Barry French write up!

Barry French is an active participant on several Darts Forums. He recently decided to take his dart game to the next level by entering the UK Open! Here's his write up of his experience in the event....

I did write a report on the Bedworth Cherry Tree forum and have copied it over here. It does make for long reading, but what the heck?

I just want to say that Darren Johnson played well in the second round.....not how he did in his first round match, but well none the less. This 'Bus Driver' as has been put is a good player, certainly no mug and will do well at Bolton.

Here is the report for you all to read, hope you enjoy it



After the longest train journey of my life ( 5 1/2 hours ) settled into our hotel nicely. We ( Ross Macken and I ) stayed in the Montgreenan Mansion hotel. Set up my Unicorn Dartmate stand and admired the acres surrounding the hotel before heading to the Magnum Leisure Centre.

After being ripped off by the taxi driver the first thing I see is Michael Barnard struggling to find his doubles against Martin Burchell. I'm walking around to find familiar faces to say hi to, and then see Bullshooter lose in a hard game against Roland Scholten. Nice to see that Rolands fit and well again after his scare with the slipped disc in Ireland. But apparently Kev had played well all day a couple of bad darts cost him dearly.

I managed to see a couple of people, but generally was watching the form of the players. Ady Lewis was stunning on the Saturday, and Dennis Priestley played awesome all weekend. In the last 16 against Barney (saturday) he won the match 3-2 but Barney lost the first set with a 37 average! The quality of the match was awesome. We went halfway through the final, with Mick McGowan sitting on 141 after 6 darts. As we headed off into our taxi, all you could hear was the low grumble of Bruce Spendleys voice saying 'FOOOOOOORTY'. Mick is in top form so to not hear a roar for a 9 darter was disappointing.

In any case, I was more concerned about practising at the hotel, to prepare for Sundays UK Open Qualifier........

Panic struck me during practise with Ross (my room mate and practise partner), and my mate Kelvin Hirst, who lives in Warrington. I couldn't grip my darts at all - I've had 4 sets of darts made to my specification - and was worried that the Sunday would be awful.

Arrived on the Sunday, spoke to Bullshooter, Michael Barnard, Pete Allen and a couple of others before practising. Within the space of an hour, I'd found a zone where I hit 6 180's, and several tons/140's etc. I thought to myself 'Andy is gonna get it today!'. Laugh you may, but I was confident.

3rd game on board twelve - the site of one of my greatest lifetime achievements happened. Myself against Andy Jenkins....... ( this is the bit I hate talking about - myself )

I knew that the most important dart of the game was the bull to throw first. I won the bull anyway so was quietly happy that I could at least get 1 leg. Jenks wasn't at his ultimate best, and I was nervous as could be expected. But I hit key shots when needed in all the legs. No 180's hit, but I missed D18 for a 108 checkout. I ended up winning 5-4 after being 4-2 down.

I swear when that double went in I couldn't speak at all!!!!! This sounds pathetic to a lot of you here, but I've only been playing 8 months. To beat someone of Andy's stature after a short time proves I have the bottle at least. Maybe my consistancy isn't there yet however I shown that I have the bottle to play and take chances when given to me. To get my back patted and hear so many well dones is unheard of for me - and Bullshooter will tell you, I couldn't stop smiling. The only other time I've enjoyed myself so much in darts was playing Bobby George. But this surpassed that feeling by a country mile. John Part heard about the result and shook my hand ( and had a smile like a cheshire cat ) because he knows of my endeavours and told me to forget about playing Andy, just think about winning instead.

Anyway, as you all probably know I got beaten by Darren Johnson next round 5-0. I have to be honest and say my standard was not high enough to even compete. You all may not know of Darren as a household name, but he is capable of upsets, as Roland Scholten can attest to. He's a good floor player, finishes well and scores steadily.

I was a little disappointed with myself to be honest. But I was mentally fatigued after my first game. To come down from 4-2 to win 5-4 against Andy was hard work, and to stay positive had taken a lot of energy out of me. I'm used to playing 2 legs of darts most nights in pubs. The tuesday singles league guarantees you 3 legs per match twice a night - so playing best of 9 is hard for me at the moment. So to play a gruelling match, then play another one was too much for me too soon (some would say!). But credit to Darren he played very very well, and had kind words for me after the game.

Let's forget about me and get back to the rest of the darting fraternity for a little bit.....

Darren Johnson went on to win our board, beating Paul Williams to qualify for Bolton. But the game I wanted to watch was Bob Anderson v John Part. I had to mark while they played, but it was painful for me to hear the scores and the good shots scored, because Bob and John have both been kind to me in person, and they are both darting legends in my eyes.

I tried to keep an eye on all the boards to see if any shocks occured, however I didn't see many. A couple of things shocked me throughout the day though however:-

1) Being told that Wayne Mardle had not picking up a dart AT ALL before his game against Peter Manley. And he wonders why he's off form at the moment? GET ON THE PRACTISE BOARD AND FULFIL THE TALENT YOU HAVE MATE!

2) The lack of presence shown by the BDO players. Gary Anderson - the world no2 according to the BDO was battered by Kevin Painter. Painter is not playing his absolute best, yet he trounced one of the best that the BDO has to offer. Not a good showing for them yesterday. Though I do have to say that Vincent Van Der Voort played very well throughout, and I hope to see him enter a few more events now he has enough to qualify for Bolton.

3) The fact that the drinks and food were so cheap!!!!! ( Must explain why Jamie Harvey was more drunk than he was in Newport )



In all seriousness, I had the greatest weekend of my life. One result doesn't create a champion, One tournament win doesn't create a champion, however determination, positive attitude and commitment can enable you to reach your goals a little easier. My win over Andy has increased these attributes twentyfold. It will make me practise harder than ever as I want victory more (don't we all lol!) but will give me more confidence also.

Who'd imagine it - 8 months ago throwing your first dart to beating the World Ranked no 10? I will do my best to make my money stretch as far as possible to go to every PDC event next year (that includes Gibraltar, Holland x4, Ireland x3, Belgium, Las Vegas and Chicago)

On the back of this, 3 different parties are interested in sponsoring me. One of them may put me in the PDC early enough to have a crack at the World Championship Qualifiers ( despite having to renew in january anyway )

Sorry for long report. I still don't know how I feel inside other than happy. I'll enjoy this next couple of days, then when my liver recovers from the celebratory drink (or ten!) then I'll be back on the practise board!

Thanks for reading,
Baz