Seven weeks of Vault competition. Hundreds of matches. Dozens of venues and countless legs of darts.
On Saturday, it all comes down to one day.
The ADC Vault 18 South East & London Regional Final takes place on Saturday 22 August, bringing together 32 of the leading performers from one of the strongest and deepest regions in the Vault system.
And this time the prize is about considerably more than winning another darts tournament.
The winner earns a place on the MODUS Super Series, taking them from the grassroots Vault circuit onto the televised MODUS stage and giving them an opportunity to take another significant step in their darting career.
That pathway is precisely what makes the Vault concept so fascinating.
For seven weeks, players have competed in regular round-robin tournaments across the region, accumulating points towards the regional standings. The leading players then earn their shot at the Regional Final, where everything effectively resets.
Thirty-two players.
One knockout tournament.
One MODUS opportunity.
The Vault regulations describe the prize as a live MODUS Super Series place, guaranteeing either a five-day appearance or two separate two-day appearances.
For players accustomed to competing in clubs, pubs and social venues around the country, that is an enormous opportunity.
And the South East & London field looks particularly difficult to predict.
Cressey Looking to Do It Again
There is an obvious place to begin.
George Cressey knows exactly what it takes to win one of these.
Cressey won the Vault 17 South East & London Regional Final, earning his previous MODUS opportunity, and returns for Vault 18 attempting the difficult feat of qualifying again.
His wider form suggests that previous success was certainly no one-off.
The Q4QS database has Cressey averaging 85.17, while his recent results include victory at the Once Twitten Early Bird tournament where he averaged an outstanding 93.58 across the event. He has also produced a recorded match average of 120.40.
There is another interesting element to Cressey's story.
He has already shown that when the prize becomes bigger, his game can rise with it. That previous experience of navigating a regional final could prove extremely valuable on Saturday.
But this is far from a one-man tournament.
Dutton Brings Serious Form
If we're looking for one of the strongest statistical cases in the field, Stuart Dutton is difficult to ignore.
Dutton comes into the Regional Final with an 83.03 database average and an 8-2 record across his last ten matches.
His recent tournament record is even more impressive.
There are wins at Riverside Club and Sports Bar & Lounge in Milton Keynes, semi-finals at Bradmoor Farm and Charville Community Centre, and a semi-final at the Winmau CDC Classic where he averaged 84.50.
That's exactly the sort of consistency required in a 32-player knockout.
There won't be much room for a slow start on Saturday.
Crook Has Already Shown His Quality
Roger Crook is another player arriving with winning form behind him.
Crook won ADC Winmau Championship South Event 12, going through that tournament 8-0 and averaging 82.60. More recently, he reached another final at the GWRSA Club while averaging 88.19 across the event.
His last-ten record stands at 8-2.
Perhaps more importantly, those performances have come in substantial fields and against strong opposition. There should be very little about the pressure of Saturday's Regional Final that intimidates him.
Levett's Consistency Makes Him Dangerous
Connor Levett may be one of the most interesting players in the draw.
An 81.15 database average is backed up by an 8-2 recent record, while Levett has already won Vault 18 tournaments at TMG Social Club and Southwick Sports & Social Club.
He followed those victories by reaching another final at The Bear Free House, averaging 81.06.
That is a very solid body of Vault form.
And in an event made up predominantly of players who have earned their place through this exact competition, being consistently successful within the Vault format itself could be particularly significant.
Holley Knows How to Win
Then there's Sean Holley.
Holley has multiple recent Vault successes in the database, including an unbeaten 8-0 victory at Chinnor Community Pavilion and another tournament win at Bradmoor Farm where he averaged 85.80.
His best individual performances suggest there is another gear available as well, with the preview data recording a best average of 117.72.
If that higher level appears at the right moment, Holley becomes extremely dangerous.
Caste Might Be the Form Player
If recent wins are the deciding factor, however, Mat Caste demands attention.
Caste is 9-1 across his last ten recorded matches.
His recent run contains a semi-final at Hotshots, another semi-final at Bradmoor Farm and then three tournament victories – at the Carlton House Club, Windmill Hill Golf Centre and Hotshots Sports Bar.
At Windmill Hill he averaged 85.66 across the tournament.
There may be players with higher long-term numbers in this field, but very few appear to be arriving with greater momentum.
Six to Follow
My six for Saturday are therefore:
George Cressey – the defending Vault regional qualifier winner and already proven in exactly this situation.
Roger Crook – recent ADC Winmau Championship winner with another final immediately among his recent results.
Connor Levett – consistently producing around the 80-plus level and already a multiple Vault winner.
Stuart Dutton – arguably the strongest all-round statistical profile among the leading contenders.
Sean Holley – plenty of winning experience and capable of producing significantly bigger numbers when everything clicks.
Mat Caste – 9-1 across his last ten and coming into the tournament on a superb sequence of deep runs and victories.
Those are also the six highlighted by the Q4QS preview data.
But Don't Ignore the Rest
Perhaps the biggest danger when assessing this tournament is concentrating too heavily on the obvious six.
There are some remarkable runs elsewhere in the field.
Nathan Beckett, for example, is listed at 10-0 across his last ten and has recently won at The Empire Club, Plough & Horse and The Earl of Abingdon.
George Whyte is also 10-0, his latest appearance producing victory at the IDL Super GP Ruislip.
Remarkably, James Smith is another player carrying a 10-0 record, with victories at Saintbridge Sports Club and South Croydon Conservative Club among his latest results.
And Clayton Ford makes it four players in the wider field whose database form reads 10-0, having most recently won the Chinnor Pavilion Vault Break.
That illustrates the quality of this Regional Final better than almost anything else.
There are players outside an obvious six-to-follow shortlist arriving having barely lost a match.
The Beauty of the Regional Final
What I particularly like about these events is what they represent.
The MODUS Super Series has become an important bridge between grassroots and professional darts. Players don't necessarily need a PDC Tour Card or a major management deal to suddenly find themselves playing televised darts.
They can earn the opportunity on the board.
For the Vault players, Saturday is the culmination of weeks of travelling, entering events, accumulating ranking points and trying to finish high enough in their region to reach this stage.
Now none of those points matter.
The objective becomes beautifully simple.
Win your matches and reach MODUS.
Cressey has already done it.
Dutton, Crook, Levett, Holley and Caste have compelling cases.
Several others arrive on extraordinary winning runs.
And somewhere among this 32-player field is someone who will finish Saturday having transformed a successful Vault campaign into an opportunity to showcase their darts on the MODUS Super Series stage.
That's quite a prize to play for.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.