How I Got Into Darts: Chapter 10: A Pro filled Open!

How I Got Into Darts: Chapter 10: A Pro Filled Open

On Saturday 26^th July 2014  I decided to go to my second PDS event (the first being the January 2014 debacle), in Fareham (about 10 minutes away from my house).

It was an ‘open’ and my 2 oldest stepsons decided to come along for support.

I expected the quality to be high as there was decent (£400) prize money however upon driving up to the venue (The Fareham pub, conveniently in Fareham) it became obvious that this was clearly the ‘summer’ event locally of the year.

I have to admit that It was a little daunting entering the packed venue however when we got in it  became blatantly obvious that this had more in common with a pro dart tour event that your usual pub tournament.

The place was filled with pro’s or semi pro’s. You had:

Dennis Smith (PDC no 51)

Andy Jenkins (PDC no 53)

Arron Monk (PDC 44)

Johnny Haines (PDC 58)

Sam Head (BDO no 44)

Paul Hogan (BDO no 98)

Gary Stafford (BDO 27)

Mike Gillet (BDO 113)

Smith, Jenkins and Monk had all appeared at major television events and reached respectable stages in the world championships and other majors and the BDO players had all played in major BDO events (both home and abroad). 

This was not to mention the whole host of local stars, super-league and county players who were in attendance. Clearly this was not an event that a novice would think about entering!

Luckily Danny Smith who I’d known for about 10 years and whom I used to drink with his uncle was there. He is a cracking player, has been to BDO events and is one of the best in the area and well known and well respected. One giant hug from him and a regaling of an ex drinking adventure we had had later and any nerves were gone. It was almost like an acceptance as everyone the just assumed that I was a ‘darts player’ and must have been of some standard to be there.  I mean a novice wouldn’t dream of going to such an event would they?

I was feeling pretty good until I looked around and suddenly realised that there were no digital scorers up and it was ‘old school’ chalking. My heart then sank, and it felt like I had been punched in the stomach, and then I was immediately called to chalk a game, and not just for anyone but PDC pro Arron Monk!  Monk is a fast player and I could have vomited as I was rubbish at chalking let alone fast.  This was great, not only was I going to expose myself but I was going to do it on a PDC pro and probably ruin his match, great!

Luckily my fears were soon dispelled when I explained to Monk I was a novice chalker when he came over and the lad was total class and a gentleman. He was cool and said he’d call for both me and his opponent which he did.  Monk won 4-3 and then thanked me kindly for chalking and told me not to worry.

I then had a long wait until my game (3 hours). The venue was packed with well over 100 people, and it was the hottest day of the year. The smell of sweat, beer, and body heat was palpable.  One thing that has to be said is that despite the packed nature of the venue, the incredible heat and the copious amount of alcohol, that there was no aggro and everyone behaved impeccably.

About 3 hours after I chalked I got called to play. My opponent was a lad called Ross who played in the Gosport premier league and was a very good player.

Once again I had drawn a tough opponent in my singles, but at this event there would be no easy games. In short I can safely say that I was probably the most in-experienced player there by a long, long way.!

 If the tournament in January was a nightmare this was going to be insane. That said I wasn’t nervous before the game and to start off I threw a perfect bullseye to start (just like January).

The difference in class though was apparent. I played really well and was hitting 60’s and 80's consistently and the odd 100 and 120 however he was hitting 140’s and a 180 and was finishing when hitting around 150 or under.

I lost 4-0 with an averaging in the 70's!

He was the better player abut I didn’t disgrace myself. I kept up with him he just finished under 150 and I didn’t have the tools to do that.

Next up as the loser I had to chalk for Arron Monk again!!

My heart sank as this poor guy would have to put up with my chalking again. 

Again the guy was class even after an afternoon of sun and lager. He won 4-3 in a real tough one, and at the end I offered to buy him a drink for putting up with me.

The guy was not only gracious but again a gentleman and even declined a drink, gave me a  hug and said  “don’t be silly mate, you did fine, thanks for chalking in the first place”  Nice guy  indeed considering he would have had every right to be irked by me. And I’ll say this now, Monk has come under aggro before for attitude but he was a gentleman and a class act!

The event was eventually won by Mike Gillet beating Monk 5-4 in the final and it was a great day filled with a good atmosphere and great people.

I took a lot away from the event even though I only played one game and lost 4-0.

I was not disappointed at all. Even though I had lost I was in ‘elite’ company, and I went away with the mind-set that you can only get better playing good players!

As the organiser of the event said to me after”

“It takes a lot of bottle to step up and play in that company in the first place”