FORMER champion Peter Manley was amongst the final six qualifiers for the PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic on Monday. Manley, the 2003 winner, had to enter the qualifiers at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas after dropping outside the world’s top 16 recently. However, he bounced back from the disappointment of a defeat to Shane O’Connor on Sunday by winning through 24 hours later. His victories on Monday included a revenge win over O’Connor, at the semi-final stage, before he whitewashed Holland’s Bryan de Hoog to win his place in the first round draw. Wes Newton, twice a Desert Classic semi-finalist, booked his spot in this year’s event with a 5-1 defeat of Roland Scholten in his deciding game.
Newton also saw off Graham Warburton, Mark Carter and Paul Lim on the day, with the latter pushing the Fleetwood ace all the way to a deciding leg. Scotland’s Gary Anderson secured a Desert Classic debut, overcoming Sam Rooney 5-1 in the final and also knocking out number four seed Mark Dudbridge. Colin Monk responded to a second round exit on Sunday to win his first Desert Classic appearance with a 5-3 defeat of Canadian Ken MacNeil. He also defeated John Murray, Kevin Dowling and Denis Ovens to earn his place in the main event, just weeks after hitting a nine-darter in a Players Championship in Barnsley. New Zealander Phillip Hazel will make his first-ever televised appearance after condemning Barrie Bates to defeat in the final game for a second successive day. Bates lost to Australian Simon Whitlock on Sunday and went down 5-2 to Hazel a day later, as the 53-year-old joiner from Napier progressed to the big stage. Another player to ensure a first full appearance in front of the Sky Sports cameras is Chorley’s Louis Blundell, whose only other televised event was the UK Open in Bolton last month. Blundell was a 5-3 winner against Mark Lawrence in his deciding game to secure a spot in the Desert Classic. American Ray Carver took out 108 to defeat former Lakeside Champion Mark Webster in a deciding leg, only to lose a nine-leg clash with Blundell in the semi-finals. The draw for the PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic will be made on Tuesday evening, while a £30,000 Las Vegas Players Championship event will be held during Tuesday. The first round of the Desert Classic, which begins on Wednesday, sees the PDC’s top 16 drawn against the 12 qualifiers from Sunday and Monday and four leading north Americans. The event will then progress in a bracket format, with the top eight players seeded. PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic Monday Qualifier First Round Board One Peter Manley (1) Bye David Flowers Bye James Barton 5-2 Ron Peppers Chris Cooper 5-0 Geoff Daniels Board Two Steve Brown (24) Bye Shane O’Connor 5-2 Jon Archer John Kuczynski 5-0 Joe Formica Dan Zimmerman 5-4 Gary Barnett Board Three Andy Smith (7) Bye Kevin Harris 5-0 Neil McKnight Bryan de Hoog 5-0 Andy Bradbury Ben Burton 5-0 Andy Askey Board Four Jan van der Rassel (18) Bye Joachim Koessler 5-0 Preston Fox Daz Horler 5-1 Mark Nielsen Brian Rowe 5-4 Chris Goodband Board Five Robert Thornton (2) Bye Anthony Eugenia Bye Mark Stephenson 5-1 Pat Breithaupt Andy Fordham 5-2 Gregory Coburn Board Six Jason Clark (23) Bye Larry Butler 5-1 Robert Race Phillip Hazel 5-0 Chris White Aaron Turner 5-4 Robert Heckman Board Seven Barrie Bates (8) Bye Lee Williams 5-2 Steve Gooch John Quantock 5-0 Adrian W Lewis Steve Hine 5-1 Bernard Prenter Board Eight Gary Mawson (17) Bye Steve Hogan 5-4 Steve Carey Robbie Newland 5-2 Gary Storey Scott Henning 5-4 Pete Riehl Board Nine Denis Ovens (3) Bye Mark W Robinson 5-4 Brad Hann Gordon Morrison 5-1 David Goodchild Dave Ladley 5-2 Michael Putz Board Ten Colin Monk (22) Bye John Murray 5-0 Anne Gustafsson Tony Ayres 5-1 Corey Donham Kevin Dowling 5-2 Pete Galloway Board 11 Tony Eccles (9) Bye Joe Cullen 5-0 Kevin Hill Darren Johnson 5-3 Ian Jopling Paul Knighton 5-3 David Fatum Board 12 Steve Maish (16) Bye Andreas Waldenmaier 5-0 Roger England Ken MacNeil 5-1 Andy Mason John Denich 5-2 Stephen Osborne Board 13 Mark Dudbridge (4) Bye Gary Anderson 5-0 Drazen Severin Joe DaVanti 5-4 Patrick Thernstrom Allan Snabel 5-3 Sato Fumihiro Board 14 Jacko Barry (21) Bye Stuart Holden 5-0 Dale A Slamon Karl Loiseau 5-0 Paul DiCecca Matt Jackson 5-2 Davey Mansell Board 15 Michael van Gerwen (10) Bye Jeff Hubbard 5-4 Mark Venable Sean Palfrey 5-0 Mark Tiller Jules Budd 5-2 John Jenkinson Board 16 Matt Clark (15) Bye Gerry Convery 5-0 John Dawes Morihiro Hashimoto 5-0 Pete Allsopp Sam Rooney 5-4 Timmy Nicoll Board 17 Roland Scholten (5) Bye Dan Butler 5-3 Sara Rose Alan Taylor 5-1 John Latchic Darren Latham 5-1 Mark K Robinson Board 18 Mick McGowan (20) Bye Brian Jones 5-2 Adam Young Nick Fullwell 5-0 Kevin Fletcher Stephen Panuncialman 5-3 Par Riihonen Board 19 Andy Jenkins (11) Bye Paul Lim 5-0 Paul Walker Brian Griffiths 5-2 Marc Garcia Jim Newman 5-0 Bill Grubb Board 20 Wes Newton (14) Bye Graham Warburton 5-0 Stephen Grant Mark Carter 5-3 Gregor Cruickshank Scott Clifford 5-0 Piki Morrison Board 21 Kirk Shepherd (6) Bye David Ansell 5-2 Neil Dickson Dieter Schutsch 5-1 Chris Duff Mark Lawrence 5-0 Jeff Angione Board 22 Dennis Smith (19) Bye Martyn Turner 5-4 Scott Robertson Nikash Patel 5-1 Eddie Lawrence Steve Grubb 5-0 Simon Craven Board 23 Kevin McDine (12) Bye Louis Blundell 5-0 Jim McKevitt Chuck Pankow 5-4 Tom Wilson Rocco Maes 5-4 Dan Lauby Board 24 Steve Beaton (13) Bye Ray Carver 5-0 Davis Snider Mark Webster 5-0 Andrew Bennett Anthony Thompson 5-2 Martin S Rodda Second Round Peter Manley 5-0 David Flowers James Barton 5-4 Chris Cooper Shane O’Connor 5-3 Steve Brown John Kuczynski 5-2 Dan Zimmerman Andy Smith 5-1 Kevin Harris Bryan de Hoog 5-3 Ben Burton Jan van der Rassel 5-0 Joachim Koessler Daz Horler 5-1 Brian Rowe Robert Thornton 5-0 Anthony Eugenia Mark Stephenson 5-1 Andy Fordham Jason Clark 5-1 Larry Butler Phillip Hazel 5-3 Aaron Turner Barrie Bates 5-3 Lee Williams Steve Hine 5-1 John Quantock Gary Mawson 5-1 Steve Hogan Scott Henning 5-1 Robbie Newland Denis Ovens 5-2 Mark W Robinson Dave Ladley 5-4 Gordon Morrison Colin Monk 5-0 John Murray Kevin Dowling 5-4 Tony Ayres Tony Eccles 5-4 Joe Cullen Paul Knighton 5-4 Darren Johnson Steve Maish 5-0 Andreas Waldenmaier Ken MacNeil 5-0 John Denich Gary Anderson 5-1 Mark Dudbridge Joe DaVanti 5-3 Allan Snabel Jacko Barry 5-2 Stuart Holden Matt Jackson 5-0 Karl Loiseau Michael van Gerwen 5-0 Jeff Hubbard Sean Palfrey 5-2 Jules Budd Gerry Convery 5-4 Matt Clark Sam Rooney 5-0 Morihiro Hashimoto Roland Scholten 5-0 Dan Butler Darren Latham 5-3 Alan Taylor Mick McGowan 5-0 Brian Jones Nick Fullwell 5-3 Stephen Panuncialman Paul Lim 5-3 Andy Jenkins Jim Newman 5-2 Brian Griffiths Wes Newton 5-0 Graham Warburton Mark Carter 5-0 Scott Clifford Kirk Shepherd 5-0 Dave Ansell Mark Lawrence 5-3 Dieter Schutsch Martyn Turner 5-1 Dennis Smith Steve Grubb 5-1 Nikash Patel Louis Blundell 5-3 Kevin McDine Chuck Pankow 5-4 Rocco Maes Ray Carver 5-3 Steve Beaton Mark Webster 5-2 Anthony Thompson Third Round Peter Manley 5-3 James Barton Shane O’Connor 5-4 John Kuczynski Bryan de Hoog 5-4 Andy Smith Daz Horler 5-2 Jan van der Rassel Mark Stephenson 5-3 Robert Thornton Phillip Hazel 5-3 Jason Clark Barrie Bates 5-4 Steve Hine Gary Mawson 5-0 Scott Henning Denis Ovens 5-2 Dave Ladley Colin Monk 5-3 Kevin Dowling Paul Knighton 5-3 Tony Eccles Ken MacNeil 5-2 Steve Maish Gary Anderson 5-1 Joe DaVanti Jacko Barry 5-4 Matt Jackson Michael van Gerwen 5-3 Sean Palfrey Sam Rooney 5-3 Gerry Convery Roland Scholten 5-1 Darren Latham Mick McGowan 5-2 Nick Fullwell Paul Lim 5-4 Jim Newman Wes Newton 5-3 Mark Carter Mark Lawrence 5-3 Kirk Shepherd Steve Grubb 5-4 Martyn Turner Louis Blundell 5-2 Chuck Pankow Ray Carver 5-4 Mark Webster Fourth Round Peter Manley 5-3 Shane O’Connor Bryan de Hoog 5-1 Daz Horler Phillip Hazel 5-0 Mark Stephenson Barrie Bates 5-1 Gary Mawson Colin Monk 5-2 Denis Ovens Ken MacNeil 5-1 Paul Knighton Gary Anderson 5-1 Jacko Barry Sam Rooney 5-1 Michael van Gerwen Roland Scholten 5-4 Mick McGowan Wes Newton 5-4 Paul Lim Mark Lawrence 5-4 Steve Grubb Louis Blundell 5-4 Ray Carver Losers £250 Fifth Round Peter Manley 5-0 Bryan de Hoog Phillip Hazel 5-2 Barrie Bates Colin Monk 5-3 Ken MacNeil Gary Anderson 5-1 Sam Rooney Wes Newton 5-1 Roland Scholten Louis Blundell 5-3 Mark Lawrence Winners – Place in PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic Losers £1,000 Qualifiers Peter Manley Phillip Hazel Colin Monk Gary Anderson Wes Newton Louis Blundell PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic – Complete Field PDC Top 16 Qualifiers Phil Taylor (seed 1) James Wade (2) Raymond van Barneveld (3) John Part (4) Terry Jenkins (5) Mervyn King (6) Adrian Lewis (7) Alan Tabern (8) Dennis Priestley Ronnie Baxter Colin Lloyd Wayne Mardle Colin Osborne Kevin Painter Andy Hamilton Mark Walsh North American Order of Merit Qualifiers Darin Young Scott Burnett Chris White Bill Davis Qualifiers Gary Anderson Louis Blundell Jamie Caven Phillip Hazel Jelle Klaasen Peter Manley Colin Monk Wes Newton Co Stompe Vincent van der Voort Simon Whitlock Peter Wright
