Raymond van Barneveld fell at the final hurdle in the 4th UK Open Qualifier, losing a fantastic all Dutch final to Vincent van der Voort.
With both players averaging around 108, both just missing nine darters and both serving up a 25 minute darting exhibition.
But the consolation for Barney is knowing that he has clinched his place back in Bolton for the UK Open Finals in June.
Twice Barneveld has won at the Reebok but he didn’t appear in Bolton last year, because he didn’t play the qualifiers.
This year the rules have been changed….the criteria means that players must play in at least two, rather than three of the qualifying tournaments.
And the £3,000 that Barneveld has won guarantees him a place at the finals through the UK Open qualification money list.
But he will still be massively disappointed not to double the size of the cheque and win the tournament.
He secured impressive wins over the likes of Alex Roy, Robert Thornton and Mervyn King.
And the final was a mini-classic…..the first six legs all went with throw, but remarkably, Van der Voort missed D12 for a 9 darter in the fourth leg and incredibly, Barneveld just missed D12 himself for a 9 dart finish in the very next leg!
The seventh leg saw the only break of throw in the final – to Van der Voort…..Barney actually won his four legs in 14, 15, 11 and 13 darts and twice he was sitting on a double when his opponent checked out!
Van der Voort just missed D15 for a 150 finish and a 6-3 victory but after Barneveld held throw, Vincent won it with a 70 check-out and a 6-4 victory.
Barney can feel a touch unfortunate, because he didn’t do a lot wrong…..but it is job done and he is back at Bolton in the summer.
It was his first PDC Pro Tour Final for two years, but remember, he picks and chooses his floor tournaments these days.
Elsewhere, Adrian Lewis enjoyed another good run, but in the end Unicorn’s World Champion simply ran out of steam.
After Saturday’s triumph in the UK Open qualifier in Wigan, he was looking for a double…..Lewis had some good wins, including a 6-4 victory over Simon Whitlock, but eventually lost in the quarter-finals, failing to win a leg against King.
John Part was a semi-finalist in Wigan on Sunday and was edged out 6-4 by Van der Voort, but this performance clinches his spot at Bolton for the finals in June.
Wes Newton reached the last 16, before losing 6-4 to Robert Thornton and Kevin Painter was a 3rd Round loser to Mark Frost by six legs to three.
Apart from that, it’s fair to say that it was a disappointing day for Team Unicorn.
Six Unicorn players lost in the 2nd Round….Terry Jenkins (2-6 Simon Whitlock), Barrie Bates (4-6 Alex Roy), Jamie Caven (4-6 Gary Anderson), Joe Cullen (3-6 Matt Clark), Paul Nicholson (4-6 Denis Ovens) and the out-of-form Colin Osborne was beaten 6-2 by Mark Walsh.
In the 1st Round, Arron Monk lost a clash of the Unicorn youngsters 6-3 to Cullen, Peter Manley was beaten 6-3 by Brian Woods, Kirk Shepherd was thrashed 6-1 by Dave Chisnall and German Michael Rosenauer was a 6-3 loser against Mark Frost.
Results – Quarter-Finals:
Mervyn King 6-0 Adrian Lewis
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Mark Walsh
John Part 6-5 Antonio Alcinas
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Robert Thornton
Losers - £1,000
Semi-Finals:
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Mervyn King
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 John Part
Losers - £2,000
Final:
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Winner - £6,000
Runner-up - £3,000
By STUART PYKE (Twitter @stuartpykesport)
Photo courtesy Chris Sargeant