Farewell

On Sunday morning I was raised out of my sleep by the sun!!! Really - the sun! I almost couldn't believe it. So I could walk the few steps from the Premier inn to the pub where breakfast was served without my rain jacket!!! While on the other mornings not many other guests were around the pub was crowded this time. I've no idea where all the people came up from. Rather astonishing I hadn't seen a dart player at breakfast all four days though several of them stayed at the hotel.
After breakfast I took a short walk. Right near the hotel you are in the open nature with several farms and some horse pasturages. It really is pastoral.
Then followed the shopping and the last day of the UK Open could begin.

Over night the small stage had disappeared and was replaced by more tables with chairs. From now on all matches were played on the main stage. But once again the sessions were not completely sold out. On Sunday there were some more dressed up people than on the other days - there had been only very few. Now with all the matches played on main stage one was not allowed any longer to stand near the stage during the matches. As soon as the walk-on was over, everybody was asked to sit down. Sunday was the only day with complete walk-ons including music and walk-on girls (Sarah Tunnicliffe and Nicola Cowell). Once again the atmosphere was great. Many hoped for a Dave Chisnall/Phil Taylor final whereas fans were of two minds about the potential winner.

But first the quarterfinals were due in the afternoon and we had not to wait long for the first surprises.
First the in this tournament seemingly unstoppable Robert Thornton defeated Wes Newton, who had hoped that he could reach the final again. Then Dave Chisnall eliminated the last of the Dutch players, Raymond van Barneveld who almost despaired on stage as he couldn't hit his doubles. Then Phil Taylor had no problems at all with Terry Jenkins though he was not too sure on his doubles and finally Denis Ovens won with a commanding performance against Jamie Caven. However despite this win it was quite clear he would be the rank outsider in the semi-final against Taylor.

Once again there was a break. I talked to John Gwynne, translated match reports, had something to eat and watch wrestling on TV. I can't help it but sky sport showed wrestling on this afternoon before the second half of the football match between Italy and Spain was shown. I've no idea whether there were any wrestling fans in the pressroom but I got the impression most were relieved when football was on.

Finally the music started again and with the music the hectic in the pressroom - only three more matches to go. By now the Speedy hire boss had arrived as well who after the final would hand over the trophies.

The first semi-final brought a clear win for Phil Taylor over Denis Ovens. Denis Ovens - who suffers from thoracic-outlet syndrome since his back problems started end of last year - had no chance at all. But the second semi-final was surprising - even Dave Chisnall was not able to stop Robert Thornton and Robert Thornton stood in the final!
A short rest period for Robert Thornton followed. Then the final begun. A final between Robert Thornton and Phil Taylor - I wonder whether anybody had predicted this. Though even less predictable was the result. First everything looked to go according to plan. But then suddenly a crazy fan started to climb on the stage. Security immediately managed to throw him out of the venue. Phil Taylor was clearly more impressed than Robert Thornton and had a lot of double trouble while the Scot stayed unaffected on course. He steadily increased his lead. After each break we thought Taylor would start a comeback but he had lost the thread and Thornton had not really to fight to win the final.

After the final I stayed not much longer in the pressroom in which everybody by now showed signs of fatigue. While in the venue the big stage already was dismantled I returned exhausted to the hotel. It had been a great tournament. I had watched a lot of really good matches. I had seen an unexpected winner and a Phil Taylor with rather human weak points. I was glad that Denis Ovens managed to reach the semi-finals once again and that he is on the road to recovery. He shows how important it is to finish clinically. High averages are not enough. He showed a lot of clinical finishing including several high finishes - his quote on the doubles throughout the tournament was over 40 percent.

On the next morning I cast a last unexpected glance on the winner. I already stood at the station waiting for the train to the airport when a taxi arrived. Out of it got Robert Thornton and his wife. They walked with their luggage over the footbridge, boarded the just arriving train and pulled away towards Glasgow.










Contact © Global Darts. All Rights Reserved. Impressum