Wes Newton reached yet another PDC Pro Tour quarter-final, but it was 20-year-old Michael Smith who stole the show by sensationally winning the second of the UK Open qualifiers in Barnsley.
Newton had won three all Unicorn clashes on his way to a second quarter-final appearance of the weekend.
But what a memorable day for Smith, who won an all St.Helens final, as he beat Dave Chisnall 6-5 in a thriller, with both players having darts to win in the last leg decider!
Smith hit a 9-darter and reached the final of the PDC Unicorn Youth Tour event on Saturday but his first PDC title and the little matter of £6,000 will mean a great deal.
Chisnall had come from 0-3 down to force the deciding leg and missed one dart at ‘tops’ before Smith won it on D5.
It was a weekend of ‘firsts’ in Barnsley after Steve Brown’s victory in Saturday’s UK Open qualifier.
For Newton, in the 2nd Round, there was a 6-2 win over Paul Nicholson, followed by a 6-1 success over his good friend Barrie Bates in the last 32, and he then defeated Arron Monk 6-1 in the last 16.
But at the same time as celebrating a place in the World’s top ten and promotion to the ‘Maestro’ category at Team Unicorn, Newton will still be disappointed that he didn’t go on to reach another final.
‘The Warrior’ battled his way back to five legs apiece against Chisnall and so nearly snatched victory in the decider.
He just ‘wired’ D10 for a 140 to win it but came back to the oche with three darts in his hand at the same double….unfortunately, Newton hit D15 instead and his chance was gone, as the man from St.Helens pinched the win.
Monk’s run to the last 16 was certainly encouraging, but that apart, it was a fairly disappointing day for the other Unicorn players.
As well as Bates, two others lost in the last 32…..Colin Osborne was a 6-4 loser to Michael van Gerwen, while Terry Jenkins was beaten 6-2 by Dennis Smith.
In the 2nd Round, World Champion Adrian Lewis suffered a surprise 6-4 defeat to Steve Evans, Jamie Caven went down 6-3 to Wayne Mardle, Joe Cullen lost 6-1 against Matt Clark and John Part was beaten in an 11th leg by Smith.
And five Unicorn men failed to get past round one….Kevin Painter lost 6-3 to Chisnall, Peter Manley was beaten 6-2 by Ken Dobson, Kirk Shepherd was a 6-3 loser against Liverpool’s Lee Palfreyman, German Michael Rosenauer lost 6-2 to Robert Thornton and there was another setback for Andy Hamilton.
‘The Hammer’ is enduring a tough time of it in 2011 and he suffered yet another 1st Round defeat, as he lost 6-4 to Shane O’Connor.
Results – Quarter-Finals:
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Mark Webster
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Wes Newton
Michael Smith 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Darren Johnson 6-5 Mark Walsh
Losers - £1,000
Semi-Finals:
Michael Smith 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Darren Johnson
Losers - £2,000
Final:
Michael Smith 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Winner - £6,000
Runner-up - £3,000
By STUART PYKE
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC