Archive for the ‘Darts’ Category

A weekend with the pro tour – Krispy visits Crawley

I thought I’d try again and sum up what it’s like to visit the PDC pro tour – from a fans point of view.  I’m lucky that players like Steve Maish and Justin Pipe are good enough to invite me as their guest, so I can do what very few fans can, rub shoulders with the players ‘at work’ behind closed doors.

Crawley had around 112 entries – so the top 16 or so pro’s earned a bye through to the 2nd round (tops seeds get the byes).  That also meant that the days were a little shorter than earlier in the year when 150 or so could be there, and prelim rounds are required (128 is the magic number for any event).

So this week there was no Danger (my mate Lee), so instead of driving down on the Saturday, I took Friday afternoon off work to spend a leisurely journey down on the train.  The hotel I booked wasn’t too hard to find from the train station, a 20 minute or so walk, with the ever handy iPhone guiding the way.  After a dust down in the room, I thought I’d have a quiet pint or two and sit outside the hotel pub, after all it was probably the last sun of the summer!  I supped my first pint sitting a short distance from young William O’Conner, a real one to watch (as he has shown on the TV this year), and saw Mark Webster walk past.  Not bad spots for my first 20 minutes – but the thing about going to the pro tour and staying near the venue is, the hotel(s) are dripping with darts pros!

2nd pint in, a taxi pulls up and the one and only Steve ‘Mr Magic’ Maish gets out – weekend bag in toe.  Well it would have been impolite not to get him a pint (and me).. as he thought he’d have one before checking in.   That was about 5pm.  I think about 7pm Maishy went and checked in quickly, while I got us another pint.  The quiz machine was then assaulted, with us winning many hundreds of pounds… hmm.. or more probably Maishy spending a tenner or more.  Brains suitably exercised, we watched the England game – as Kirk Shepherd and posse turned up.  To be honest it all gets hazy after a while…  At no point had I actually eaten that day, and all I do know is a packet of crisps is NOT enough… remember that kiddies.  I did meet ‘Nookie’ (Rob) and his girlfriend Hannah; Rob is one of the volunteer markers (and The stars of Darts forum member) – after he left me a message on the forum to “with your right hand touch your left ear” – I did it to much laughter from him sitting nearby.  Contact made!

I awoke Saturday still clothed lying on top of the bed at about 6am.. good move.  Not.  Friday was MEANT to be a quiet night before the weekend’s entertainment – turned out to be nothing of the sort.  I blame you Steve Maish!  A big breakfast later, I was half ready for the darts.  A bit of fresh air on the walk there did help out, as did a pint of breakfast cider once I got there.  I was actually there the earliest I’d ever arrived, about 10:20am.  The K2 sports hall was already pretty full of players, warming up on the boards, or catching up with friends, as it’s been quite a while since the last UK pro tour event.

It was great to catch up with some of the members and admin from ‘The Stars of Darts’ forum – many of them were marking, and a lot of us sat with our mate and pro Steve Grubb and his lovely wife Jen (great supply of cheese n crackers).  It was unusual for it to be suffering, and not the legend who is Chissy (although he looked ROUGH Sunday morning!).   Our ‘markers and pros’ table was a good laugh – shout out to more of the lads, EssexMark, Nikkiboy, Adrian, Bruce, Grandad, Col (mod500).  Also got to chat with Little Richard and Jacque’s for a little while – both legendary refs/callers/spotters/TV faces    We had some interesting conversations over the finer points of the rules of darts!

About 1 leg in to the tournament a loud alarm sounded, with a voice coming over the tannoys; “This is an emergency, please leave by the nearest exit”.. oh great!  The whole tour had to make a swift exit.. and the area outside turned into a mass of amused and not so amused darts pros.  At least the sun was shining!  Rumours that it was actually caused by Grubby turning the toilets toxic are unconfirmed.

Unfortunately forum sponsored Justin Pipe had a rough first game vs. Paul Nicholson – he was 5-2 up at one point, and then Paul come back winning 4 legs in a row.  Steve Grubb beat Anastasia to get to round 3, where he unfortunately came up against Steve Farmer (finalist at the end of the day).  Maishy also got to round 3, where he was 5-5 vs. Adrian Lewis, and left himself on 96, with Ade on 161.  But Adrian is that sort of player – he banged in 161 without even looking like he was aiming… nothing that Maish could do about that!  Mark Dudbridge looked like he was in fine nick  beating Simon Whitlock 6-1 in the 4th round (Mervyn Hathway from We Love Darts magazine said he’d been working with Mark to get him ready for the world champs, and it appears to be working).

I did wonder if Gary Anderson was going to come back from his dodgy shoulder problems to win on the day, but he was beaten 6-5 in a close game by Steve Farmer, which is a bit of a shock – but you can’t take anything away from Falmer.  Adrian Lewis won the final, throwing some fantastic darts on the way in his semi and final.  But all in all I think my player of the day had to go to Steve Farmer, whose run to the final was pretty damn impressive.  He was hitting 140’s and 180’s for fun all afternoon.

Ahah more is coming back to me slowly… I was also interrupted by a handsome welsh chap – my cider addled brain didn’t kick in for a few seconds… it was none other than our staff writer Andrew Devonshire (A.Dev) – who was a guest of Wayne Attwood (who I also made sure I had a chat with – he’s a really underrated player).  Hope you enjoyed your day out mate!

Saturday night was pretty damn good – after a good wash down with strong bleach, it was off to an all you can eat Chinese in the town centre.  Not bad at all (Happy Welcome near the George hotel)… and suitably stuffed we took the short walk (well I say short.. with Nikkiboy guiding us it felt like a LONG walk!) to the Crawley Labour Social Club.  Thanks to our forum mate Ross, we were well looked after by the members, all signed in and pint in hand with no delay.  The club had 3 boards up, and the lads wasted no time to get warming up.  A player of my standing doesn’t need to practice of course… as you can’t polish a turd (as they say).  We played a doubles tournament as I mixed up pints of Mild and cider (not in the same glass, I’m not an animal!).  I actually chalked one of the early games, which is a cheek with ‘professional markers’ all around me, hehe only teasing guys.  After only 1 or 3 simple and drastic mistakes, I earned my chalk stripes.  My game up – I carried my local partner through our games, by trying to average his ton plusses out with my 26’s.  At one point I even managed a 7, I was so proud, and the rest of the guys were very impressed, trying to hid it by jeering and catcalls.  My double 2 was pretty much straight off the pro tour itself.. but it wasn’t enough to win the game, and we bowed out 2-1.  The rest of the tournament was a farce and un-important.. with Chissy and Ross somehow scraping a victory in a pathetic show of 100’s and 140’s.  Well done guys.  Back to the hotel for a pint and a large gin and tonic, lovely, and some funny chip shop stories from Ozzie (Dan) and his mate Tommy (two great geezers – you couldn’t meet to more friendly lads) .  Oh and also I must mention Par Riihonen (a Swedish darts player on the tour), who sat on the same table as us and Grubby, and I found out he really is a gentleman and so dedicated to his darts and the PDC.  Par and his lovely wife even turned up at the Labour club – which I think was a very nice touch, and who knows what they made of it and us! I hope to see and chat with Par and his wife again in the near future, and maybe bring an interview of the Swede who travels from Sweden to play on the pro tour.

Sunday dawned with me pretty much hangover free, and not even that tired – RESULT.  I felt even better when I got to the K2 and found Chissy more than a little worse for wear (dancing to 2am at a local club it turns out?  These markers.. animals!).

I got to say hello to my mate Dave Ladley, who was looking very well and tanned after a well earned holiday… and I also got to shake hands with the rest of the ‘Yorkshire Mafia’ – Chris Thompson and Darren Johnson (nice 4th round.. lost to the Viper).   Ladders lost 6-3 to Ronnie Baxter, but took a lot of encouragement from the fact he hit 3 legs after not throwing a dart for a few weeks, and also had chances in the first leg to win another.

I was also introduced to Mark Dudbridge for the first time – who appears to be a real gent (he “re-introduced” himself after being in another world first attempt!)  Mark appears to be using some very professional techniques to prepare for games – total game head on, using ipod to zone out.. and what looked like breathing and meditation techniques (don’t laugh.. his game was definitely improving – we all know he’s got the talent, just needs to sort out the head).

Game of the first round must have been the John Part vs. Mervyn King game (for me anyway).. as Part wasn’t seeded he started with such a tough game.  Part was losing.. but came back to win strongly 6-4.   Also got to speak with Darren and Hitman – who once got a signed board for marking a 9 darter … and speaking of which (9 darters).. I actually left about 3pm, as I wanted to get the trains while they were running ‘quick’, and also to beat the tube strike (in case they fancied starting early).  Typically that meant I missed Jamie Caven’s 9 darter!!!  Dave Holland actually gave me a call while I was on the train to tell me he’d just hit it – and as often happens Jamie actually lost the game to Colin Lloyd he hit that 9 darter in.  But still another good weekend for Jabba, especially on top of last week.  Jabba is always very friendly and welcoming to me, and I hope he continues his form to really break up into the top 10 of world darts.

So all in all a great weekend, some fantastic darts matches watched (I’ve missed loads of them out.. it turns into a blur in the end).  I can’t wait till next time (Derby late Nov for me), to watch, drink, and swap some banter with my mates.

Cheers guys!

Grand Slam of Darts Tickets

From the PDC official website – info on the tickets released to the general public tomorrow (Monday);

The fourth staging of the Grand Slam, which sees champions of major tournaments come together to battle for the £100,000 first prize across nine days, live in front of the ITV Sport cameras.  The 32 players will include reigning champion Phil Taylor, the Stoke legend who has won all three previous Grand Slams since the tournament was introduced in 2007.

Three tournaments remain for players to qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts, with the finalists from the PDC’s Championship League Darts and Bodog.com World Grand Prix guaranteed a place in Wolverhampton alongside four players from the ITV Wildcard Qualifier, an open event which will be held on Friday November 5 in Barnsley.

The first round in Wolverhampton sees the players drawn into eight four-player groups to compete in a round robin format over five days. The top two players will progress to the knockout stages from the last 16 onwards from Thursday, with the quarter-finals being played on Saturday November 20 across two sessions.

The semi-finals will be played on Sunday afternoon, with the final on Sunday evening.

Tickets are available from 9am on Monday morning either in person at the Wolves Civic Box Office or by calling 0870 320 7000.

2010 Grand Slam of Darts

Date	Time	Games	Floor	Balcony
Sat Nov 13	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£25	£20
Sun Nov 14	12.30pm-5pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£25	£20
	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£25	£20
Mon Nov 15	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£20	£15
Tue Nov 16	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£20	£15
Wed Nov 17	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£20	£15
Thu Nov 18	6pm-10.30pm	4x Second Round	£25	£20
Fri Nov 19	6pm-10.30pm	4x Second Round	£30	£25
Sat Nov 20	12.30pm-5pm	2x Quarter-Finals	£30	£25
	6pm-10.30pm	2x Quarter-Finals	£35	£30
Sun Nov 21	12.30pm-5pm	Semi-Finals	£35	£30
	8pm-10.30pm	Final	£35	£30

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Crawley Player Championships – Results

I’ve not kept up with posting the results here over the weekend, as I was in Crawley myself enjoying the darts close up and personal (Thanks to Justin Pipe).  There’s nothing quite like being at a pro tour event – and it still feels like being a kid in a sweetshop.  I’ll write a personal recap of the weekend in a separate article – so for now, here’s the results of the two days.

Day 1 – Saturday

A ‘surprise’ name got to the final on Saturday - Steve Farmer.  Although fellow forum members have told me that they’d seen him play and were surprised he’d not had a long run in a floor tournament.  I did get to congratulate Farmer on his great performances back at the hotel – and he was beaming, totally made up.  The money he earned for reaching the final puts him up the PC rankings, and gives him a chance for some TV tournaments.  But it was won by Adrian Lewis – who has received some critism from fans in recent months for his poor TV performances.  Adrian was VERY happy with the win, and let out a lot of emotion after he threw the winning darts.

The Stoke star edged his first two matches with deciding leg victories over Wayne Atwood and Steve Maish.. to be honest, Lewis was lucky, as Steve Maish left himself 96 with Lewis on 161.. and Lewis took that 161 out with bull finish to win 6-5. But Lewis got better as the day went on, and his flashes of brilliance turned longer and longer.  He averaged 108 to win the final (Farmer was on 110!).

Quarter Finals
Steve Farmer 6-3 Mark Dudbridge
Gary Anderson 6-4 Wayne Jones
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Mervyn King
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Mark Webster
Losers £1,000

Semi Finals
Steve Farmer 6-5 Gary Anderson
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Losers £1,500

Final
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Steve Farmer
Winner: £6,000
Runner-Up: £3,000

Day 2 – Sunday

Jamie Caven had another long run in Sunday’s tournament – reaching the semi final (after the win and final in Canada), and a 9 dart leg!  (adding another £2,800 to his winnings).

Colin Lloyd continues his great 2010 form, with another win on the pro tour – the floor appears to be Colin’s at the moment!

Quarter-Finals
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Jamie Caven 6-3 Co Stompe
Alan Tabern 6-4 Paul Nicholson
Colin Lloyd 6-5 Tony Eccles
Losers £1,000

Semi-Finals
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Jamie Caven – Jamie Caven hits nine-darter in second leg
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Alan Tabern
Losers £1,500

Final
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000

Darts, Beers & Cheers! Brings you The Thunder! Par Riihonen

Par Riihonen – sponsorship opportunity

As part of my attempts to help players in the PDC, I was pleased to hear from the manager of Par Riihonen, also known as “The Thunder”.

You can find more info on Par on his website here, including image gallerys of Par playing across Europe.

Like many talented players in the PDC, Par’s game would benefit from a sponsor taking some of the financial pressure off him while he works his way up the world rankings and fights for a tour card for next year’s pro tour (when the rewards will be even greater for those in the top 96 who attain a tour card, or qualify through other means).

Par is currently 27th in the European order of merit, and I’ve seen many good reports about him on the darts forums (where hard core darts fans who know their stuff chat darts).

Par also has to make twice the effort of many darts pros on the tour, as he travels over from his native Sweden.  If someone out there could recognise that sort of dedication and help him cover the £200 a weekend entry fees and travel, I’m sure Par can reward you with improved results, invite(s) as his guest along to the behind closed doors tour events, and a deal  you will both be happy with.

If you feel that your company would enjoy the mutual benefit of putting your companies name on Par’s shirt (along with the other benefits that come from player sponsorship), please get in touch with Craig Wilson, Par’s manager.

Par plays in this weekends PDC Pro tour event in Crawley – and I wish him the best of luck!  I’ll hopefully get to watch him play (and win), and maybe say hello.

Players Championship back to UK this weekend

I thought I’d post a quick ickle story about the PDC Pro tour returning to UK shores this weekend, after it’s travelled to Australia and Canada.  So the pro’s and guests head to sunny Crawley this Saturday, for two more player championship pro tour events.

I’m again getting excited as I’m off to Crawley myself, a guest of Justin Pipe (one of the two players sponsored by The Stars of Darts Forum).  I’m risking the trains Friday afternoon to ensure I’m there nice n early Saturday – for plenty of darts n beers!  There should be a bit of a social in the evening, with some of the volunteer PDC markers, the odd player, and myself going out for beers (and possibly some darts).

The are rumours this could be one of the strongest fields of the year, with possibly both Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld playing.. but we shall see.   I’ve also heard a whisper that Dennis Priestly may not be attending, but otherwise it’s could be all of the top 32 Player Champ seeds .. we shall see!

On a serious note, there are only 4 events left before the cut off for qualification to the World Grand Prix in Dublin, so some players will be fighting tooth n nail to earn more ranking points, especially those on the cusp of qualification;

UPDATE: The PDC have announced the entries for this weekend, and there is NO Taylor or Barneveld (shame cause I thought he said he might start the floor tournaments again).

Remaining Events For WGP Qualification

September 4th, Players Championship 25, Crawley
September 5th, Players Championship 26, Crawley
September 18th, Players Championship 27, Nuland
September 19th, Players Championship 28, Nuland

Qualification for the WGP is as follows;

Top 16 in the PDC Order of Merit (top 8 will be seeded)
Top 4 nationals of Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland from the Players Championship Order of Merit not otherwise qualified
Top 12 in the Players Championship Order of Merit not otherwise qualified

.. and those on the edges of qualification are (above line in, below line, out);

PDC OOM	Irish qualifiers	Player Champ OOM
14. Gary Anderson, £137,050 15. Paul Nicholson, £133,454 16. Kevin Painter, £131,554 —————————– 17. Robert Thornton, £130,053 18. Co Stompe, £128,439 19. Dennis Priestley, £126,009 20. Vincent van der Voort, £120,487 21. Wes Newton, £120,339	1. Brendan Dolan, £4,900 2. William O’Connor, £1,700 3. Mick McGowan, £1,600 4. John McGowan, £900 —————————- 5. Aodhagen O’Neill, £500	9. Alan Tabern, £10,950 10. Dennis Priestley, £10,150 11. Steve Brown, £9,900 12. Jelle Klaasen, £8,500 —————————– 13. Mark Webster, £8,300 14. Steve Beaton, £8,000 15. Tony Eccles, £7,100

Player Championships – Jaws Bites In Canadian Masters

Well the 2nd day of player championships in Canada have finished, and the results are in…

For a while I thought my mate Jamie Caven was going to do the double, as he won through to the final.  But Colin ‘Jaws’ Lloyd was too strong – showing that his recent top form continues.  Also I must say a big well done to my mate Steve Maish, who had a great weekend too, after a round 3 he made the last 4 today – which is a great result and some good ranking £’s in the bank.  Maish’s display was his best run since reaching a Players Championship semi-final in March, and included deciding leg wins against Barrie Bates and Dennis Priestley as well as a defeat of world number nine Mark Walsh.
Mark Dudbridge and Kevin Painter reached the quarter-finals for the second time over the weekend before losing to Newton and Lloyd respectively, while Newton was appearing in his second semi-final in as many days.

UPDATE: Gallery of images added from the day; HERE.  Thanks to Shelley Woodward for allowing me to use her great pictures!

Third Round
Wes Newton 6-3 Darren Johnson
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
John Part 6-3 Colin Osborne
Mark Dudbridge 6-1 Dano Corriveau
Steve Evans 6-5 Steve Beaton
Kevin Painter 6-0 Steve Hine
Colin Lloyd 6-1 Matt Clark
Martin Tremblay 6-4 Steve Brown
Jamie Caven 6-2 Roland Scholten
Mark Webster 6-3 Royden Lam
Mark Hylton 6-1 Ross Snook
Alan Tabern 6-3 Nigel Heydon
Steve Maish 6-3 Mark Walsh
Barrie Bates 6-3 Justin Pipe
Andy Hamilton 6-4 Nick Fullwell
Dennis Priestley 6-3 Robert Thornton
Losers £200

Fourth Round
Wes Newton 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Mark Dudbridge 6-3 John Part
Kevin Painter 6-4 Steve Evans
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Martin Tremblay
Jamie Caven 6-3 Mark Webster
Alan Tabern 6-4 Mark Hylton
Steve Maish 6-5 Barrie Bates
Dennis Priestley 6-2 Andy Hamilton
Losers £300

Quarter-Finals
Wes Newton 6-2 Mark Dudbridge
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Kevin Painter
Jamie Caven 6-5 Alan Tabern
Steve Maish 6-5 Dennis Priestley
Losers £700

Semi-Finals
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Wes Newton
Jamie Caven 6-2 Steve Maish
Losers £1,250

Final
Colin Lloyd 6-1 Jamie Caven
Winner £5,000
Runner-Up £2,500

Player championship – Jamie Caven wins in Canada

Well I was out late last night, and missed the results coming in from Canada until this morning.  I was chuffed to read through the results being discussed on The Stars of Darts forum, to find out that my mate Jamie ‘Jabba’ Caven won the top £5,000 prize, which is a fantastic result (and spare a thought for his wife Debbie, who has to sit/pace at home waiting for the delayed results just like everyone else!).

Jame beat Michael van Gerwen, who had a great run to get to the final, racking up some much needed ranking points.

Special mention has got to go to Mark Hylton, who beat Mark Walsh in round 3.  Dennis Priestly continues his amazing recent form (after winning the PC in Australia) with a semi-final appearance.

Round Three
Wes Newton 6-2 Roland Scholten
Mark Webster 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Colin Osbone 6-4 John Part
Alan Tabern 6-3 Chris Scutt
Steve Beaton 6-5 Steve Maish
Kevin Painter 6-5 Darin Young
Mark Hylton 6-5 Mark Walsh
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Steve Brown
Colin Lloyd 6-1 Gary Mawson
Dennis Priestley 6-2 Robert Thornton
Denis Ovens 6-2 Bob Sinnaeve
Mark Dudbidge 6-2 Nigel Heydon
Jamie Caven 6-4 Steve Evans
Justin Pipe 6-1 Barrie Bates
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Scott Rand 6-2 Dave Switzer
Losers £200

Round Four
Wes Newton 6-2 Mark Webster
Colin Osborne 6-4 Alan Tabern
Kevin Painter 6-5 Steve Beaton
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Mark Hylton
Dennis Priestley 6-2 Colin Lloyd
Mark Dudbridge 6-2 Denis Ovens
Jamie Caven 6-5 Justin Pipe
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Scott Rand
Losers £300

Quarter-Finals
Wes Newton 6-2 Colin Osborne
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Kevin Painter
Dennis Priestley 6-5 Mark Dudbridge
Jamie Caven 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Losers £700

Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Wes Newton
Jamie Caven 6-2 Dennis Priestley
Losers £1,250

Final
Jamie Caven 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Runner-up: £2,500
Winner: £5,000

Player championships moves to Canada this weekend

There are two PDC pro tour events this weekend, just a few miles from the UK in Canada!  The field includes 45 PDPA members, headed by last week’s Australian Open Players Championship winner Dennis Priestley, who has won the Players Championships in Canada for the past two years.

Saturday’s London Ontario Players Championship will see 127 players competing for £22,000 prize money, with 122 in action in Sunday’s Canadian Masters Players Championship.

Canada’s three-time World Champion John Part is also in action on home soil, as he bids to secure top spot in the PDC’s North American Order of Merit this weekend.  The two events are the last to count towards the North American Order of Merit this year – adding to the five events held in Las Vegas at the New Tropicana World Series of Darts Festival.

Part enters the weekend sat on £5,200 – just £300 ahead of America’s Darin Young, who won £4,900 in Las Vegas. Paul Lim (£1,900), Larry Butler (£1,775), Ken MacNeil (£1,725) and Gary Mawson (£1,650) are their closest challengers.

Both events start at 12pm local time (I believe it’s about 5pm UK time… so results won’t be in until about 1am?), and will be the best of 11 legs throughout, with the draw conducted at 11am (4pm?) following the close of registration.

My personal good luck shouts go to

Justin Pipe, Jamie Caven, Steve Brown, and of course Steve Maish! It’s quite a way to travel at some expense, but with a ‘weakened’ field my mates must be hoping for some good ranking ‘points’ this week – with the World Championships at the Alley Pally coming to mind now.  BTW I’m not knocking the local talent, but a fair few of the top PDC top 16 are missing, including the top 7 I believe!

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Under-21 Entries Prove Popular – still time to enter

MANY top young names have already entered the Rileys Qualifiers for the PDC Unicorn Under-21 World Championship… and if you are young enough (lucky you!) and think you have the skill, you’d be MAD not to enter, as the prize on offer is something pretty special!

The inaugural Under-21 World Championship will offer £30,000 prize money – including £10,000 to the eventual winner – as well as places in the Grand Slam of Darts and a PDC ProTour Card for the finalists. The first of three stages will see players in the UK battling in knockout qualifiers to be held in Rileys DartsZones, with 46 different venues staging a qualifier.

Those winners will join a series of International Qualifiers and the leading eight Under-21s from the PDC Order of Merit in competing in the Last 64 at the Barnsley Metrodome on November 6, before the Final is played during the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace.

Several hundred young players have already signed up for the Rileys Qualifiers since the tournament was announced last week, with a further month to go before the entry deadline of October 1 2010.  The players include four who won through to the UK Open in June through the Rileys Qualifiers – Reece Robinson, Jamie Green, Ricky Evans and Alex Harrison.

Hull-based Robinson won through to the last 64 in Bolton, where he earned a clash with Simon Whitlock in front of the Sky Sports cameras, while Green – the son of former PDC player Robbie, defeated Harrison in their first round clash and Evans went out to Steve Beaton in round two.

Two players with PDC ProTour experience, Darren Whittingham and Adam Huckvale, will also be testing themselves in the Rileys Qualifiers.

The response of so many young players already shows the great demand for this tournament and we’re delighted that players are keen to take this opportunity – PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.

Rileys Qualifiers – Entry Information
Entries for the Rileys Qualifiers must be made by October 1 2010, and can be made online through this link to the Rileys Website.

The Rileys Qualifiers will be held at the following venues:
Saturday October 16
Aberdeen, Bolton, Burton-on-Trent, Chester, Chesterfield, Coventry, Edinburgh, Hull, Inverness, Ipswich, Leicester, Lincoln, Liverpool (Birkenhead), Liverpool (Bootle), Loughborough, Manchester (Chorlton), Middlesbrough, Norwich, Peterborough, Scunthorpe, Solihull, Stafford, Stirling, Sunderland, Wigan.

Saturday October 23
Bournemouth, Basildon, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Colchester, Croydon, Exeter, Gillingham, Gloucester, London (Victoria), Oxford, Plymouth, Reading, Southend, South Benfleet (Essex), Stevenage, Taunton, Torquay, Wolverhampton, Worcester.

Update - August 27: new venues at Liverpool (Birkenhead) and Stafford added for Oct 16 and Reading and Southend added for Oct 23.

PRO’S in PROFILE

Getting to know me…………

ALAN WARRINER-LITTLE

(The Iceman)

PLACE OF BIRTH   -        Lancaster

AGE     -      47 years old

YEARS PLAYING DARTS    -     27 years

WHO INTRODUCED YOU TO DARTS     -     My Dad

DARTS CURRENTLY USING    -     Target 22 grammes

BEST MOMENT IN DARTS    -     Winning first world title – World Grand Prix 2001

WORST MOMENT IN DARTS    -    Losing to  John Lowe in the Embassy World final 1993

FAVOURITE DART PLAYER    -    Eric Bristow

BEST MATE ON THE PDC TOUR    -     Colin Lloyd

FAVOURITE TOURNAMENT    -     World Matchplay

FAVOURITE MUSIC     -         Green Day

FAVOURITE FOOD    -     Indian

FAVOURITE DRINK   -    Remy Martin

WHAT CAR DO YOU DRIVE    -     BMW   x3

HOW DO YOU RELAX AWAY FROM THE OCHE    -     Anything family orientated

HOW OFTEN DO YOU PRACTICE   -   After a year and a half not playing, back to one hour a day

AMBITIONS FOR YEAR AHEAD    -    Get back to a good standard and keep improving towards what i am capable of, continue with the Legends Tour, progress the PDPA, watch Manchester United win everything !!

Many thanks for the co-operation of all players involved.

Pro’s in Profile brought to you by Andrew Devonshire.