Rhino News
Bounced out of Bolton!
6th May 2012
Sadly, Dave did not do enough in the last attempts to qualify for the UK open at Bolton next month. Defeats to Jon Bott and Brendan Dolan meant he fell £400 short of the qualifying mark.
Onwards and upwards for the Rhino, though, and eyes very much on the next goals
6th May 2012
Sadly, Dave did not do enough in the last attempts to qualify for the UK open at Bolton next month. Defeats to Jon Bott and Brendan Dolan meant he fell £400 short of the qualifying mark.
Onwards and upwards for the Rhino, though, and eyes very much on the next goals
Back to winning ways!
25th April 2012
Dave Smith beat Paul Bulmer 5-1 in the stage seven final of the Streamline Taxis York Open Darts Championship at Huntington WMC.
The Rhino secured his second successive stage victory in emphatic style, firing two 180s in legs of 20, 16, 15 and 17-darts to pick up the £200 stage winner’s prize pot.
In the semi-finals, he whitewashed Nottingham’s Matt Padgett by hitting 21 and 17-darts legs.
Bulmer (18, 14, 18) fired in back-to-back 180s in a 4-2 semi-final win over over Colin Hendry, of Ferrybridge, who had a 19-dart leg in reply.
In the quarter-finals, Smith (106 finish for 12, 14, 19) beat Steve Atkin (21) 3-1, while Trevor Holtby included two maximums in legs of 16 and 21 darts but lost 3-2 to Matt Padgett.
Smith beat Dave Blenkarne 3-2 in the last 16.
The event was backed by Streamline Taxis, The Pit Stop Sandwich & Snack Bar and York Print.
For the latest rankings in the York Open, click here
Time to dig deep
15th April 2012
The pressure of qualifying for the UK Open rose another notch this weekend. The Rhino found himself unlucky to get two preliminary draws in the back to back Pro Tour events on the PDC circuit at Barnsley. Saturday, Dave lost a close game to “Frosty the throwman”, Mark Frost and Sunday saw the same outcome against an in-form Darren Webster. This had been preceded by a narrow 6-5 loss in the European Tour qualifiers on Friday night also. But all is not lost, as there are still two more UK Open qualifiers to come before the finals on Sky Sports in early June for Dave to add to his £200 ranking money. It is expected that £600 will be the cut off point.
Hometown Heartache
26th March 2012
Dave's struggle for results was not helped by a couple of tough draws in this weekend's UK Open qualifiers. Losses against Alan Tabern and Peter Hudson meant The Rhino stays on £200 in his UK open qualifying campaign. But with 4 events to go and an estimated £600 needed to make the Bolton finals, its all to play for! Come on the Rhino!
Tough Tungsten
11th March 2012
It was a tough slog this weekend for the Rhino on the pro tour in Reading. Grand Slam qualifier Ian "Diamond" White put in a Grand slam performance to disapoint Dave in a 1-6 game on Saturday. Sunday saw Smith edged out in a decider against the premier league's Kevin Painter 6-5.
Ready to lock horns!!
6th March 2012
After a short break in the calendar, its time to get back to business on the pro tour! This weekend sees a PDC double header in Reading and the Rhino is ready to rock! A field full of major winners and world champions awaits - including Taylor, Barney, Lewis and Anderson. Best of luck to Dave!
Co Kung-fu'd in Crawley!!
13th February 2012
It was the first of 8 qualifying rounds for the UK open this weekend. Dave did not make the best start to his Bolton campaign though, with a 6-3 loss to Peter Hudson on the Saturday. Sunday saw a much improved set of results though, with a win against Reece Robinson in the prelim round closely followed by a terrific 6-1 win against Co Stompe, "The Matchstick man" in the first round. Round three saw recent world finalist Andy Hamilton prove too strong for the Rhino though.
£600 is the estimated amount required to make the UK open final stages and the £200 won on weekend one puts the Rhino on the right track!
3 times world champ finalist bounced out in Benidorm!!
30th February 2012
This weekend saw the commencement of the PDC pro tour 2012.
And following Dave's success at Q-School he struck early success on Saturday by putting out major champion Peter Manley in a dominant 6-2 win!!! But Magnus Caris ended the Rhinos run a round later. Sunday saw Dave out in controversial circumstances as 3 different markers were required to score his 1-6 game against Mansell.
Tour Card snared on day four!!
22nd January 2012
Today was the last chance for the huge field at the Q-school to achieve a tour card for the 2012 PDC Pro Tour.
The Rhino had been consistent over the last 3 days but without knowing how many points would be enough, a good run today was crucial!
And Dave did not disappoint! He dropped just 5 legs in 3 games to make sure of at least three points for the order of merit. But it wasn't to stop there, a tense decider in the last 32 and another win in the last 16 meant Dave was on the cusp of an automatic tour card through the last four. He quickly sealed the final win 6-2 to be one of the 16 out of the 213 with the elite achievement of winning their tour card outright.
Dave Said "I've been privileged to play in the top TV events since I came through in 2002, when I qualified for the World Grand Prix, but that mean nothing here at Q School.
"It was so hard but I know I've got the game to do this, and I want to have a big year now."
The first PDC pro tour event is on the 28th January in Benidorm!
Tour Card snared on day four!!
22nd January 2012
Today was the last chance for the huge field at the Q-school to achieve a tour card for the 2012 PDC Pro Tour.
The Rhino had been consistent over the last 3 days but without knowing how many points would be enough, a good run today was crucial!
And Dave did not disappoint! He dropped just 5 legs in 3 games to make sure of at least three points for the order of merit. But it wasn't to stop there, a tense decider in the last 32 and another win in the last 16 meant Dave was on the cusp of an automatic tour card through the last four. He quickly sealed the final win 6-2 to be one of the 16 out of the 213 with the elite achievement of winning their tour card outright.
"It was so hard but I know I've got the game to do this, and I want to have a big year now."
The first PDC pro tour event is on the 28th January in Benidorm!
Q-School day three!
21st January 2012
Another day at the qualifying school saw a familar path taken for the Rhino on his trail.
Aaron Turner was the first task for Dave, but he was up to it with a 6-4 victory. In round two it was the inexperienced Hans Hagley. Hans struggled to take a foothold in the game and Smith roared out 6-0.
It was Matt Clark who put paid to the Rhino charge today though, with a 6-3 win.
Dave sits just beneath the automatic qualifying spots going into day four on six points. If he can finish in the last four tomorrow or break into the top 24 in the rankings he will earn a full tour card.
Fingers crossed!
20th January 2012
The second day at Q-school saw a similar story to Thursday for Dave.
A good start against Danny Dyer (no! Not that one!) in round one with a 6-2 win and it was Joey Palfreyman in the last 128.
A 6-4 win meant it was another 2 ranking points earned at least for reaching the L64.
But it was to be more third round frustration as he was edged out 6-4 by Jim Walker.
Dave still has two more chances to either secure an automatic place with a run to the semi finals, or add to his Q-school order of merit ranking points and finish top 24.
19th January 2012
Day one at Q-school saw mixed fortunes for the Rhino.
A solid start against son of Rod Harrington, Ryan, saw the Rhino up against Ian Lever.
Lever was no match for Dave in this one though and a 6-1 win romped the Rhino through to the ranking rounds.
However a tough draw against World Masters Finalist Stuart Kellet saw todays run come to an end.
Dave will be hoping for a better run on day two!
18th January 2012
After a well earned christmas break, its time to get back to business for 2012.
This starts in the PDC's "Q-School" in which over 200 players vie for 40 tour cards on the 2012 PDC pro tour.
Q-school starts on Thursday 19th January and runs until 22nd January. The last 4 in each daily knockout competition earn a tour card. In addition to these 16 places, the top 24 in the final order of merit also get a two year card.
Check back over the course of Q-school for updates!
BDP Finals !
23rd December 2011
Dave played in the Bradford Dart Promotions finals! Read how he got on here!
27th November 2011
It was a bit closer to home this weekend for Dave as Wigan was the venue for the PDC weekend. And the short journey helped out as Dave scored a terrific 6-5 win over multi-major finalist and premier league regular Terry "The Bull" Jenkins! It was so close in round two as Dave played his good friend Joe Cullen. Cullen nicked the decider.
On Sunday Dave made sure of more ranking money with a win over Andy Pearce in round one but the course of the friend draw was still there in round two as he found himself up against buddy Wes Newton. Wes was on fire and too hot for the Rhino today!
But tomorrow is the big one! As the World Championship qualifiers arrive! With two spots available, can Dave seal a spot at Ally Pally?
Click here to see the list of entrants.
Click here to see Daves results page
Cruel Crawley !
The PDC juggernaut chugged into Crawley this weekend for another leg of the 2011 Calender.
The weekend started with the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts qualifiers, with a whopping 256 entrants. The Rhino was drawn against Darren Williams in round one and made short work of getting through the first test with a solid 4-2 win. In round two, it was a similar story as the Rhino smashed through to the Last 64 with another 4-2 win this time against Robbie King. But that was the end of the campaign as the Pie-Man Andy Smith played some awesome darts to oust the Rhino 4-1.
See Daves results and ranking here
Benidorm Bonanza !
The Pro tour weekends keep coming thick and fast! And another venture into Europe saw the Rhino roll into Spain for a good ol' British style-Benidorm weekender!
But business before pleasure, and Saturday saw a terrific result for the Rhino against world quarter finalist and 3x pro tour winner Barrie Bates. A 6-4 win in round one was followed by a tough game against in-form Vincent van-der Voort, with the dutchman coming out winner!
Sadly there was no adding to the ranking money in Sunday's Spanish Darts Trophy. U21 world champion Aaron Monk edged out Dave in a close R1 battle. Click here to read the Rhino's write up!
Luck 'n' Heck in Gladbeck !
Dave was darting in Germany this weekend as the PDC bandwagon rolled into Europe for a stop in Gladbeck stop.
Saturday saw the Rhino make sure he added to his ranking money with a 6-2 win in round 1. But was unfortunate enough to run into eventual tournament winner and PDC heavyweight James Wade in Round 2!
Sunday saw Dave once again charge Horn-first into the prize and ranking money stages with a solid 6-2 win! But a bang in form Michael van Gerwen was unstoppable in round 2!!
Click here for Dave's results in full!
Mixed Irish Luck!
The Rhino took off to Killarney this weekend for more PDC action. In saturday's open event, Dave had a terrific run to the last 32. This included back to back whitewashes to start, and a 4-1 win over World Championship Finalist and Premier League Champion Gary Anderson.
Sunday was less productive, with the Rhino falling to Brian Woods in the Players Championship event at the Gleneagles Hotel. Click here to read Dave's write up of the weekend!
Up the rankings!
Dave's consistency at getting involved in the ranking money continued this weekend. Wins over major finalist Wayne Mardle and Gary Welding ensured Dave climbed 2 places to 90th in the World Rankings! You can read all about Dave's weekend here.
Talking Dutch!
Dave's Blog on the weekends action in Holland is now online! Click here to read!
More nibbling in Nuland!
Sunday's Pro Tour event in Holland saw Dave add more money to his ranking in the order of merit. The draws in round two don't get any easier for the Rhino, though! Dave met former world champion Richie Burnett, who is announcing his dramatic return to big time darts. After defeating The Rhino, Burnett went on to win the entire event.
Dutch Bombing!
Day 2 in Derby, and back to winning ways!
Sunday saw Dave beat "The Rockstar" Joe Cullen 6-3 in round one to get himself some well earned ranking cash for the PDC OOM. In round two of the fierce PDC tour, Dave played seasoned pro Co Stompe and despite a spirited last few legs, the Rhino was unable to recover from a scrappy start in a fairly low key encounter.
Back on the PDC Tour!
Open Glory for the Rhino!
Busy Busy Busy!
Upcoming Tournament!
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Saturday 27th August 2011.
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Holland Heartache!
A pair of tough draws saw Dave have a weekend to forget in this weekends pro tour in the PDC. After being draw against former world champion Jelle Klaasen on Saturday in R1 and being edged out 6-3, he found himself up against 3 time world finalist and LVDC champ Peter “one dart” Manley at the same stage on Sunday and the veteran had too much for the Rhino this time. Daves full results page is here!
Jackpot for the Rhino!!!
12th June 2011
In his latest Pro Tour outing, Dave has toppled current World champion Adrian Lewis in Round 2 of the Players Championship event at Barnsley. After defeating Andy Hutchings in Round 1, the Rhino stood unfazed and took out “Jackpot” in the deciding leg for a memorable 6-5 victory. Dave ran out of steam in R3, however, succumbing to Matt clark 4-6. Results page here.
