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UK OPEN FINALS 2007 review by Andy Fairclough
The UK Open is perhaps the tournament for the darts purist. All of the world's highest ranked players are on show as well as the up and coming stars of tomorrow plus some former champions trying to have one more shot at glory. The UK Open has it all. It's fast, it's furious and for the first time over 4 days, well over 100 players are whittled down to just one ultimate champion. PRELIMINARY ROUND First up on the big stage was a real welcome return for one of the Darts legend from the sport's golden era of the 1970s/1980s – these days 'not so' big Cliff Lazarenko. After a year or more of battling ill health Lazarenko was obviously delighted to be back on the big Darts stage again. Lazarenko flew out of the traps leading 6-0 against dizzied opponent Chris Dalglish, who ultimately took only 1 leg as Lazarenko finished an 8-1 victory with a sparkling 120 outshot. Top American player Ray Carver was expected to make light work of one of the pub qualifiers, airline cabin manager Mark Hylton. However Hylton obviously didn't read the script as he broke throw in the 4th leg to lead 3-1. Carver came back to 3 apiece and at 4 all Carver was averaging a substandard 80 to Hylton's 77. Carver checked out 104 to keep it level at 5 each before another crucial break took Hylton into the lead at 7-5. Hylton then held throw to chalk up an impressive 8-5 win over Carver.
ROUND ONE Into the first round proper and all eyes (and cameras) were on the main stage to watch Dutch teenage superstar Michael Van Gerwen as he took on thus far unknown Chris McTernan. It was Van Gerwen all the way and while not at his best he won 8-1, averaging 10 points above his opponent. Michael Barnard who has featured on camera in the UK Open before was also under the spotlight as he played Vernon Shepherd. Barnard took an early 3-1 lead and despite a break back by Shepherd, Barnard soared ahead to 6-2. With confidence ever growing Barnard checked out 118 in leg 9 and then wrapped up the match 8-2 with a bull finish. 'Cookie' Steve Cusick made light work of another up and coming Dutch teenager Toon Grebe. Cusick had a 4-1 lead which was never threatened as he went forward to win 8-3. Former World Champion Richie Burnett was next on stage 1 against Eddie Hughes. Burnett was spurred on by an early 3-0 lead and won through by 8 legs to 1. Another young Dutch possible star of the future Rico Vonck, who made a good showing at the 2007 World Championship was on next against Gary Noonan who did well in the UK Open finals last year. Noonan took an early break to lead 2-0 but Vonck broke back to make it 1-2. Further breaks followed including Noonan checking out 100 to lead 4-2. Noonan won't then ever forget leg 7 as he managed to bust a potential 133 finish to let Vonck back in to make it 3-4. This spurred Vonck on as he won the next 3 legs to lead 6-4. Noonan though dug deep and won the next 4 legs and with them the match by 8-6. Wrapping up the end of the first night of the tournaments was a short interview with Mervyn King who of course had made the switch to the PDC just a few months before. King was checking out the action and the atmosphere at the Reebok and he commented on some of the issues from the past regarding Darts politics. "I made a mistake two years ago by refusing to play a PDC player in Holland. I apologise for that. I got involved in the politics and I shouldn't have."
ROUND TWO Friday evening's entertainment kicked off with another Dutch superstar, this time former BDO World Champion Jelle Klaasen, in action against Scott Mitchell. Klaasen hit a 180 in the first leg and he looked very assured as he raced to a 4-0 lead. Mitchell came back but Klaasen broke throw again to lead 7-3. Mitchell took out 146 to make it 4-7 but Klaasen seemed determined to prove a point as he kicked off leg 12 with back to back 180s and took the match 8-4. Michael van Gerwen then took centre stage once again and he made light work of Northern Ireland's Andrew Coulter winning 8-0. Meanwhile Mark Walsh paid the price for some extremely erratic throwing and he lost 8-7 to Garrett Gray after leading 7-6. A real battle of the ages next as one of the young English hopes for the future Kirk Shepherd took on U.S. veteran Roger Carter. Shepherd took a 4-2 lead but Carter clawed back to 5 apiece. Carter then took the lead for the first time before Shepherd levelled at 6 all with an 11 dart leg. The match went all the way with the players tied at 7-7 and the experience of Carter no doubt helped him squeeze out a victory 8-7. Gary Spedding raced ahead 6-0 against Dave Honey on his way to an 8-2 win and Alan Reynolds just edged out Peter Allen by 8-7. Andy Callaby against Sean Palfrey started off a close encounter with 3 successive legs going against the darts giving Callaby a 3-2 lead. A mid leg 180 helped Palfrey break throw again to square the game but then Callaby found his form and raced to 7-3. It was too far back for Palfrey now as Callaby won through 8-4. Robbie Green who also did well in the tournament in 2006 started brightly in 2007 taking a 7-0 lead over Ian Wise. The latter came back with 3 legs but still a comfortable 8-3 win for 'Kong'.
ROUND THREE The third round saw the players who qualified 33-64th in the UK Open Order of Merit enter the fray and first on was twice World Champion John Part against Kevin Dowling, making his debut on television. Part went ahead 3-0 and then 5-1 with a further break of throw. At 6-1, Part was averaging 99 and Dowling 82 and it seemed the match was all but over. However Dowling put on a spirited fightback taking 4 legs without reply to retrieve the match to 5-6. Part made an important break to lead 7-5 and then held throw in this tighter than anticipated encounter to win 8-5. Possibly tie of the round on paper was Mark Dudbridge against Ronnie Baxter. 'The Rocket' had a 2-1 lead after an early break, but 'Flash' came back with a break to level the game. Baxter broke again and built up a 4-2 lead averaging 84. Dudbridge roared back checking out 124 to level the match at 4 apiece and darts then went with throw until another key break from Dudbridge to lead 7-5. Throw was then held giving him an 8-5 victory. Martyn Turner had a healthy 7-3 lead over Colin Monk but the latter came back using all of his well known fighting spirit. A 180 and a bull finish made it 6-7 and a second successive bull finish levelled the game. The impetus was definitely with Monk as he then took his fifth successive leg and the match with it. Wayne Jones had a 6-1 lead over Alan Warriner-Little but the 'Iceman' scrapped back with some maximum scoring to tie the match at 7 each. Jones though hit a 180 himself in the last leg and was no doubt relieved to check out 98 for the match. Dave Askew found himself 6-2 down to Dennis Smith despite having a 94 average to Smith's 83. There wasn't any good news for 'Diamond Dave' as Smith won through 8-2. Former World Champion Bob Anderson was up against Brendan Dolan next and it was tight early on. Dolan led 2-0 and this deficit was retrieved by Anderson. Dolan got a break to lead 4-2 and a second break to make it 6-2 after Anderson had missed doubles. Too much to claw back for the 'Limestone Cowboy' and it was Dolan through 8-3.
LAST 64 Onto Saturday and the top 32 ranked players entered the fray. First on was on paper a corking match as Mervyn King took on his practise partner of the preceding week, Chris Mason. 2 x 180s in the first leg had King setting out his stall and a 90 finish on the bull gave him an early break to lead 3-1. A second break put him 5-1 up with a 102 average with Mason on 89. Although the format was now first to 11 legs, it looked a long way back for Mason with King in top form. King checked out 121 to make it 8-1 before Mason finally clawed the tenth leg back, in a leg which both players hit a maximum. King took the next to lead 9-2 despite a 180 from Mason (King now averaging 104.5). Mason took the next to make it 3-9 (Mason 87.0, King 101.0), but the match at that point was always King's as he won 11-4. Adrian Lewis hit 11 x 180s and averaged over 100 in a tight encounter against Barrie Bates which he ultimately won 11-9. Roland Scholten lost a 3-0 advantage to be overturned 11-5 by James Wade. Colin Lloyd had a fairly comfortable 11-4 win against Dennis Smith finishing in style with a 121 checkout and Wayne Mardle couldn't recover an early 2-5 deficit against Denis Ovens who won 11-7 in the end. It was a PDC debut next for Tony Eccles who was in at the deep end against in form Michael van Gerwen. The Dutchman broke first in the second leg with a 106 finish with Eccles breaking in the 7th leg to retrieve the deficit to 2-5. Gerwen immediately broke again with a 121 finish to make it 6-2 and a 117 and then a 114 checkout put him 9-2 in front. Eccles brought it back to 4-10 in a leg where both players hit a maximum (Van Gerwen avg 96, Eccles 89) and a 107 from 'The Viper' took the next leg. The comeback from Eccles continued with a 92 finish on the bull in the next leg but it was always unlikely from this point as Van Gerwen only needed 1 leg to win. The final score Van Gerwen 11-8 Eccles. Could Peter Manley exert some revenge on Phil Taylor for all of those World final drubbings over the years? The answer was no, as 'The Power' was in sparkling form. Taylor shot off to a 3-0 lead and extended it to 8-3 averaging 99. The next 3 legs soon followed giving Taylor an 11-3 win with an end average of just over 100. 66 year old John Magowan is always a tricky customer (he knocked Adrian Lewis out of the competition last year) but he was to present no such problems to World Champion Raymond van Barneveld. Barney flew out of the traps breaking throw in the second leg with an 11 darter. Magowan was playing well though and although a 160 from Barneveld made it 3-0, both players were averaging 111 at that point! A 115 from Barney made it 4-1 and he then pulled away taking every remaining leg for an impressive 11-1 victory.
LAST 32 'Mighty Mike' Van Gerwen finally met his match in the last 32 against rising PDC star Colin Osborne. A high quality affair at 2-2 both players were averaging well over 100. Van Gerwen hit a maximum to start leg 5 and broke throw. Osborne broke straight back to make it 3-3. The next 4 legs all went against throw to leave the match at 5 apiece. In the 12th leg Osborne took out a crucial 170 which changed the whole match as he now led 7-5. Despite a 180 in leg 17, Osborne took it to lead 10-7 and needed just one more leg which duly followed with a 117 checkout to win the match. Osborne 11-7 Van Gerwen. Wes Newton held Phil Taylor close at 5-5, so it took an extra bit of magic for 'The Power' to surge ahead. That bit of magic came in the 12th leg as Phil Taylor hit his 5th live 9 dart game on TV and his second in as many months. From thereon all legs went to Taylor in what ended up being a fairly comfortable 11-5 win. The superb games just kept coming as next up were World Champion Raymond van Barneveld against in-form again John Part. Part took a 2-0 lead but Barney clawed back to 2-2. 2 x 180s and a 12 dart leg put Barneveld 3-2 up but Part broke throw to level the game again. Two more 180s for Barneveld to go up 4-3 but again Part levelled the match. Barneveld check out 136 to break and go 6-5 up but again Part came back to 6-6. The match continued in a similar pattern with Part going ahead 9-8 with a 110 checkout. Barneveld came back again and this tightest of tight matches was to go all the way with the scores at 10 legs apiece. Both players hit a 180 in the deciding leg but it was Barneveld who pipped the match with a 121 finish.
LAST 16 Into the last 16 and two characters of the oche, Kevin Painter and Colin Lloyd went head to head. Painter took the first break of significance to lead 3-1 in a leg where he hit a 180. A 137 checkout followed for 'The Artist' to lead 4-1. Painter held the lead at 5-2 (averaging 91 to Lloyd's 85) but Lloyd clawed back in the 9th leg with a 116 finish to make it 4-5. The match was then levelled and Lloyd broke to take a 7-6 lead with a 167 finish. Painter came back with a near 9 darter in the next leg. He threw 8 perfect darts and just missed the D12, however it was now 7-7. Lloyd took out 127 before Painter levelled again to make it 8 apiece. A crucial break for Lloyd in the 19th leg put him 10-9 up and he then held throw to win this epic encounter. Mervyn King was 4-2 up against Colin Osborne but the Derbyshire man came back to lead 5-4. King checked out 90 finishing on the bull to tie the game but Osborne then took the next 3 legs to lead 8-5. King levelled the match again at 8-8 with Osborne then taking the next leg. King was averaging 97 to Osborne's 95 and had hit 6 maximums to Osborne's 3 in this high quality encounter. Osborne kicked off with another maximum to take the next and lead 10-8 but King came back again to 10 each and force another sudden death leg match. Osborne won the deciding leg in a match which neither player deserved to lose. Phil Taylor averaged over 100 as he beat Dennis Priestley 11-3 in a match that was unfortunately one of the duos more one-sided affairs. Raymond van Barneveld took an early lead against Wayne Jones with the Midlander coming back to 3-7 with a 101 finish. Barneveld kept well in front though making it 10-5 with a 164 finish. The Dutchman rounded off the match in the next leg checking out 114.
QUARTER FINALS Vincent van der Voort looked like he'd met his match as Terry Jenkins raced to a 5-0 lead with 100% on his double hitting to that point. Quite where it all went wrong for 'The Bull' immediately after that is hard to pinpoint as Van Der Voort took the next 5 legs to level the match. The match was tight all the way to the finish line and was yet another match going to a deciding leg. Van Der Voort took it with a 101 checkout. All eyes were on the next game as it was to be yet another encounter between the two giants of the game Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld. Both players hit a 180 in the opening leg with Taylor taking it. Barneveld took the first break hitting another 180 to lead 2-1, Taylor replied in kind (with a 180 of his own) to make it 2-2 with a 126 finish. Here is where the usual script for these two started to depart as Barneveld took a key break to lead 5-2. Another 180 speared Barneveld to a 6-2 lead (averaging 95 to Taylor's 97) and Barneveld kept a solid lead at 9-3 despite Taylor averaging 4 points higher at 98. Taylor hit a 180 in the next leg to leave himself D1 which he duly hit but it was postponement of the inevitable as Barneveld won 11-4.
SEMI-FINALS Colin Osborne took an early break to lead 2-0 against Vincent Van Der Voort who for many was the surprise package of this tournament. Voort came back to level, but a further break from Osborne put him 4-2 ahead. Osborne then held throw to lead 5-2 but Van Der Voort came back with a 141 checkout. A 180 from the Dutchman helped win a key break back in leg 11 to make it now 5-6 and the match was levelled in the next leg. Van Der Voort checked out 99 to keep the match even at 7 apiece and the next break was to the Dutchman in the 19th crucial leg to lead 10-9. Osborne broke back to 10 apiece and the match was decided in yet another decider with victory going to 'Greased Lightning', the fast and furious Vincent van der Voort. Barneveld kicked off with a 116 finish against Colin Lloyd and both players were hitting flurries of maximums with high averages early doors. At 2-2, Lloyd was averaging 109 to Barneveld's 105. A key break in leg 6 took Barneveld 4-2 up and he really pushed the accelerator in leg 8 hitting 7 perfect darts and a 10 dart game, but more importantly clocking up a 6-2 advantage. Barneveld soared on to 8-3 (averaging 107 to Lloyd's respectable 98) but a further break to lead 10-4 put the match in the bag as Barneveld then took the 15th and final left for an 11-4 win.
THE FINAL I don't think anybody would have predicted Vincent van der Voort reaching his first ever televised final in this tournament, nor would he have been tipped as the star member of Dutch sponsored 'Team KeukenConcurrent' (featuring Voort, Klaasen, Van Gerwen and King). Raymond van Barneveld looked keen to try and retain his title and a 149 to go up to 2-0 set out his stall. A 106 followed to make it 3-0 and although Van Der Voort checked out 84 on the bull to haul back to 1-4, it seemed the writing was on the wall. Voort came back to 2-4 with a break but then Barneveld took 6 legs without reply, all but ending the match at 8-2 (Barneveld averaging 96 to Voort's 90) despite the fact that the final was being played as first to 16 legs. Barneveld moved ahead 10-3 and a bit of style with an 86 bull finish won Voort a break back in the next leg. Barneveld kept the gap between the players and took an impressive 16-8 victory and with it the retention of the UK Open title which was his first with the PDC in 2006.
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