It’s been a long wait but Team Unicorn star Terry Jenkins is a tournament winner again!
‘The Bull’ won the UK Open 7th qualifier in Birmingham, as he beat Andy Hamilton 6-3 in a terrific all Unicorn final at the Birmingham NIA.
It was his first tournament victory for three years!
“I am obviously very pleased,” said Jenkins. “I know that I am playing well again and I came here confident that I could do well over the weekend. I played the day at my own pace and think I deserved my win! It has been a long time, but hopefully it will set me up nicely for a busy summer of darts.”
In the final, just one break of throw was enough for Jenkins.
He raced into a 3-0 lead, breaking Hamilton in the 2nd leg, but only after ‘The Hammer’ missed seven darts at doubles.
Crucially, ‘The Bull’ hit D19 with the last dart in his hand to make it 4-1, as Hamilton waited on 40....and after the pair traded 14 dart legs, the Stoke man took out 120 to reduce the deficit to 5-3.
But Jenkins wasn’t to be denied the victory and a fourth 180 set up the chance and D10 sealed the win.
Jenkins had to work hard for it.....6-5 over Dave Chisnall in the semi-finals, and he beat Colin Osborne and Colin Lloyd and he was also on the end of a 9-darter!
Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts hit the perfect leg in their 3rd Round clash, but Jenkins won the match 6-4.
For Hamilton and Kevin Painter though, it was still a good day, as they continue their excellent form ahead of that big showdown in the Premier League on Thursday!
The pair clash in Newcastle of course, with the winner in with a chance of making the semi-finals.
Painter reached the semi-finals on Saturday, but Hamilton put down a psychological marker by winning their clash 6-3!
‘The Artist’ only just survived his preliminary round game, winning a last leg decider against young Dutchman Gino Vos, but he then went from strength to strength, beating the likes of Jamie Lewis, Steve Grubb and Dean Winstanley on his run to the last four.
Hamilton scored some notable wins along the way.....he beat Magnus Caris (6-2), Stuart Kellett (6-5), Gary Anderson (6-4) and Robert Thornton (6-2) before his semi-final victory over Painter.
It was Hamilton’s first Pro Tour final in more than two years.
It was a mixed bag for the other Team Unicorn players.....Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld have taken the weekend off.
Devon Petersen, Colin Osborne and Gary Anderson all reached the last 16 in Birmingham.
Anderson was edged out 6-4 by Hamilton, Osborne lost 6-1 to Jenkins, while Petersen went down 6-2 to another youngster Shaun Griffiths.
In round three, an out-of-sorts James Wade was whitewashed by Colin Lloyd, while Jamie Caven lost a last leg decider to Simon Whitlock.
Arron Monk and Michael Rosenauer were 2nd Round losers.....the youngster beaten 6-4 by Mareno Michels and the German was a 6-3 loser against Mark Webster.
Peter Manley failed to win a leg in his 1st Round defeat to Steve Beaton and Wes Newton lost 6-4 to Webster at the same stage.
But in the preliminary round, Joe Cullen was beaten 6-1 by Andrew Gilding, Paul Nicholson lost 6-5 to Alex Roy and Steffi Luck didn’t win a leg against Jelle Klaasen.
Results – Quarter Finals:
Terry Jenkins 6-2 Colin Lloyd
Andy Hamilton 6-2 Robert Thornton
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Shaun Griffiths
Kevin Painter 6-3 Andrew Gilding
Losers - £1,000
Semi-Finals:
Terry Jenkins 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Kevin Painter
Losers - £2,000
Final:
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Andy Hamilton
Winner - £6,000
Runner-up - £3,000
By STUART PYKE
Photo courtesy PDC