The third staging of the ADC Vault National Finals took place in Aylesbury, and Chas Barstow came through a field of over 300 players to take the title and the £10,000 winners’ cheque, beating Martin Grearson 6-3 in the final at Bradmoor Farm.
Barstow had to negotiate eight rounds of action to get to the showpiece, and he started his day with a close 4-3 win against Mark Jarred, before a sublime 107.36 average accounted for Mat Caste in a 4-0 last 128 success. He dropped just one leg in victories over Tim Jones and Dan Russell to move him into the last 16, and he produced an average of over 94 to see off the in-form David Pallett, 5-2.
A 101.86 average saw Barstow squeeze past Tom Garfield in a final-leg thriller, and the Winchester man blasted into the final in some style, a 101.44 average sealing a 5-2 win over the experienced Johnny Haines.
Grearson would be the man to face Barstow in the title match, and he had started in the preliminary rounds, taking 4-1 wins against Addison Hefferon and Paul Meyer, and after defeating Ash McKeever, he needed a final leg to advance to the last 32 at the expense of John Brown.
After easing past Paul Holloway, Grearson then found a 5-2 last 16 win against defending champion Thomas Banks, before taking the scalp of the highly-rated Tyler Thorpe, triumphing 5-3 to reach the last four.
In a nail-biter, Grearson took a close 5-4 win against Curtis Hammond to seal his place alongside Barstow in the showpiece.
Barstow kept Grearson at arms length in the final, and although a 121 finish put Grearson 2-1 behind, Barstow responded with a 126 finish of his own to make it 3-1. He didn’t relinquish his advantage, and eventually got to the winning line to take the trophy and the huge first prize.
Barstow’s win meant that Sean Holley took a spot at the ADC Global Championship, with Barstow already qualified thanks to Shane Turner’s UK & Ireland Classic win the night before.
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