A Look Back In Time - 1st August 2009
So successful was the first sportdale.com darts competition that the second has already been arranged. The next knockout, to be known as the “Sportdale Christmas Darts Open” and will be staged at The Festival Inn, Ilkeston Road, Trowell, Nottinghamshire, NG9 3PX on Sunday 13th December. The competition is not restricted to members of sportdale.com but open to anyone with maximum entries being 256.
Players can pre enter to guarantee their place as no entries can be guaranteed on the day.
Cost of entry to the men’s competition is £10, but on the day £12. There will be guaranteed first prize of £1,000 with the runner up receiving £400. Prize money will be paid out to the last sixteen, losing semi finalists collecting £125, quarter finalists £50 and last sixteen players £25. Playing format will be all rounds to the semi finals the best of five legs, semi finals the best of seven and the final the best of nine.
Cost for entry to the ladies knockout will be £5 and £6 on the day. There will be a top prize of £100 with the runner up receiving £50. All rounds to the final will be the best of five legs and the best of seven in the final.
All cheques should be made payable and forwarded to Mr Dale Cooper, 15 Rosewood Crescent, Heanor, Derbyshire, DE75 7HX. For any more information just click on www.sportdale.com
The Olton Double Top League have secured a lucrative sponsorship deal with Carlsberg and the league will now be known as the Carlsberg Olton Double Top League. The new season got underway in June and after the opening six games Bob Nixon is leading the field with a total of seventeen points having won all six of his games and only dropping one leg in the process.
At this early point in the season Nixon’s nearest rivals are Phil and Tony Randell who both are level on fifteen points and have exactly the same average. In the latest games as we go to print a maximum and a 12 darts leg was not enough for Jim Norris to beat fourth in the table Andy Hutchings. Hutchings, who also hit a 180 ran out the 2-1 victor and is now just four points adrift of leader Bob Nixon. Nixon marched on with two 3-0 wins against Steve Harding and Paul Higgins.
Wayne Mathews has taken over the number five spot after a 3-0 win against Ralph Nunn and a 2-1 success over Karl Attwood to give him 13 points. However a 3-0 win in his game in hand would see him move to within one point of Bob Nixon and take over second place.
Sad to report the death of Beryl Johnson at the age of 70 years. Way back in 1980 Beryl was one of the instigators of the current Warwickshire Ladies Super League and from being the original secretary later became the league’s chairwoman, she will be sorely missed by all who knew her.
The Forest of Arden Winter League had cup finals on their fixture card. First the Consolation Cup in which Old Bill and Bull were the sharper on their finishing doubles and were crowned champions after their 8-1 win over Sheldon Heath Social Flights.
Again it was sharper finishing that proved to be the winner for Olton Legion as they beat Sheldon Arrows 8-1 in the final of the Presidents Cup.
The Pip Club League have been engaged in their divisional singles knockouts. Globe’s Phil Turner retained the title with a final win over Sport Bar’s C.Wright, while the division two title went to A.South from the Bulls Head. M.Dolman (Queens Head) was runner up.
In the league’s Charity Shadow Knockout Wiggy 180 won the first division and Gate Inn took the second division’s title.
The Small Heath League have played off their Doubles Knockout and taking the honours were Emerald Club pairing Neil Parsonage and Raymond Fisher. The winning duo fought off opposition from Paul Brown and Darren Brown (Custard House) in the final to lift the title.
Losing semi finalists were, Arthur Forde and John McCaffrey (Potcheen Still) and Glynn Thomas and Rob Cornish (Custard House).
Twenty nine fixtures completed and Carl Winters continues to hold on to pole position in the Brook Meadow Individual League despite suffering a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Terry Clay who was lying fifteenth in the table in his latest fixture. Winters was quick to bounce back as in his next game he recorded a straight 3-0 victory over Wayne Legg. The damage was limited for Winters as second placed Darren Whitehouse also lost by 2-1 to Jay Murray.
Third in the table Ian McFarlane is now 15 points behind Winters, however he has three games in hand and straight wins in those games will take him level on both points and average with the leader.
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