DEAN WINSTANLEY was among to the 20 qualifiers to secure places in the Gibraltar Darts Trophy European Tour event, at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan, on Friday night.
Winstanley, who failed to qualify for the European Darts Open, in Germany, and the forthcoming Austrian Darts Open, had to work hard to book his place at the Victoria Stadium next month, with deciding-leg victories over Daryl Gurney and Nick Fullwell.
Challenge Tour competitors, Jamie Lewis, Ross Smith and Josh Payne all enjoyed successful evenings at the Robin Park Tennis Centre, as they secured their places in the £100,000 tournament.
Joey Palfreyman hit a perfect leg of darts in his first round clash against Steve Maish. The Liverpool man achieved the magical feat thanks to scores of 180, 177 and 144. However, he lost out to Maish in a deciding-leg.
After defeating Palfreyman, the Essex thrower then went on to defeat fellow veteran Alex Roy by a 6-2 scoreline to confirm his place in Gibraltar, next month.
Irishman, Connie Finnan qualified thanks to a 6-4 victory over Jamie Robinson in his final game, and he was joined by Northern Ireland’s Michael Mansell, who dropped just one leg on the way to qualification.
Former Grand Slam of Darts semi-finalist, Kevin McDine scored two impressive wins over David Pallett and Andy Jenkins to claim his place and Bradford’s Joe Cullen beat Kevin Dowling 6-3 in his final game to seal a place in Gibraltar.
Matthew Dennant, the 21-year-old from Walsall qualified thanks to wins over Sam Hill and Yorkshire’s Terry Temple, whilst Matthew Edgar edged out Tony West in a deciding-leg.
Bolton’s Joe Murnan recorded a brace of 6-3 wins over Mark Lawrence and Prakash Jiwa, and Peter Hudson along with Mark Hylton joined Murnan as they won their final games by a 6-3 margins against Ricky Evans and Gaz Cousins, respectively.
John Henderson defeated fellow Scotsman Keith Stephen by a 6-2 scoreline to qualify and London’s Paul Amos also secured his place in the main draw by beating Japan’s Kentaro Suzuki by the same scoreline.
Jim Walker denied Alan Tabern a place in Gibraltar as he won their deciding clash 6-5 and he was joined by Nigel Heydon as he edged out Steve West by a 6-4 scoreline.
Steve Brown whitewashed Steve Hine before defeating Michael Barnard 6-4 to seal his place along with Widnes’ John Bowles who overcame the experienced duo of Darren Webster and Dennis Smith, both by 6-4 margins.
The £100,000 tournament will be held from June 28-30 at the Victoria Stadium in Gibraltar, with the final places in the field being filled on June 27 when the European Qualifier and the Host Nation Qualifier will be held at the venue.
European Tour Event Five
UK Qualifier
Friday May 24, Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan
Prelminary Round
Peter Hudson 6-4 Chris Aubrey
First Round
Ricky Evans 6-5 Paul Barham
Peter Hudson 6-4 William O'Connor
Keith Stephen 6-4 Mark Dudbridge
John Henderson 6-3 Geoff Whitworth
Andy Jenkins 6-3 Michael Smith
Kevin McDine 6-2 David Pallett
Joe Cullen 6-2 Dave Honey
Kevin Dowling 6-0 Steve Randall
Prakash Jiwa 6-5 Adam Hunt
Joe Murnan 6-3 Mark Lawrence
Connie Finnan 6-2 Andrew Johnson
Jamie Robinson 6-2 James Hubbard
Alex Roy 6-1 Jake Patchett
Steve Maish 6-5 Joey Palfreyman - Palfreyman hits nine-dart finish
Steve West 6-3 Stephen McNally
Nigel Heydon 6-2 Campbell Jackson
Barrie Bates 6-3 Steve Grubb
Jamie Lewis 6-4 Brian Woods
Matt Clark 6-2 Jack Hill
Michael Mansell 6-1 Lee Palfreyman
Gaz Cousins 6-5 Ewan Hyslop
Mark Hylton 6-1 Richie Howson
Alan Tabern 6-5 Darren Johnson
Jim Walker 6-1 Paul Rowley
Dean Winstanley 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Nick Fullwell 6-2 Adrian Gray
Terry Temple 6-0 David Ladley
Matthew Dennant 6-1 Sam Hill
Keith Rooney 6-3 Reece Robinson
Ross Smith 6-4 Johnny Haines
Dennis Smith 6-3 John Scott
John Bowles 6-4 Darren Webster
Matthew Edgar 6-1 Stephen Hardy
Tony West 6-4 Matthew Dicken
Kentaro Suzuki 6-2 Steven Pearson
Paul Amos 6-2 Jamie Gemmell
Steve Brown 6-0 Steve Hine
Michael Barnard 6-0 Lee Moffat
James Richardson 6-3 Kenny MacNeil
Josh Payne 6-5 Mark Jones
Second Round
Peter Hudson 6-3 Ricky Evans
John Henderson 6-2 Keith Stephen
Kevin McDine 6-4 Andy Jenkins
Joe Cullen 6-3 Kevin Dowling
Joe Murnan 6-3 Prakash Jiwa
Connie Finnan 6-4 Jamie Robinson
Steve Maish 6-2 Alex Roy
Nigel Heydon 6-4 Steve West
Jamie Lewis 6-4 Barrie Bates
Michael Mansell 6-0 Matt Clark
Mark Hylton 6-3 Gaz Cousins
Jim Walker 6-5 Alan Tabern
Dean Winstanley 6-5 Nick Fullwell
Matthew Dennant 6-4 Terry Temple
Ross Smith 6-2 Keith Rooney
John Bowles 6-4 Dennis Smith
Matthew Edgar 6-5 Tony West
Paul Amos 6-2 Kentaro Suzuki
Steve Brown 6-4 Michael Barnard
Josh Payne 6-5 James Richardson
Qualifiers
Peter Hudson
John Henderson
Kevin McDine
Joe Cullen
Joe Murnan
Connie Finnan
Steve Maish
Nigel Heydon
Jamie Lewis
Michael Mansell
Mark Hylton
Jim Walker
Dean Winstanley
Matthew Dennant
Ross Smith
John Bowles
Matthew Edgar
Paul Amos
Steve Brown
Josh Payne