Off it was to the INEC again after another splendiferous breakfast for The Big Event - the £35,000 PDC Players Championship. The board that I was marking had a vast range of players in terms of ability, from the nervous duo who produced a leg that was won in 47 darts (with 95 darts thrown in the leg, counting both players), to the sublime Gary Anderson who raced through his matches with high-scoring ease. Gary very kindly offered to buy me a drink (the ultimate honour from a Scotsman!) on more than one occasion but as I had driving duties later, I politely declined.
Once again, I was kindly invited to take to the stage to mark the semi-finals and final, where Justin Pipe pipped Gary to win the title and the £6,000 first prize, and it was a fantastic thrill as ever.
Matters concluded, it was time to make the 3 and a half hour journey back to The Lighthouse, reaching there on the stroke of midnight.
Contentment : 16 / 25
Excitement : 4 / 10
Memorability : 5.5 / 15
Overall Score : 51% (33rd out of 289)
Showing posts with label justin pipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label justin pipe. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Day 275 - Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
Another record was broken today, travelling from Lighthouse pillar to PDC tournament post in a record time of 21 minutes thanks to Al The Almera, the Dublin Port Tunnel and the M50. The stars of today's board were Wes Newton, strolling to comfortable wins over Michael van Gerwen (6-1), Roland Scholten (6-3) and Andy Simth (6-2) with phenomenal scoring, and Roland, who edged out Andy Hamilton (6-5) and comfortably accounted for Stephanie Luck (6-0) before losing to Wes. In the first game of the day, MVG beat Kirk Shepherd 6-4 in a game that was even closer than the score suggests.
There was delight for Chizzy Rascal, who was well rewarded for his travels by marking Barney's 9-darter against Phil Taylor - he'll get the signed dart-board for that. Today's winner was Justin "Speedy" Pipe, whose advancement through the ranks continues in leaps and bounds. People focus on his pace, but it is his scoring and finishing which is doing all the talking. The Top 16 beckons for him next year, without doubt.
Afterwards, I brought Scott (Gibling) and Andrew (Davis) into town for a guided pub tour. After callously dumping off Al The Almera, the first port-of-call was the ship-turned-pub the Cill Airne (Irish for Killarney, fact-fans). After a brace of finest ales there, we perambulated leisurely along the Liffey down to the Oktoberfest, which bizarrely was shutting down already, at 8pm. Far from crushed with disappointment, we hopped on a LUAS and took an ale at TP Smith's before corssing the river into Temple Bar and Fitzsimons' pub, which was very busy for a Sunday night. Next liquid port of call was The Foggy Dew, where a rather good SKA band were playing, before a final brew at Pravda before calling in to Supermac's for a Smokey Bacon Burger and curried chipped potatoes.
Contentment : 17 / 25
Excitement : 3 / 10
Memorability : 4.5 / 15
Overall Score : 49% (41st out of 275)
There was delight for Chizzy Rascal, who was well rewarded for his travels by marking Barney's 9-darter against Phil Taylor - he'll get the signed dart-board for that. Today's winner was Justin "Speedy" Pipe, whose advancement through the ranks continues in leaps and bounds. People focus on his pace, but it is his scoring and finishing which is doing all the talking. The Top 16 beckons for him next year, without doubt.
Afterwards, I brought Scott (Gibling) and Andrew (Davis) into town for a guided pub tour. After callously dumping off Al The Almera, the first port-of-call was the ship-turned-pub the Cill Airne (Irish for Killarney, fact-fans). After a brace of finest ales there, we perambulated leisurely along the Liffey down to the Oktoberfest, which bizarrely was shutting down already, at 8pm. Far from crushed with disappointment, we hopped on a LUAS and took an ale at TP Smith's before corssing the river into Temple Bar and Fitzsimons' pub, which was very busy for a Sunday night. Next liquid port of call was The Foggy Dew, where a rather good SKA band were playing, before a final brew at Pravda before calling in to Supermac's for a Smokey Bacon Burger and curried chipped potatoes.
Contentment : 17 / 25
Excitement : 3 / 10
Memorability : 4.5 / 15
Overall Score : 49% (41st out of 275)
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