In the bid to qualify for the PDC UK Open televised finals in June, Dean travelled to Barnsley this weekend for the 3rd and 4th qualifiers, which are part the the PDC Pro Tour.
Dean was looking to win enough money in the eight qualifiers to climb up the order of merit ranking, and qualify for UK Open on the 2nd day, rather than the first day, which is chaos.
There were 190 players taking part, so unfortunately that means a tough prelim to get through – there are no ‘easy’ games left on the PDC Pro Tour.
Saturday Results
Prelim: Dean Winstanley 6-2 Kevin Dowling
Round 1: Dean Winstanley 6-1 Steve Grubb
Round 2: Dean Winstanley 6-1 Alan Tabern
Round 3: Steve Farmer 6-5 Dean Winstanley
In round 3 Dean played and just lost 6-5 to Steve Farmer, who hit a 9 darter earlier in the day, so was obviously playing some great darts. A good start to the weekend, with £400 added to the rankings.
Sunday Results
Prelim: Dean Winstanley 6-5 Mike Veitch
Round 1: Dean Winstanley 6-5 Jamie Lewis
Round 2: Dean Winstanley 6-1 Mareno Michels
Round 3: Dean Winstanley 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Round 4: Dean Winstanley 6-5 Andy Smith
1/4 Finals: Dean Winstanley 6-2 Terry Temple
Semi final: Dean Winstanley 1-6 Phil Taylor
Overall a fantastic day of darts for Dean – with a run all the way to the semi-finals, only to be beaten by Phil Taylor.
Taylor left 81 after 9 darts four times in their game, but Dean did have darts at doubles to take several of the legs he lost, so it could have gone another way.
Still – the £2,000 for a semi-final place will help the move up the world rankings.
