The first PDC ranking major of the year comes to a close today as the UK Open, the so called "FA Cup of Darts", concludes at Butlin's Minehead. With James Wade sensationally eliminated last night, this means that for the third year in a row a new name will be on the trophy, and just two of the eight left have been major winners.
Our first quarter-final is a southeast derby between Hastings' Rob Cross and Gravesend's Josh Payne. Voltage was nowhere near his best last night as he struggled past a mentally shot Cristo Reyes, while the Maximum battled hard to edge past the now 50-year-old Simon Whitlock. This is Payne's first major quarter-final, which could put him at a disadvantage against his far more experienced opponent.
On the subject of 50-something veterans, the insatiable sex god that is Steve Beaton is next up against the still crippled and limping Michael Smith. The Bronzed Adonis has reached the last 8 of a major for the first time in 18 months and the first time in this tournament since 2005(!) and got here with a tense victory over Dimitri Van den Bergh. Bully Boy on the other hand has made the quarters for the first time, having demolished Jermaine Wattimena despite his abscess woes.
A potential annihilation follows with Plymouth jobber Simon Stevenson the unfortunate one to be thrown into the path of the all-conquering rugger roidlet that is Gerwyn Price. The Mirror Man had Dave Chisnall's comedy bottlejob from 8-4 up to thank for his first major QF, whereas the Iceman froze out Krzysztof Ratajski.
Ending the afternoon are two youngsters in Nathan Aspinall and Ross Smith. The Asp is continuing that fine standard that got him to the Worlds semis, fighting back from 3-7 against Steve Lennon to get through to today, while Smudger finally broke down the Machine at the 7th time of asking with one of his best ever TV showings.
>Afternoon session (12:45pm - 5:00pm) Quarter-Finals (best of 19 legs [first to 10])
>Fixtures Rob "BAuLDtism" Cross v Josh "Window" Payne Michael "Snackpot 2.0" Smith v Steve "PHWOARRRRRRRRR" Beaton Simon "Wikipedia Vandal" Stevenson v Gerwyn "Gurning" Price Nathan "White Line Wonder" Aspinall v Ross "Pwopa Nawty 9-Darter" Smith
>Evening session (7:00pm - 11:00pm) Semi-Finals (best of 21 legs [first to 11]) Final (best of 21 legs [first to 11])
Could fine every single tour card holder for that at some point in the season. The report suggests Mansell was doing it intentionally for whatever reason. Can't see why he would jeopardise his Worlds on purpose.
Jacob Carter
So did Wadey actually get away scot-free from the incident with Asada?
Bazza orchestrated everything for a Bully boy win. Watch for the magnets.
Adrian Ward
and yet matchfixing is apparently less grave of an offence than "gamesmanship"
Blake Jones
The result of that is absolutely rubbish. Intentional matchfixing from both players and fuck all happens because they're from the Aussie Associate Tour yet a Worlds qualifier gets banned for years for his matchfixing.
Luke Wood
>mfw no more comfy Dan Dawson & The Asset commentary and having to listen to Rawling rambling on from now on
Wouldn't have mattered considering how Aspinall's playing.
Andrew Long
>265 left >starts on 20s
Logan Jackson
>Price is gonna win the tournament I hate this.
Adrian Wilson
Still better than Bob Ross, but I hope blubber wins this time
Brody Gray
Smith will beat him
Elijah Butler
Surely not?
Jose Sanchez
THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX THE MAX
Why? He's one of the most entertaining players. Plays with personality and thrives under pressure, but suffers concentration lapses so always seems to find himself in scraps
Benjamin Wilson
Wouldn't be mad if any of the 4 left won really.
Logan Cook
>le "im not here to make up the numbers" man
John Ross
kent smith will always be in the same bracket of "eternal future world champion" as jobber cullen is
John Gomez
Just looks so punchable/douchey to me. Can't put my finger on it. I posted about this in the thread yesterday and others said he seems to have a "bully" haircut/look
Hunter Evans
>Price v Aspinall II OH MY
Jonathan Johnson
>gerwyn/asp rematch Wew lads
Nathan Diaz
All the expected winners won. Should be a good night.
Low averages right now, Price is definitely susceptible to nerves. I reckon Asp will see this out, although not without the customary wobble, and then just get shut down by Smith or Cross (probably Smith) in the final
Jacob Bennett
>ROIDLET ASPINALL GOING MAD
Aiden Jones
What a finish
Asp would do Cross desu
Daniel Scott
Fucking hell does paint thinner have anti-aging properties?
Ive always thought he seemed sound and most players get on with him from the looks of things, he has a laugh up there. But being a tosser on the stage really must get annoying though which he was doing. Its daft because he seems a better player when he does tone it down and only celebrates when it makes sense too, and not after every visit where he hits a couple of trebles
Jace Smith
They've just shown it again. Stupid twat didn't open it properly.
Gabriel Long
Why the hell didn't price go for 10's on 70? Pulling for Cross or smith now
Bob really underselling how good he was as a player. Just look at what he was averaging when he won the Lakeside on those old boards with tiny segments and wires that spat out even more darts than the Unicorn boards nowadays.
Set my dart board up last week, any tips improving accuracy? I’m just going round the clock atm to practice hitting different areas of the board, I know it’s supposed to be difficult but hitting the bull on purpose seems like a lottery.
Grayson Thompson
Still the last man to win the Winmau 3 times in a row back when it was a wholly open draw and had no seeds.
Jason Howard
Looking at his floor and PL form i fancy him for a major this year, at least a final or two. Called it the other day, near his top form he's very dangerous in a very consistent and all round sort of way (scoring, finishing, big cehckouts). He reminds me a bit of thicky Pheel without any of the ego and cuntishness
Owen Bennett
Losing to Humphries was a massive positive for Cross. It was clear that last year he had no clue how to handle being World Champion, and his game suffered massively because of it.
Leo Long
Practice practice practice >all you need to know about form
This is ripe for a hilarious edit with the groper on there
Levi Sanders
I don’t watch much darts, someone red pill me on Rob Cross
He appears to have a very cunty vibe to me, has the cunt glare, cunt walk, just seems a cunt
Connor Lopez
I am enjoying the Feelth myth getting blown the fuck out.
Connor Wilson
Cross has the throw. Already a disadvantage for Asp.
Hudson Allen
>tfw had to click through and check if Jamie Harvey is still alive He is.
Mason King
One of the better walk-ons by Asp
Joshua Bennett
Quite a decent, if a bit vacant and dull, lad.
Henry Nguyen
Would be hard to have a bad one with that song
Josiah Richardson
>boring boring tables Fuck off Minehead
Juan Murphy
This. He couldn't even come up with his own nickname.
James Cox
He has about as much personality and ego as a glass of water. Possibly the most unremarkable man to win a world title. Solely focused on his game, just has a weird focus on his throw when he's setting up sometimes
Jaxon Price
Phil is without a doubt the greatest player to ever play the game but lets be honest, the Lakeside was the harder championship to win all the way until Barney made the switch to the PDC.
Apart from couple decent years from Dennis Priestley, Phil had absolutely no competition on the PDC side for the first 10 years of the PDC.
Jacob Perez
I think Aspinall will win this. Cross not looking convincing enough.
Bentley Jackson
Yeah, his record in the early PDC days needs to be under more scrutiny.
Oliver King
If Aspinall wins this, he surely in the Prem next year?
David Smith
Has to be. Would be criminal otherwise.
Landon Diaz
Had there not been the split he probably would have won double figures in world titles still. He'd have likely lost a few against Barney in and around 2000ish. His stats are overblown, but he's not overrated
Carter Nguyen
IT'S HAPPENING
Parker Lewis
The real argument to be made is that Taylor is the biggest anti-draw in darts history. The darts wilderness period pretty much maps entirely on to his breakthrough as a top-level player through to Barney making the switch.
David Scott
Maybe he was lacking someone who could consistently match him?
William Phillips
There wasn't a player who could consistantly match Taylor at his peak but there was way more players on the BDO side who could have troubled him on a good day.
Kevin Hill
This final's over already. Cross has given up.
Samuel White
Strange to think there is just a year in age between these guys. If you told me the Asp was 16 and Cross was like 43, if believe that.
Jaxson Turner
Both of these have gone to shit.
Leo Reyes
Scoring a 180 against that insufferable “Peter Wright song” sung as Aspinall must be a feeling on par with scoring against Spurs when the Spurs fans all start singing “When the Spurs go Marching in” in a cocky and slow fashion.
Logan White
Aspinall vs. Price was the real final, this is absolutely shite. Cross has completely sapped the energy out of the building.
Christian Wilson
wait what the fuck how old are they?
Elijah Thompson
THIS GUY JUST MISSED A SINGLE LOOOOOL
Dominic Rodriguez
As usual.
Aspinall 27, Cross 28.
Nathan Smith
27 and 28.
Anthony Sanchez
Is rob cross using a lot of cunt tactics right now?
He appears to be very slow throwing and taking breaks between throws
Nathan Powell
MVG misses something like 12% of his singles.
Chase Rodriguez
really fucking hate rob cross, not sure why but he just seems like a cunt
Jace Cruz
Hmm. Maybe I was wrong. That disaster on 32 could be the end of him.
Christian Gomez
That's how he plays always.
Samuel Russell
Refer to: There’s just something about him...
Colton Rivera
reminder that 190kg sexually assaulted his young neice and bragged about it on /brit/
Gabriel Sanchez
>Cross fluffing D7 instead of splitting it What a fucking moron.
Grayson Gonzalez
He deserves to die
Kayden Smith
Archive it or shut the fuck up?
Samuel Moore
>tfw did a speech in front of 200 people last night >still feel anxious even though everyone congratulated me
How often do you think these pro players take liberties with the oche line? Feel like I’ve seen them throw with one foot slightly over the line a few times. If you were an utter cunt and you pointed it out to the officials could you get someone’s score revoked if they were over the line?
Andrew Jackson
He almost bottled it against Gezzy when he looked to have a comfortable lead.
>that D5 Just end this. Sadly an underwhelming tournament conclusion
Julian Rivera
>Welcome to Lakeside!
Thomas Evans
>tf >tp
Jeremiah Barnes
Rob Cross has somehow managed to go from the next Taylor to Terry Jenkins in the space of a year.
Joseph King
Aye but he's just about doing enough bar some big change in gear from the opposition, which didnt really happen in that Gezzy game and doesnt seem to be happening here
I'm in every /180/ thread.. Crazy to think Asp will be a major winner. Something players like Smith, Chizzy, Huybrechts, etc have yet to do
Gabriel Garcia
First /147/ is invaded by trip cancer, and now /180/. It really is ogre isnt it
William Long
Underwhelming conclusion but I'm really happy for Aspinall, was rooting for him from the start
Nathaniel Gonzalez
>Aspinall will win a major before ______
Owen Collins
have never replied to a foreign flag in /180/
William Ramirez
Just proves that bottle is more important than talent
Jayden Taylor
I thought there would be more Dutch regulars in here
Brandon Sullivan
People need to learn to ignore 190kg
Leo Brooks
So this puts Aspie in the top 16?
Benjamin Campbell
Definitely deserves it. He'll no doubt be absolutely raging at Cross for that shit at the end.
Ian Jackson
>Cross with the gamesmanship
Jack Fisher
Cross has given up
Elijah Hughes
Thank fuck Mason isn’t on Sky comms.
Kayden Barnes
Yeah, 100k on the Order of Merit.
Christian Cook
COR BLIMEY WHAT A FINISH
Evan Ross
won't be punished he a good boy, dundu nuffin
Samuel Myers
>170 to win
James Gonzalez
FAIR FUCKING PLAY. MVG WILL BE SEETHING ABOUT THAT
Alexander Hill
OH SHIT
Jack Jackson
THE MAX FOR THE OPEN THE MAX FOR THE OPEN THE MAX FOR THE OPEN THE MAX FOR THE OPEN THE MAX FOR THE OPEN THE MAX FOR THE OPEN THE MAX FOR THE OPEN THE MAX FOR THE OPEN THE MAX FOR THE OPEN THE MAX FOR THE OPEN THE MAX FOR THE OPEN
Would have won the tournament otherwise. Was clearly knackered against Cross.
Brayden Williams
Think of a new song for the man ffs. Can’t think of a more irritating thing that hearing a chant associated with someone else lazily get rehashed to accommodate your name.
Nathan Sanchez
Big fish? Mmmm, don't wanna mess with that.
Lucas Morales
>this interview Me IQ fall very fastly.
Brody Scott
Will ASP be tested for PEDs?
Josiah Price
88.72 to win a major gotta be the lowest in quite some time
Benjamin Scott
>licking barry hearns arse cringe
Caleb Brooks
>we wouldn't be able to play for these money Cross is a fucking imbecile.
Incorrect: Rod in 1999's World Matchplay averaged 86.
Grayson Hall
Well, fuck. Missed that when going through the finals averages.
Austin Young
Are they tested in general? I imagine that beta blockers and maybe benzos or methamphetamines would substantially improve performance. I wonder what meds Wade is on and whether they have anxiolytic effects
Leo Perez
Mad Cammy admits he didn't even know his board for Round Two. What an idiot.
Can't be arsed with the premier league see you in June for the world cup
Lincoln Garcia
So that's the end of the UK Open for another year. But what a story that final's produced. Sure, it may have been officially the lowest standard straight start final of a PDC major ever and the first time in 15 years where both players have averaged below 90. Sure, the runner-up may have decided to give up a leg early for no discernible reason because he's a boring idiot. But a 170 to win your maiden major in style? Nathan Aspinall is the latest man to have the answer to that after finally fulfilling his dreams in an 11-5 domination of Rob Cross.
The Asp really won the tournament in his semi-final as he completely overpowered Gerwyn Price in a sensational 11-9 affair. Two missed darts to break throw and then a total miss of the big number on 25 saw the Iceman go 2-0 down, and it just got worse as bounceouts aplenty for Price and crucial finishing for Aspinall saw the gap extended to 6-1. 7 holds followed including a Welshman 101 countered with a clean 100 from the Stockport lad, but at 9-5 Nathan wobbled. Gerwyn had a superb recovery 70 from hitting 1 for 9-6 and then got to 9-7 before leaving 41 after 9, only to see his opponent slam in 121 on the bull. Price got back-to-back legs but lost thanks to an unopened flight scuppering a 70 attempt.
Voltage on the other hand was just one player too many for the crippled Michael Smith. Cross hit 146 and 120 on his way to 3-0 and although Bully Boy got in with a 108, he was never going to overcome the gap. Rob hit a 127 as well on his way to an 11-7 victory.
The final was only ever going one way after Aspinall broke the Cross throw after 4 straight holds and eventually made it 5-2. Voltage got it back to 5-4 but a stupid decision to not split 14 when miles ahead cost him and he won just one more leg, remarkably shaking hands with a bemused Asp at 10-5 before getting 170'd.
/180/ goes back to the Premier League on Thursday, and I bet you can't wait for HENDO v MVG in Aberdeen either! See you then.
