Photo: PDC
Photo: PDC
Photo: PDC
PDC
Challenge Tour
16
Event 13
The weekend of September 28th and 29th
saw the conclusion of the 2013 PDC Unicorn
Challenge Tour, with three thrilling events
taking place across two days of non-stop darts
action at the K2 centre in Crawley.
Saturday saw wins for debutant Dimitri Van De
Bergh and Matthew Dennant, whilst on Sunday
Ross Smith clinched victory in the final event
of the season to secure his spot as number
one on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit,
in the process booking his place in the 2014
Ladbrokes World Darts Championships.
Belgian youngster Dimitri Van De Bergh enjoyed the
best possible start to his PDC career as he overcame
2013 Challenge Tour Event winner Josh Payne 4-2,
before producing a 4-1 demolition of Robbie Herbert.
Similar one-sided victories over Jamie Landon in the
last sixteen and Ryan Harrington in the quarter finals
saw the debutant book his place in the semi-finals.
This match was much closer, indeed the Belgian
was forced to hold his nerve to overcome Luke
Woodhouse in a deciding leg, before he went on to
seal the £500 first prize with a 4-0 whitewash victory
over Reece Robinson.
Robinson who is the vastly more experienced player
had enjoyed his best run of 2013, having previously
fallen at the semi-final stage in two events earlier in
the season.
17
Event 14
The second event was claimed by a more experienced
Matthew Dennant, who reached his second Challenge
Tour final with early round victories over Lewis
McGurn and James Thompson, before edging out
Josh Payne in the last sixteen, Ben Ward in the last
eight and Gaz Cousins in the semi-finals.
In the final Dennant took on rising German star Max
Hopp, of whom much is expected in the future. On
this day though it was Dennant who had more to
offer and after Hopp had landed a 180 on the way to
securing the opening leg it was all one-way traffic,
with Dennant eventually running out a 4-1 winner.
As if to highlight the strength in depth of the
Challenge Tour, Dennant became the fourteenth
different winner this season in only seventeen
events.
18
Event 15
Ross Smith claimed victory in the final event of
the Challenge Tour season after the Bolton-based
thrower ended the challenge of Adam Hunt 4-2 in
the final of Event 18, in the process securing the first
prize of £500.
Perhaps more importantly however Smith also
claimed his places in the 2014 World Championships
and the 2013 Grand Slam of Darts, with this victory,
his fourth of the season, ensuring that he would top
the final PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour Order Of Merit.
Smith’s run to the final included victories over Dan
Dean, Luke Woodhouse and Rowby-John Rodriguez,
before a semi-final victory over Dimitri Van De Bergh
put the in-form man into his fifth Challenge Tour
final of the season.
Quarter-Finals
Quarter-Finals
Quarter-Finals
Dimitri Van de Bergh 4-0 Ryan Harrington
Nathan Aspinall 4-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dimitri Van de Bergh 4-3 Ben Ward
Luke Woodhouse 4-2 Sam Hamilton
Max Hopp 4-2 Hermie van Orsouw
Ross Smith 4-1 Brandon Walsh
Dan Dean 4-3 Paul Barham
Gaz Cousins 4-3 Sion Thomas
Adam Hunt 4-3 Sam Hewson
Reece Robinson 4-2 Matthew Dennant
Matthew Dennant 4-3 Ben Ward
Curtis Bagley 4-2 Keegan Brown
Semi-Finals
Semi-Finals
Semi-Finals
Dimitri Van de Bergh 4-3 Luke Woodhouse
Max Hopp 4-2 Nathan Aspinall
Ross Smith 4-1 Dimitri Van de Bergh
Reece Robinson 4-2 Dan Dean
Matthew Dennant 4-2 Gaz Cousins
Adam Hunt 4-1 Curtis Bagley
Final
Dimitri Van de Bergh 4-0 Reece Robinson
Final
Matthew Dennant 4-1 Max Hopp
Final
Ross Smith 4-2 Adam Hunt
Photo: Julian Herbert/Getty Images Europe
Events 16, 17 + 18