THE competitive nature of Phase 2 of the Foundation Tour was once again underlined as four different players – Liam Rowe, Alfie Armitage, Nathan Grice and Alfie Hutton – won events in Coventry this weekend.
Event 6 winner Armitage, from Blackburn Academy, leads the rankings after eight events with 20 points, one point clear of Harry Childs.
After eight events, eight different players have now tasted victory in Phase 2, serving to underline the unpredictability and variety of the Foundation Tour.
EVENT 5
Liam Rowe won the first Foundation Tour event in which he has competed in Phase Two, beating Alfie Hutton 5-3 in the final.
The Tewkesbury Academy player missed the first weekend of Phase 2 action but made up for lost time by storming to victory in Coventry on Saturday.
He was never behind in the final, which bizarrely opened with five successive breaks of throw until Rowe held in 16 darts in the sixth leg for a 4-2 lead. Hutton held to cut the deficit back to one leg – but Rowe wrapped things up in the next leg to seal victory.
He played some good darts throughout the day, and also had to come through three deciding legs on his way to victory. His best performance came in a 3-1 win over Charlie Greensmith in the last 128, where he averaged 81.45 and clinched the win with a 15-dart leg.
Hutton performed well to get to the final, notably in beating George Humphreys 4-3 in the semi-final. The first two legs went against throw, before Hutton held in the third – and the match stayed on throw from there, with Hutton taking out 100 to win.
Humphreys was in good form throughout the event, averaging 81.98 in his last-16 win over Bentley Fowler, which included a 111 checkout for a 15-dart leg.
The highest average of the event was thrown by Finlay Cleave, who averaged 90.18 in his 3-0 last-64 win over Olly Garratt. In the opening leg, Cleave hit 140 and 134 to leave 84, which he took out at the first time of asking for a 14-darter, before following it up with two 140s on his way to a 15-dart leg. He sealed the win in seven visits, which included three ton-plus scores.
RESULTS:
Final:
Liam Rowe (Eng) 5-3 Alfie Hutton (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Liam Rowe (Eng) 4-1 Alex Hopkins (Eng)
Alfie Hutton (Eng) 4-3 George Humphreys (Wal)
EVENT 6
Alfie Armitage picked up his first event win of Phase 2 as he defeated Jack Divall 5-2 in the Event 6 final on Saturday evening.
The Blackburn Academy player maintained a consistent level throughout the event – and improved significantly on his quarter-final showing in Event 5 to celebrate victory.
He settled his nerves with an opening-leg hold in the final, before breaking throw for a 2-0 lead. Divall broke back, only for Armitage to respond with a break of his own for 3-1. That became 4-1 when he hit a 15-darter (having left 5 after 12 darts with visits of 135, 100, 171 and 90). Divall held to extend the match – but Armitage wrapped it up in the next leg.
Arguably his finest performance of the day came in the semi-finals when he beat Corey Stamp 4-0 with six scores of 100-plus including a maximum.
Divall was also a model of consistency in reaching the final, his average only twice dropping below 70 throughout the event.
He came through an epic semi-final, beating Louis Jones 4-3. Jones, who had earlier averaged 81.98, led 3-1 – kicking off the match with a 116 checkout. Divall started to turn things around in the fifth leg when he broke in 15 darts – and he followed that up with another 15-darter on throw to force a decider. Jones opened the decider with a 140 but Divall responded with a 134 and ended up clinching the win on double 13.
RESULTS:
Final:
Alfie Armitage (Eng) 5-2 Jack Divall (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Alfie Armitage (Eng) 4-0 Corey Stamp (Eng)
Jack Divall (Eng) 4-3 Louis Jones (Eng)
EVENT 7
Nathan Grice is a great example of how hard work can lead to improvement – and he won Event 7 by beating Frederick Winmill 5-2 in the final.
The 14-year-old from Shropshire did not get past the last 32 on the first weekend of Foundation Tour Phase 2 action – but stuck to his task and ended up celebrating an event win on Sunday.
Grice produced three 70-plus averages in the quarter-final, semi-final and final, peaking at the right time to take the honours.
He fell 1-0 down in the final when Winmill went out in 15 darts, before holding throw to get a foothold in the match. The players then exchanged breaks of throw for 2-2, before Grice broke again – this time in 13 darts – to move one leg clear. He held throw to extend his lead before wrapping things up with another break by taking out 91.
Grice had earlier hit 62 for a 17-dart leg to clinch his semi-final win over Bentley Fowler, having fought back from 2-1 down to beat Alex Hopkins 3-2 in the quarters.
To underline the strength in depth of the Foundation Tour, Winmill was also playing in his first final. He beat Event 6 winner Alfie Armitage in the semis, taking out 82 for a 15-dart leg, and was also in fine form to beat Louis Jones 3-1 in the quarters.
The highest average of the event was Senne Aerts’ 85.08 against Jack Frawley in the opening round. The Belgian took out 89 in the opening leg and maintained a strong performance throughout, before losing against Jackson King in the next round.
RESULTS:
Final:
Nathan Grice (Eng) 5-2 Frederick Winmill (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Nathan Grice (Eng) 4-2 Bentley Fowler (Eng)
Frederick Winmill (Eng) 4-2 Alfie Armitage (Eng)
EVENT 8
Alfie Hutton rounded off a successful personal weekend – his first in Phase 2 – by going one better than he did in Event 5 and winning the final event of the weekend.
Hutton, from Devon, beat Elijah Bale 5-2 in the final as he produced a superb display of finishing when the pressure was on. He took out 52, 96, 74, 56 and finally 32 to bag the title, while Bale also contributed to the fine finishing with a 72 checkout of his own.
Hutton was on good form throughout the event, no less so than when he beat Belgium’s Sander Nevelsteen 3-1 in the last 16, kicking off with a 15-darter and going on to average 77.18.
Bale deserves plenty of credit for reaching his first final of the season, beating Jack Divall 4-2 in the semi-final.
Charlie Greensmith also caught the eye with an average of 87.94 in his 3-2 last-64 win over Logan Neil-Symons. Greensmith’s winning legs came in 18, 15 and 17 darts, with two 80-plus checkouts thrown in for good measure.
RESULTS:
Final:
Alfie Hutton (Eng) 5-2 Elijah Bale (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Elijah Bale (Eng) 4-2 Jack Divall (Eng)
Alfie Hutton (Eng) 4-3 Taylor James-Harding (Eng)
Add comment
Comments