Chris Mason and Kevin McDine have won their places at the lucrative Grand Slam of Darts, after a dramatic day in Wolverhampton…..Team Unicorn’s Bob Anderson, Colin Osborne, Kevin Painter, Wes Newton, Mick McGowan and Robbie Green all missed out. For Osborne, Painter and Anderson, it was a case of so close but yet so far….the trio all made it through to the last eight from a field of over 200 – only to fall in the penultimate match to qualify for the GSOD in November.
Anderson beat the likes of Kelvin Painter, Tony Eccles, Alan Tabern and Andy Smith, before becoming unstuck against Denis Ovens…..The Limsetone Cowboy failing to win a leg against ‘The Heat’.
Osborne looked in good form all day but saved his worst performance for the biggest match and lost to Jason Clark, while it was the same story for Painter – beaten by eventual qualifier Kevin McDine.
Wes Newton beat ‘Big’ Cliff Lazarenko along the way and reached the last 32, where he was beaten 5-1 by McDine…..Mick McGowan and Robbie Green lost at the same stage. The Irishman losing 5-1 to Jason Clark and Green lost an all-Unicorn affair 5-2 to Colin Osborne.
Mason rolled back the years to guarantee himself at least £4,000 by reaching the main event. He beat Mark Dudbridge, Dennis Smith and came from 1-4 down to edge out Wayne Atwood. In the final qualifying match, Mason was too good for Ovens, dropping only one leg and producing finishes of 118 and 110.
For youngster McDine, it is the biggest achievement of his career and he beat Jason Clark 5-2 to qualify, after losing the first two legs.
Results – last 16:
Dennis Smith 5-3 Jimmy Mann
Last 8:
Chris Mason 5-4 Dennis Smith
Qualifying semi-finals:
Kevin McDine 5-2 Jason Clark
BY STUART PYKE
