Lakeside Roundup
The First Round
3rd January 2015 saw the iconic Lakeside open its doors for the 30th time, with the preliminary and first rounds kicking things off. A hero was born very early on, as Peter Sajwani, who came through a routine prelim against Sam Head to begin his campaign, went on to oust the number 1 seed James Wilson with a 3 sets to 1 victory. Wilson, who missed 18 consecutive doubles on his way out of the tournament, was the inspiration behind this bumper-sticker in the making, courtesy of his victorious opponent:
"It doesn^t matter what you score. What does matter is hitting the double. A gorilla can punch the ball 600 yards but can^t putt.”
Cheers for that one, Peter. Wilson, meanwhile, has since moved to the PDC - we can only hope he finds more luck on the outer-ring sooner rather then later.
That was far from the only upset of the first round, mind you. Eventual semi-finalist Jeff Smith came through the prelims to stamp his authority on the tournament with a 3-1 win against a shell-shocked Wesley Harms. Madars Razma brushed aside number 5 seed Martin Phillips, and prelim qualifier Geert de Vos secured a convincing win against number 13 seed Remco van Eijden.
And how different would the complexion of the championship have been had the deciding leg between Tony O’Shea and Scott Mitchell swung in the ever-unfortunate Silverback’s favour? We’ll never know.
As if that wasn’t enough excitement, the first round also saw an on form Darius Labanauskas throw what was to become the highest checkout of the tournament. Treble 20, Treble 19, Bull. Darius was beaten by one of the tournament favourites in Robbie Green, but those three darts would eventually secure him a comfy £5,000 payout nonetheless. Not a bad day at the office for the Lithuanian.
The Second Round
The second round saw Canadian Jeff Smith continue his remarkable campaign with an average of 91, this time at the expense of Gary Robson. Our hero and darting philosopher Peter Sajwani bowed out after losing an entertaining and good-humoured match to an unstoppable Robbie Green, who averaged an impressive 98.22. Scott Mitchell ended Geert de Vos’ run, hitting an efficient 93 average, and Alan Norris and Darryl Fitton treated the Lakeside crowd to a stunning 4-3 thriller, which saw both players average 94+. A drained Fitton emerged victorious to reach the last 8.
Out-of-form Scott Waites suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of ruthless Scotsman Ross Montgomery, despite hitting a usually-sufficient 94 average. Sajwani’s wise words were ringing truer then ever as Waites failed to hit the doubles when they mattered most.
The Quarter Finals
Jeff Smith continued to build on his quickly growing friendship with the bookies in the Quarter Finals, this time with a 5-1 routing of Robbie Green. Green, who matched the Canadian in terms of averages, could not match him on his doubles, and Jeff Smith suddenly looked like a realistic contender for what would have to be the most remarkable tournament win in its history.
Scott Mitchell continued to impress, averaging 96 against the resilient Brian Dawson. A tired Darryl Fitton’s eye-catching run was ended by number 7 seed Glen Durrant, who made his way to the quarter finals with little hassle. Ross Montgomery was punished by eventual finalist Martin Adams for dropping his last-16 average by a huge and unforgivable 13 points. Needless to say, he was shown no forgiveness by Wolfie, who only afforded the Scotsman a single set in a 5-1 thrashing.
The Semi Finals
The Semi Finals will be remembered for what was arguably one of the best darting displays the Lakeside has ever seen. No, I’m not talking about Mitchell’s win over Jeff Smith (as convincing as it was), I’m talking about the 6-5 nerve-jangler between Martin Adams and Glen Durrant. The match saw averages of 97 and 99, respectively, and Wolfie miss an agonising double 12 for what would have been the first 9 darter at the Lakeside since Paul Lim’s effort 25 years ago. And a huge £52,000 in his pocket. Still, it was probably the game of the tournament - which saw missed match darts from both players before the Lakeside veteran finally emerged victorious in the deciding set.
We were all sad to see Smith bow out, but a final between Mitchell and Adams seemed like a fitting way to round off a compelling and quality-filled tournament.
The Final
And what a final it was. The Scotty Dog verses the Wolf. No player was capable of forging a 2 set advantage, and it seemed destined to go the distance from the start. Scott Mitchell, who had held his nerve well throughout the tournament, did so again when it really mattered in the final set, hitting tops to round off a brilliant week of double-hitting for the Englishman. An emotional end to a memorable tournament. Congratulations to the Scotty Dog, bring on 2016!