Andy's first PDC event of the new year and he only goes and gets man flu!
The wait was over… it was the eve of our flight to Gibraltar for the first PDC tour events of the year… and I'd got man flu!
Not just man flu, proper man flu. I was at home trying to muster enough energy to pack a case, but freezing cold and sweating.
On Friday, we packed the car, my wife Kristina driving, with Adrian Gray and PDC new boy, 16 year old Matt Wenham from Eastbourne, in the back and headed off to Gatwick.
I wasn't feeling too bad by this time, and we took off with no problem. Landing on the other hand was a whole different kettle of fish. As we started our approach to Gibraltar, the lower we got, the worse the pain in my ears got. By the time we landed, my head felt like somebody had squeezed it in a vice, and I was completely deaf in one ear… a great start to the year!
On Saturday, we went down to the venue, had a practice and waited for the draw to go up. I was feeling OK, but was still deaf. I'd drawn a German player, Maik Langendorf. It was a good draw for me, even though he is higher ranked than I am.
My match was a long way down the draw, so I had a long wait, and it was one I could have done without. I began suffering again, sweating, headache, and aching, I just wanted to go back to bed. By the time we played I was feeling terrible. I never really got into the match apart from one moment of madness where I thought I might be OK, I hit a 12 dart leg finishing on 144. It was a one off moment though, and I lost 6 – 3.
During our game there was a strange moment on the board next to us. Paul Nicholson was playing Jyhan Artut, and Jyhan was on a double to win the match. A huge shout went up, with lots of cheering and jumping about – he'd beaten Nicholson… or had he? A moment or two after he'd stopped jumping around; the marker tapped him on the shoulder to inform him that his winning dart had fallen out during his celebration.
Confusion followed for a couple of minutes, but as he still had two darts left in his hand, he threw the next dart into the same double, retrieved it, and then celebrated properly.
That was it for me, I went back to the hotel, and went to bed.
Sunday, and I was feeling much better after my rest, and despite getting a preliminary game, was happy with the draw. I won 6 – 2 and now faced a German player who had knocked out Steve Beaton on the Saturday. I set about my game, and played well, winning 6 – 2 again, I'd made the last 64, and more importantly, the prize money. My next match would be tougher, Denis Ovens.
My game against Denis was a good one, I took out a 121 and a 114 finish, but unfortunately they were the only legs that I won. Denis was on great form, and it continued for him throughout the day, as he went on to beat Gary Anderson in the final – at least I lost to the winner, and I'd climbed up the world rankings a further 14 places.
Adrian and I headed back to the hotel, but were distracted by a marina sports bar showing the Chelsea Arsenal match – after such a bad couple of days, it was nice to finally sit in the sun and watch the blues win.
Back home, I turned out for The Bell at Burwash in a cup match on Tuesday, and was to be the only winner in a 10 – 1 defeat. My first 5 darts were all in the treble 20, so in a one leg shoot out, my opponent was going to struggle to beat that.
Wednesday in the singles league where I am currently second behind Adrian Gray, I took another 10 points, extending my lead over third place by 5 points; sadly Adrian took maximum points as well, so I didn't gain on him this week.
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Weather for Lewes
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
