UPTON’S Andy Pullen qualified for the Coral UK Open darts finals in Minehead after coming through the final Rileys amateur qualifier in Wolverhampton, writes Josh Green.

Pullen made light work of the opening rounds, recording three routine victories to reach the quarter-finals.

He was pushed all the way by Shaun Carroll, needing a last-leg decider to progress to the board final.

A 4-0 whitewash victory over Chris Millward set up a tie with Brendan Lysaght to decide who would go to Minehead.

Lysaght raced into a 3-0 lead, scoring heavily and putting Pullen under immediate pressure.

Pullen took out double nine to reduce the deficit and by finding his form on double eight drew level.

A timely 135 from Lysaght helped him regain the lead and put him on the verge of glory but Pullen hauled himself back into contention with a spectacular 108 check-out.

A consistent deciding leg from The Demon was all that was needed to seal his place on the Professional Darts Corporation’s big stage.

Four treble visits left him three shots at double 17 to record an emotional victory.

Pullen said: “I went 3-0 down in the final but always knew I had the game to come back.

“I’m really looking forward to Minehead. I’ve got three darts, the same as everyone else so you can’t count me out. I lost my dad recently and that really spurred me on. I think he might have blown that last dart in.

“The Rileys qualifiers are so important to darts. This is your way of getting to play the pros up on the big stage. If it weren’t for Riley’s I don’t know what you’d do. I definitely wouldn’t be here, that’s for sure.”

Pullen will now face Mark Rice in round one in Somerset with the big names joining afterwards.

The competition will begin on March 2 and conclude two days later with the final.