PHIL TAYLOR opens his challenge for a third successive PartyPoker.net European Championship title on Thursday, when he takes on Co Stompe as the £200,000 tournament begins in Dinslaken, Germany.
MATCHROOM SPORT can announce that tickets to the 2010 PartyCasino.com Mosconi Cup are now on sale from www.seetickets.com, one of the UK's major online ticketing agencies.
Tony Bloom reached his third Poker Million final after a stunning performance saw him overcome WSOP legend Erik Seidel heads-up in heat three to reach December's live Sky Sports final.
PHIL TAYLOR claimed his 11th StanJames.com World Matchplay title with an 18-12 win over Raymond van Barneveld at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on Sunday night.
THE Totesport.com Fish'O'Mania Champion of Champions features the 16 men who have won the main Fish'O'Mania competition.
FORMER PGA EuroPro Tour star Louis Oosthuizen is one round away from winning one of the biggest events in golf - The Open Championship.
RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD produced another piece of history with a sensational nine-darter at the StanJames.com World Matchplay on Saturday night.
NEIL McKinnon has won the Totesport.com Fish'O'Mania XVII in the most dramatic style.
Swain first through to Fish'O'Mania final
DAVE Swain has become the first angler to qualify for the 2008 PartyPoker.com Fish'O'Mania final as he won at Viaduct Fishery last weekend.
Swain, from Stockport,
led a two-horse race for the winning ticket as he and Dwayne Seed from Eastleigh battled both the wind and themselves to book a place in the final.
The PartyPoker.com Fish'O'Mania, now its 15th year, is promoted by Matchroom Sport with 16 heats of 130 anglers and each winner advances to the grand final at Cudmore Fisheries, Whitmore near Newcastle-under-Lyme on Saturday, July 19.
Once again, the final will be televised live in its five-hour entirety on Sky Sports with the eventual winner receiving £25,000. All qualifying events are covered by Sky Sports to be broadcast on their weekly magazine show 'Tight Lines, every Friday.
Swain,
an airline engineer who fishes for Mosella Garbolino, has now qualified for the final four times. As well as fishing the final of Fish'O'Mania, he has also qualified for the final of Kamasan and last year he got through to the Drennan Super Cup final.
The eventual winner had been practising the day before and managed to pull out over 200lbs of fish, so he knew there were some big weights to be caught. On the day, he was fishing on the bomb with 8mm pellets at 35 yards, and ended the day with a winning weight of 124lbs 13ozs.
The key to Dave’s success was consistent catching as he bagged up an average of three fish an hour. He caught 14 carp, with his largest fish being a 12lb specimen, although it was the smaller fish and some extra tench and skimmers that gave him that bit extra to take him clear of Dwayne in second place.
Swain said: "I hadn’t fished Viaduct before, however following a good practice session the day before I knew that there were some good weights to be achieved on the day.
"I was lucky on the day with the draw pulling out a good peg and fished it well so am delighted to be heading to Browning in July. Coming from Stockport, Browning is near enough my local venue and I spend almost every weekend fishing there. I really can't wait for the final and am really excited about it."
Second placed angler Dwayne Seed from Ford in Eastleigh, pushed Swain all the way although he will be kicking himself for losing 12 fish, which would have made it very close at the end of the match and possibly taken him to the winning post first. Dwayne still did well though catching carp up to 7lbs on the pole, giving a final weight of 121lbs.
Craig Gilroy came a distant third with 100lbs 14ozs and Andrew Lloyd of Frome was in fourth with 86lbs 12ozs. Tony Gilbert from Melksham took the fifth spot with 86lbs 6ozs and well known angler Alex Bones finished in sixth with 86lbs 1oz.
Date posted: April 8, 2008.
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