Southend dart thrower Steve Maish suffered mixed fortunes as he competed in the UK Open in Bolton -- but he is anxious to get back for a taste of some more.
Maish, 39, thrashed Vic Hubbard 5-0 in his opening game before crashing out to Steve Beaton in round three.
Get on board - Steve Maish is keen to get back into action Picture: MAXINE CLARKE
"Putting the tournament over two days really did for me," he admitted. "If they had carried on that Friday night I would have got a lot further than I did.
"But there was a break and on the Saturday I had to start again. It was tough to get the momentum going again."
Beaton ran out a 5-0 winner on Saturday as everything went wrong for Maish against the world number 16.
"I was absolutely awful," he said. "I gave him far too much respect and I should have gone out and played my natural game."
But playing at an event like this has whetted Maish's appetite for another crack at the big time. With the world's top players in town, competing in front of the Sky TV cameras, the UK Open is one of the major events in the darts world.
And it holds no fears for a man who lists current world number two John Part among his recent victims.
"I know I can mix it with them," he said. "It's just getting that bit of luck and really making an impression at one of these events."
The next chance for that comes in just two weeks when the qualifiers for the World Matchplay tournament will begin.
Published Tuesday, June 3, 2003
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