Former World Championship runner-up Andy Hamilton reminded everyone he can still dish out a beating or two as Vault 14.0 rolled on across the UK.
The Hammer didn’t exactly have to travel far – he strolled down to The Green Star in his native Stoke-on-Trent, treated it like his personal practice room, and dropped just one leg all evening en route to the title. A 3-1 win over Riley Emery in the final gave Hamilton yet another Vault triumph on his home patch. That’s four wins around Stoke already this month – hoovering up local trophies without burning too much petrol. Efficient.
Meanwhile, over in Whitby, Graham Usher was enjoying a night out at The Flask. The Gambler certainly lived up to his name, cashing in with three comfortable victories, conceding only one leg in the final – to fellow Usher, Joe. Relation? I am not quite sure, but if not, it’s one hell of a coincidence. Either way, Graham walked away with the win, leaving the rest of the room counting their losses.
Not to be outdone, another Graham – this time Hall – continued his habit of collecting Vault silverware like it’s going out of fashion. The G-Man has already racked up half a dozen 14.0 titles this month alone, with Redditch proving to be his personal darting fortress. His scoring is tidy too, regularly knocking in mid-to-high 80 averages. As long as he keeps it up, the conveyor belt of trophies won’t be stopping.
The highest average of the series so far belongs to Oliver Mitchell. The Scarborough thrower blasted a huge 93.32 last week in Whitby, toppling Usher 3-1 in a cracking final. Mitchell might love his motorbikes, but on this occasion he left everyone else standing still, racing off with the record – and the title.
Vault 14.0 continues to churn out big averages, new stories and plenty of competition for those chasing ranking points. For the players, these are the stepping stones to the bigger stages, where the lights are brighter, the prize money is fatter – and the excuses for losing sound even better.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
