Las Vegas Desert Classic VI Thread

Kingp35

So the first day of qualifiers for the main tournament took place yesterday with 8 players winning through to the main event. Mick McGowan was one of the players trying to win through but he failed to make it. Jelle Klaasen also failed to win through but fellow PDC new boy Mervin King managed to win a place as did UK Open semi-finalist Colin Osbourne.

The 8 qualifiers are:

Dennis Smith
Wes Newton
Steve Maish
Kevin Painter
Steve Beaton
Colin Osborne
Mervin King
Ray Carver

All results from the first day in Vegas can be seen here:
http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/LatestDetail/0,,10180~1066079,00.html

There is another day of qualifiers today with another 8 places up for grabs giving everybody a second chance to win through to the main tournament which starts on Wednesday and will be shown on Sky.

Kingp35

The final qualifying night for the Desert Classic main tournament was held last and there were a few surprises in store. Ronnie Baxter, Barrie Bates, Andy Jenkins and Michael Van Gerwen all failed to make it into the main tournament as did Ireland's Mick McGowan.

The 8 players to qualify last night were:

John Ferrell
Steve Smith
Tony Eccles
Mark Dudbridge
Stuart Holden
Andy Smith
Alan Tabern
Vincent van der Voort

All the nights qualifying results can be seen here:
http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/DesertClassicDetail/0,,10180~1067002,00.html

The first round draw was also made last night. Here it is:
Las Vegas Desert Classic VI - First Round Draw
Darin Young v Tony Eccles
Phil Taylor v Mark Dudbridge
Gerry Convery v Mervyn King
John Kuczynski v Alan Tabern
Roland Scholten v Andy Smith
John Part v Steve Maish
Colin Lloyd v Wes Newton
James Wade v Colin Osborne
Gary Mawson v Stuart Holden
Peter Manley v Vincent van der Voort
Raymond van Barneveld v Kevin Painter
Dennis Priestley v Dennis Smith
Andy Hamilton v Steve Beaton
Adrian Lewis v Steve Smith
Terry Jenkins v Ray Carver
Wayne Mardle v John Ferrell
Best of 11 legs
From Round Two onwards a free draw will be made.

The darts will be shown live on Sky Sports from tonight and the schedule of play for tonight is:
7pm James Wade v Colin Osborne
7.30pm Gary Mawson v Stuart Holden
8pm Andy Hamilton v Steve Beaton
8.30pm Phil Taylor v Mark Dudbridge
9pm Colin Lloyd v Wes Newton
9.30pm Terry Jenkins v Ray Carver
10pm Wayne Mardle v John Ferrell
10.30pm John Part v Steve Maish

There really are some mouth watering first round clashes. Live darts is back

AndyP

Nice one, Dudbridge 6-5 over Phil the prat Taylor.

Carrickman

Results Round 1 Wednesday 4 July
Colin Osborne 6-5 James Wade:eek:
Gary Mawson 6-2 Stuart Holden
Andy Hamilton 5-6 Steve Beaton:eek:
Phil Taylor 5-6 Mark Dudbridge:eek:
Colin Lloyd 3-6 Wes Newton:eek:
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Ray Carver
Wayne Mardle 6-3 John Ferrell
John Part 6-4 Steve Maish

Thursday 5 July(Las Vegas Times)
11am Gerry Convery v Mervyn King
11.30am Dennis Priestley v Dennis Smith
12pm Darin Young v Tony Eccles
12.30pm Peter Manley v Vincent van der Voort
1pm Raymond van Barneveld v Kevin Painter
1.30pm John Kuczynski v Alan Tabern
2pm Adrian Lewis v Steve Smith
2.30pm Roland Scholten v Andy Smith

Kingp35

Some real surprises last night. I don't think Osbourne beating Wade was that surprising because Osbourne is a top player and got to the semi-final of the UK Open. Wade really threw it away though by missing 5 darts to win the match. Hamilton losing to Beaten was a shock. Hamilton is usually very steady but he had 3 or 4 legs were he totally lost the plot and Beaten took advantage.

The shock of the night was obviously Taylor losing to Dudbridge. Taylor was very poor for his standards as he averaged a poor 91. The angle of his darts were off and his doubles were very poor. Dudbridge kept plugging away and deserved his win in the end. Dudbridge was a very real talent but went off the boil for a few years. Hopefully this means he is back. I'm delighted that Taylor has been knocked out as it means the tournament is wide open now.

What is it with Wes Newton and Vegas? He always seems to do well and he put n a top performance to knock out Lloyd he didn't do an awful lot wrong. Good wins for Jenkins, Mardle and Part as well.

hawker27

totally agree with you kingp35,the osbourne result was no surprise to me at all.he is a cracking player is osbourne.
the taylor/dudbridge was a massive surprise and fairplay to the flash.
Llyold/newton not a surprise to me at all,everyone raves about jaws for some reason and he always gets knocked out early in most tv tournaments,he can only slide down the ladder eventually like painter,mardell e.t.c.

i fancey 1 from the following 3 players to win it,jenkins/barney/osbourne.

Carrickman

Thursday Results
Gerry Convery 1-6 Mervyn King
Dennis Priestley 5-6 Dennis Smith
Darin Young 6-3 Tony Eccles
Peter Manley 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Kevin Painter
John Kuczynski 5-6 Alan Tabern
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Steve Smith
Roland Scholten 6-4 Andy Smith
Best of 11 legs

Second Round Draw & Order of Play
Roland Scholten v Steve Beaton
Wes Newton v Terry Jenkins
Peter Manley v Colin Osborne
Raymond van Barneveld v Wayne Mardle
Adrian Lewis v Mervyn King
Mark Dudbridge v John Part
Darin Young v Dennis Smith
Gary Mawson v Alan Tabern

Kingp35

No real big surprises last night with Priestley losing to Dennis Smith being the big one. He was 4-0 and then had darts to win but somehow manage to lose. Mervyn King cruised through and I think he has a real chance in this tournament. Barney was unstoppable against Painter and Lewis looked decent too. It's anybodies tournament now with Taylor gone.

Some great second round matches tonight and it should be another top night of darts.

hawker27

did mason lose in the qualifiers?.

Kingp35

hawker27 wrote:

did mason lose in the qualifiers?.

I don't think he entered it for some reason.

hawker27

very strange kingp35,i taught i seen his name in the qualifiers early on.
did again as soon as he goes a set or 2 down he starts getting watery eyes and tends to be looking every where except at the dart board.

Kingp35 wrote:

I don't think he entered it for some reason.

Kingp35

Last nights results:
Roland Scholten 8-5 Steve Beaton
Wes Newton 7-8 Terry Jenkins
Peter Manley 8-4 Colin Osborne
Raymond van Barneveld 8-1 Wayne Mardle
Adrian Lewis 8-6 Mervyn King
Mark Dudbridge 7-8 John Part
Darin Young 7-8 Dennis Smith
Gary Mawson 8-6 Alan Tabern

Quarter final draw and schedule of play: (7pm Start)
Dennis Smith v John Part
Adrian Lewis v Peter Manley
Raymond van Barneveld v Roland Scholten
Gary Mawson v Terry Jenkins
Best of 19 legs

rag2gar

What you make of Lewis so far KingP. Has shown good temperment to win his games esp against the decent King. I fancy him to go far maybe final if he avoids barney in the semis-but then again I'm a big fan.

Like how John Part is playing too, very solid scoring and has been unlucky with doubles hence the close scorelines.

Would love to see one of the two winning it Part or Lewis (nothing to do with the fact I backed them in the outright obviously!!). Always watch the games regardless and have a bet for fun.

Who dyou think will win it KingP? Have my lads got a live chance dyou think?

Kingp35

rag2gar wrote:

Who dyou think will win it KingP? Have my lads got a live chance dyou think?

Yeah I think Lewis is playing really well. The Premier League has done him the world of good because he got some abuse from the crowd for being too cocky and I think that has made him settle down and just get on playing darts. I expect him to beat Manley and and he does have a good chance to win it. Lewis can beat most people on his day but I think Barney is a bridge too far for him. If he can avoid Barney and Barney gets knocked out then Lewis has a real go.

I think that John Part is the only player left that can beat Barney. Part is a fantastic player and always gives the big lads a real game. He has beaten Taylor as many times as Taylor has beaten him and he was very unlucky to lose 11-10 to Barney in the UK Open. For me Part has a real chance and I would love to see him win it. Remember he beat Barney in the final last year.

I expect Lewis, Barney, Part and Jenkins to win through to the semi-finals.

Kingp35

Typical Adrian Lewis, I say that he has a real chance and is playing well and then he goes and loses to Manley in the quarter finals. He really does have a reputation as a bottler now. He should have won that match.

John Part had a very tough match against Dennis Smith but he came through it in the end. Barney had no trouble beating Scolten as he finished with a 101 average. Terry Jenkins is the other quarter finalist as he beat Gary Mawson 10-7.

Las Vegas Desert Classic Quarter-Finals
John Part 10-9 Dennis Smith
Adrian Lewis 8-10 Peter Manley
Raymond van Barneveld 10-4 Roland Scholten
Gary Mawson 7-10 Terry Jenkins


Semi-Final Draw & Order of Play
Peter Manley v Terry Jenkins
John Part v Raymond van Barneveld
10am Sunday (6pm BST)
Best of 21 legs

followed by
Final
Best of 25 legs

Part against Barney should be a great game. Part is the one player who could beat Barney.

Carrickman

Semi-Finals
Terry Jenkins 11-8 Peter Manley
Raymond van Barneveld 11-7 John Part

Final
Raymond van Barneveld 13-6 Terry Jenkins.

kolo2007

the las vegas darts tournament has to go down as one of the most uninteresting darts tournament i have watched in the last couple of years mainly duet o the distinct lack of atmosphere in that venue, organisers have got to change this to attract more viewers to the sport

Kingp35

kolo2007 wrote:

the las vegas darts tournament has to go down as one of the most uninteresting darts tournament i have watched in the last couple of years mainly duet o the distinct lack of atmosphere in that venue, organisers have got to change this to attract more viewers to the sport

I agree about the atmosphere, it's terrible in Vegas and there are very small crowds but this is the only tournament on the PDC circuit that is like that. It is because it is in America and is so far away from England and Ireland that you get very few people travelling over from this part of the world. Darts is not a huge sport in America and so with all the other events that are going on in Vegas it doesn't catch the attention of the general person. Vegas is my least favourite tournament and I'm surprised that the PDC have stuck with Vegas when they could have a major in Holland instead.

Anyway results of the semi-finals and finals:
Las Vegas Desert Classic VI Semi-Finals
Terry Jenkins 11-8 Peter Manley
Raymond van Barneveld 11-7 John Part

Manley was never really in his match despite the close score-line. Jenkins really should have won by more. Again it's Manleys scoring power that lets him down all the down. He hits very few 140's and 180's compared to other players so he is always playing catch up.

Part against Barney was a great match. I knew Part would give Barney a good game and the score-line flattered Barney a bit. Part missed some shots at doubles that could have made the game a lot closer. Barney was brilliant on his doubles and that's what won him the match.

Las Vegas Desert Classic VI Final
Raymond Van Barneveld 13-6 Terry Jenkins

When Jenkins missed darts at doubles to go into the break 3-2 up I knew that he wouldn't get back into the game. Barney was scoring too heavily and Jenkins wasn't playing as well as he was in the semi-final. Barney is turning into the new Taylor as he is winning every tournament he enters. I hope somebody can emerge to challenge these two. Still well done to Barney.

hawker27

well done barney,did well and virtually cruised through.
should be a very interesting world matchplay ahead.

TheBigEvil

hawker27 wrote:

well done barney,did well and virtually cruised through.
should be a very interesting world matchplay ahead.

Here, here. Barney was awesome all week. Powered hes way by everyone. 100% check out in the first 5 legs against Part, and threw in a 130 with a bull finish. Fantastic.

I'd love him to be coming to Dublin in October looking to win the PDC grand slam. What an atmosphere that would be!

hawker27

TheBigEvil wrote:

Here, here. Barney was awesome all week. Powered hes way by everyone. 100% check out in the first 5 legs against Part, and threw in a 130 with a bull finish. Fantastic.

I'd love him to be coming to Dublin in October looking to win the PDC grand slam. What an atmosphere that would be!

taylor would love that would,nt he:D can,t see it myself.

Kingp35

hawker27 wrote:

taylor would love that would,nt he:D can,t see it myself.

I can't see why not at this stage but Taylor does love the matchplay. Barney is certainly the better of the two at the moment and I would have him as favourite for the matchplay. Hopefully someone other than Barney or Taylor can win it though.

The Rooster

hawker27 wrote:

did mason lose in the qualifiers?.

Mason didnt travel, said he couldnt afford it.


I think Barney should be favourite for the Matchplay, but I don't think he'll win it. Sky will be pestering him non-stop about the Grand Slam, which will heap on the pressure. Plus the heat on stage at Blackpool is supposed to be incredible (remember Dennis Smith nearly passing out last year). Barney's not a great man for handling the heat. Having said that he's a handy enough draw with Ovens in Round 1 and Bates (who's recent form has dipped a little) or Andy Smith (who'll be worse off in the heat than Barney). Then it'd be one of Lewis, Beaton, Hamilton or Mick McGowan in the quarters. Beaton is playing well, but you'd have to fancy Lewis to come through. Hamilton's form has dipped since he started practicing with Taylor, and Mick McGowan's form hasnt been great in 2007.

Taylor has a pretty tough draw. Newton up first, and he's in the form of his life. Then probably Painter who had darts to beat him in Bolton, then one of Mardle, Dudbridge, Scholten or Mason. I think the loss to Dudbridge will do more than any other to wipe away the aura of invincibility he's had for over a decade now. I don't think he'll get to the semis, and therefore I think there's a real chance we'll have someone other than the big 2 collecting the trophy.