Japanese darting star Seigo Asada is off and running at the the 2019 PDC Asian Tour.
The Unicorn ace won event four on home soil in Kobe after just missing out in the final of event three!
Asada saw off Hong Kong’s Royden Lam 5-3 in the final to claim his first Asian Tour victory of the year as he bids to qualify for the World Championship again.
The top four from the Asian Tour Order of Merit will claim prized spots at the Ally Pally. Asada had a tough route to victory. He beat Lourence Ilagan 5-4 in the quarter-finals, then produced a blistering display to see off Paul Lim 5-0 in the semi’s.
At event three in Japan, Asada lost out 5-3 to Haruki Muramatsu in the final. The next Asian Tour double-header is in Leyte at the end of March.
Dimitri van den Bergh and Ian White have made terrific starts to the Players Championship circuit after both Team Unicorn men reached finals in Wigan at the weekend.
For Dimitri, it was a landmark moment as he battles to make a big impression in the floor tournaments. He was superb at PC4 before losing the final 8-3 to PDC new boy and three times Lakeside Champion Glen Durrant.
The PDC Unicorn Youth Champion kicked off with victory over stablemate Chris Dobey and also beat James Wade along the way. An average of over 100 saw the Belgian secure a 7-5 victory over Rob Cross in the semi-finals.
It was good to see Mark McGeeney have a good run to the last 16 before losing an all Unicorn clash to Kyle Anderson, who then lost to Cross in the quarters.
On Saturday White played superbly to reach the final at PC3 but ran up against an inspired Michael van Gerwen. The World Champion took out 170 and 160 twice as he triumphed 8-5, but White once again proving his pedigree on the floor.
What a few weeks it has been for Unicorn youngster Chris Dobey after his brilliant run at the World Championship. It has all clicked into place!
He said it was like “Alan Shearer walking out at St James’ Park’ as he played in the Premier League as a Contender on week one in Newcastle.
Dobey played superbly as he drew six apiece with Mensur Suljovic. He then hit is first PDC 9 darter at PC2 in Wigan and he also reached the semi-final at PC3 after he Unicorn ace also missed D12 to claim another 9 darter!
Dobey lost in the semi’s to White but he is certainly showcasing just how good he is.
By the way, Michael Smith has been hitting averages of 110, 111 and 112 regularly at the Players Championship tournaments so far. But a quarter-final and a run to the last 16 are his best results so far.
In the Premier League it has been a mixed start for Smith and Wade. The World Championship runner-up was edged out by Van Gerwen in Newcastle and threw away a big lead to only draw against Peter Wright in Glasgow.
Wade beat Raymond van Barneveld on the opening night but was defeated by Cross in Scotland.
Gary Anderson continues to receive intensive treatment on the back problem that ruled him out of the Premier League.
The good news is that the Unicorn star does not need surgery and his aim is to be at Minehead to defend his UK Open crown.
His return to action can’t come soon enough!
It is congratulations to Team Unicorn Latvian ace Madars Razma who won the first tournament of the year on the PDC Nordic and Baltic Tour.
And finally, it is also congratulations to Jamie Caven. Playing in his first competitive BDO tournament for 15 years, ‘Jabba ‘ won through to the semi-finals of the Scottish Open but lost to eventual winner Wesley Harms.
Stories from STUART PYKE
