By Ryan Segal
We start August’s ‘Around The World’ with a nod to the end of July, as on the last day of the seventh month, we saw three European Tour Qualifications, as Ian White secured his spot at ET11 in Prague, whilst Darren Beveridge and Tom Bissell booked their respective places in Budapest for ET12.
Although there wasn’t much PDC action as the month began, we were treated to a nine darter from Tom Sykes, sharing the image of his perfect leg prior to a local evening of action – showing off his stunning arrows and Eclipse Ultra 2.0 in the process.
As the halfway point of the month approached, so did the busy period. It commenced with five Challenge Tour events, with a plethora of Team Unicorn stars heading to the Mattioli Arena in Leicester for the weekend.
CT16 kicked things off, with Ash Coleman and Charlie Manby both going on deep runs. The Prince of Darkness was defeated in a last leg decider in the semi-final, whilst Champagne reached the last eight.
CT17 saw a deep run for Aden Kirk, with The Captain going as deep as the Quarter-Final. Jeffrey de Zwaan followed just behind, being defeated in the L16.
Moving to the first of Saturday’s two events, Charlie Manby again shone brightest from our talented team, going one better than at CT16 to reach the Semi-Final. Jeffrey de Zwaan kept up his consistent form from a few hours before, once again reaching the L16.
CT19 didn’t prove quite as fruitful, with Charlie and Ted Evetts flying the flag as far as the L32.
Onto Sunday, and the 20th event of the season, Charlie once again reached the L32, alongside David Evans – but Super Ted went on his deepest run of the weekend, finding his way to the Semi-Final, before losing to the eventual winner, Scott Waites.
On that Sunday, we also celebrated the 55th Birthday of Ian ‘Diamond’ White. He’s been a beloved member of the team since 2016, and remains one of the most beloved players in the sport today.
Following the busy weekend, Charlie and Henry Coates made the 166 mile journey to the Modus Live Lounge in Portsmouth, both looking to win the inaugural ‘Rising Stars’ week at the Modus Super Series.
Both played some sensational stuff in their quest for Finals Night, with ton plus averages a regular sight.
Charlie won Group A to seal safe passage to Saturday, whilst Henry, who finished 3rd in Group A, progressed to Finals Night via Group B.
And, by the end of Finals Night, it was Abra-Coates-dabra, as Henry produced a magic spell from 0-3 in the final to come back and take the crown with a 4-3 victory.
It wasn’t just Portsmouth where the good news was rampant, however, as it was announced that James Wade and Ross Smith would be Amsterdam bound for the World Series Finals, qualifying due to their respective positions on the PDC Order of Merit.
We also celebrated another birthday during the week, as Adam Hunt turned 32 years old.
We then ran our first AMA session across our social media pages – with interesting results.
If you didn’t see it, there’s a very remote chance that myself and Adam Paxton will at some point duet Simon and Garfunkel, Ian White DOES NOT want to sneeze a dart at the bull, and I don’t know if your rare dart from many years ago is going to ever be re-released.
I wish I did. But I don’t.
That AMA was conduced en route to Milton Keynes, where two Players Championship events and the World Series Finals TCH Qualifier laid ahead.
Ross Smith flew the flag the furthest at PC24, throwing three ton plus averages en route to the Semi-Final.
As for PC25, the deepest run came from Cameron Menzies, as he made it to the L16.
And it would be our maverick Scotsman who would make the headlines on the Wednesday, as he made it through the TCH Qualifier to become the third member of Team Unicorn at the World Series Finals.
Both he and Owen Bates made it to the final stage, but Owen’s courage went unrewarded in the end, as Cammy overcame Michael Smith to seal his spot.
The month then ended with a trip for Team Unicorn to Antwerp, as the European Tour hit double figures for the year at the Flanders Darts Trophy.
Mensur Suljovic was the first to put his name up in lights, taking out a breathtaking 148 en route to knocking out former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding 6-4.
Callan Rydz then stepped up – and frankly, played superbly. A 106.57 average, 4 x 180s, and 50% on his doubles…but not the six needed legs to compliment it, as his world class performance went unrewarded on this occasion.
Mensur kept up the brilliant form as he faced Rob Cross – Walloping in 7 x 180s, hitting 60% of his doubles, and producing a high out of 105.
Mensur Magic.
He was joined in the final day by James Wade, as he overcame Kim Huybrechts in his opener to reach Sunday’s action.
Mensur’s story of the weekend would come to an end in the L16 – but The Machine would march on, defeating Leon Weber and Gian van Veen to reach the Semi-Final – where he’d be defeated by Josh Rock, despite putting in his best performance of the weekend.
Another successful month for Unicorn Darts – The Big Name in Darts