The Great White Blog

Tyler, Phil and all others involved who helped make this tournament a big success.  It was a fantastic week where we were treated to many great meals at different restaurants, the night life experience and met a lot of new friends.

Rob and I were there 4 days earlier to help promote Puma and the tournament, including exhibitions at two local snooker halls.  During this time we also subbed in a local league which was a blast. There were a lot of good times at the local dart bar, Green Dragon, which was also where we were hustled by local girls for drinks.  On the Wednesday before the tournament, it was a great honor for Rob and I to meet the kids from the Xu Hui District Middle School where they have a training center for them.   During our visit we had a meet-and-greet session with the kids, coaches and government officials.  We answered their questions, gave tips and helped anyway we could.  These kids are very dedicated and talented.  I definitely see a future world champion coming out of China one day.

Thursday was day one of the tournament where it started early as we had local TV and newspaper interviews.  After the interviews were completed, the top 8 seeds (men and women) attended a meeting to meet Chinese government officials and we received a gift which was a stuffed mascot from the upcoming Expo 2010 in Shanghai.  The tournament started after the opening ceremonies in the main hall.  This was spectacular to watch as it included the lucky dragon dance.  I was the #5 seed starting out and I would be lying if I didn’t say I was nervous.

My first day round robin I ended 31-4 finishing #1 overall for the day.  I really played well all day with hitting numerous 180s and finishing great.  Needless to say, I was very happy with my play.

Day two was a little tougher.  I was not playing as good as day one but I was able to grind out 4-1 wins in my first 6 matches.  Finally in my last match I was able to win 5-0 going 29-6 overall.  This put me in at the #4 seed going into the knockout round.  All the north Americans players and New Zealand’s Warren Parry ranked in the top 20. Knockout day started early as it was moved up to 9am start time from the noon start time on the two previous days.  I was practicing by 5:15am and was at the hall at 9am not believing it would start on time but to my surprise the official was waving the sheet at me to tell me I was up right away.  I started off nervous and shaky but was able to win 5-0 and onto round two I went.

Round two I won 6-2 which put me in the top 16 where I played the #20 seed who happened to be good friend and great player David Fatum.  I knew this was not going to be easy.  Match started off well where I won the bull but before I knew it I was down 2 nil and could have been down 3 nil if not for a couple of missed doubles by Dave.  After I took that chance we went back and forth to 6-6 where I had a start thanks to that bull.  I was sitting on 36 after 12 darts but Dave was sitting on 56 after 12 darts but luckily for me, first dart right in the middle of double 18 and into the quarter finals I went.

In the top 8 it was to be best of 15 and I was to play Royden Lam from Hong Kong who I met earlier in the year at the Asia Bullshooter.  I was feeling very confident but maybe too much so.  I was able to race out to a 6-1 advantage after 7 legs.  This was when things went wrong me.  The official proceeded to tell us it was break time and I was shocked cause I was not aware of this break coming nor did I want one cause I was rolling at the time.  Anyways, off to the practice room and came back only needing two legs to move into the semi finals.  Royden fires off 3 13 darts on the trot to make it 6-4 which shifted the momentum and the crowd was on his side.  I win the next leg to make it 7-4 and one away from the semis.  I believe I missed 5 darts at 40 to win the match 8-6 but ended up losing the match 8-7.  I was disappointed in myself for not closing this match out but what can you do but chalk it up to another learning experience.  Congrats to Royden on a strong come back.

John Part went on to win the event and the $15,000 USD first prize money.  Congratulations John!

All in all I was very pleased with how I shot all week.  In closing, mark this tournament on your calendar cause it is truly a can’t miss event.  Where else for $100 USD entry fee can you get a chance to win this kind of prize money, free beer/water for all players during play and a kickass awards banquet to close out the tournament.

Thanks again to everyone involved in this tournament and thank you to all the sponsors.