Walsh Beats Taylor to Derby Title
Posted on March 1st, 2010
MARK WALSH celebrated victory in a UK Open Qualifier in Derby for a second successive year with a 6-2 defeat of Phil Taylor in Sunday’s final.
Walsh had defeated Raymond van Barneveld to take the £6,000 title at the Moorways Centre in 2009, and this time overcame the World Champion in the decider.
He had held off a Co Stompe fightback to win their semi-final 6-4, having led 3-0 and 4-1 before the Dutchman levelled.
Walsh also took some notable scalps in the early rounds with wins over Colin Lloyd, Mark Webster and Dennis Priestley, before seeing off Colin Monk 6-1 in the quarter-finals.
He saved perhaps his best form for the final, taking out double five for the opening leg after Taylor missed two darts to break throw, before finishing 100 in the second leg to move two legs up.
Taylor hit back with a 14-darter, but paid for missed doubles in the next two as Walsh took out a brace of 14-darters on 62 in reply to move 4-1 up.
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Tags: Results, Review, UK Open
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1,000 Enter Rileys Amateur UK Open Qualifiers
Posted on February 27th, 2010
ENTRIES for the Rileys Amateur Qualifiers for the UK Open have now passed 1,000.
There will be 32 places in June’s UK Open on offer from the Rileys Amateur Qualifiers, which are free-to-enter knockout events being held around the country in Rileys Darts Zones.
The knockouts will be held in 20 venues in April and May and played in two stages, with huge demand seen from keen amateur stars across the UK.
Over 1,000 players have already registered, with entries being taken until March 31 2010.
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Tags: Amateur Qualifiers, Rileys, UK Open
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Swindon Double For King
Posted on February 21st, 2010
MERVYN KING completed a clean sweep of the PDC ProTour events in Swindon with a 6-1 defeat of Simon Whitlock to win Sunday’s UK Open Qualifier at the Oasis Leisure Centre.
King backed up Saturday’s Players Championship victory with another classy display to claim the £6,000 top prize from the first of eight UK Open Qualifiers to be held in the coming months.
Having overcome a scare in Sunday’s opening game, when he battled from behind to defeat Anastasia Dobromyslova in a deciding leg, King then swept to 6-3 wins against local rival Peter Wright, Premier League Darts opponent Ronnie Baxter, Jamie Caven and Wayne Jones.
In the semi-finals, he landed seven 180s in a 6-4 defeat of world number two James Wade – repeating his Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts win on Thursday against the left-hander – before defeating Whitlock in the final.
King made an early statement of intent in the decider, taking out 117 in the opening leg, double one to break Whitlock’s throw in the second, and a 14-darter to move 3-0 up.
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Huge Demand For Rileys Amateur Qualifiers
Posted on February 17th, 2010
OVER 500 entries for the Rileys Amateur Qualifiers for the 2010 UK Open have already been made.
The Rileys Amateur Qualifiers will see non-PDPA members get the chance to win a place in June’s UK Open at Bolton via a series of free-to-enter knockouts to be held in Rileys Darts Zones.
The knockouts will be held in two stages in April and May at 20 venues around the UK, with a total of 32 players eventually winning a spot in the UK Open.
After only a week since the Rileys Amateur Qualifiers were launched, over 500 budding stars have already entered for the event.
“We’re delighted to have seen such interest in the Rileys Amateur Qualifiers already,” said PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter.
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Tags: UK Open
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Enter The FA Cup of Darts!
Posted on February 16th, 2010
ENTER THE ‘FA CUP OF DARTS’ AND YOU COULD BE A GIANT KILLER!
Chance to take on the big boys like Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor in the UK Open. It’s the ‘FA Cup of Darts’ and you could be a giant killer!
The UK Open is the only Professional Darts Corporation tournament where amateur players compete against the top professionals, including 15-time World Champion Phil Taylor.
And thanks to Rileys, the snooker operator moving into darts, there are 32 places for would-be giant killers up for grabs.
Rileys are holding eliminator tournaments during April and May at 20 of their clubs across the country to find 32 winners who will go through to compete in the UK Open.
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Blue Square UK Open – Taylor Claims Bolton Hat-Trick
Posted on June 8th, 2009
PHIL TAYLOR claimed a Blue Square UK Open hat-trick with an 11-6 victory over Colin Osborne in the final at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium on Sunday night.
Taylor followed up his wins in the 2003 and 2005 events with a third victory, claiming the £40,000 winner’s cheque in bouncing back strongly from his Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts semi-final loss a fortnight ago.
The 14-time World Champion dropped just six legs in his opening three games in the event, before whitewashing Mark Lawrence in the quarter-finals.
He held off Ronnie Baxter’s challenge in the semi-finals – with the Evesham thrower coming back from 6-0 down to 7-6 before eventually losing 10-6 – before claiming the £40,000 winner’s cheque by seeing off Osborne.
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Blue Square UK Open Quarter-Final Round-Up
Posted on June 7th, 2009
PHIL TAYLOR ruthlessly whitewashed Mark Lawrence to win his place in the Blue Square UK Open semi-finals and remain on course for a third Bolton title.
Taylor created a new UK Open record with a 115.62 average against the Yorkshireman, eclipsing the 115.51 he marked in a win over Ken Mather on Saturday afternoon with a sensational performance.
Taylor hit nine 180s in the ten legs, and sealed a comprehensive victory with a ten-dart finish.
The 2003 and 2005 UK Open champion will now take on Ronnie Baxter in Sunday evening’s semi-finals, after the Evesham-based thrower reached the last four for the first time in Bolton with a 10-7 win over Terry Jenkins.
Baxter came from 4-1 down to win six successive legs and take command before completing the victory.
The other semi-final sees Colin Osborne take on Kevin Painter, who will also be appearing in the last four for the first time after a 10-8 win over Alan Tabern.
Painter trailed Tabern 3-1 but produced finishes of 124 and 121 in reaching his first major semi-final for 18 months.
Osborne, a Reebok Stadium semi-finalist two years ago, saw off Derby rival Jamie Caven 10-3 in the other last eight fixture.
Osborne never looked back after taking a 5-0 lead, and hit a 160 finish in remaining on course for a first major final appearance.
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Tags: Results, Review, UK Open
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Blue Square UK Open – Saturday Evening Round-Up
Posted on June 7th, 2009
WORLD number 80 Mark Lawrence will take on two-time Blue Square UK Open champion Phil Taylor in the quarter-finals of this year’s event at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday.
Lawrence, a lorry driver from South Elmsall, had never gone beyond the last 32 of a televised tournament during his career, but defeated Mark Dudbridge and Colin Lloyd to set up a high-profile clash in Bolton.
The 44-year-old will take on Taylor in the quarter-finals of “The FA Cup of Darts” on Sunday, having produced the performance of his life to knock out former world number one Colin Lloyd 9-3 in the last 16.
“It’s been an amazing weekend,” said Lawrence, who also defeated Steve Brown earlier in the event. “I’m on cloud nine and hopefully I can continue my form on Sunday.”
While Lawrence was brilliant in defeating Lloyd, he will need to improve further if he is to prevent Taylor’s bid for a third UK Open title.
The 14-time World Champion set a new tournament record average of 115.51 in a fourth round win over Ken Mather, and then defeated Andy Smith 9-2 to power into the last eight.
“I’m delighted with how things have gone so far and I’m desperate to win this title again,” said Taylor.
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Blue Square UK Open – Saturday Afternoon Round-Up
Posted on June 6th, 2009
PHIL TAYLOR set a new Blue Square UK Open record average of 115.51 in progressing to the fifth round of the tournament against rookie Ken Mather on Saturday afternoon.
Taylor had averaged 114.5 against Wes Newton a year ago, and went even better in a 9-3 win against Mather, a Holsten Qualifier from Salford who had won four matches to reach the last 32.
Mather came from 3-0 down against the 14-time World Champion to pull back to 3-2, but had no answer to Taylor’s scoring power as he took six of the next seven for victory.
“Ken was fantastic and I had to average 115 to win it,” said Taylor. “He’s got a lot of bottle and was one of the best non-professionals we’ve had – and he enjoyed it.”
Mather, whose day job involves putting out motorway cones, admitted: “It’s fantastc. I played the best in the world, had loads of support and it was a dream.”
Taylor now meets Andy Smith in round five, after the Studley-based player defeated Michael Barnard 9-6.
Two-time UK Open champion Raymond van Barneveld remains on course for a UK Open hat-trick following a 9-7 win against Andy Hamilton.
Two other Stoke professionals joined Hamilton in going out of the event in round four, with Dennis Priestley defeating Mark Frost 9-6 and Adrian Lewis losing 9-3 to in-form Mark Walsh.
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Blue Square UK Open – Friday Round-Up
Posted on June 6th, 2009
DEFENDING champion James Wade was dumped out of the Blue Square UK Open with a 9-8 loss to Peter Manley on Friday night.
Wade had picked up the biggest pay-day of his career by winning £125,000 at the Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts play-offs just ten days ago – but leaves Bolton with just £1,000 after relinquishing his title.
The world number two led 3-1 early on only for Manley to hit back and move 5-3 and 8-5 up.
Wade responded superbly to stay in the game, winning three successive legs to force a decider – only to miss double top for the win before Manley hit the same bed for victory.
Manley now meets former Lakeside Champion Mark Webster in Saturday afternoon’s fourth round, after the left-hander made winning debut in the UK Open with a 9-6 win over Peter Wright.
“I’ve dropped out of the world’s top 16 and it’s such a hard circuit now, so I need to do well here and I’ve beaten the defending champion,” said Manley. “It’s a win that means so much to me.”
Earlier in the night, two-time UK Open champion Phil Taylor powered past Manchester’s Lee Williams, who was making his televised debut but succumbed to a 9-1 loss.
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