Michael van Gerwen won his third UK Open qualifier of 2016 with an emphatic 6-2 win over 1996 world champion Steve Beaton, at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan on Sunday afternoon. Van Gerwen has now amassed a staggering £37,500 towards the UK Open Order of Merit in just 6 qualification events.
Van Gerwen eased through to the last 32 with comfortable victories over Michael Dawson and Nick Fullwell, for the loss of just four legs. ‘The Green Machine’ then breezed past Kevin Dowling 6-1 in the last 32, before edging past the impressive Lee Evans 6-4 to record yet another Pro-Tour quarter-final appearance.
For the second day in succession, Van Gerwen faced Phil Taylor and the outcome was the same, as MvG recorded an emphatic 6-2 victory over the 16-time world champion. The world number one was in rampant form, and secured a place in his fourth UK Open qualifier final of 2016 with a comprehensive 6-1 rout of Ian White.
However, it was a brilliant day’s work for the timeless Steve Beaton. The Adonis rolled back the years, to ensure that he will enter the UK Open in the third-round stage. Beaton was supremely consistent throughout the day, but he kicked off his qualification campaigns with narrow victories over the young duo of Ross Smith and Mike Zuydwijk.
Beaton defeated Spain’s Cristo Reyes 6-2, before securing a quarter-final berth with a narrow 6-4 victory over Scott Dale. The 51-year-old defeated former world champion Stephen Bunting 6-4 to reach the last four, before sealing his place in the final by beating another former world champion Mark Webster, also by virtue of a 6-4 scoreline.
However, it was another fine day for Webster, who followed up his two successive quarter-final appearances by going one step further on Sunday. The Welshman was in scintillating form for much of the day, but he had to overcome a last-leg decider in his opening match against David Pallet.
Webster whitewashed John Bowles to reach the last 32, where he then defeated yesterday’s semi-finalist Mensur Suljovic, again in a nail-biting deciding leg. ‘The Spider’ recorded his second whitewash of the day against Darron Brown to reach the last eight, where he thrashed Premier League table-topper Peter Wright 6-1.
World champion Gary Anderson suffered a surprising early exit, as he lost 6-2 to his fellow Scot John Henderson in the opening round. However, by virtue of winning Friday’s fourth UK Open qualifier, ‘The Flying Scotsman’ had already sealed his spot in the UK Open third-round.
World Grand-Prix champion Robert Thornton will be forced to enter the tournament in the second-round, after suffering another early exit in Wigan. Thornton had suffered four consecutive first-round exits prior to Sunday’s play, but despite beating Arron Monk in a last-leg decider, he was beaten 6-3 by Lee Evans in the last 64.
However, a number of big names won’t be present in Minehead next month. Three-time world champion John Part was unable to amass any prize money on the Order of Merit, and a 6-2 defeat to World-Youth champion Max Hopp confirmed Part’s absence.
However, Hopp himself missed out on qualification, losing to ‘Rapid’ Ricky Evans in the following round. Paul Nicholson, Ronnie Baxter & Devon Petersen are also among the big name absentees. Nicholson thrashed Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-1 in the last 256, before losing to Mike De Decker in the last 128.
Petersen also enjoyed a stunning start to the final qualifier, cruising past Terry Jenkins 6-2. Nevertheless, ‘The Spartan’, who reached the UK Open quarter-finals 12 months ago, suffered a heartbreaking last-leg defeat to Andy Boulton in the last 128, whilst Ronnie Baxter succumbed to a 6-4 defeat against Steve West at the same stage.
Former World-Youth champion Keegan Brown also missed out on qualification, whilst former Lakeside world champion Christian Kist failed to qualify after a series of disappointing results.
The final UK Open qualifier also saw a spectacular 9-darter hit by the veteran Richard Corner, in the fourth leg of his 6-0 triumph against Steve Hine. This is the first-nine darter of Corner’s career, and he can celebrate this milestone with the guarantee of a second-round berth in the UK Open.
Second Round
Board One
Justin Pipe 6-4 Darren Johnson
Mick Todd 6-5 Michel van der Horst
Board Two
Ian White 6-3 Jerry Hendriks
Stuart Kellett 6-3 Craig Lewis
Board Three
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Barrie Bates
Darren Webster 6-1 Joey Palfreyman
Board Four
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Ron Meulenkamp
Kyle Anderson 6-4 Magnus Caris
Board Five
John Henderson 6-2 Gary Anderson
Alan Norris 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Board Six
James Wade 6-3 Paul Milford
Mareno Michels 6-3 Michael Burgoine
Board Seven
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Peter Hudson
John Worsley 6-3 Mark Barilli
Board Eight
Mervyn King 6-1 Keiran Evans
Ryan Meikle 6-0 James Young
Board Nine
Robert Thornton 6-5 Arron Monk
Lee Evans 6-4 Chris Dobey
Board Ten
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Rob Modra
Martin Lukeman 6-1 Michael Blake
Board 11
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Michael Dawson
Nick Fullwell 6-3 Michael Rasztovits
Board 12
Andrew GIlding 6-4 Ian Withers
Kevin Dowling 6-4 Yordi Meeuwisse
Board 13
Michael Smith 6-4 Mick McGowan
Jan Dekker 6-5 Antonio Alcinas
Board 14
Joey Ten Berge 6-3 Kevin Painter
Mike De Dekker 6-4 Paul Nicholson
Board 15
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Bernd Roith
Dennis Smith 6-3 Kirk Shepherd
Board 16
Phil Taylor 6-4 Ian Walters
Ryan Palmer 6-5 Aden Kirk
Board 17
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Steve West 6-4 Ronnie Baxter
Board 18
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Ben Davies
Andy Parsons 6-3 Kevin Thomas
Board 19
Peter Wright 6-2 Mark Dudbridge
Jason Wilson 6-1 Stephen Gallimore
Board 20
Joe Murnan 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Matt Padgett 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Board 21
Wayne Jones 6-2 Wes Newton
Richard Corner 6-0 Steve Hine – Corner hits a 9-darter
Board 22
Darron Brown 6-2 Jamie Lewis
Robbie Green 6-1 Roxy-James Rodriguez
Board 23
Mark Webster 6-5 Dave Pallett
John Bowles 6-3 Tony Newell
Board 24
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Andy Smith
Ricky Evans 6-2 Max Hopp
Board 25
Dean Winstanley 6-3 Kevin Simm
Cristo Reyes 6-3 James Wilson
Board 26
Steve Beaton 6-4 Ross Smith
Mike Zuydwijk 6-4 Keegan Brown
Board 27
Ronny Huybrechts 6-2 Andy Hamilton
Scott Dale 6-3 John Michael
Board 28
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Curtis Hammond
Jeff Batham 6-3 Simon Stevenson
Board 29
Andreas Hajimena 6-3 Jamie Caven
Matt Edgar 6-2 Matt Clark
Board 30
Devon Petersen 6-2 Terry Jenkins
Andy Boulton 6-4 Josh Payne
Board 31
Benito van de Pas 6-1 Chris Hill
James Richardson 6-4 Ricky Sudale
Board 32
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Christian Kist
Johnny Haines 6-4 Darren Latham
Third Round
Justin Pipe 6-3 Mick Todd
Ian White 6-4 Stuart Kellett
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Darren Webster
Kyle Anderson 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Alan Norris 6-1 John Henderson
James Wade 6-0 Mareno Michels
John Worsley 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Mervyn King 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Lee Evans 6-3 Robert Thornton
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Kevin Dowling 6-2 Andrew Gilding
Jan Dekker 6-5 Michael Smith
Mike De Decker 6-3 Joey Ten Berge
Adrian Lewis 6-0 Dennis Smith
Phil Taylor 6-3 Ryan Palmer
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Steve West
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Andy Parsons
Peter Wright 6-1 Jason Wilson
Joe Murnan 6-0 Matt Padgett
Wayne Jones 6-5 Richard Corner
Darron Brown 6-5 Robbie Green
Mark Webster 6-0 John Bowles
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Ricky Evans
Cristo Reyes 6-4 Dean Winstanley
Steve Beaton 6-5 Mike Zuydwijk
Scott Dale 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Jeff Batham
Matt Edgar 6-2 Andreas Hajimena
Andy Boulton 6-5 Devon Petersen
Benito van de Pas 6-3 James Richardson
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Johnny Haines
Last 32
Ian White 6-5 Justin Pipe
Kyle Anderson 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
James Wade 6-2 Alan Norris
Mervyn King 6-4 John Worsley
Lee Evans 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Kevin Dowling
Mike De Decker 6-5 Jan Dekker
Phil Taylor 6-2 Adrian Lewis
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Peter Wright 6-5 Joe Murnan
Darron Brown 6-5 Wayne Jones
Mark Webster 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Steve Beaton 6-2 Cristo Reyes
Scott Dale 6-1 Vincent van der Voort
Matt Egdar 6-4 Andy Boulton
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Benito van de Pas
Last 16
Ian White 6-1 Kyle Anderson
Mervyn King 6-4 James Wade
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Lee Evans
Phil Taylor 6-2 Mike De Decker
Peter Wright 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Mark Webster 6-0 Darron Brown
Steve Beaton 6-4 Scott Dale
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Matt Edgar
Quarter-Finals
Ian White 6-0 Mervyn King
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Phil Taylor
Mark Webster 6-1 Peter Wright
Steve Beaton 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Mark Webster
Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Ian White
Steve Beaton 6-4 Mark Webster
Final
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Steve Beaton
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