The third annual Winmau BDO Wolverhampton Open staged at the Wolverhampton Sports Arena was again a huge success with in excess of 100 players from all over Great Britain and beyond taking part, players of the ilk of two-time world champion Ted Hankey, former world championship finalist Chris mason and many more top class players all chasing the top prize of £1,000.
The eventual winner was Dudley born and former West Midlands player Paul Hogan who travelled up from his present home at Basingstoke to take part in the competition.
In the semi finals Hogan squared up to Warwickshire and again former West Midlands player Dean Stewart and took the tire 4-2. From the other half of the draw Welshman David Neads beat PDC player James Richardson 4-1 to book his final place.
The final saw Hogan beat Neads with a repeat of his last four scoreline again a relatively comfortable 4-2 victory. As runner up Neads received £500, losing semi finalists Dean Stewart and James Richardson picked up £250, there was £125 for Mark Craddock, Simon Stevenson, Rhys Griffin and Sam Hamilton as losing quarter finalists and £50 for players reaching the last sixteen who were Joshua Richardson, Martin Angell, John Mann, Mark Perkins, Anthony Urmston, John Burgess, Steve Alker and Shaun Carroll.
Arena owner Dharam (Tam) Singh said “Hogan was a worthy winner after a superb day of competition which had seen some big BDO names within the field”. He went on to say “It was always going to take a player in form to win the competition and Paul’s darts were fantastic on the day”.
Full Results: Group One:Last 128:- Adrian Heathcote – bye, Mark Craddock – bye, Raymond Singh 4 Daniel Thorpe 1, Lol Frazer – bye, Dean Marshall 4 Matt Speakman 0, John Mycock 4 Alan Brocklebank 1, Matt Sheehan 1 Martin Biggs 4, Joshua Richardson 4 Nicholas Lammas 0, Dai Wozencroft 0 Martin Angell 4, Joh Doraghey 1 Andy Roberts 4, Andy Hughes 4 Reece Colley 1, To Clarke 4 Jason Terry 1, Andy Malone 1 John Morris 4, Chris Mason 4 Morris Hughes 0, Steve Blewitt 4 Ben Forest 3, Keith Philburn 0 Dean Stewart 4, Group Two:- Danny Howard – bye, Cliff Price 0 John Mann 4, Tony Randell – bye, Mathew Barnfather – bye, Ivan Bell 1 Steve Mason 4, Paul Price 1 Andrew Graham 4, Daniel Petty 0 Simon Stevenson 4, Carl Hamilton 4 Richard Langlois 3, Mike Simons 4 Jonathan Fardon 1, Andrew Baugh 3 Mark Pekins 4, Darren Roy Williams 2 Mark Robbins 4, Andrew Alker 4 Matt Hancock 0, Gary Whittles 2 Paul Hogan 4, Matt Pearson 4 Ros Gilder 0, Shaun Matthews 2 Ryan O’Connor4, Joe Taylor – bye, Group Three:- Anthony Urmston – bye, Jim Moston – bye, Shaun Dring – bye, Eddie Rolls – bye, Dave Emery 3 Rhys Griffin 4, Chris Maniona 4 Sean Birkett 2, Kev Dale 3 Ben Green 4, Danny Key 4 Danielle Ashton 0, Craig Hampson 0 Matt Tedstone 4, Peter Hardy 1 John Burgess 4, Tim Green 2 Graham Hall 4, Mick Baker 3 Gary Blades 4, Gary Bailey 4 Phil Powell 0, Ryan Sullivan 0 David Neads 4, Mangal Singh 4 Sam Guest 1, Ash Khayat 4 Richie Edwards 2, Group Four:- Grant Hamilton – bye, Sam Gittoes – bye, Simon Meredith 4 Richard Harrison 0, Steve Alker 4 Karl Merchant 3, Steve Hales 4 Gary Costin 2, Martin Rowley 4 Mark Bird 0, Alan Edwards 4 Darren Penhall 1, James Richardson 4 Sam Luscombe 1, David Wallace – bye, Reece Spurr 1 Shaun Carroll 4, Dave Williams 1 Phil Stewart 4, Wayne Harrison 4 Paul Redfern 3, Mick O’Neill 2 Jarred Rafferty 4, Ted Hankey 4 Michael Lammas 0, Sam Hamilton 4 Grant Jackson 2, Liam Baker 2 Wayne Willis 4, Last 64:Group One:- Adrian Heathcote 0 Mark Craddock 4, Raymond singh 3 Loll Frazer 4, Dean Marshall 4 John Mycock 3, Martin Biggs 0 Joshua Richardson 4, Martin Angell 4 Andy Roberts 2, Andy Hughes 4 Tom Clarke 0, John Morris 1 Chris mason 4, Steve Blewitt 0 Dean Stewart 4, Last 32:- Mark Craddock 4 Lol Frazer 1, Dean Marshall 3 Joshua Richardson 4, Martin Angell 4 Andy Hughes 3, Chris Mason 1 Dean Stewart 4, Group Two:- Danny Howard 2 John Mann 4, Tony Randell 4 Mathew Barnfather 0, Steve Mason 4 Andrew Graham 3, Simon Stevenson 4 Carl Hamilton 2, Mike Simons 1 Mark Perkins 4, Mark Robbins 4 Andrew Alker 3, Paul Hogan 4 Matt Pearson 1, Ryan O’Connor 4 Joe Taylor 3, Group Three:- Anthony Urmston 4 Jim Moston 3, Shaun Dring 4 Eddie Rolls 0, Rhys Griffin 4 Chrsi Maniona 0, Ben Green 4 Danny Key 2, Matt Tedstone 2 John Burgess 4, Graham Hall 4 Gary Blade 2, Gary Bailey 0 David Neads 4, Mangal Singh 4 Ash Khayat 3, Group Four:- Grant Hamilton 2 Sam Gittoes 4, Simon Meredith 1 Steve Alker 4, Steve Hales 4 Martin Rowley 1, Alan Edwards 1 Shaun Carroll 4, Phil Stewart 1 Wayne Harrison 4, Jarred Rafferty 0 Ted Hankey 4, Sam Hamilton 4 Wayne Willis 2, Last 16:Group One:- Mark Craddock 4 Joshua Richardson 2, Martin Angell 0 Dean Stewart 4, Group Two:- John Mann 1 Simon Stevenson 4, Mark Perkins 2 Paul Hogan 4, Group Three:- Anthony Urmston 0 Rhys Griffin 4, John Burgess 3 David Neads 4, Group Four:- Steve Alker 3 James Richardson 4, Shaun Carroll 3 Sam Hamilton 4, Quarter Finals:- Mark Craddock 3 Dean Stewart 4, Simon Stevenson 0 Paul Hogan 4, Rgys Griffin 3 David Neads 4, James Richardson 4 Sam Hamilton 3, Semi Finals:- Dean Stewart 2 Paul Hogan 4, David Neads 4 James Richardson 1, Final:- Paul Hogan 4 David Neads 2.
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The Winmau Centre Monday Night League in the Wolverhampton Sports Arena, Racecourse Road, Wolverhampton have completed what was a very successful and entertaining season with the league title resting on the outcome of the very last fixtures of the season, those final games deciding who finished as league champions and who would be runners up, it was that close.
The 43-5 win by The Untouchables over wooden spoon winners Double Trouble was the result that gave Untouchables the title with 891 points just four more than runners up Bully Boys who ended their fixture card with a 41-7 win against Here For The Beer. Best game of the final night was supplied by Make Mine A Double and John’s Klan in which there were 10×180’s, 2×15 darts games and a 116 checkout, the result was 34-14 to John’s Klan.
Jason Hough (Misfits) was the league’s average winner with John Evans (Bully Boys) runner up while the highest finish, a maximum 170 was achieved by Karl Noakes from Three Men And A Lady. Kristian Wharton (Cupid Stunts) hit the most maximums a total of 30 and three players recorded the least darts of eleven, Andy Busby (The Untouchables), Roy Blackwell (Bully Boys) and Kieron Stanford (Not So Far Travellers).
| Final Table | |||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| The Untouchables | 26 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 891 | 357 | 891 |
| The Bully Boys | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 887 | 361 | 887 |
| Whats The Point | 26 | 20 | 1 | 5 | 830 | 424 | 830 |
| Misfits | 26 | 20 | 1 | 5 | 827 | 423 | 827 |
| Cupid Stunts | 26 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 811 | 435 | 811 |
| Johns Klan | 26 | 18 | 0 | 8 | 780 | 468 | 780 |
| 3 Men and A Lady | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 752 | 472 | 752 |
| Not So Far Travellers | 26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 542 | 690 | 542 |
| Keep It In The Family | 26 | 8 | 0 | 18 | 490 | 756 | 490 |
| Yam Yams | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 505 | 743 | 505 |
| Mad House | 26 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 446 | 845 | 446 |
| Here For The Beer | 26 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 401 | 847 | 401 |
| Make Mine A Double | 26 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 309 | 939 | 309 |
| Double Trouble | 26 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 296 | 957 | 296 |
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At the time of going to print the centre’s Thursday Night Champions League is fast drawing to an end and again the race for the title is intense with Kevin Harris leading the way with 191 points and four games to play. Second in the table Mick O’Neill is 26 points adrift of Harris but with him having played five games fewer and with a possible seven points from each game he could still overtake Harris.
Another player still in contention is third placed Kevin Lane who is on 160 points but h has only played 29 games and has a massive seven games in hand on Harris which could amass a total of 49 points which would take him to 209, it’s going to be a close finish.
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I mentioned in last month’s column the idea that the Winmau Centre are looking to start a new Corporate Darts League for companies and that is now beginning to take shape so anyone who would like to add their company team to the new venture or require any further details should e-mail [email protected]
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