2004 UK Open Darts
Encyclopedia
The 2004 Budweiser UK Open was the second time the Professional Darts Corporation
held the tournament which had quickly earned the nickname the "FA Cup of Darts". It was held at Bolton Wanderer's Reebok Stadium
between 4 and 6 June 2004. Budweiser
became the tournament's first title sponsor. Roland Scholten
won the title and the tournament featured Phil Taylor's second televised nine dart finish
during his fourth round win over Matt Chapman.
128 players started the chase for the title with the lower ranked players. The competition had earned the nickname, "The FA Cup of Darts" by the nature of its random draw for each round - and there was the extraordinary pairing of former world champions John Lowe
against Keith Deller
in the first round. Lowe, who had been missing several tournaments on the circuit at the time opted to withdraw from the event so Deller received a bye into round two.
Alex Roy
showed the worst of his form and temperament against James "Odd Job" Barton, an electrical tester from Bradford. Barton edged Roy out 5-4. Richie Burnett
was very poor against Eamon Davies who comfortably beat the Welshman 5-3. Rod Harrington
hadn't qualified for a televised tournament for a year and even though his darts were now not falling out of the board, he narrowly lost out to Bedfordshire's Derek Hunt 5-4.
Alan Green took out another known face, Leeds player Dave Smith 5-4 and 'The Horse' Reg Harding was also going home early, as was last year's finalist Shayne Burgess
who lost 5-2 to Lee Rose. Mick Manning lost 5-1 to Graham Stoddart and Cliff Lazarenko
stormed through to round two courtesy of a 5-1 win over Andrew Davies. Dennis Harbour
beat the only lady in the competition Deta Hedman 5-2 and Dutchman Jan van der Rassel
started strongly by beating Steve Ritchie 5-1.
Best match of the first round was former BDO player Colin Monk (now full time with the PDC) against Lee Palfreyman who was last seen on TV in the Las Vegas tournament two years ago. It was a belter of a game with Monk edging out Palfreyman 5-4. Both players averaged around 96.0 in the match.
Another 32 players entered the fray for the second round and perhaps not quite as many shocks this time. A slimmed down Alan Warriner
who had shed two stones in weight since his last TV appearance got off to a shaky start trailing 3-0 to Eddie Lovely. However the "Ice Man" dug deep and ended up the winner 5-4.
The previous year's local hero Paul Williams was edged out 5-4 by Ian Covill and other local 'The Natural' Les Fitton stormed to a 5-0 win over Tony Smith. Matt Clark went through as did Tom Kirby 5-3 against Keith Wetton. Andy "Fat Boy" Keen took out Simon Whatley 5-2 and Mark Landers beat Tony Wilson 5-1. "Uncle Fester" Richie Buckle lost out 5-4 to David Platt, who was a "9 dart" challenge qualifier for the 2003 world championship.
Tracking those who came through from the first round, "Odd Job" James Barton won again by beating Alex Mackay 5-4. Dennis Harbour also won again beating the fancied Welshman Wayne Atwood 5-4. "Big" Cliff Lazarenko took out Graham Stoddart 5-3 and Colin Monk had a slightly easier game this time beating Mark Holyoake 5-2.
Into Saturday and enter all those who qualified in the top places during the regional finals. The format was now best of 15 legs, so a bit more time to settle down and play for the seasoned dart players.
Darren Webster went down 5-0 to James Wade
and it looked all over. However he amazingly pulled the match back to 5-5 before Wade ultimately squeezed through 8-7. Mark Dudbridge
and Roland Scholten
were neck and neck at 4-4 with all legs going with the throw, Dudbridge even managing the first six perfect darts of a potential 9 darter. However Scholten took a leg against the throw and then stormed ahead to an 8-5 win.
Friday's hero James Barton finally met his match against rising star Mark Walsh who went into round four with an 8-3 win. However Cliff Lazarenko
notched up his third win of the tournament edging out Robert Green 8-7.
Wayne Mardle
appeared to struggle for a while against Vic Hubbard before winning through. He joked with interviewer Helen Chamberlain that his wayward throws into the fives were a tactic. Mardle also commented that he is now a full time pro having quit his accounts job in the City of London.
Dennis Priestley
looked to be in good form as he edged out Terry Jenkins
8-7. Priestley commented that while playing on a 'minor' board that the noise and calling from the main stage was off putting. He also said that he was probably the only player brave enough to voice his opinion on this matter!
Les Fitton again produced a whitewash beating Steve Parsons 8-0. That was 13 legs on the trot to 'The Natural' without a loss! John Part
took out Eamon Davies 8-4 and commented that his World no. 1 ranking could be a bit false. He suggested we wait for the official rankings after the World Matchplay to see who really is top of the pile.
Phil Taylor had a difficult match against Steve Maish
, a player soaring up the PDC rankings list. Taylor won 8-3 but averaged only around 93.0. A bit of Taylor magic was evident though as he took out a 170 - the highest finish. Maish threw six perfect darts and perhaps thought of a 9-darter. He said to Taylor afterwards that he didn't realise he'd have got nothing for it. Taylor later joked, "If he'd hit it, I'd have given him a tenner."
Shock of the round was Peter Manley
the no.1 qualifier going straight out to Matt Chapman. 'The Sheriff' Erik Clarys got through to the last 32 as did Peter Evison
. No such luck for Lionel Sams
who was edged out by Henry O'Neill. Form player before the tournament Colin Lloyd
really struggled against 57 year old Tom Kirby before muscling through 8-6 and Dutchman Jan Van Der Rassel won his third match taking out Mark Landers 8-4.
Andy Jenkins
whitewashed Martin Freeman 8-0 for a place in the last 16. John Part
had a harder task facing the ever improving Bob Anderson
. Anderson led 6-5 and then John Part checked out a beautiful 160 to tie the game. This must have rocked Anderson and Part took the final two legs to make it 8-6.
Alan Warriner
raced to a 6-0 lead against Cliff Lazarenko
. It was too much for the big man to claw back but he finished with a respectable losing scoreline of 8-4. Ronnie Baxter
sailed through to the last 16 as did 62 year old John Magowan.
Colin Lloyd
and James Wade
was a match that went to the wire. At 7-7 Lloyd had first throw. He threw 40 which tossed the advantage in Wade's direction. Wade then threw only 24 and Lloyd persevered to win the leg and the match.
Both Peter Evison
and Jan Van Der Rassel had done well in the tournament thus far and in another 8-7 game, "The Fen Tiger" just eclipsed the impressive Van Der Rassel. Alan Caves beat Dennis Smith 8-3 and 'The Natural' Les Fitton continued with his strong form to almost get the better of world finalist Kevin Painter. After his 8-6 win Painter said, "Les is either rubbish or he's brilliant. He's a bit of a spaceship!"
Match of the round had to be Phil Taylor against young Matt Chapman who had taken the scalp of Peter Manley in round three. Taylor won the match 8-2 with an average of 111.0 and made history by taking out his second live televised nine darter
, the only player in Darts history to do so.
Commentator John Gwynne
's quote of "He is very-very extra-ordinary!!" goes down in darts history along with the nine darter and sums it up. Co-commentator Stuart Pyke
noted that Taylor had achieved this without having played a competitive match for six months. The whole of the stadium erupted after the nine darter with the crowd singing for many minutes. Richie Buckle was spotted singing along with the crowd and Colin Lloyd stopped his live TV interview to give Taylor a round of applause.
Taylor felt this one was easy because there was no special prize for a nine darter in the tournament so as he threw the final three darts he thought "just do it." And he did! It was reported afterwards that tournament sponsors Budweiser were to present Taylor with 501 bottles of beer for his achievement!
Dennis Priestley
continued at the UK Open with a return to impressive form really first shown at the World Championships at the turn of the year. He went into a 4-0 lead against a lacklustre John Part
and Part then picked up his game to make it 4-4. Part took out a 156 checkout to go ahead 5-4 and then Priestley brought the game back level to 6-6. Priestley then set himself up for a possible 9 darter with six perfect darts, but though that wasn't to be he did take the lead 7-6. Then it went to 7-7 after Priestley missed a dart for the match and Part won the deciding leg to win 8-7. Part through but great to see Priestley back and hitting six maximums during the match.
Andy Jenkins
raced off to a 5-0 lead against Colin Monk with an average of over 103.0 but the latter pulled it back to 7-6. Jenkins took the next leg to win 8-6. Alan Warriner
also went into the quarter finals beating Alan Caves 8-3.
Denis Ovens
and Roland Scholten
was neck and neck all the way until Scholten pulled clear at the end for an 8-6 win. John Magowan went 6-1 up against Kevin Painter
and appeared to have the game won but Painter clawed 7 legs on the trot to win 8-6. Colin Lloyd
raced to a 6-2 lead against Ronnie Baxter
but the latter pulled the game back to 7-7. Lloyd then won the decider for his place in the quarter finals.
Wayne Mardle
went into a 4-2 lead against Phil Taylor but "The Power" brought it back to 4-4. At 5-5 Taylor took out a 155 checkout to lead 6-5. The match was neck and neck again going to 7-7. Both players had darts for the match but it was Taylor who hit the double 5 to win. Apparently no love lost between them at the start of the match Phil Taylor seemed to begrudgingly shake Mardle's hand. Apparently at the world championships Wayne Mardle was annoyed that Phil Taylor had brought in a pop star friend to their post match interview. After this game Mardle said, "I'm throwing down the gauntlet - I'm going to beat him." Interestingly throughout their post match interview the players were turned away from each other, Taylor almost with his back to Mardle.
Steve Beaton
started well against Kevin Painter
going 4–2 ahead. He maintained this advantage going 7-4 and ultimately 8-5 to win a place in the semi-finals. After the match Beaton said that he'd stopped smoking a few months ago and decided that he wouldn't be practising for the semi-final and that he'd just chill out before the next match.
Andy Jenkins
and Colin Lloyd
was a much more tense affair. Jenkins went 3-1 up but Lloyd pulled it back to 3-3. Jenkins then led again at 6-4 but again Lloyd squared the match at 6-6. Jenkins then threw six perfect darts and though the nine darter wasn't on it was enough to lead again at 7-6. He took the match 8-6 and it was an accomplished performance from "Rocky" who started four legs with a maximum.
Match of the round was undoubtedly Phil Taylor and John Part
. The live draw placed them on board two much to Taylor's consternation. Part had played on this board before with all the distractions from the main board, but it was a first for Taylor. Part took an early break of throw to go 3-1 up. Taylor broke back and took it to 3 a piece. Part again went into the lead at 5-3 and Taylor once again squared the match at 5-5, then 6-6. As Part said afterwards he just kept his confidence and self-belief high and this was enough to win this tussle with "The Power" 8–6.
Roland Scholten
went 3–1 up against Alan Warriner
who had said that he'd changed his darts three times since the world championships. Warriner took three on the trot to go ahead 4–3 before Scholten dug deep to take the next three legs. The match ultimately finished 8–6 to Scholten who said afterwards that he was happy with the way he was playing. Asked about the forthcoming semifinal, Scholten said that he would try to play to his ability and see what happened.
John Part
and Andy Jenkins
was another close game. Part was the first to admit he didn't play well in the match. Jenkins took an early 3-2 lead courtesy of a 121 checkout. Part then clawed ahead and kept a one leg advantage up until 6-5 when Jenkins then squared the match again. Ultimately 8-7 to Part who said afterwards that he felt Andy Jenkins had control of the match and that he was "pretty lucky" to get through to the final.
Steve Beaton
shot out of the starting blocks against "The Tripod" Roland Scholten
going 3-0 up. However where in the past the Dutchman had caved in during the closing stages of a tournament, this time it was a different Roland Scholten. Beaton only took one more leg in the match which went 8-4 to Scholten.
Scholten blasted off to a 6-1 lead in this first to 11 legs race courtesy of some impeccable finishing. Part continued to be somewhat off the boil as Scholten took the match to 8-3. Finally Part seemed to get some rhythm going as he won the next two legs to make it 8-5. Scholten won the next and in the fifteenth leg after a 180 by Scholten, Part threw some really wayward darts. At 10-6, Scholten signalled his intent by throwing back to back 180s and the match and the UK Open title was his, along with the payout cheque of £30,000. Part admitted after the match that Roland deserved to be the champion.
Scholten himself said, "The competition is so hard. The day really starts at 7:30 and you are on the go until 10:30 at night. It took lots of focusing and concentration. I'm well happy. My form's been doubtful but I took a lot of confidence from the first and second day. When I reached the final I thought that I might as well do it now. I hope it's a turnaround. A brilliant crowd, a long day and thanks very much!"
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...
held the tournament which had quickly earned the nickname the "FA Cup of Darts". It was held at Bolton Wanderer's Reebok Stadium
Reebok Stadium
The Reebok Stadium is the home stadium of English Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers, and is located on the Middlebrook Retail Park in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. It is commonly known as 'The Reebok'...
between 4 and 6 June 2004. Budweiser
Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)
Budweiser is a 5.0% abv American-style lager introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch and one of the highest selling beers in the United States. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced in various breweries located around the world...
became the tournament's first title sponsor. Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten is a Dutch professional darts player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation and formerly for the British Darts Organisation. He is nicknamed Tripod or The Flying Dutchman and uses Hey Ya by Outkast as his walk-on. He is currently ranked 45th in the PDC...
won the title and the tournament featured Phil Taylor's second televised nine dart finish
Nine dart finish
A nine-dart finish is the ultimate checkout in the game of darts, constituting a perfect game. It is notoriously difficult to achieve, even by the game's top professionals...
during his fourth round win over Matt Chapman.
Prize money
- Winner £30,000
- Runner-up £15,000
- Semi Finals £7,500
- Quarter Finals £4,000
- Last 16 £2,000
- Last 32 £1,000
- Last 64 £500
1st Round, best of 9 legs
128 players started the chase for the title with the lower ranked players. The competition had earned the nickname, "The FA Cup of Darts" by the nature of its random draw for each round - and there was the extraordinary pairing of former world champions John Lowe
John Lowe
John Lowe is an English darts player who was one of the best-known men in darts during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the United Kingdom. Lowe is one of only five players to have won the World Championship 3 times.-Biography:Lowe won the World Championship title in three different decades -...
against Keith Deller
Keith Deller
Keith Deller is an English darts player, who won the Embassy World Professional Darts Championship in 1983. He was the first qualifier ever to win the championship and remains one of the youngest champions in history...
in the first round. Lowe, who had been missing several tournaments on the circuit at the time opted to withdraw from the event so Deller received a bye into round two.
Alex Roy
Alex Roy (darts player)
Alex Roy is a darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. He uses the nickname Ace of Herts for this matches and is with Dave Holland Management....
showed the worst of his form and temperament against James "Odd Job" Barton, an electrical tester from Bradford. Barton edged Roy out 5-4. Richie Burnett
Richie Burnett
Richie Burnett is a Welsh darts player who was the 1995 Embassy World Darts Champion and currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. His nickname is The Prince of Wales.-BDO career:...
was very poor against Eamon Davies who comfortably beat the Welshman 5-3. Rod Harrington
Rod Harrington
Rod Harrington is a former English darts player. He used the nickname The Prince of Style for his matches, often wearing a suit and waistcoast for his games...
hadn't qualified for a televised tournament for a year and even though his darts were now not falling out of the board, he narrowly lost out to Bedfordshire's Derek Hunt 5-4.
Alan Green took out another known face, Leeds player Dave Smith 5-4 and 'The Horse' Reg Harding was also going home early, as was last year's finalist Shayne Burgess
Shayne Burgess
Shayne Burgess is an English darts player who is one of the few examples of players that has switched from the British Darts Organisation to the Professional Darts Corporation and back - he announced his intention to return to the BDO in early 2007, but remains a competitor in the PDC...
who lost 5-2 to Lee Rose. Mick Manning lost 5-1 to Graham Stoddart and Cliff Lazarenko
Cliff Lazarenko
Cliff Lazarenko is an English professional darts player who competed for the British Darts Organisation and the Professional Darts Corporation...
stormed through to round two courtesy of a 5-1 win over Andrew Davies. Dennis Harbour
Dennis Harbour
Dennis Harbour is an English darts player.Harbour played in the 1989 Winmau World Masters and lost in the first round to Dave Whitcombe. He returned to the Masters in 1994, again losing in the first round to Mike Gregory...
beat the only lady in the competition Deta Hedman 5-2 and Dutchman Jan van der Rassel
Jan van der Rassel
Jan van der Rassel is a Dutch darts player who competes in British Darts Organisation events. He uses the nickname The Project for his matches. His former nickname was Tweety Pie....
started strongly by beating Steve Ritchie 5-1.
Best match of the first round was former BDO player Colin Monk (now full time with the PDC) against Lee Palfreyman who was last seen on TV in the Las Vegas tournament two years ago. It was a belter of a game with Monk edging out Palfreyman 5-4. Both players averaged around 96.0 in the match.
Results
- Alex Roy - James Barton 4 - 5
- Richie Burnett - Eamon Davies 3 - 5
- John Lowe - Keith Deller Bye
- Colin Monk - Lee Palfreyman 5 - 4
- Reg Harding - Dale Pinch 3 - 5
- Andy Hamilton - Eddie Lovely 2 - 5
- Derek Hunt - Rod Harrington 5 - 4
- Andrew Stevenson - Peter Evison 4 - 5
- Stuart Rattray - Mick Kenway 5 - 2
- Phil Rawson - Ian Covill 3 - 5
- Steve Evans - Andy Belton 5 - 4
- John Watson - Kelvin Painter 2 - 5
- Alan Green - Dave Smith 5 - 4
- Mark Holyoake - Kevin Rudling 5 - 4
- John MaGowan - Moe Whelan 5 - 0
- John King - Ian Eames 4 - 5
- Dave Ladley - Andrew Findley 5 - 0
- Steve Gillett - Nigel Peden 5 - 2
- Brendan Dolan - James Dunlop 2 - 5
- Gary Stephens - Al Hedman 5 - 2
- Jan van der Rassel - Steve Ritchie 5 - 1
- Tim Daniels - Tom Kirby 5 - 3
- Ian Lever - Mark Harris 5 - 4
- Ray Farrell - Steve Hine Bye
- Dean Williams - Tony Smith 1 - 5
- Shayne Burgess - Lee Rose 2 - 5
- Derek Williams - Bob Crawley 5 - 3
- Steve Smith - Ricky Blay 4 - 5
- Dennis Harbour - Deta Hedman 5 - 2
- Andrew Davies - Cliff Lazarenko 1 - 5
- James Wheatley - Sam Rooney 2 - 5
- Mick Manning - Graeme Stoddart 1 - 5
2nd Round, best of 9 legs
Another 32 players entered the fray for the second round and perhaps not quite as many shocks this time. A slimmed down Alan Warriner
Alan Warriner-Little
Alan Warriner-Little is an English professional darts player. He currently lives in Crosby, Cumbria and plays with the nickname The Iceman...
who had shed two stones in weight since his last TV appearance got off to a shaky start trailing 3-0 to Eddie Lovely. However the "Ice Man" dug deep and ended up the winner 5-4.
The previous year's local hero Paul Williams was edged out 5-4 by Ian Covill and other local 'The Natural' Les Fitton stormed to a 5-0 win over Tony Smith. Matt Clark went through as did Tom Kirby 5-3 against Keith Wetton. Andy "Fat Boy" Keen took out Simon Whatley 5-2 and Mark Landers beat Tony Wilson 5-1. "Uncle Fester" Richie Buckle lost out 5-4 to David Platt, who was a "9 dart" challenge qualifier for the 2003 world championship.
Tracking those who came through from the first round, "Odd Job" James Barton won again by beating Alex Mackay 5-4. Dennis Harbour also won again beating the fancied Welshman Wayne Atwood 5-4. "Big" Cliff Lazarenko took out Graham Stoddart 5-3 and Colin Monk had a slightly easier game this time beating Mark Holyoake 5-2.
Results
- Eddie Lovely - Alan Warriner 4 - 5
- Paul Williams - Ian Covill 4 - 5
- James Wade - Gary Stephens 5 - 3
- Jamie Harvey - Sean Palfrey 3 - 5
- Dennis Harbour - Wayne Attwood 5 - 4
- Tom Williams - Mark Landers 1 - 5
- Wes Newton - Ian Whillis 4 - 5
- Lee Rose - Robert Green 1 - 5
- Norman Fletcher - Les Hodkinson 5 - 2
- Tom Kirby - Keith Wetton 5 - 3
- Steve Johnson - Derek Hunt 5 - 4
- Peter Allen - Derek Williams 5 - 1
- Tony Smith - Les Fitton 0 - 5
- Ladley/Findley - Barrie Bates 4 - 5
- Dave Smith - Steve Smith 5 - 2
- Peter Evison - Keith Deller 5 - 3
- Wheatley/Rooney - Matt Clark 2 - 5
- Graeme Stoddart - Cliff Lazarenko 3 - 5
- Erik Clarys - Ian Eames 5 - 0
- John MaGowan - Steve Hine 5 - 2
- Colin Monk - Mark Holyoake 5 - 2
- Ritchie Buckle - David Platt 4 - 5
- Jan van der Rassel - Ken Thomas 5 - 2
- Dale Pinch - Steve Evans 4 - 5
- Simon Whatley - Andy Keen 2 - 5
- Ian Lever - Eamon Davis 3 - 5
- Alex MacKay - James Barton 4 - 5
- Ritchie Blake - Robbie Widdows 3 - 5
- Vic Hubbard - Steve Gillett 5 - 0
- Martyn Freeman - Paul Dillon 5 - 0
- Kelvin Painter - James Dunlop 5 - 1
- Lionel Sams - Stuart Rattray 5 - 2
3rd Round, best of 15 legs
Into Saturday and enter all those who qualified in the top places during the regional finals. The format was now best of 15 legs, so a bit more time to settle down and play for the seasoned dart players.
Darren Webster went down 5-0 to James Wade
James Wade
James Wade is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation . He became the youngest player ever to win a major PDC title at the World Matchplay in July 2007...
and it looked all over. However he amazingly pulled the match back to 5-5 before Wade ultimately squeezed through 8-7. Mark Dudbridge
Mark Dudbridge
Mark Daniel Dudbridge is an English professional darts player.-Darts career:He started playing in his very early teens, citing Dennis Priestley as one of his heroes...
and Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten is a Dutch professional darts player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation and formerly for the British Darts Organisation. He is nicknamed Tripod or The Flying Dutchman and uses Hey Ya by Outkast as his walk-on. He is currently ranked 45th in the PDC...
were neck and neck at 4-4 with all legs going with the throw, Dudbridge even managing the first six perfect darts of a potential 9 darter. However Scholten took a leg against the throw and then stormed ahead to an 8-5 win.
Friday's hero James Barton finally met his match against rising star Mark Walsh who went into round four with an 8-3 win. However Cliff Lazarenko
Cliff Lazarenko
Cliff Lazarenko is an English professional darts player who competed for the British Darts Organisation and the Professional Darts Corporation...
notched up his third win of the tournament edging out Robert Green 8-7.
Wayne Mardle
Wayne Mardle
Wayne Mardle is a darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation, and former player in the BDO. He now lives in Romford...
appeared to struggle for a while against Vic Hubbard before winning through. He joked with interviewer Helen Chamberlain that his wayward throws into the fives were a tactic. Mardle also commented that he is now a full time pro having quit his accounts job in the City of London.
Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley is an English professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively...
looked to be in good form as he edged out Terry Jenkins
Terry Jenkins
Terry Jenkins is an English professional darts player who is nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the nickname "Tucker" for his matches...
8-7. Priestley commented that while playing on a 'minor' board that the noise and calling from the main stage was off putting. He also said that he was probably the only player brave enough to voice his opinion on this matter!
Les Fitton again produced a whitewash beating Steve Parsons 8-0. That was 13 legs on the trot to 'The Natural' without a loss! John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...
took out Eamon Davies 8-4 and commented that his World no. 1 ranking could be a bit false. He suggested we wait for the official rankings after the World Matchplay to see who really is top of the pile.
Phil Taylor had a difficult match against Steve Maish
Steve Maish
Steve Maish is a darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. He uses the nickname Mr Magic for his matches....
, a player soaring up the PDC rankings list. Taylor won 8-3 but averaged only around 93.0. A bit of Taylor magic was evident though as he took out a 170 - the highest finish. Maish threw six perfect darts and perhaps thought of a 9-darter. He said to Taylor afterwards that he didn't realise he'd have got nothing for it. Taylor later joked, "If he'd hit it, I'd have given him a tenner."
Shock of the round was Peter Manley
Peter Manley
Peter David Manley is an English professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation. He is nicknamed One Dart as he is known for hitting doubles with his first dart...
the no.1 qualifier going straight out to Matt Chapman. 'The Sheriff' Erik Clarys got through to the last 32 as did Peter Evison
Peter Evison
Peter Evison is a darts player who has enjoyed a long career in the game. His greatest achievements were to win the 1989 Winmau World Masters and the 1996 World Matchplay. He has also come close to winning the World Championship on a number of occasions.Before appearing in a major tournament...
. No such luck for Lionel Sams
Lionel Sams
Lionel Jeffrey Sams is an English darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments. He uses the nickname The Lion for his matches....
who was edged out by Henry O'Neill. Form player before the tournament Colin Lloyd
Colin Lloyd
Colin Lloyd , nicknamed Jaws, is an English professional darts player on the Professional Darts Corporation circuit. He is a former world number one ranked player and he has won two major television titles in the PDC - the 2004 World Grand Prix and 2005 World Matchplay...
really struggled against 57 year old Tom Kirby before muscling through 8-6 and Dutchman Jan Van Der Rassel won his third match taking out Mark Landers 8-4.
Results
- Roland Scholten - Mark Dudbridge 8 - 4
- Eamon Davies - John Part 4 - 8
- Steve Maish - Phil Taylor 3 - 8
- Tom Kirby - Colin Lloyd 6 - 8
- Vic Hubbard - Wayne Mardle 3 - 8
- Kevin Painter - Kelvin Painter 8 - 5
- Mark Landers - Jan van der Rassel 4 - 8
- Steve Beaton - Dave Askew 8 - 4
- Mark Walsh - James Barton 8 - 5
- Alan Warriner - Mark Robinson 8 - 5
- Alan Reynolds - Sean Palfrey 7 - 8
- Matt Chapman - Peter Manley 8 - 4
- Darren Webster - James Wade 7 - 8
- Bob Anderson - Peter Allen 8 - 5
- Les Fitton - Steve Parsons 8 - 0
- Alan Green - Erik Clarys 5 - 8
- Dennis Harbour - Adrian Lewis 8 - 7
- Andy Keen - Dennis Smith 4 - 8
- Andy Jenkins - Michael Barnard 8 - 7
- Barrie Bates - Ronnie Baxter 5 - 8
- Adrian Gray - Norman Fletcher 8 - 3
- Alan Caves - Robbie Widdows 8 - 7
- Lionel Sams - Henry O’Neill 7 - 8
- Steve Johnson - John MaGowan 4 - 8
- Robert Green - Cliff Lazarenko 7 - 8
- David Platt - Andy Hayfield 8 - 6
- Peter Evison - Ian Whillis 8 - 4
- Martyn Freeman - Matt Clark 8 - 6
- Terry Jenkins - Dennis Priestley 7 - 8
- Wayne Jones - Colin Monk 2 - 8
- Denis Ovens - Mark Thomson 8 - 4
- Ian Covill - Steve Evans 5 - 8
4th Round, best of 15 legs
Andy Jenkins
Andy Jenkins
Andy Jenkins is an English darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. Jenkins had trials for Southampton Football Club while at school.-BDO career:...
whitewashed Martin Freeman 8-0 for a place in the last 16. John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...
had a harder task facing the ever improving Bob Anderson
Bob Anderson (darts player)
Robert Charles "Bob" Anderson is a former world darts champion. He was ranked as world number one for over three years in the late 1980s. Nicknamed The Limestone Cowboy, he lives in Clevedon in Somerset.-Before Darts:Anderson threw his first darts maximum at the age of just five...
. Anderson led 6-5 and then John Part checked out a beautiful 160 to tie the game. This must have rocked Anderson and Part took the final two legs to make it 8-6.
Alan Warriner
Alan Warriner-Little
Alan Warriner-Little is an English professional darts player. He currently lives in Crosby, Cumbria and plays with the nickname The Iceman...
raced to a 6-0 lead against Cliff Lazarenko
Cliff Lazarenko
Cliff Lazarenko is an English professional darts player who competed for the British Darts Organisation and the Professional Darts Corporation...
. It was too much for the big man to claw back but he finished with a respectable losing scoreline of 8-4. Ronnie Baxter
Ronnie Baxter
Ronnie Baxter is an English darts player. He uses the nickname The Rocket for his matches. Baxter is known for his fast, robotic throwing action...
sailed through to the last 16 as did 62 year old John Magowan.
Colin Lloyd
Colin Lloyd
Colin Lloyd , nicknamed Jaws, is an English professional darts player on the Professional Darts Corporation circuit. He is a former world number one ranked player and he has won two major television titles in the PDC - the 2004 World Grand Prix and 2005 World Matchplay...
and James Wade
James Wade
James Wade is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation . He became the youngest player ever to win a major PDC title at the World Matchplay in July 2007...
was a match that went to the wire. At 7-7 Lloyd had first throw. He threw 40 which tossed the advantage in Wade's direction. Wade then threw only 24 and Lloyd persevered to win the leg and the match.
Both Peter Evison
Peter Evison
Peter Evison is a darts player who has enjoyed a long career in the game. His greatest achievements were to win the 1989 Winmau World Masters and the 1996 World Matchplay. He has also come close to winning the World Championship on a number of occasions.Before appearing in a major tournament...
and Jan Van Der Rassel had done well in the tournament thus far and in another 8-7 game, "The Fen Tiger" just eclipsed the impressive Van Der Rassel. Alan Caves beat Dennis Smith 8-3 and 'The Natural' Les Fitton continued with his strong form to almost get the better of world finalist Kevin Painter. After his 8-6 win Painter said, "Les is either rubbish or he's brilliant. He's a bit of a spaceship!"
Match of the round had to be Phil Taylor against young Matt Chapman who had taken the scalp of Peter Manley in round three. Taylor won the match 8-2 with an average of 111.0 and made history by taking out his second live televised nine darter
Nine dart finish
A nine-dart finish is the ultimate checkout in the game of darts, constituting a perfect game. It is notoriously difficult to achieve, even by the game's top professionals...
, the only player in Darts history to do so.
Commentator John Gwynne
John Gwynne
Richard John Gwynne is a British former teacher and now a sports commentator and reporter.-Broadcasting career:...
's quote of "He is very-very extra-ordinary!!" goes down in darts history along with the nine darter and sums it up. Co-commentator Stuart Pyke
Stuart Pyke
Stuart Pyke is a British-born sports journalist and broadcaster. Stuart was born in St Helens, Merseyside, and is married to Christine. He has two children; Daniel and Rachael and two stepdaughters Emma and Victoria....
noted that Taylor had achieved this without having played a competitive match for six months. The whole of the stadium erupted after the nine darter with the crowd singing for many minutes. Richie Buckle was spotted singing along with the crowd and Colin Lloyd stopped his live TV interview to give Taylor a round of applause.
Taylor felt this one was easy because there was no special prize for a nine darter in the tournament so as he threw the final three darts he thought "just do it." And he did! It was reported afterwards that tournament sponsors Budweiser were to present Taylor with 501 bottles of beer for his achievement!
Results
- John Part - Bob Anderson 8 - 6
- Phil Taylor - Matt Chapman 8 - 2
- Kevin Painter - Les Fitton 8 - 6
- Steve Beaton - Erik Clarys 8 - 6
- Sean Palfrey - Ronnie Baxter 5 - 8
- James Wade - Colin Lloyd 7 - 8
- Martyn Freeman - Andy Jenkins 0 - 8
- Denis Ovens - Mark Walsh 8 - 5
- Steve Evans - John MaGowan 5 - 8
- Jan van der Rassel - Peter Evison 5 - 8
- Dennis Priestley - Adrian Gray 8 - 4
- David Platt - Colin Monk 4 - 8
- Alan Warriner - Cliff Lazarenko 8 - 4
- Alan Caves - Dennis Smith 8 - 3
- Roland Scholten - Henry O’Neill 8 - 6
- Dennis Harbour - Wayne Mardle 6 - 8
5th Round - Last 16, best of 15 legs
Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley is an English professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively...
continued at the UK Open with a return to impressive form really first shown at the World Championships at the turn of the year. He went into a 4-0 lead against a lacklustre John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...
and Part then picked up his game to make it 4-4. Part took out a 156 checkout to go ahead 5-4 and then Priestley brought the game back level to 6-6. Priestley then set himself up for a possible 9 darter with six perfect darts, but though that wasn't to be he did take the lead 7-6. Then it went to 7-7 after Priestley missed a dart for the match and Part won the deciding leg to win 8-7. Part through but great to see Priestley back and hitting six maximums during the match.
Andy Jenkins
Andy Jenkins
Andy Jenkins is an English darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. Jenkins had trials for Southampton Football Club while at school.-BDO career:...
raced off to a 5-0 lead against Colin Monk with an average of over 103.0 but the latter pulled it back to 7-6. Jenkins took the next leg to win 8-6. Alan Warriner
Alan Warriner-Little
Alan Warriner-Little is an English professional darts player. He currently lives in Crosby, Cumbria and plays with the nickname The Iceman...
also went into the quarter finals beating Alan Caves 8-3.
Denis Ovens
Denis Ovens
Denis Ovens is an English darts player currently ranked number 29 in the PDC Order of Merit. He is nicknamed The Heat and is now based in Stevenage. Ovens is widely regarded as one of the most consistent players in the circuit, though he has as yet failed to convert his form from the circuit to...
and Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten is a Dutch professional darts player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation and formerly for the British Darts Organisation. He is nicknamed Tripod or The Flying Dutchman and uses Hey Ya by Outkast as his walk-on. He is currently ranked 45th in the PDC...
was neck and neck all the way until Scholten pulled clear at the end for an 8-6 win. John Magowan went 6-1 up against Kevin Painter
Kevin Painter
Kevin Painter is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, where he is known as "The Artist"...
and appeared to have the game won but Painter clawed 7 legs on the trot to win 8-6. Colin Lloyd
Colin Lloyd
Colin Lloyd , nicknamed Jaws, is an English professional darts player on the Professional Darts Corporation circuit. He is a former world number one ranked player and he has won two major television titles in the PDC - the 2004 World Grand Prix and 2005 World Matchplay...
raced to a 6-2 lead against Ronnie Baxter
Ronnie Baxter
Ronnie Baxter is an English darts player. He uses the nickname The Rocket for his matches. Baxter is known for his fast, robotic throwing action...
but the latter pulled the game back to 7-7. Lloyd then won the decider for his place in the quarter finals.
Wayne Mardle
Wayne Mardle
Wayne Mardle is a darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation, and former player in the BDO. He now lives in Romford...
went into a 4-2 lead against Phil Taylor but "The Power" brought it back to 4-4. At 5-5 Taylor took out a 155 checkout to lead 6-5. The match was neck and neck again going to 7-7. Both players had darts for the match but it was Taylor who hit the double 5 to win. Apparently no love lost between them at the start of the match Phil Taylor seemed to begrudgingly shake Mardle's hand. Apparently at the world championships Wayne Mardle was annoyed that Phil Taylor had brought in a pop star friend to their post match interview. After this game Mardle said, "I'm throwing down the gauntlet - I'm going to beat him." Interestingly throughout their post match interview the players were turned away from each other, Taylor almost with his back to Mardle.
Results
- Andy Jenkins - Colin Monk 8 - 6
- Phil Taylor - Wayne Mardle 8 - 7
- Dennis Priestley - John Part 7 - 8
- Ronnie Baxter - Colin Lloyd 7 - 8
- Alan Caves - Alan Warriner 3 - 8
- Peter Evison - Steve Beaton 5 - 8
- Dennis Ovens - Roland Scholten 6 - 8
- Kevin Painter - John MaGowan 8 - 6
Quarter-finals, best of 15 legs
Steve Beaton
Steve Beaton
Steve Beaton is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation...
started well against Kevin Painter
Kevin Painter
Kevin Painter is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, where he is known as "The Artist"...
going 4–2 ahead. He maintained this advantage going 7-4 and ultimately 8-5 to win a place in the semi-finals. After the match Beaton said that he'd stopped smoking a few months ago and decided that he wouldn't be practising for the semi-final and that he'd just chill out before the next match.
Andy Jenkins
Andy Jenkins
Andy Jenkins is an English darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. Jenkins had trials for Southampton Football Club while at school.-BDO career:...
and Colin Lloyd
Colin Lloyd
Colin Lloyd , nicknamed Jaws, is an English professional darts player on the Professional Darts Corporation circuit. He is a former world number one ranked player and he has won two major television titles in the PDC - the 2004 World Grand Prix and 2005 World Matchplay...
was a much more tense affair. Jenkins went 3-1 up but Lloyd pulled it back to 3-3. Jenkins then led again at 6-4 but again Lloyd squared the match at 6-6. Jenkins then threw six perfect darts and though the nine darter wasn't on it was enough to lead again at 7-6. He took the match 8-6 and it was an accomplished performance from "Rocky" who started four legs with a maximum.
Match of the round was undoubtedly Phil Taylor and John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...
. The live draw placed them on board two much to Taylor's consternation. Part had played on this board before with all the distractions from the main board, but it was a first for Taylor. Part took an early break of throw to go 3-1 up. Taylor broke back and took it to 3 a piece. Part again went into the lead at 5-3 and Taylor once again squared the match at 5-5, then 6-6. As Part said afterwards he just kept his confidence and self-belief high and this was enough to win this tussle with "The Power" 8–6.
Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten is a Dutch professional darts player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation and formerly for the British Darts Organisation. He is nicknamed Tripod or The Flying Dutchman and uses Hey Ya by Outkast as his walk-on. He is currently ranked 45th in the PDC...
went 3–1 up against Alan Warriner
Alan Warriner-Little
Alan Warriner-Little is an English professional darts player. He currently lives in Crosby, Cumbria and plays with the nickname The Iceman...
who had said that he'd changed his darts three times since the world championships. Warriner took three on the trot to go ahead 4–3 before Scholten dug deep to take the next three legs. The match ultimately finished 8–6 to Scholten who said afterwards that he was happy with the way he was playing. Asked about the forthcoming semifinal, Scholten said that he would try to play to his ability and see what happened.
Results
- Phil Taylor - John PartJohn PartJohn Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...
6 - 8 - Roland ScholtenRoland ScholtenRoland Scholten is a Dutch professional darts player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation and formerly for the British Darts Organisation. He is nicknamed Tripod or The Flying Dutchman and uses Hey Ya by Outkast as his walk-on. He is currently ranked 45th in the PDC...
- Alan WarrinerAlan Warriner-LittleAlan Warriner-Little is an English professional darts player. He currently lives in Crosby, Cumbria and plays with the nickname The Iceman...
8 - 6 - Steve BeatonSteve BeatonSteve Beaton is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation...
- Kevin PainterKevin PainterKevin Painter is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, where he is known as "The Artist"...
8 - 5 - Andy JenkinsAndy JenkinsAndy Jenkins is an English darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. Jenkins had trials for Southampton Football Club while at school.-BDO career:...
- Colin LloydColin LloydColin Lloyd , nicknamed Jaws, is an English professional darts player on the Professional Darts Corporation circuit. He is a former world number one ranked player and he has won two major television titles in the PDC - the 2004 World Grand Prix and 2005 World Matchplay...
8 - 6
Semi Finals, best of 15 legs
John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...
and Andy Jenkins
Andy Jenkins
Andy Jenkins is an English darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. Jenkins had trials for Southampton Football Club while at school.-BDO career:...
was another close game. Part was the first to admit he didn't play well in the match. Jenkins took an early 3-2 lead courtesy of a 121 checkout. Part then clawed ahead and kept a one leg advantage up until 6-5 when Jenkins then squared the match again. Ultimately 8-7 to Part who said afterwards that he felt Andy Jenkins had control of the match and that he was "pretty lucky" to get through to the final.
Steve Beaton
Steve Beaton
Steve Beaton is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation...
shot out of the starting blocks against "The Tripod" Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten
Roland Scholten is a Dutch professional darts player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation and formerly for the British Darts Organisation. He is nicknamed Tripod or The Flying Dutchman and uses Hey Ya by Outkast as his walk-on. He is currently ranked 45th in the PDC...
going 3-0 up. However where in the past the Dutchman had caved in during the closing stages of a tournament, this time it was a different Roland Scholten. Beaton only took one more leg in the match which went 8-4 to Scholten.
Final, best of 21 legs
Scholten blasted off to a 6-1 lead in this first to 11 legs race courtesy of some impeccable finishing. Part continued to be somewhat off the boil as Scholten took the match to 8-3. Finally Part seemed to get some rhythm going as he won the next two legs to make it 8-5. Scholten won the next and in the fifteenth leg after a 180 by Scholten, Part threw some really wayward darts. At 10-6, Scholten signalled his intent by throwing back to back 180s and the match and the UK Open title was his, along with the payout cheque of £30,000. Part admitted after the match that Roland deserved to be the champion.
Scholten himself said, "The competition is so hard. The day really starts at 7:30 and you are on the go until 10:30 at night. It took lots of focusing and concentration. I'm well happy. My form's been doubtful but I took a lot of confidence from the first and second day. When I reached the final I thought that I might as well do it now. I hope it's a turnaround. A brilliant crowd, a long day and thanks very much!"