JUNE 2009

4. The Blue Square UK Open gets under way at The Reebok, Bolton; the FA Cup of Darts will feature pub qualifiers against the top players in the World. Notable Preliminary exits by former BDO World Champion Ritchie Burnett, and Chris Mason. In the first round many of the top names fell including MaGowan, Beaton, G Anderson, Shepherd, Maish, Dennis Smith and last year’s finalist Gary Mawson.

5. Defending Champion James Wade loses in a last leg decider to Peter Manley, Thornton, Ovens, Part, Mardle, and King are amongst other first round casualties.

6. Pub qualifiers Ken Mather and Andy Roberts good run comes to an end, but share a £3,000 bonus as well as the prize money already gained, Scholten, Klaasen and Dudbridge also go out. In the evening last 16, there were wins for Taylor, Painter, Tabern, Walsh, Osbourne, Caven, Baxter and Mark Lawrence who beat Colin Lloyd.

7. Caven, Lawrence, Jenkins and Tabern go out in the quarter finals, and Painter and Baxter lose out on a final spot to Taylor and Osbourne respectively. Phil Taylor wins the 2009 UK Open after a hard-fought 11-6 win over Colin Osborne in the final. Osborne’s final performance also earns him a place at the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts.

13. Mark Walsh claimed his third tournament of the year with a 6-4 win over Jamie Caven in the Barnsley Players Championship. Caven’s £3,000 earned also helps towards earning a place at the 2009 World Matchplay.

14. A week after reaching the UK Open final, Colin Osborne wrapped up his first tournament title of 2009 with a 6-2 win over Gary Anderson in Barnsley. Anderson’s runner-up earnings pushed him towards the edge of the top 50 in the PDC Order of Merit Colin Monk earned £2,000 for a 9 dart finish in a 6-1 win over Ray Farrell.

20. “Pieman” Andy Smith claimed his first tournament win since October 2007 after winning the German Darts Trophy in Dinslaken. Smith edged out Colin Lloyd in a deciding leg to win the £6,000 first prize. Along the way, Smith also hit a nine dart finish during a 6-5 victory over Mark Walsh. Joe Cullen made his first semi-final since turning professional, losing 6-3 to Smith in the semi-finals.

21. Mark Walsh picked up his fourth title of 2009 with a win in Dinslaken over Andy Hamilton 6-5. Walsh, the highest ranked player on the Players Championship Order of Merit in the tournament also knocked out Ronnie Baxter, Gary Anderson and Steve Beaton en route to the final. Meanwhile on the DPA circuit, Simon Whitlock continued his good form by winning the Mittagong RSL Club Open in Mittagong, New South Wales. He beat Kevin Luland 8-2 in the final to claim his eighth title of the year.

28. The first six of twelve remaining places in the 2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic were sealed in the first of two qualifying tournaments at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sealing places in the tournament were Dutch trio Jelle Klaasen, Co Stompé and Vincent van der Voort, Australian Simon Whitlock and English pair Jamie Caven and Peter Wright.

29. The final six places for the 2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic were taken during the second qualifying event at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Former champion Peter Manley, who has dropped out of the world’s top 16 due to poor form, Colin Monk, Wes Newton, Louis Blundell, Phillip Hazel and Gary Anderson all qualified for the £200,000 event.

30. Ronnie Baxter handed Phil Taylor only his second Players Championship loss of the season, with a stunning 6-2 win over the world number one in the Las Vegas Players Championship at the Mandalay Bay Resort. Baxter’s win also takes him within a few pounds of the top six qualification places for the 2010 Premier League. Wes Newton and Larry Butler both hit 9 dart finishes against Colin Osborne and Jan van der Rassel respectively, sharing an £800 bonus prize. Their nine-darters didn’t help them progress in the tournaments, as they lost against their respective opponents 6-3 and 6-2.