Colin Osborne suffered defeat in the final of the penultimate UK Open qualifier.
The Unicorn ace paid the price for missed doubles and was beaten 6-3 by Colin Lloyd at Robin Park. It was a disappointing end to what had been a good day for Osborne, as he reached his first Pro Tour Final of the year.
But ‘The Wizard’ lost his magic touch when it mattered most.
His run to the final included wins over Mick McGowan and Barrie Bates. He beat the other ‘Wizard’ Simon Whitlock in a thrilling last leg decider in the 4th Round, before dispatching Ronnie Baxter in the quarter-finals and then Osborne won the last three legs of his semi-final to beat Dennis Priestley.
In the final though, it turned into a tale of woe for Osborne.
After taking the opening leg, he missed four darts to go 2-0 up and then found himself trailing 4-1 and 5-2 because of more bad misses. The key moments came in the 7th leg when Osborne blew seven darts at a double to get back to 3-4 and he just left himself too much to do.
Lloyd hit two 180s and ultimately won the match with a 12 darter – but it was certainly a case of what might have been for Osborne, although a runners-up cheque for £3,000 may cushion the blow.
Encouraging signs for John Part on Sunday, as he reached the quarter-finals and is starting to look something like. In the end missed doubles cost the Canadian as he was beaten 6-4 by Dennis Priestley.
There was to be no double triumph for Wes Newton! After his win in Saturday’s Players Championship tournament, he also reached the quarter-finals but suffered at the hands of Mark Walsh, losing 6-2.
Jamie Caven’s day ended in the last 16….he was thrashed 6-1 by Part.
And what about the rest of Team Unicorn?
Newton accounted for Terry Jenkins 6-1 and Osborne was too good for Bates (6-2) in round three.
In the 2nd Round, James Wade suffered a shock defeat against Stuart Dutton – losing a last leg decider. Wade had earlier beaten Anastasia in the 1st Round – Ana certainly not enjoying any luck with the draw!
Also in round two, Osborne beat McGowan 6-4, Caven took care of Hamilton 6-3, while Kevin Painter was beaten 6-3 by Gary Anderson.
In the 1st Round, Paul Nicholson lost 6-4 to Darren Webster, Kirk Shepherd lost 6-5 against Steve Evans, former UK Open finalist Gary Mawson was beaten 6-5 by Dave Smith and Joe Cullen was another to lose in a deciding leg…..he went down to Robert Thornton.
Disappointingly, Arron Monk lost 6-5 to Gary Eastwood in the preliminary round.
Results – last 16:
Mark Walsh 6-3 Mark Dudbridge
Wes Newton 6-2 Gary Anderson
Wayne Jones 6-3 Justin Pipe
Colin Lloyd 6-2 Chris Thompson
Dennis Priestley 6-4 Steve Brown
John Part 6-1 Jamie Caven
Colin Osborne 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Ronnie Baxter 6-4 Steve Beaton
Quarter-Finals:
Colin Osborne 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Dennis Priestley 6-4 John Part
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Wayne Jones
Mark Walsh 6-2 Wes Newton
Semi-Finals:
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Mark Walsh
Colin Osborne 6-4 Dennis Priestley
Final:
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Colin Osborne
By STUART PYKE (Twitter @stuartpykesport)