When The Beatles penned their famous song The Long And Winding Road, it is entirely plausible that Lennon and McCartney were subconsciously inspired by the arduous final leg of the darts pilgrimage to Minehead. For those combatants who successfully navigated the journey to Somerset, however, the reward was a rather brisk and unenviable turnaround as the UK Open’s unforgiving opening round sprang immediately into action.
And as is tradition with this gloriously chaotic tournament, a sizeable number of PDC Tour Card holders promptly discovered the dreaded trap door waiting beneath their feet. Here is a summary of some of those early casualties.
It proved to be a particularly discouraging afternoon for Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, who was dispatched by Germany’s Michael Unterbuchner (above). The Austrian continues to endure a frustrating start to the campaign, remaining winless on the Pro Tour this season after early exits in both Hildesheim and Leicester, before opting to bypass the recent Players Championship double-header in Wigan.
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Already packing his bags for the journey back to Poland is Filip Bereza, whose Minehead ambitions were curtailed by Welshman Rhys Griffin – the son-in-law of the legendary Lisa Ashton.
Meanwhile, it was only a few years ago that Jeffrey de Zwaan came agonisingly close to a UK Open quarter final appearance, narrowly denied by Rob Cross. This time around, however, the Dutchman’s eleventh appearance in the competition concluded at the earliest possible stage, halted by Slovenia’s Benjamin Pratnemer.
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There will be only one Price competing in Minehead for the remainder of the weekend after the less heralded member of the duo, Samuel, exited the tournament at the hands of Ron Meulenkamp.
Another intriguing contest saw two Tour Card debutants collide as Adam Leek faced David Sharp. Inevitably one dream had to conclude at the first hurdle and following a dramatic last leg decider it was the Australian who edged past the Scot to survive the opening round ordeal.
Croatia’s Pero Ljubic is still searching for his maiden Pro Tour victory after six attempts, and Minehead offered little solace as he was comprehensively whitewashed by the talented Tyler Thorpe. Oldham’s Carl Sneyd also endured a prematurely curtailed visit to Somerset, eliminated by fellow Englishman and qualifier Jack Todd.
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Semi local interest, however, did receive a boost thanks to Devon’s own Owen Bates. Roared on by a healthy contingent of support, Bates produced an accomplished display in a high-quality encounter to overcome Germany’s Yorick Hofkens and safely negotiate his passage into the next round.
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Although noe a first round exit Beau Greaves is perhaps the highest profile caustay of the opening session. Her 4-6 defeat to daryl Pilgrim may not be a surprise, to those who know what ‘Mr. P’ is capable of, but the casual fan tuning into ITV today will have been disapointed nonetheless.
—–Ends—–
Images: PDC / K Cleeves
