Jonny Clayton Wins Austrian Darts Open!
A win-win for Wales as the 'Ferret' Jonny Clayton battled Gerwyn 'The Iceman' Price in the final of the Austrian Darts Open Championship. Hit 'Play' and enjoy the recap.
Ever Wonder if Matt, the @IrishDartsFan is a Good Dart Player?
He recently posted this picture on twitter with the words, "My practice usually consists of trying to finish 121 in six darts. Well, I say, 'why finish it in six when you can do it in three?' Pretty pleased with this one!"
Editor's Note: Nice shot mate. Great 121 checkout!
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Brendan Dolan
I'll start off by talking about Brendan Dolan. The 5 time winner on the PDC circuit was playing in his first European Tour event of the year in Austria. Having beaten Andrew Gilding, Jamie Bain and James Wilson to qualify for Austria, Brendan wasted no time in making his mark. Playing Alan Tabern in the first game of the tournament, Brendan produced a very solid performance to win 6-4. His next opponent was Ian White, and once again this was a tight match. Unfortunately, Ian won 6-4, but Brendan showed some impressive form. Here are his weekend stats. As I said, Brendan opened the tournament against Alan Tabern. He won 6-4, a lot of which was down to his 91.9 3 dart average. His 40% on doubles (6/15) was also excellent and there was also a 180 to compliment it all. A welcome return to the big stage.
Editor's Note: It happens
Next up for Brendan was Ian 'Diamond' White and what a good game it was. Having gone 3-1 down, Brendan fought back brilliantly to 4-4, where he sat on 65 to lead. However, Ian took out a super 129 on the bull before taking the next leg. Dolan had an average of 89, but his doubles % of 57% was most impressive. A decent weekend for Brendan backed up by the stats. An overall 3 dart average of 91, 45.5% on doubles and a 180 is very good for Brendan's first big stage appearance since the World Championships in December. Thanks to his run to the Last 32, Brendan picked up £2000 this weekend. This helped him to remain in 37th on the PDC Order of Merit with a total of £109750. On the Pro Tour Order of Merit, Brendan jumped 9 places to 51st, with a total of £18250. It was a decent weekend for Brendan, who showed some excellent form on his return to the big stage. Unfortunately, he has not qualified for either of the next 2 European Tours, meaning it will be a while before he gets a another chance to show this form. However, with some Players Championship events next weekend, I have full faith that Brendan can make some serious inroads.
Steve Lennon
Steve Lennon was also in action in Austria this weekend. Having beaten Peter Jacques and Andy Boulton to qualify, it was his 3rd European Tour of the year, having made the Last 32 of the previous 2. He repeated the feat and as Dan Dawson put it 'Steve is making a habit of qualifying for these events, winning his first round before going out to one of the seeds.' Unfortunately, this seems to be the truth at the moment. The fact that I am disappointed Steve hasn't gone further shows how highly Steve is rated. A Last 32 in the European Tour is very impressive and if he keeps up this form, he will certainly qualify for the European Championship. Anyway, onto this weekend and Steve had as easy a Round 1 game as he'll ever get. He came through it with ease, defeating Roxy-James Rodriguez with a solid 81.2 average. He hit 30% of doubles and a 180 to progress without too much trouble. However, maybe this was not ideal. Perhaps Steve's Round 1 match was too easy, as suggested by the PDC TV commentary team. He was slight favourite to win against Joe Cullen, according to the Darts Oracle's Elo rankings, but he seemed slightly off colour against Cullen in a 6-2 defeat. Whether it was the heat and humidity of the arena, or the fact Steve had not had a challenge the day before, he never quite got going. An 88 average is not his best, although he did hit 50% of his doubles (2/4). For the whole weekend, Steve had a 3 dart average of 84.7, 33% on doubles and hit a 180. It was not vintage Steve but still, a Last 32 and £2000 in the back pocket is very decent for a player not at their best.
As I said, Steve earned £2000 this weekend, which takes him to a career high of 52nd on the PDC Order of Merit, with a total of £57250. He has risen to a very decent 41st on the Pro Tour Order of Merit, the 2nd highest of the Irish behind Daryl Gurney. With some big TV events coming towards the back end of the year, Steve seems the best placed to qualify. With the World Matchplay in July, Steve is currently 23rd on Burton DeWitt's Pro Tour Matchplay rankings, with the Top 16 qualifying for Blackpool. He is about £4750 away from Ron Meulenkamp in 16th, which while not easy, could very possibly be made up with plenty events to go. As long as Steve keeps qualifying for these events, there's no reason why he can't stop winning! Finally,
The Whistler
Jason Cullen
Jason Cullen was in action this weekend. It was his very first appearance on the European Tour, but he certainly didn't show any nerves in Graz. The UK qualifier for this event was all the way back in March, and 'The Whistler' came through it with flying colours, defeating Justin Pipe and Andy Jenkins 6-1 and 6-2. He showed no signs of nerves on the big stage, coming up against fellow Euro Tour debutant Tamas Alexits. Jason won 6-1 with ease, before coming up against a very impressive Mervyn King in the Last 32 and going out. Here are Jason's stats for the weekend. In his Last 48 game against Tamas Alexits, Jason played an almost perfect match. A 3 dart average of 91, 30% on doubles (6/20) and 2 180s make for some very decent reading in his 6-1 win. This impressive performance was the 11th best of Round 1 according to @dartistik's stats based rankings, not bad for a man on his debut! Unfortunately, he wasn't able to replicate this form against Mervyn King. Jason's average dropped to 79.8 and he missed his 5 darts at doubles, although he did hit a 180. For the whole weekend, Jason had an average of 86.1, hit 24% of his doubles and threw 3 180s. Not too shabby for a man playing on the Euro Tour stage for the first time. Jason picked up £2000 this weekend, bringing him up to 119th on the PDC Order of Merit, a huge jump from the 150s, his total now £3250. He is up to 111th on the Pro Tour rankings, another major jump. Finally to comment, Jason played a super match against Alexits in Round 1, a 6-1 win well deserving of the performance. Unfortunately, his level dropped dramatically against King, a much superior player to Alexits, and this cost Jason. If he can consistently play to a high level, there is no reason why Jason will be unable to compete again in the Dutch Darts Masters in a few weeks time.
And the rest...
Daryl Gurney was once again defeated before the semi final stage of a Euro Tour, losing to Mensur Suljovic 6-1. His Premier League performances on Thursday however, have been consistently impressive, and he is right in with a chance against Michael Smith and Gary Anderson for the last couple of places in the Top 4.
Editor's Note: We love @TheMaximum180! Thank-you for the numbers.
Willie O'Connor, Mick McGowan and Mickey Mansell failed to qualify for Graz but it has not affected their rankings. Willie remains 56th, Mick is 65th and Mickey is 66th.
'Player of the Week'
Finally, it's PLAYER OF THE WEEK time. With Jason, Brendan and Steve all going out in the Last 32 stage, I couldn't pick a winner. So I decided to hold a poll on my Twitter, @irishdartsfan, and with 75+ votes, it was so close. I can exclusively reveal that the winner with 37% of the votes is...
STEVE LENNON! Another triumph for Steve, who pipped Brendan by a mere 2%, with Jason only 9% off himself. A really close poll, but it was Steve who has won the fans' vote. Congratulations!
Thanks to High Roller Radio for giving me a chance to report on the Irish. I really appreciate it! If you want the Player of the Week to be a poll every week, or you want to say something to me, I'm found on Twitter, @irishdartsfan. But for now...
Matt
Good Day at Office!
...for Steve Lennon. (Left) Shaking hands after his victory over Roxy-James Rodriguez & (Right) the scoreline.
2-to-1 you'll LOVE it!
Jonny Clayton Wins Austrian Darts Open
...but, Day 1 was ALL about the Irish!
Having completed 3 events in Germany, the European Tour crossed the border to Austria in Graz. The steaming hot arena played host to some fiery darts, with Jonny Clayton eventually taking a surprise win, defeating Gerwyn Price 8-5 to take his first Euro Tour victory. In terms of our Irish lads, there were mixed feelings. While Jason, Brendan and Steve all progressed through the Last 48 on Friday, they failed to go any further, all losing out in the Last 32. Having said that, we saw some very solid performances, which I'll talk about now.
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@irishdartsfan
Loving the Darts on the Emerald Isle!
Matt, the 'Irish Darts Fan,' is an avid follower of the tungsten pays particular attention to his fellow countrymen. News, statistics and player quotes. From O'Connor to Lennon to Dolan, darts in Ireland has nothing to do with luck, it's about the Skill of the Irish baby!
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