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Double Dutch at 2004 Open
The
2004 Dutch Open was played in Veldhoven, The Netherlands
from February 5th to 8th. The Dutch Open is the first major
darts tournament of the year following the BDO’s Lakeside
World Professional Darts Championships. The Netherlands
Darts Federation’s
26th Dutch Open holds all the ranking points – World Darts
Federation Ranked, British Darts Organisation Points, European
Grand Prix Ranked, & World Trophy Invitation Points.
The tournament is played over four days, starting on Thursday
with only the last eight singles and four pairs from the Open
and Ladies events to be played on stage on the Sunday. There
was 32000 Euro in price money on offer for the event.
On Finals Day (Sunday) the 155 dartboards had been removed from
the hall and everything was set for a great days competition
to follow. On a surface the size of a soccer field, the large
5000 spectators found a place to watch the day’s action and make
up the largest darts audience in the world. By 9:30am the doors
had opened, but for hours prior to the doors opening many stood
in line waiting to be the first in to gain the best seats in
the house. A busy program was scheduled that would last until
late in the evening. Round 10:30am competition begun on Finals
Day with the quarterfinals of the singles. |
 Ladies Pairs
Defending Champions there again A
large field of nearly 200 pairs is contesting the Ladies Pairs
at this year Dutch Open. Making it through to the semi finals
were last years Champions in Francis Hoenselaar (Netherlands) & Trina
Gulliver (England) (pictured right) who defeated Astrid Cleysen
and Desiree Boumann of the Netherlands 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
They played another Dutch pairing in Roelie Bakker and Karin
Krappen in their semi final match winning 3 - 0. The English
combination of Sally Smith and Clare Bywaters were back chasing
the title again this year after loosing last years final. This
year they made it through to the semi finals with a close win
over the Claire Combes and Pauline Mead 3 - 2. They had an easy
victory in the semi finals though over the Swedish couple of
Vicky and Kristina Pruim Korpi 3 - 0
Francis Hoenselaar and Trina Gulliver picked up €750,00 in defending their Dutch
Pairs title. The two top ladies in world darts at the current time defeated England’s
Sally Smith and Clare Bywaters in a closely contested final. A different story
from last year’s final the defending Champion’s did not drop a leg in the final.
The ladies final turned out to be an exciting finale to the competition. Insolently
the young English duo of Bywaters and Smith took a 1-0 lead in sets winning 3-2.
When they also took a 1-0 lead in the next set, most were thinking the pairing
of Gulliver and Hoenselaar and the previous four times champions were in trouble.
But the true side of the champions came through to take the next 6 legs in a
row to win and with that for the fifth successive time the title. For Hoenselaar
this was her 7th title in a row after the first two year of her victory series
she partnered Sharon Colclough. |
Quarter Finals Ladies Pairs (Best of 5 x 701)
Vicky Pruim Korpi /Kristina Pruim Korpi – Michelle Jackson (Eng)
/Crissy Howat (Eng) 3 - 1
Clare Bywaters (Eng) /Sally Smith (Eng) – Claire Combes /Pauline
Mead 3 - 2
Roelie Bakker /Karin Krappen – Danielle Pouw /Patricia Smit 3
- 1
Trina Gulliver (Eng) /Francisca Hoenselaar (Neth) - Astrid Cleysen
/Desiree Boumann 3 - 1
Semi Finals Ladies Pairs (Best of 5 x 701)
Clare Bywaters / Sally Smith - Vicky Pruim / Kristina Korpii
3 - 0
Trina Gulliver / Francisca Hoenselaar - Roelie Bakker / Karin
Krappen 3 – 0
Ladies Pairs Final (Best of 3 sets, best 5 x 701)
Trina Gulliver / Francisca Hoenselaar - Clare Bywaters / Sally
Smith
2 – 1
(2-3/3-1/3-0) |
Men’s Pairs
The German pair of Tomas Seyler and Andree Welge played their
way through the strong 1200 Men’s Pairs field to take the final
at the Dutch Open. They defeated the Dutch/English combination
and tournament favourites Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade
in their semi final winning 3-0 before taking on Dutchman Rick
Hofstra and England’s Tony West in the final. The German combination
was in devastating form, winning 3-2 in a close first set,
before winning the second set 3-0. A cheque for €1.500,00 went
their way as winners of the world’s largest pairs competition.
Through the encouragement of an exuberant public in a full
hall, Hofstra and West had defeated the English pair of Stephen
Bunting and Tony Martin 3-2 in their semi final.
Quarter Finals Men’s Pairs (Best of 5 x 701)
Rick Hofstra (Neth) / Tony West (Eng) - Robson Gary (Eng) / Gary
Anderson (Scot) 3 - 2
Stephen Bunting (Eng) / Tony Martin (Eng) - Roy Bilderbeek (Neth)
/ Michael Burm (Neth) 3 - 0
Tomas Seyler (Ger) / Andree Welge (Ger) - Marco Tak (Neth) /
Daniel Ververs (Neth) 3 - 1
Raymond van Barneveld (Neth) / James Wade (Eng) - Robert Wagner
(Nor) / Andre Brandjes (Neth) 3 - 1
Semi Finals Men’s Pairs (Best of 5 x 701)
Rick Hofstra / Tony West - Stephen Bunting / Tony Martin 3 –
2
Tomas Seyler / Andree Welge - Raymond van Barneveld / James Wade
3 - 0
Men’s Pairs Final (Best of 3 sets, best 5 x 701)
Tomas Seyler / Andree Welge - Rick Hofstra / Tony West 2 – 0
(3-2/3-0)
On Friday the single event started. Over 3500 men and almost
600 would play over the next two days to qualify for the quarterfinals
respectively Semi-finals on Sunday. Sandra Pollet was the Ladies
defending Champion, and Ted Hankey will be trying to back up
last year’s title. |
Ladies Singles
The Ladies Singles Final was a closely contested match. The final
was played between the undisputed number 1 and 2 players in
the World, Trina Gulliver and Francis Hoenselaar. The last
meeting between these two was the final of the Lakeside World
Championship in January. Both ladies had strong competition
to make the final.
Trina Gulliver won her semi final against the title defender
Sandra Pollet of Belgium 2 – 1. Francis Hoenselaar also needed
three sets in her victory in the other semi final against Crissy
Howat of England.
 The final was a real cracker. After a slow start, Hoenselaar
(pictured right) was the first to find her rhythm. She took a
2 - 0 lead in sets winning them 3 - 0 and 3 - 1. Gulliver, the
4-times World Champion did fight back through in the third set
to take it 3-0. In the 4th set, the first three legs went with
the darts. In the fourth leg of the set Hoenselaar reached the
double first. With her 2-1 lead, her was to throw for the title.
From 56 she missed the winning double with her two darts. Gulliver
had a chance to finish on 140 but missed the double 10. Francis
needed double 10 which she hit to take the fourth set and the
title. The crowd enjoyed her victory giving her a standing ovation
for several minutes. Francis Hoenselaar picked up €2250 in winning
from 574 ladies players.
The Dutch Open appears to be a bit of a hurdle for World No.1
and 2004 Lakeside Champion Trina Gulliver. Knocked out in the
quarterfinals by Tricia Wright in 2002, defeated again in the
round of 16 by Scottish Louise Hepburn 3-2 in 2003 and again
the final this year. |
QUARTERFINALS
Trina Gulliver (Eng) (ave: 27.58) - Kristina Korpii (Swed) (ave:
24.89) 3 - 1
Sandra Pollet (Bel) (ave: 24.80) - Louise Hepburn (Scot) (ave:
24.08) 3 - 2
Crissy Howat (Eng) (ave: 25.05) - Carina Ekberg (Swed) (ave:
19.97) 3 - 0
Francisca Hoenselaar (Neth) (ave: 23.07) - Michelle Jackson (Eng)
(ave: 18.94) 3 - 1
SEMI-FINALS
Trina Gulliver (ave: 24.00) - Sandra Pollet (ave: 22.63) 2 – 1 (3-1/1-3/3-1)
Francisca Hoenselaar (ave: 28.97) - Crissy Howat (ave: 25.35) 2 – 1
(3-0/1-3/3-1)
FINAL
Francisca Hoenselaar (ave: 26.89) - Trina Gulliver (ave: 24.78) 3 - 1
(3-0/3-1/0-3/3-2) |
MENS
SINGLES Local
Dutch hero Raymond Barneveld blasted his English opponent off
the board in a one sided final in the 2004 Dutch Open in Veldhoven. The
2004 Lakeside World Champion, showed that style again winning
the final in three straight sets.
Barneveld nick named ‘Barney’ is a national hero in the Netherlands and he was
playing before his beloved home crowd and they were in full support. He was only
one player though in a field of 3570 players that started the competition.
 That
final was between Raymond Barneveld and the Englishman Gary
Robson (pictured left). Gary reached the final by defeating
Tony Martin in the quarter finals 3 – 0 and another Englishman
in Stephen Bunting in the semi final coming back after losing
the first set to win 2 – 1.
Barneveld’s way to the final went as follows: He had a difficult start against
Peter Manley but came through the quarterfinal match 3 - 1. In his semi final
against Mick Brooks it was one-way traffic. Barneveld showed him how to play
the game. He only lost one leg and finished the semi final with a 2 – 0 win with
an average of more than 102 per 3 darts.
The final saw the force of Barneveld on the dartboard. It became a one-sided
fight. In was all over in just 16 minutes. On the moment that Barneveld missed
the first match winning double, Gary Robson threw his first 180. Sound applause
was the reward for the sports-loving Englishman. Barneveld next shot saw the
final completed 3 – 0. For the whole tournaments Barneveld played eleven matches,
only to lose three legs. For the second time Barneveld had won the Dutch Open
title, previously winning in 2001. |
QUARTERFINALS
Raymond van Barneveld (Neth) (ave: 26.36) - Peter Manley (Eng)
(ave: 28.15) 3 - 1
Mick Brooks (Eng) (ave: 26.33) - Shaun Greatbatch (Eng) (ave:
26.66) 3 - 2
Stephen Bunting (Eng) (ave: 31.54) - Tony Eccles (Eng) (ave:
28.37) 3 - 1
Gary Robson (Eng) (ave: 28.90) - Tony Martin (Eng) (ave: 25.47) 3 - 0
SEMI-FINALS
Gary Robson (ave: 27.38) - Stephen Bunting (ave: 28.68) 2 – 1 (1-3/3-1/3-2)
Raymond van Barneveld (ave: 34.36) - Mick Brooks (ave: 27.02) 2 – 0 (3-0/3-1)
FINAL
Raymond van Barneveld (ave: 32.91) - Gary Robson (ave: 23.74) 3 - 0
(3-0/3-0/3-0)
With two Dutch single winners the public went wild. Hoenselaar and Barneveld
stood together to receive their winner’s cheques on the stage (Raymond € 4500
Francis € 2250) before a satisfied crowed of Dutch fans. This 26th Dutch Open
was again a very successful tournament. |
World Champion Andy Fordham missed out on Dutch Open
 ANDY FORDHAM – the newly crowned Lakeside World Professional
Darts Champion - has had to withdraw from this week’s Dutch
Open after pulling a muscle in his chest.
It’s a huge disappointment because he was due to partner triple
World Champion Raymond van Barneveld in the Dutch Open Pairs.
“It’s really frustrating”, says Andy. “I was playing in an exhibition
match in The Netherlands just a couple of days ago and had to
stop because of a pain in my chest. At first I thought it might
be something serious, because it even hurt to talk and cough.
Luckily there was a nurse there and he quickly got me to hospital
for tests.
“On the positive side, it turns out that my heart is fine, but
I have pulled a chest muscle, and the only cure is for me to
rest. I certainly can’t throw darts for a little while. Obviously
I am very disappointed about the Dutch Open – especially for
Raymond and the fans – but there is nothing I can do about it”.
It has also meant a few changes to Andy’s hectic schedule over
the next couple of weeks. Many appointments have had to be cancelled,
but the upside is that he might be able to relax and catch his
breath!
“I simply haven’t stopped since I became World Champion”, adds
Andy. “I am not complaining, it has been fantastic - but maybe
I have overdone it a bit. At the moment I have to take the opportunity
to relax and leave my darts alone for a little while”.
However, one invitation that he is hoping to keep this week is
a visit to Wembley Conference Centre for The Masters snooker
tournament. He’s been invited to go along and parade his Lakeside
trophy.
“I love Jimmy White, and Mark Williams and some of the other
players have become good mates”, he says. “I can’t make any promises
at the moment, but I hope to go along and show-off my trophy
before the week is out”.
Andy, who celebrated his 42nd birthday (Feb 2) became the
first ever Lakeside World Professional Darts Champion in January,
when 4.6 million BBC TV viewers saw him triumph 6-3 over his
England teammate Mervyn King. |
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