18th April 2009 Derby Players Championships – Moorways  Leisure Centre, Derby

In the first round I had drawn Jonathon Overton. Jonathon is a good steady player and I have played him once before and had managed to win that game 5-2.

The first 4 legs were all shared and another day I could have been 4 nil up but missed opportunities meant it was 2-2.

Jonathon then moved into a 4-2 lead before I hit a 15 dart leg to make it 3-4, again Jonathon took another leg and lead the game 5-3. This was a poor game and I knew all I had to do was hold myself together, win the match and put some things right before playing in the next round. I scrapped for the next 2 legs and finished well to make the score-line 5-5. A missed shot at 120 and 3 darts missed at double 20 let Jonathon in to take the match 6-5.

This was a poor game and I struggled to get any rhythm together, I tried to speed up, slow down, speed up my approach, slow down my approach, play my own game, watch my opponent and just could not get my game together.

Jonathon lost in round 2 to Jelle Klassen and the eventual winner was James Wade.

FULL RESULTS HERE

19th April 2009 - PDC UK Open Derby, Regional Final - Moorways Leisure Centre, Derby

I travelled here with my son, brother and brother in law (Lee) and had put the previous day’s results as far to the back of my mind as possible.

I drew Andy Jenkins in the first round and I have not played him for a few years now but had beat him in the British Classic on (early 2000’s) which was the last time we played.

Today Andy was playing very well and I took 2 legs throughout the game which were taken when Andy gave me opportunities.     The match was a convincing 6-2 win for Andy and although I played better than Saturday it was still a below par performance for me – especially given my form running into the weekend!

FULL RESULTS HERE

Positives from the weekend

1.   Improved on Sunday from my game on Saturday.

2.   Finished well on Sunday and snapped up opportunities well.

Going forward

1.   Practice time now for 3 weeks and I WILL improve on this weekend.

2.   Forgetting this weekend ever happened – we all have bad weekends I suppose but the true class is the person that bounces back.

Happy darting,

Dave Ladley

Taunton Players Championship, Saturday April 11^th, 2009

I set off from my house at 5:45am for a nice long trip down to Somerset. I met up with Darren Johnson and Dennis Priestley in Mexborough and made our way to the venue, eventually arriving at 10:30am for a 11am registration – EASY!

When the draw came out I got the news that I had drawn Tony Eccles in the first round. Tony was number 24 seed for the event and I had played him only a few weeks earlier at Wigan plus on several occasions in the BDO and although I had run him close a couple of times I had never been successful. This time my confidence was much higher though and I was up for the game.

Tony was sat on double 16 in the first leg with me on 184. I hit 180 and left double 2, Tony missed and I hit double 2 with one dart. From a positive point of view I need to take this with open hands and remember just how this feels when the ‘boot is on the other foot’ – this is how I looked at it and got stuck into the game. There was one main part of the match with both of us missing 6 darts at a double before I finished double 5 and went 5-3 up – 5-3 up is so much better than 4-4 and again with this in mind I hit a 15 dart leg against the darts to win the match 6-3.

The second round was against my good friend Lionel Sams. Lionel played some great darts and shot into a 3-0 lead and I fought back to bring the game to 4-3 in Lionels favour. In leg 8 with me sitting on 60 Lionel checked out 100 with a great double 10 to go 5-3 up. I took the 9^th leg and again Lionel played some good darts to win the match 6-4. Well done Lionel – great darts!

Lionel lost to Mervyn King in the last 32 and the eventual winner was Michael Van Gerwen.    Results and full Report

South West UK Open Regional Final, Taunton, Sunday April 12^th, 2009

In the first round I had drawn Matt Clark (right) in the first round. Matt is 38^th in the PDC Order of Merit and is one of the most consistent performers on the PDC circuit but with recent performances’ and results in my mind I was more than up for the challenge.

This was not a great game by both of our standards but it was a good battle. A missed dart at the bull in the 9^th leg was just another pivotal moment in the match where Matt hit the double and won the match 6-3 and had the bull have gone in then it was 4-5 with my off and a possible different end to the result. I have to be honest and say that the game by no means swung on the bull shot in the last leg but the fact remains that Matt just played the better and more clinical darts in the match – well done Matt.

Matt lost 6-2 to Phil Taylor in the board final (a game I would have loved to play) and Phil went on to win the tournament with a 6-0 win over Andy Hamilton in the final recording an awesome 120 average! This guy just gets better!

Now it is onwards and upwards for me – Derby at the weekend and Moorways Leisure Centre.

My travel partners Darren Johnson and Dennis Priestley both lost in the last 16. Darren losing to Jelle Klassen and Dennis losing to Vincent Van De Voort. Both guys playing some great darts along the way.   Full Report and Results

Positives from the weekend

1. Won £200 for Players Champs Order of Merit.

2. Beat Tony Eccles – first time in my career

3. Took positives from 2 first round losses last weekend to keep my head up and put in a further 2 good performances at Taunton

4. Met some great people – Gary from Darts Corner and Bluemoon from Sportdale.com. 

5. Looking forward to playing well next weekend in Derby – hopefully meet some people from Sportdale.com and Double16.com.

Thanks very much for reading,

I was drawn against Tony Ayres in the first round and I know that Tony can play good darts so was expecting a high standard first round game.

1.       Great preparation for the days events (other than the bad nights sleep).