2018 UKPT Event 4 - Daventry
The 2018 season has only two events remaining and those looking to make the Premier League places for 2019 need to ensure they put in a shift at the fourth event of the season in order to keep racking up the points! There are three notable Premier League players on the fringes of the required ranking, namely Tom Cousins, Adam Davis and Giuseppe D’Imperio. These are three of the games top players and it would surely be a huge disappointment for them to miss out on what has become a regular feature for them. The fourth event provides an opportunity for them to kick on in the rankings but there will be plenty of other top players around them who will be vying for their first taste of the Premier League such as tour 1 finalist David Stock, tour 3 finalist Sam Bircher and the up and coming Shaun Storry to name but a few. Top 10 in the final rankings cements your place for next year and a good run at tour 4 could easily boost those a little further off the pace into contention such as current Premier League player Matt Brierley, Ireland’s Dylan Leary or England’s Shane Thompson who are all still in with a shout.
Karl Sutton will no doubt be looking to follow up his last tour double success with another good run here and as fate would have it he has drawn the same first round opponent as he had at tour 3, Oldham’s John Maugham. Maugham is a very capable player who got few chances in the last match but will be looking to set the record straight this time around. The draw will be available online shortly but a few first round matches to look out for are Gurvinder Gill vs Eddie Barker, both players had a good run in the Worlds with Gill making the last 16 and Barker losing out to Hill in the semis. Rob Wharne vs Gaz Royds is sure to be a tough battle with both being seasoned players and Pat Ward vs Shane Thompson sees a current Premier League player taking on last year’s Premier League.
The Ladies Premier League sees a top of the table clash with this years World Championship finalist Sharon James taking on current Premier League Champion Amy Beauchamp. Should James take the win then she will surely be on course to take the title as well, but should Beauchamp triumph then the league is wide open and that makes for a very interesting game.
As always, the tour is open for all to come and watch and play starts at 1pm on Friday 31st August at the Mercure Daventry Court Hotel. Streaming will begin at 9am on Saturday 1st September and the link will be available on this site and Facebook.