UK Open Darts: 1000/1 David Pallett reaches the semi-finals but John Part's fairytale run comes to an end

Darts

Sun March 04, 2018 · 7y ago

David Pallett, a 1000/1 pre-tournament outsider, beat Steve West to reach the UK Open semi-finals in Minehead but John Part's fairytale run came to an end.

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The 28-year-old from Shropshire, who hasn't even got a PDC Tour card after failing in his bid to earn one at Q School at the start of the season, defeated the much bigger names of Robert Thornton, James Wade and Kim Huybrechts to reach the final day of the competition but was once again underdog to defeat the much higher ranked West.

That said, both players were competing in their first major televised quarter-final and it was Pallett who coped better with the pressure to win 10-5.

He averaged 95.3 compared to West's 91.56, threw four 180s and clinically hit 45.45% of his doubles which included a high checkout from 101.

Pallett said: "I played well, Steve let me off a couple of times but I punished him when I needed to. It's all new to me, I'm learning as I go. I didn't get my Tour Card but hopefully I can keep going and it'll pay dividends in the end."

However, going one better and reaching the final will be by far his toughest challenge yet after being drawn against 4/9 tournament favourite Gary Anderson.

The Flying Scotsman, who is seeking his first major TV crown since landing his second world title at the start of 2016, won six legs on the trot to claim a 10-5 victory over Rob Cross.

Neither player were at their sparkling best and Anderson had to wait until the 15th leg to hit his first of two 180s but he did nail 58% of his doubles as he maintained his perfect record of four wins out of four against the current world champion.

Three-time world champion John Part saw his incredible journey come to an end as he was soundly beaten 10-3 by another surprise quarter-finalist in Robert Owen.

Darth Maple's winning run in his first TV major since 2015 has gripped the world of darts since Friday and having started the tournament as a 1000/1 outsider, belief was now growing that he could indeed pull off one of the biggest fairytales in the sport's history.

Although the Canadian legend, who is our weekly star guest on the Sporting Life Darts Podcast (click here to listen) and also a Sky Sports Darts commentator, headed into the match as the outsider of the remaining eight players at 20/1 to lift his first major title since the 2008 world championship, he lay only five places below Owen in the rankings at 99.

👏🎯 It was a memorable weekend for the star of the Sporting Life Darts Podcast @DarthMaple180

This was our favourite win of his...pic.twitter.com/GGITlpxbrN
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) March 4, 2018

Nevertheless his Welsh opponent, who could have been backed at 400/1 pre-tournament, produced one of the best performances of his life in what was his first TV quarter-final by averaging 98.94 compared to Part's 80.72.

Owen also hit six 180s and nailed 10 of his 23 attempts at doubles during a one-sided victory.

Part was still proud of his efforts this weekend in which he won more prize money than he has in his last 95 tournaments combined while he hasn't won five matches in a single TV event since that third world title in 2008. It was also his first major quarter-final since 2012.

The 51-year-old told ITV4: "It was a great performance, he played really well. He had me under pressure from the start and shut me down. He played a great game. I didn't feel myself or true to what I'd done a lot of this weekend but he made all the shots to pressure me."

"I'm disappointed to lose obviously but on the other hand I'm happy because I made the quarter-final of a major tournament which is a big step forward for me. For Robert he's looking at potentially a title now and that's career changing. The standard he's playing at - there's no reason why he can't think about lifting the trophy."

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👏👏 John Part's fairytale run at the #UKOpen is over after defeat to the impressive Robert Owen, whose own incredible journey continues in Minehead.

🎯 Nevertheless, it's been a memorable weekend for @DarthMaple180 in his first TV major since 2015 👏#lovethedarts pic.twitter.com/hxaBKQysLE
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) March 4, 2018

Owen said: "I don't think I'm playing anywhere near my top level at the minute. Apart from that game I've just been scraping through so there's definitely another gear or two.

"I could only have dreamt of reaching the semi-final before this weekend."

Our darts expert Chris Hammer's two pre-tournament tips Corey Cadby (28/1) and Gerwyn Price (80/1) collided in the third quarter-final and it was the rising Aussie star who prevailed 10-6.

Former world youth champion Cadby is enjoying a superb debut season on the PDC tour after winning his way through Q School at the start of the year and won a UK Open qualifying event.

He was gunning for revenge over Price, who defeated him in their infamously heated clash at the World Series of Darts Finals last year, and got it thanks to a superb performance in which he averaged 100, hit five 180s and hit almost 50% of his doubles.

Price, the 2017 runner-up, also hit five maximums and nailed two 100+ checkouts but his average of 94 failed to put enough pressure on Cadby.

The runs of Pallett, Owen and indeed Part sums up the shocks and underdog stories that have characterised this year's unforgettable 'FA Cup of Darts' at the Butlin's Minehead Resort, which will also be remembered in equal measure by being played behind closed doors due to the adverse weather conditions caused by Storm Emma this past week.

Every other year, thousands of spectators would be cheering and celebrating throughout the action on the Main Stage but organisers deemed it unsafe for anyone attend, so the televised games each day have been played in the smaller Red's Bar area of the resort.

🤑 Anyone back David Pallett at 1000/1 to win the #UKOpen?!

🎯 Well, he's just reached the semi-finals 👏

Next up it's John Part, who was also 1000/1, up against Robert Owen, who was 400/1!#LoveTheDarts pic.twitter.com/OrbQcvqoA0
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) March 4, 2018