As mentioned in my previous post, there was a big tournament in Bristol this weekend. Many of the big names from Bristol and the surrounding areas attended. There were around 70 players in the end. Games were played over the best of 7 legs.
I had a tricky first round draw against a Superleague stalwart so I needed to get off to a good start. Unfortunately the exact opposite happened. My opponent was hitting solid scores of 60-100 per throw and I threw too many loose darts, giving him an advantage. After 2 legs, I finally woke up. The trebles finally came, but by which time I was 3 down as I was against the throw. In the 4th leg, I put up a good fight, I went ahead by a fairly comfortable margin, but a silly 21 score let my opponent back in. Which he did with a 140. I had 109 to clinch the leg, but missed the double 18. My opponent took out 60 and I lost 4-0.
The winner of the competition was former Pro Tour player Ryan Palmer, who beat local player Chris Hartrey 6-3. I expect both players will be attending Q School in 2025 and wish them luck.
I felt I played ok, so wasn't too disappointed. I noticed that there were quite a few players with lower averages than mine, and I kind of wished I got to play those players to build my confidence. This was a one off Open knockout competition and good experience, but will be back to my normal Round Robin competitions on Wednesday and Thursday.
