mark Hylton blazed a trail to the quarter finals, defeating Mark Walsh and, impressively, Simon Whitlock before bowing out to a resurgent Richie Burnett.
The Class of 2010 were improving at every stage and they would have had greater Grand Prix representation had Scott Rand not been cruelly denied qualification at the last gasp by the aforementioned Burnett.
Elsewhere, Antonio Alcinas had been quietly strengthening his European Order of Merit position to ensure qualification for the World Championship. Ian White had produced some incredible consistency in the face of some terrible draws and Nigel Heydon was returning to his early form and looking a serious danger again.
So it proved.
Mark Hylton hit another purple patch in the floor tournaments, reaching more quarter finals and semi finals in the weeks after his Dublin success. Ian White and Nigel Heydon smashed their way into the Grand Slam of Darts through the wildcard route that bore fruit for Hylton in 2010.
White also ensured that it would be a full house at the 2012 World Championships with a superb end of season run that included quarter final and last 16 places. Heydon had been in superb form on the Pro Tour reaching quarter finals with assured regularity.
As in 2010, the Grand Slam of Darts should have been a warning to everybody that the Class of 2010 were not to be underestimated. Heydon and White kicked off superbly, defeating Gary Anderson and Raymond van Barneveld respectively. More importantly they gained three matches of invaluable experience on the pressurised TV stage – good preparation for imminent World Championships.
A shuffling of the PDC calendar saw the Players Championships finals moved to December 2011 giving an extra opportunity for the Class of 2010 to attack the majors.
Mark Hylton bowed out early to Mark Walsh but the baton was brilliantly carried by Scott Rand, who defeated Jamie Caven, James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld in a stunning run to the semi final, only to be thwarted at the penultimate hurdle by an inspired Kevin painter, whose name seemed to be on the trophy. Once more at a major the Class of 2010 had yielded two qualifiers and a semi final spot.
In part 4, Callum looks at the 2012 World Championship……..
Missed Parts 1 & 2? Click here.
Tags: Antonio Alcinas, Ian White, Mark Hylton, Nigel Heydon, PDC Pro Tour, PDPA, Scott Rand, Steve Farmer
Filed under Callum Harris, Darts Blog, General, News |
