PDC Home Tour: Glen Durrant takes top spot in Group 19

"I've thoroughly enjoyed it, I've had a good time tonight as online darts hasn't quite been for me over the past week," says Durrant

By Paul Prenderville, Comment & Analysis @paulprenders

Glen Durrant recorded three victories as he claimed top honours in Tuesday night's PDC Home Tour

Despite admitting to a "rubbish" online game, Glen Durrant lived up to his billing as Premier League leader and three-time BDO world champion to claim the PDC Home Tour honours on Tuesday.

Duzza got the better of good friend Justin Pipe in a riotous fourth game of the night, where the pair traded good-natured verbal jousting as well as clutch finishing, before wrapping up a 100% record with a win over Maik Kuivenhoven.

Tuesday Group 19 standings

Pts Legs +/-

(1) Glen Durrant

6 +8

(2) Justin Pipe

4 +5

(3) Maik Kuivenhoven

2 -2

(4) Vincent Van der Meer

0 -11

"I have been pretty rubbish online, but I am hoping it will be alright on the night," Durrant kicked off the evening by telling host Dan Dawson.

He lived up to the latter, proving to be more than alright with three victories to storm into the second phase and avoid the same fate that has befallen Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith and James Wade.

All four have been among the big names to crash out but Durrant dropped just seven legs to claim the honours and top spot.

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PDC Home Tour - Tuesday's fixtures (Group 19)

Glen Durrant 5-1 Vincent van der Meer
Justin Pipe 5-1 Maik Kuivenhoven
Vincent van der Meer 1-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Glen Durrant 5-3 Justin Pipe
Justin Pipe 5-2 Vincent van der Meer
Maik Kuivenhoven 3-5 Glen Durrant

It was very much a case of friends reunited on Day 19 on the PDC's darting from home extravaganza as Durrant and Pipe, who practice together, were joined in the group by Dutch duo Kuivenhoven and Vincent Van der Meer who are also practice partners and travel together on the circuit.

Durrant and Pipe won the opening two matches, both with a 5-1 scoreline, with Durrant's victory over Van der Meer seeing him average more than 100 in the process. Kuivenhoven rekindled his hopes of progress by rebounding from a four-leg defeat to Pipe to win by the same margin against his countryman.

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The pivotal match was the contest between the two Englishmen, where Durrant's 164 for a 3-1 lead was pivotal and came just moments after Pipe had missed a dart at bullseye for a 127 finish. Splitting the next four legs ensured Duzza was in pole position to qualify thanks to a 5-3 win that was sealed with a 97 check-out and matchwinning interview with his Middlesbrough gnome.

Pipe's 5-2 win over Van der Meer meant that going into the final game between Kuivenhoven and Durrant, only Pipe and Duzza could go through - Kuivenhoven's leg difference and defeat to Pipe meant even a 5-0 win would not be enough.

A win would see Durrant progress with a perfect record, while a Kuivenhoven victory by 5-3 or better would be enough for Pipe - however, when Duzza edged into a 4-3 lead, that was enough to put him through and he went on to seal the success.

"You are always the best player in your own bedroom, so we will see," Duzza had said earlier in the night.

And while it wasn't his bedroom - it was a darts room converted from his daughter's old bedroom - Duzza proved good value on the oche as well as off it on an entertaining evening.

PDC Home Tour - latest confirmed groups

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Joe Cullen Rob Cross Ian White Kyle Anderson Krzysztof Ratajski
Jermaine Wattimena William Borland Jesus Noguera Daniel Larsson Toni Alcinas
Ryan Murray Dimitri Van den Bergh Danny Noppert Martin Schindler Jamie Hughes
John Michael Karel Sedlacek James Wilson Dirk van Duijvenbode Darius Labanauskas

PDC Home Tour - The Winners

Group One - Jamie Lewis Group Nine - Martijn Kleermaker Group 17 - Damon Heta
Group Two - Luke Woodhouse Group Ten - Nathan Aspinall Group 18 - Stephen Bunting
Group Three - Dave Chisnall Group 11 - Alan Tabern Group 19 - Glen Durrant
Group Four - Geert Nentjes Group 12 - Max Hopp
Group Five - Nick Kenny Group 13 - Carl Wilkinson
Group Six - Ryan Searle Group 14 - Chris Dobey
Group Seven - Jelle Klaasen Group 15 - Darren Webster
Group Eight - Jonny Clayton Group 16 - Jeff Smith

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