Defending UK Open champion Raymond Van Barneveld looks in the mood to repeat his success at Bolton again next summer. The Dutch star won his second consecutive UK Open Regional – following on from his victory in Ireland – with a 2 sets to nil win over Welshman Barrie Bates in the final at the Magnum Centre in Irvine.
Team Unicorn’s hopes ended in the quarter-finals, with defeat for both Peter Manley and Colin Lloyd.
When Barney joined the PDC in February, he was promised a wildcard into next month’s Ladbrokes.com World Championships….amazingly it now looks certain that he won’t need that wildcard, because he has played so well and is odds on to claim a place in the top 32 by right, before the Circus Tavern showdown.
Barneveld added the UK Open Scottish Regional to his already impressive list of tournament wins, dropping only one leg in the final against Bates…and he hit seven perfect darts at the start of the 2nd set – just missing treble 19 on his way to the sport’s holy grail.
Lloyd ended Adrian Lewis’ hopes of another Scotland double in the 3rd Round, before losing to Barney again! You may remember Unicorn’s World No.1 was beaten by Barneveld in the UK Open Irish Regional Final. This time it was the last eight, with Barney edging it 5 legs to 3.
Manley’s run was ended by Dennis Priestley – also 5-3. Kevin Painter accounted for BDO star Gary Anderson 5-2 in the 1st Round and also disposed of Ronnie Baxter, before he lost 5-1 to Roland Scholten.
Bob Anderson beat another BDO man in Tony West 5-1 in the 1st Round. He then beat Unicorn stablemate John Part 5-3, before losing by the same score to Mark Dudbridge.
Wes Newton won the all-Unicorn 2nd Round clash against Michael Barnard 5-2, while youngster Kirk Shepherd lost at the same stage. Newton enjoyed a good run to the 4th Round but became another of Priestley’s victims.
In another all-Unicorn match in the 2nd Round, Adrian Lewis beat Andy Hamilton 5-2, while there was disappointment for James Wade – a 2nd Round loser to Jason Lowe. Lewis lost 5-3 to Lloyd at the last 32 stage.
UK Open Scottish Regional results:
4th Round (legs)
Dennis Priestley 5-1 Wes Newton
Losers £250 + 8 ranking points
Quarter-finals (legs)
Dennis Priestley 5-2 Peter Manley
Losers £500 + 10 ranking points
Semi-finals (sets)
Raymond Van Barneveld 2-0 Dennis Priestley (3-0, 3-0)
Losers £1,000 + 12 ranking points
Final (sets)
Raymond Van Barneveld 2-0 Barrie Bates (3-1, 3-0)
Winner £4,000 + 20 ranking points
BY STUART PYKE
