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John Henderson believes that he has got the game to do well at the Speedy Services UK Open, but insists that he won’t be taking anything for granted in Bolton on Thursday.

Photo: Lawrence Lustig/PDC

‘Highlander’, who faces Riley’s qualifier Lee Bryant in the preliminary round, is pleased with the way he is playing going into to his first televised tournament of 2012.

He said: “My preparations are going quite well. I’m practising a lot more at the moment. I struggled a little bit at the beginning of the year with a couple of injuries.

“I had a good weekend in Crawley at the last Pro-Tour events. I had two good wins against Simon Whitlock and Gino Vos and gave Mervyn King a great game so my confidence is up just at the right time.”

Henderson must win three games on Thursday, including a potential second round tie against Colin Osborne, to go into the draw for Friday, when the top 32 qualifiers join the competition.

“It doesn’t really matter who I play, getting to the Friday would be an achievement for me,” added Henderson.

“I know I’m capable of beating anyone on my day, so hopefully I can win three tough games on Thursday and take it from there.

“I won’t be taking anything or anyone for granted because a lot of the qualifiers will be very good players. I’ll just go out there and do my best and hopefully it’s good enough.”

By Chris Murphy

Adam Smith-Neale and Chris Aubrey both claimed their first PDC Unicorn Youth Tour victories on Saturday, as they both triumphed in Germany.

The MODUS pair won an event each at the Ramada Hotel in Cologne.

Smith-Neale took the glory in the first event of the day, beating Josh Payne 4-2 in the final to seal the £500 first prize.

He also defeated Brandonn Monk, Jamie Lewis, Michael Smith, Wouter Vaes and Ryan de Vreede on the way to claiming his maiden Youth Tour victory.

Aubrey won the second event by beating John de Kruijf, Keegan Brown, Oliver Stell and Ben Songhurst, before seeing off Lewis with a 4-3 win in the final.

Arron Monk remains top of the order of merit after reaching the final on Sunday, where he was defeated by Lewis.

The next PDC Unicorn Youth Tour weekend will be held on July 14-15 at the Barnsley Metrodome.

By Chris Murphy

Generous darts fans turned out in force to for a special fundraising night on Friday, as nine of the world’s best players put on a show in aid of Bradbury Enhanced Care Service.

Over 250 people attended the sell-out Untouchables event at Roffey Social and Sports Club in Horsham for an enjoyable evening of fun and top quality darts, which raised an incredible £8582 for a wonderful cause.

Premier League stars James Wade, Simon Whitlock and Raymond van Barneveld were joined by Mark Webster, Paul Nicholson, Vincent van der Voort, Co Stompe, Michael van Gerwen and Terry Jenkins, who shaved off his moustache for the first time in 33 years.

Photo: Craig Lace Photography Ltd

That momentous occasion proved to be particularly popular, raising a huge chunk of the money thanks to the combined kindness of fans, players and the event’s sponsors Unicorn.

The opportunity to give Jenkins the new look was auctioned off, and there was no shortage of offers, with members of the crowd eventually being outbid by a collective effort from the players, who nominated Wade to carry out the act. ‘The Machine’ produced typical precision and razor-sharp finishing to get the job done.

Unicorn bosses Edward and Richard Lowy then kindly pledged to match the winning bid, meaning Jenkins’ moustache was worth well over £1000.

“We were only too pleased to donate for such a worthy cause,” said Richard Lowy. “There is something about darts that you just wouldn’t get in a lot of other sports. The players are in touch with reality and the fans can connect with them.

“That was shown by the tremendous gesture of them putting on a show like this, especially Terry for what he did. It shows the respect they have for the cause, and everyone involved knows how much it meant and how privileged we are to lead the lives we do.”

All of the money raised through the event went to Bradbury Enhanced Care Service, which provides crucial support for young adults with complex health needs, physical disabilities and life limiting conditions.

Some of the staff and residents of the unit attended the event, which was brilliantly hosted by ‘Little’ Richard Ashdown.

Donations are still open via Terry Jenkins just giving page http://www.justgiving.com/Bradbury-Enhanced-Care-Service

All at MODUS would like to extend a massive thank you to Carlsberg, Unicorn, all of the players and most importantly everyone that attended on a special night and helped support a truly worthy cause.

By Chris Murphy

Photo: Craig Lace Photography Ltd

Witness the historic moment when James Wade shaved off Terry Jenkins moustache here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhH2VKKjX0I&list=UURvCwDp_1DwOlOpnlJf9iYw&index=1&feature=plcp