Kirk Shepherd is dreaming of the Ally Pally! The Unicorn starlet has qualified for the World Championship after a dramatic night in Wolverhampton. He won five matches to qualify for his first ever ‘Major’ – holding his nerve to beat veteran John Magowan in the final qualifier.
Shepherd beat Martyn Turner 5-4, Ian Branks 5-3, Andy Callaby 5-2, Mark Stephenson 5-2, then the nail-biting victory over Magowan.
He missed darts to break the Irishman’s throw in two out of the first three legs but finally got that vital break in the fifth leg. He made it 4-2 and the nerves kicked in, as Shepherd missed three darts for the match. Magowan brought it back to 4-3 and then hit a 101 finish, with the Unicorn youngster sat on 40.
Shepherd finally clinched his place – hitting double 16 in the decider and he is now guaranteed £4,000 for his efforts!
John Lowe’s brave bid for another crack at the World Championship was ended in an all-Unicorn affair by Robbie Green.
Unicorn’s 62-year-old three times World Champion beat Jimmy O’Regan 5-0 in his opening match but then lost by the same score to Green.
The Liverpudlian then came up against an inspired Steve Maish. Green fought back from 1-4 down to make it 3-4. Maish hit seven perfect darts in one leg and he closed the match out to deny Green his place at the Alexandra Palace.
Unicorn youngster Ricky Williams beat Paul Whitworth and Kevin Harris in his first attempt at the World Championship, before losing 5-3 against Steve Smith but Williams is certainly beginning to show what he can do on the PDC stage
Some of the big names of yesteryear gave it a crack but failed….the likes of Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, Richie Burnett, Cliff Lazarenko, Peter Evison and Shayne Burgess all lost out in the qualifiers in Wolverhampton.
Final qualifying results:
Steve Hine 5-0 Alan Caves
BY STUART PYKE
