Scottish Open 2011
21-02-2011
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Antony Dundas
People of the Darting Fraternity, welcome to Poison Arrow's review of the 2011 Scottish Open! Unfortunately, I didn't arrive until the Saturday morning so I missed the Mixed Triples. However I was informed that the competition was won by Martin McCloskey and his neighbours. Congratulations to them!
Saturday morning saw the congestion of two years ago return. Last year's format saw the singles played on the Friday and Saturday over four sessions. In my humble opinion, this was better. There was much more room to move about, less waiting times at bars and food stalls and board finals weren't being played at midnight! However, we struggled on! The tournament has a reputation for running late, and i'm afraid to say that there were quite a few boards following the trend. I have heard various reports of certain incidents at the control desk. After I had been beaten I started to concentrate on watching the matches on other boards in both the Men's and Ladies tournaments. As I walked round the boards, it was obvious that, once again, the standard was fantastic. One of the big surprises was young Jake Jones claiming the scalp of the reigning Scottish Open champion, Stuart Kellett in the board semi final. Jake is a young man on form at the moment and I expect big things from that young man in the near future! Moving from young guns to old timers now, and it was great to see Jamie Harvey playing in the Scottish Open. The old magic was still there as Jamie marched through his board to book a place in the Last 64. Steve Douglas was involved in a classic encounter in his board final against Dean Winstanley. Steve came out a 3-2 winner and went into the Last 64. In the Ladies Morning Session, there were some outstanding performances from Lorraine Farlam, the reigning champion, Scotland players Susanna Young, Kate Smith and Anne Kirk and young gun Zoe Jones to name but a few.
The afternoon sessions got started pretty sharply after the morning's matches had been concluded. The first games were scheduled to begin at 4pm. As far as I could see, there were still board semis and finals happening at that time on quite a few of the boards. The afternoon session also brought about the most newsworthy point of the day. I didn't see it myself, but I was informed moments later that during Ted Hankey's match with Scott Waites, Ted did the magical nine darter! However, it wasn't going to be enough as Scotty 2 Hotty claimed the victory and marched on. He wasn't to win his group though as the on form Gary Robson claimed victory in the board final. In the latter stages of the evening's play, something happened that caused a little bit of disruption. In what is somewhat of a tradition at the Normandy, the fire alarm went off whilst some board finals and Last 64 matches were being played. This meant that everyone had to leave the building whilst the hotel was searched and checked. It also meant that players were coming back in from the cold Renfrew air and going straight back on to complete matches. Yet another time waster, but nothing anyone could do about it. Evening matches in the Ladies event saw some standout performances from Irina Armstrong, Julie Gore, Scotland's Frances Lawson and an absolute cracker between Deta Hedman and Anastasia Dobromyslova. At the end of the night, Lorraine Farlam's quest for a second consecutive Scottish crown was on course. She would play Kate Smith in the Semis. Irina Armstrong and Julie Gore completed the line up. The Men's Last 32 also offered some tasty matches. There was also a healthy mixture of top professionals like O'Shea, Fitton and Montgomery, Dutch stars like Joey ten Berge, Willy van der Wiel and Jan Dekker, and some young Scottish players making a name for themselves like Steven Johnstone, Chris Loudon and Ian Gunion.
The Sunday was looking like it was going to be a classic! Before that, however, it was time to dance the night away. I have to say, the standard of darts was very good all day. The standard of dancing was not! Some questionable moves and some outrageous behaviour! All in good fun though, the way it should be after a day's darts.
Sunday morning, and it was time to kick off the Doubles. Always a good way for players in the latter stages of the Singles to loosen up, and get a few matches under their belt. There were a lot of exciting pairings, however the Men's Pairs Finalists were not who i would have picked. Joey ten Berge and Willy van der Wiel were beaten by two local players early on. Dutch Open Pairs winners Ross Montgomery and Martin Adams also failed to make the stage. Instead, the final would be contested between a pair from Holland and a pair from Bristol. Ron Meulenkamp and Jan Dekker would play Messrs Draper and Harding in the final. The Ladies event was a little bit more predictable, with Lorraine Farlam and Anastasia Dobromyslova qualifying for the final alongside Deta Hedman and Karen Lawman. The latter stages of the Men's Singles was also played in the afternoon. Clive Barden secured a big win over Andy Beardmore early on, as did Ross Montgomery over Scotty Mitchell. Robbie Green was involved in a nail-biter with Scottish veteran George Dalglish. It could have went either way but Kong held his nerve and advanced to the next round. The Last 16 also brought some brilliant matches. Robbie Green took out Ross Smith in a close match. Carl Beattie played some excellent darts to secure a Quarter Final berth. Match of the round had to be Ross Montgomery v Gary Robson. With the match evenly poised at 1-1, Robbo stepped up a gear, hitting The Boss with two sub 15 dart legs, getting him to the Quarters. The standard was still very high in the Quarters. Peter Mitchell knocked Steve Douglas out in a superb match. Carl Beattie took Gary Robson all the way before Robbo took the match 3-2. Robbie Green made it to the stage with a good win over Jerrry Hendriks. It meant that the Semi Finals looked like this: Clive Barden v Peter Mitchell and Gary Robson v Robbie Green.
There was a long wait before the finals began. Officials constructed the stage, which in my opinion looked extremely aged, rushed and amateur compared to last year. Now I know that we're there for the darts and not the interior design but I felt that the stage used might have been better suited to a regional final or something that wasn't as prestigious as the Scottish Open.
First on was the Ladies Semi Finals. Lorraine Farlam was first up against Kate Smith. The first two legs were shared before Farlam moved up a gear and secured her place in her second consecutive Scottish Open final. She would play the winner of Irina Armstrong and Julie Gore. The early stages of that match were very close, however Julie was unable to close it out and Irina would meet Lorraine in the Final. The Gent's Semis were next, Peter Mitchell and Clive Barden kicked it off. After a very close match, Barden proved to be too strong and claimed the first spot in the Final. Gary Robson and Robbie Green would contest the second Semi for the right to play Clive in the final. Both lads played very well, but Green was the man who claimed the second place in the final. The Ladies Pairs final was next, and with four of the best lady players in the world on stage, we would be treated to a belter. In the end, Lorraine and Anastasia proved too strong for Karen and Deta and won the 2011 Ladies Pairs titles. Next we had the Men's Pairs final. Jan Dekker and Ron Meulenkamp would take on Draper and Harding from Bristol. Even though they were underdogs, the Bristol pair didn't let it worry them and they gave their Dutch opponents several scares! However, Ron and Jan proved to be too strong and secured the titles. Women's Singles next and Lorraine Farlam took on Irina Armstrong. The early legs were shared, but Lorraine saved her best for last and won her second consecutive Scottish Open title. The final match of the weekend was Robbie Green against Clive Barden. Once again, the standard was sky high, both players on very good form. Green started the better, racing into a 4-0 lead. However, it seemed like history would repeat itself, as his opponent staged a comeback, pulling back to 4-4. Green won the bull in the final leg and went off like a train. He kept his cool and hit the double to make him the 2011 Scottish Open Men's Champion! A brilliant end to a fantastic tournament.
I have to talk about the organization and the tournament as a whole. Even though the standard of play was high, I can't help but think that there is room for improvement at the control desk. There was quite a few instances where people received several "final calls". Surely a final call is a final call, end of story! As far as those last calls were concerned, I had heard a story that one person at the control desk was told, even though his opponent failed to answer his calls, that he would have to wait until the round was completely over before he would be given the walkover. If true, it is completely ludicrous. I also have to say that in my opinion, the Scottish Open has outgrown the Normandy Hotel. Not only was there hardly any room to walk about, but several boards were far too close together. There were several complaints from players on Board 2 that the marker on Board 3's shoulder was nearly in line with Double 6! Also, because of this lack of space, there are only two practice boards for one and a half thousand players! I also think communication between Tournament Organizers and Hotel Staff must be improved. On a few occasions, the staff who were clearing the tables were walking past the end board at one area, distracting players. Of course, my one major complaint also rears it's ugly head. The problem of the organizers shouting down the microphone. I realise that it can't be helped until they start doing it like the continental tournaments. But when they start talking over one another, that's when it gets more annoying. I know it's a big tournament, but surely they could communicate between them to make sure one person talks (not shouts) at a time.
Don't let these criticisms take away from what a good tournament the Scottish Open is. It is the second largest Open tournament on the BDO calendar and with some fine tuning, it has the potential to be phenomenal. I'd definitely go back to playing the singles over 2 days. It eliminates a lot of the congestion and increases the chances of finding a seat to park your backside.
All that remains for me to say is congratulations to all our winners, thank you to all the officials and crew for doing their best and well done to the players for turning up and making the tournament a success.
That's all from me. If you have gotten through this report without falling asleep, I commend you! I shall be back with my next report from whichever tournament I end up at next! Until then, be safe and may your darts fly true!
Poison Arrow.