‘Double Trouble’ is usually a negative, for those of us trying to earn a living throwing at them, but it was a real pleasure to play the MODUS Super Series DIDO theme week recently.
I have to own up and say I have a suspicion that I underachieved in Dublin, during the years I qualified for the World Grand Prix. I enjoy double start darts and have won many open knockout and Grand Slam style DIDO events.
Speaking of grassroots events it must be a good sign that I have begun to win quite a few of them. It’s all well and good to know you are playing well, but winning can be a real habit and not always that easy to recapture once you let it slip.
Having had a very strong run of open event wins, and some very dominant performances, I was optimistic for the start of 2024’s professional events. Yet, I seemed to just fall short of where I felt I was headed.
Once more I missed out on finals night at the MODUS Super Series on leg difference after a mixed couple of days. I think I am used to the five days of Group A which is superb quality practice as well as offering multiple routes to qualification.
I started Q school reasonably well, for once, and was more relaxed than on previous occasions. I qualified relatively comfortably for the final stage and multiple wins on the opening day, before going cold prior to playing Justin Hood, meant I was in a strong position to push for a tour card.
Frustratingly it was a similar story each day. I was paying better than I have, in the PDC environment for quite a while, but could not quite kick on after two or three wins.
The final day saw me bump into John Henderson with both of us needing a good run to get into the mix. The first 6 legs were of the highest quality with huge scoring being a feature. Sadly, John got the break and ran out the winner.
Surprisingly, to me at least, he did not manage to get a card either, but that seems to have worked out rather well for the new World Seniors Champion!
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Originally published in Darts World Magazine Issue 585 (February 2024)
Colin Osborne (@colozzy180) is a PDC Championship League of Darts Champion, UK Open finalist, and multiple Pro Tour event winner.
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