Monsignor Thomas Cox anoints me with the holy oils of Board 8 - a truly blessed area, as it is one of only three that bear no preliminary round matches. The matches transpire as follows :
First Round (Last 128)
Wes Newton 6 Jason Crawley 1
Wes seems like a new man these days - it's not long ago since he used to stagger around venues in a state of utter refreshment, but now it seems like he is at best slightly merry, if not completely sober. This change is doing him the power of good too, it seems, and today gets off to an excellent start for him with a demolition of Jason, who threw better than a number of players at my board yesterday, but was up against someone in devastatingly good form.
Brendan Dolan 6 Kevin Dowling 4
FACT! - there is not a nicer player in the PDC than Brendan Dolan, and that is saying something. He is as nice as pie to markers and to opponents, and constantly compliments the latter when they hit a good score or finish. Kevin is a gentleman too, so this turns out to be the most gentlemanly game ever, and it is brimming with quality, with both players taking out two three-figure finishes each. Brendan is definitely the better scorer though, and deserves to edge this one by achieving a single serve-break.
Gary Anderson 6 Andy Pearson 3
This is my first time to mark World Finalist Gary, and I find him to be sound as a pound, but definitely not someone who is very happy with his darts at the minute, which is summed up by him finishing the match where he has 5 left with 2 darts to go by hitting 3 then double 1 (with his opponent left on 49). A few such incidents point to a lack of general care, but are largely hidden by his phenomenal ability to score 140 so often.
Jamie Caven 6 Steve Grubb 5
This was my first time to mark Grubby, my fifth for Jabba, and what an absolute epic it was. Steve deservedly went 2-0 up with some heavy scoring and looked like making it 3-0 before Jamie returned to form out of nowhere, hitting a brilliant 152 finish. Steve stayed ahead until Jamie broke back with another brilliant finish - 130 this time. Steve then held his throw to go 5-4 up, but Jamie won the final two legs to edge through. A genuinely awesome game.
Second Round (Last 64)
Wes Newton 6 Brendan Dolan 2
The banter and camaraderie between these two was absolutely fantastic to witness. Before the game, Wes wanted to know how drunk Brendan was, reckoning that the more drunk he was, the more dangerous he would be. Thankfully for Wes, Brendan was relatively sober, which coupled with Wes' amazing high scoring, resulted in him winning relatively easily. It was tight to start with though, but any good score or high finish was instantly complimented by Brendan, probably putting Wes at more ease if anything.
Gary Anderson 6 Jamie Caven 4
Yet another top quality game of darts - 140s and 180s were flying in from both players, especially from Gary, who struggled again with doubles but eventually prevailed. Jamie did nothing wrong really, but good finishing saw this match go to a deserved lengthy end.
Third Round (Last 32)
Wes Newton 6 Gary Anderson 3
This was a phenomenal game in terms of scoring, but Wes won it on account of also being able to add double-finishing to his game. Again, I got this strong vibe from Gary of it all being something of a chore for him, and his heart not being completely in it.
Wayne Mardle 6 Ronnie Baxter 3
With my board finished relatively speedily, I was asked to mark some games on other boards, starting with this battle between two well-established darting legends. It was an excellent game, with both players again scoring big, especially Ronnie, but his doubles let him down badly, allowing Wayne to claim an impressive win.
Round 4 (Last 16)
Antonio Alcinas 6 Wayne Mardle 3
The warm-up started with Wayne expressing his warm appreciation of me and my fellow markers, saying that he was on the only board without a marker yesterday, making him appreciate us even further. The thanks was warm and genuine and it was great to hear from Wayne The Gentleman. But then the game began and a different man emerged - one who was determined to pull out every trick in the book to achieve a win. Every time he was left on a finish, he would bellow out to me to repeat what it was, even though it was on the board in clear writing, with a mark through his last score to ensure there could be no ambiguity.
Example - he was left on 63. "63, fella, YEAH?" "Yes Wayne, 63"
Not once, but every time he was on a finish.
Any 180 or double that he hit was followed up by a roar that would have been heard with ease at the other end of the hall. In fairness to Antonio, he did not flinch during the game at all, hitting constant ton-plus scores, and finishing on double top in particular at the first time of asking. At 5-3, Wayne was starting to edge back into it, but Antonio hit a 180 on his second throw, and in fairness to Wayne, he said "Great darts." But the damage was done at that stage, so when Antonio hit the winning double, the young Spaniard finally became vocal, uttering words of delight in Spanish aloud but to himself. In what is not his finest moment, Wayne decided to mock Antonio, basically for speaking his native Spanish tongue, and unfortunately a few buffoons behind the barrier decided to laugh heartily at this, rather than be largely disgusted. Again Antonio exercised great restraint, but the utter fury on his face was plain to see afterwards - it would not be an understatement to say that he jad been emotionally scarred by the game, but perhaps one that will ultimately serve him well in terms of experience. PDC official Gary Wood came across swiftly to have a word with Wayne, and hopefully that is the last of that type of behaviour that we see from him, as it doesn't profit him to do it, and deep-down he is a much nicer person than that.
Quarter Final
John Part 6 Antonio Alcinas 5
This was a nerve-filled match and the high scoring that both had been recording up until now largely deserted them both. The stakes were high, not least with the extra £1,000 and ranking points that went with this win alone, and it showed in the play. It was a brilliant contest all the way through and both had opportunities to win the final leg before John closed it out.
For the record, Vincent van der Voort beat Raymond van Barneveld in an all-Dutch final where both players missed double 12 for a nine-darter!
Time to trundle up the road with my roller-suitcase to Wigan Wallgate station, where I took a train to Manchester Victoria, and walked into the city for a bite to eat. As I hadn't eaten since breakfast, I was more than ready for the delightful £6.95 all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, where I downed a hearty chicken salad, followed by hot and sour soup, chicken n brussel-sprouts noodles (bleedin' d'lish!), and fruit and ice-cream -mint! (Yes, the ice-cream actually was mint-flavoured.)
Nourished and replenished, onwards now to Piccadilly station and a train to the airport, where the Ruinair flight was delayed for 40 minutes (resulting in no punctuality bugle - huzzah!), but meaning that I didn't make it home until 12.30am. Still and all, it did not deflect from what was a brilliant weekend, with another one to come in Crawley in just a fortnight's time.
Nnnnnnnnnnnnnow, Vincent van der Voort, van der Voort, Vincent van der Voort!
Contentment : 14 / 25
Excitement : 4.5 / 10
Memorability : 4.5 / 15
Overall Score : 46% (13th out of 72)
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