MERSEYSIDER Alan Tabern bowed out in the quarter-finals of the Blue Square UK Open at the Reebok Stadium.
The world number 11 from St Helens advanced to the last eight in the ‘FA Cup of Darts’ after wins over Denis Ovens (9-3), Kevin McDine (9-7) and Wes Newton (9-8).
The victory over Newton was a thriller with Tabern sealing his progress with a sensational 156 checkout.
However, Tabern’s hopes of glory were then dashed by Kevin Painter. Tabern, who banked £6,000, led 3-1 but Painter fought back to secure a 10-8 win.
Fellow St Helens thrower Gary Welding took home £2,000 after battling his way through three rounds defeating John Kuczynski, John MaGowan and Steve Hine before losing out to ‘Rocket’ Ronnie Baxter 9-1.
Liverpool’s Derek Williams was one of 31 amateur Holsten qualifiers involved but he lost 6-1 in the first round to Roland Scholten.
St Helens’ Michael Smith lost 6-5 to Dave Ladley and Anastasia Dobromyslova from Ellesmere Port also bowed out in the first round as she lost 6-2 to Andy Roberts.
Stuart Bousfield from Runcorn beat Matthew Campbell 6-1 before suffering a 6-4 defeat to Jason Clark.
