One Place on the MODUS Stage – South West Vault 18 Regional Final Preview

 

The road through Vault 18 reaches its conclusion in the South West on Saturday 22 August, when 20 of the region’s leading players battle it out for one of the biggest prizes available on the grassroots circuit.

A place on the MODUS Super Series stage awaits the winner.

For the last seven weeks, players across the South West have been competing in Vault events, collecting points and trying to position themselves high enough in the regional standings to reach this final day.

Now, the points race is over.

There are no more calculations to make and no more weeks to recover from a bad result.

For these 20 players, it comes down to one tournament.

Win it, and the reward is a televised MODUS Super Series opportunity.

That pathway has already shown just how significant these regional qualifiers can be. In Vault 17, Henry Cooper won the South West MODUS qualifier at Shaftesbury Football Club, defeating Andy Steed 6-4 in the final and averaging 85.51 across the event.

Now Cooper is back trying to do it all again.

Cooper Bids for Back-to-Back Qualification

There could hardly be a better starting point.

Henry Cooper enters the Vault 18 Regional Final as the defending South West qualifier champion — and his current form suggests another run is entirely possible.

Cooper is 10-0 across his last ten recorded matches in the Q4QS database and comes into Saturday after winning at The Kings Arms in Wallisdown with an exceptional 93.95 tournament average.

His recent sequence is formidable.

Three wins from his last five recorded events, another final, and tournament averages of 83.91, 84.02, 92.33 and 93.95 underline just how consistently well he has been playing.

He also has individual recorded performances of 109.98 and 104.86 among his recent results.

Repeating a regional qualifier victory is a difficult ask, but Cooper appears to be arriving at exactly the right level.

Gareth Griffiths Might Be the Man to Beat

If Cooper has the previous regional title, Gareth Griffiths may have the strongest current case.

Griffiths is ranked 83rd in the Q4QS database, with an overall average of 87.07, and he is also 10-0 across his last ten matches.

His latest appearance was spectacular.

Griffiths went 8-0 to win at Indian Queens WMC with a 93.35 tournament average, having already recorded victories over Kevin Mitchell, Neil Meneer and Logan Symons Jr during his recent run.

There is also unfinished business here.

Griffiths reached the semi-finals of the previous South West MODUS qualifier, averaging 90.08, before his run was ended by Andy Steed.

This time, he'll be looking to go two rounds further.

Spurdle Has Been Consistently in Contention

Kieran Spurdle is another player whose recent record makes a strong case.

He comes into Saturday 8-2 across his last ten, having won Vault 18 events at both The Choughs in Chard and Pegasus 68 in Taunton.

His recent five-event sequence contains two wins, two finals and a semi-final, making him one of the most consistently successful players in this field.

Spurdle's best recent winning average was 77.44, while individual performances have climbed as high as 88.41.

He might not carry the same headline scoring numbers as Griffiths or Cooper, but tournament darts is about repeatedly getting through matches — and Spurdle has been doing exactly that.

Cleave Comes in With Winning Form

Finlay Cleave is another who has been accumulating deep runs.

Cleave is also 8-2 in his last ten, and his recent results include victory at 8 Ball Bar & Sports in Paignton, where he went a perfect 8-0 with a 76.78 tournament average.

He followed that with semi-finals in Taunton and at Galaxy Sports Bar, while his recent wins include an 89.24 performance against Andy Steed and an 88.41 against Charlie Wiles.

Again, that gives him precisely the sort of profile that can work well in a one-day knockout.

Andrews Has Already Been Winning Around Bristol

Lee Andrews comes into Saturday with slightly less impressive immediate win-loss numbers than some of the favourites, but his recent record contains plenty of evidence that he belongs in the conversation.

Andrews recently won a Vault at Bessellscotts in Bristol, while his other recent results include semi-finals at North Star Club and Saintbridge Sports Club.

He has also shown a ceiling well above his overall 70.86 database average, with the preview data recording a best performance of 100.20.

In a shorter field where only a handful of wins separate somebody from the MODUS stage, that makes him a genuine threat.

Guilfoyle Provides the Unknown Element

My sixth player to follow is rather different.

Dan Guilfoyle doesn't have anywhere near the amount of Q4QS data behind him that the other leading names do.

He has only one qualifying event in the current database sample, but that appearance produced a 5-2 record and a quarter-final at St Breward, including several wins in the mid-to-high 50s.

So rather than presenting him as one of the statistical favourites, I'd see Guilfoyle as the intriguing unknown among my six.

Sometimes these regional finals throw up players whose broader level hasn't yet been fully captured by the database.

Saturday gives us a chance to find out more.

⭐ Q4QS Six to Follow

🎯 Gareth Griffiths
The highest-ranked player among my six, 10-0 recently and coming off an 8-0 title-winning performance with a 93.35 average.

🎯 Henry Cooper
The defending South West MODUS qualifier champion, also 10-0 recently and producing some outstanding 90+ tournament numbers.

🎯 Kieran Spurdle
Two wins, two finals and a semi-final among his latest five events make him one of the most consistent players in the field.

🎯 Finlay Cleave
Another 8-2 player who has already shown he can put together an unbeaten Vault-winning run.

🎯 Lee Andrews
A recent Bristol Vault winner with several other deep runs and enough scoring power to threaten anyone in the draw.

🎯 Dan Guilfoyle
The least exposed of the six in the Q4QS database, but his 5-2 Vault appearance makes him an interesting player to keep an eye on.

Plenty of Threats Beyond the Six

As with the South East & London qualifier, selecting six does not mean the rest can be ignored.

Danny Humphries comes into Saturday 9-1 across his last ten, has recently won a Vault at Matson Rugby Club with an 81.34 tournament average and has been gaining valuable Challenge Tour experience as well.

Callum Harrison is 7-3 and recently reached a Sturminster final, while Trevor Pengelly has the same 7-3 recent record and has reached semi-finals during both Vault 17 and Vault 18.

Then there are several significant names for whom the uploaded preview pack doesn't contain enough current detail to analyse in the same way — including Jamie Kay, Ricky King, Neil Meneer, C-Jay Pipe, Robbie Roy, Andy Steed, Sean Taylor, Martin Walker and Barry Wylds.

And Andy Steed in particular hardly needs explaining as a danger: he reached the final of the Vault 17 South West MODUS qualifier before losing to Cooper.

A Smaller Field – But Not an Easier One

The South West qualifier has an interesting difference to the South East & London event.

There are 20 players rather than 32 after the final field was confirmed, with Zach Quinn, Brooklyn Anthony and Josh McCarthy no longer taking part.

On the surface, that means fewer matches and fewer players standing between somebody and MODUS.

But it doesn't necessarily make the tournament easier.

With Cooper and Griffiths both arriving 10-0, Spurdle and Cleave at 8-2, Humphries at 9-1 and several proven regional performers elsewhere in the field, there is quality throughout the entry list.

And with only one prize that really matters, eventually somebody has to beat those players.

One More Opportunity

This is what seven weeks of Vault 18 have been building towards.

The weekly wins, ranking points and long evenings at venues across Bristol, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Gloucestershire have created the field.

On Saturday, all of that disappears.

Whether somebody qualified first or twentieth doesn't matter once the darts begin.

Twenty players.

One South West Regional Final.

One MODUS Super Series place.

Henry Cooper has already travelled this road successfully once.

On Saturday we'll discover whether he can do it again — or whether somebody else takes the South West's latest opportunity to step out of the Vault and onto the televised MODUS stage.