Ben Robb further strengthened his lead on the DPNZ Tour last weekend during the third playing weekend of the season in Nelson. The New Zealander once again showed he is in excellent form by reaching two finals, convincingly winning one of them. That brings his tally for this season to three tournament victories, having already triumphed twice earlier.
On Saturday, Robb started strongly at the fifth event of the year by going unbeaten through the group stage. In the knockout phase, he had to dig deep to keep his winning run going. In the last 16 he edged past Frank Bush 4-3 in a thriller, averaging around 100. In the semi-final against Darren Herewini, Robb was again on the brink of elimination, but he survived a match dart and still came out on top. In the final he faced the surprise package Jordan Bennett-Davies, who had earlier knocked out Kayden Milne among others. While a tight finale had been expected, Robb proved a class apart. With a fine 101 checkout and several strong legs in 14 to 17 darts, he quickly pulled away and sealed the title convincingly 7-1.
A day later, Robb looked on course for a weekend double for a long time. Again he was flawless in the group stage and showed resilience in the knockouts. Against Darren Herewini he battled back from 3-1 down and again survived match darts before winning 4-3. He then had few issues en route to the final, including a dominant 6-0 win over Haupai Puha in the semi-finals. In the final, however, a tough opponent awaited in Jonny Tata, who competed at the recent PDC World Championship. Early on, both players were evenly matched, but with Robb 3-2 ahead, the match turned. Tata produced impressive 117 and 124 checkouts to move 5-3 in front. Although Robb broke back, he could not hold his own leg. With strong 70 and 108 checkouts, Tata closed it out 7-4 to claim his first title of the season.
Despite the lost final, Robb can look back on an extremely successful weekend. With his consistent displays and third tournament win of the year, he remains the man to beat on the DPNZ Tour for now. The DPNZ Tour standings show Robb leading with 4200 points, followed by Kayden Milne (2750), Jonny Tata (2600), Haupai Puha (1650), Mark Cleaver (1550), Craig Pullen (1100), Jack Sheppard (1100), and Darren Herewini (1050).
