THE first eight Speedy Qualifiers for the Speedy Hire UK Open have won their spots at Bolton.
The dreams of eight amateur darts fanatics have well and truly taken flight with Speedy Hire, after becoming the first to qualify for the UK Open.
The eight great players triumphed over hundreds of other hopefuls at the first of four Speedy qualifiers for the prestigious tournament at the UK Open from June 2-5 at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton.
At Tuesday's Bristol Qualifier, their first obstacle was to score enough points with 15 darts to qualify for a one off leg of 501 against another successful amateur.
They then held their nerves in the all-or-nothing game to seal winning doubles and progress into 'The FA Cup of Darts', where they will share the same stage as some of the world's finest players.
Darren Pugh, Stuart White, Bruce Harrison, Jon Jukes, Martin Perring, Peter White, Charlie Cooper and Damien Sherwood all prevailed and are now dreaming of facing the cream of the PDC, live in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
Speedy, the UK's leading provider of equipment rental and support services, is staging further qualifiers in Dartford on April 13, Stoke (April 14) and Glasgow (April 15), which will unearth a further 24 budding stars.
Click here for further information about the Speedy Qualifiers for the Speedy Hire UK Open
Speedy enlisted the help of former Lakeside Champion Andy Fordham to offer expert advice and, and he said: "The standard was right up there from the first dart thrown.
"It was great to see so many darts fanatics here, all ready to give it a go. To see the faces of the winning players was wonderful. I think we may well be hearing more about them soon."
Speedy's group marketing director Steve McIntyre said: "To see so many people here has been fantastic.
"The Speedy Hire UK Open is the FA Cup of darts and it was easy to see why with all these people here today."
Aside from the darts, the event also coincided with the official opening of Bristol's 27,000 sq ft superstore. Designed to complement the company's nationwide network of 350 smaller depots it will house over £1 million worth of equipment including small tools, lifting and survey equipment, light plant, and fencing.
The Superstore - the opening of which has created 40 jobs for the local area - will also offer testing, inspection and repair (TIR) services for all lifting equipment.
The Bristol Superstore is the fourth Speedy has opened following the success of new sites in Stoke, Edinburgh and Wolverhampton which were opened in 2010.
The company plans to open 12 Superstores around the UK by 2012.
Click here for further information about the Speedy Qualifiers for the Speedy Hire UK Open