Maximum Darts July Round-up
July turned out to be one of the busiest months for Maximum Darts with four Worthington Champion of Champions qualifiers and some opens thrown in for good measure to keep our regular fan base busy and giving them plenty of options of tournaments to attend, we also had our first ever Tony Kierman and Brian Pope Memorial Day which proved a great success and a new youth player signing for Maximum Darts as well as the announcement of the first Maximum Darts Exhibition at Friction 4.
Maximum Darts kicked off the month with The Sutton Bridge Open held at The Anchor Inn. There was £250 up for grabs for the winner and to add to the occasion there was a Consolation Carvery Competition for any player losing in the preliminary or first round having the chance to win a £50 Carvery Voucher.
38 Players entered the tournament travelling from all over East Anglia to attend. Some star names were also on the list with last years Grand Slam of Darts qualifier Nathan Derry, Bury Open winner Tony Lincoln and former PDC Tour Card holder Jason Lovett in attendance.
It was Jason who was the first casualty of the Sutton Bridge Open going out at the hands of Andy Neve in the preliminary round proving that this was not going to be easy for any of the established names. Barry Bell hit six perfect darts in his first round game to tease everyone with the possibility of providing Maximum Darts there first nine darter. Veteran player Tom Pegg proved a man on form in this tournament and proved too much for Nathan Derry in the semi final to set up a final against Ian Withers who had beaten Andy Hircock in a tight semi final. Tom ran out of steam in the final though and lost 6-0 to Withers who claimed his first Maximum Darts Open of the season, but a brilliant day for Tom Pegg who was without doubt the player of the day.
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Carvery Comp Finalists Lewis Winter and Andy Neve[/caption]
In the Carvery Competition Andy Neve beat Jason for the second time in one day on route to the final where he came up against youngster Lewis Winter and Lewis proved to good for Andy and duly won the £50 Carvery Voucher.
In the youth competition local lad Bernard Hannant pulled out some good performances to make his first Darts Idol Final where he faced former finalist Ashleigh Morton, Ashleigh’s experience of previous finals counted in this game and he claimed his first darts idol event win.
July 15th see Maximum Darts move their roadshow to the United Services Club in March, Cambridgeshire. This was to be the venue for a Champion of Champions qualifier followed by The Tony Kierman County Cup Memorial and The Brian Pope Memorial Shield.
This charity day was kicked off with a Champion of Champions Qualifier which saw an amazing 42 players attend and some top names turned out for this one. Cambridgeshire County A player and former National Singles Champion Steve Carrett was the player that toughed it out in the qualifiers to book his place in Cardiff.
The Tony Kierman Memorial was another fiercely fought competition with one of the early casualties being county player Eddie Martin who had not brought his darts with him and had only popped out for a bit. Maximum Darts debutant Rick Bloy made impressive progress throughout the day and booked his place in the final with a win over Sutton Bridge Open Champion Ian Withers. Rick was to be joined in the final by another County A player Chris Sands Pearce. Chris proved to strong for Rick and became the first ever Maximum Darts Tony Kierman Memorial County Cup winner.
The Brian Pope Memorial Shield was played between the players who had lost in the preliminary or first rounds. Despite his first round exit and borrowing of Darts Eddie Martin made the final where he would play Adam Roper after Adam defeated Ben Groves in the semi final. Eddie’s quality and experience shone through as he became the first ever Brian Pope Memorial Shield Winner.
In the youth event Antony Richardson played Travis Stapleton in the final, this proved to be a close affair and Antony secured the win and took home the silverware.
In the blind pairs comp, taking home the winners trophies were Lewis Winter and Craig Venman who beat Anthony Webb and Adam Roper in the final.
A total of £373.50 was raised on the day and will be given to The Oncology Unit at Peterborough City Hospital.
July 22nd and the next Champion of Champions Qualifier was to take place in a new venue for Maximum Darts as we descended on to The Workers Club in Kings Lynn, a slightly lesser field of 18 players turned up for this event which was below what we were averaging but was still a quality field. Craig Venman and Ian Withers were to battle it out in the final where Craig Venman beat his County team mate to secure his place in Cardiff. This was followed by the first ever Maximum Darts Royal Rumble where Shaun Bitson had the longest run with 8 wins in succession but it was Chris Sands Pearce who would take the honours and taking the winners pot, this was not a bad format but needs a few tweaks, we will definitely try this again. Onto the blind pairs and this was won by Andy Hircock and James Cubitt beating Wayne Wall and Ady Johnson in the final.
July 23rd and Maximum Darts added another new venue to the list when Wisbech Town Football Club was the host for a Champion of Champions Qualifier and the Wisbech Town Football Club Open.
We kicked off with the Champion of Champions Qualifier and this was probably the toughest field we had seen so far. 43 entrants for this one and big games were to be seen in every section of the draw, a familiar pattern was to emerge when Darren Brown and Ian Withers met in the final, this final was the best we had seen so far as both players gave it their all to claim their place in Cardiff which was won by Ian Withers in his second successive final.
In the WTFC Open, Saturdays Champion of Champions Qualifier Craig Venman was an early casualty and found himself in the consolation competition. With both players getting through tough draws it was to be Darren Brown and Ian Withers to face off for the second time in one day, this time Darren Brown got revenge for the earlier defeat and added a second Maximum Darts title to his name following his victory in the Dereham Open earlier in the year.
In the consolation Competition, Craig Venman and James Bales made it to the final and it was James Bales who proved to have to much for Crag Venman on the day and he took the consolation prize.
In what must be one of the funniest blind pairs we have witnessed Ian Wither was to make his third final of the day when himself and youngster Billie-Joe Pearce made the final against Craig Venman and Ashleigh Morton. It was Craig and Ashleigh who were to be victorious in this contest which was played in good spirits.
[caption id="attachment_24955" align="aligncenter" width="225"]
Blind pairs finalists from L to R Craig Venman, Ashleigh Morton, Billie Pearce and Ian Withers[/caption]
Onto Maximum Darts final event of a hectic month with the last Champion of Champions qualifier and money comp held at The Railway Tavernin Dereham which is one of Maximum Darts original venues.
Being the last chance to qualify for the Champion of Champions we attracted 27 players for this event. Darren Brown was again on form and made it to his second successive Champion of Champions Qualifier final and he would face former finalist Chris Sands Pearce. Darren would taste defeat again in this final and Chris Sands Pearce secured his spot in Cardiff giving Maximum Darts a strong line up in the shape of Jason Lovett, Steve Carrett, Craig Venman, Ian Withers and Chris Sands Pearce.
We then moved into the money comp with 3 of the players Jason Lovett, Craig Venman and Ian Withers already qualified for champion of champions entered the comp including 2 youngsters Jasleigh and Billie Pearce. making it a field of 32 players.
Again the draw was littered with some great games and Andy Hircock was probably one of the biggest first round casualties losing out to Dave Wallace. In the Semi Finals Ian Withers beat Jason Lovett to secure another final and Darren Brown beat Craig Venman to set up another final with Withers. Darren Brown looked like he had secured another win when he was 4-2 up but Withers held his darts to come back to 4-3 and then against the darts he was on 96 after 9 darts and eventually broke to take the game into a decider with the scores at 4-4. Ian managed to hold his darts and secure the win getting revenge on Darren Brown for his defeat the week before, these two always produce some top quality finals and we look forward to the next time they meet.
In the consolation comp Shaun Futter and Andy Hircock played off in the final after defeating Jonny Pearce and Joe Main in the semis. Andy was to prove to strong for Shaun and won the consolation prize.
In the Blind Pairs Andy Hircock and Evan Wilson were to get the better of Dave Wallace and Maximum Darts player Travis Stapleton in the final.
In what has been a busy month for Maximum Darts there has been some high quality competitions with the standard raising all the time. August things settle down a little bit we have Two Masters event, as well as Friction 3 before it all goes mad in September with the Grand Slam of Darts 2 and Friction 4 where we will be graced with the presence of two professionals in Jamie ‘Jabba’ Caven and former World Finalist Andy ‘The Hammer’ Hamilton. Tickets are on sale now for this event.
Click here for full event details.
[caption id="attachment_24957" align="alignleft" width="225"]
Darren Brown (left) Maximum Darts Player of the Month for July[/caption]
All that is left is to announce a new little prize that we will do monthly with our player of the month competition. The prizes will vary on a monthly basis and is a bit of fun and gives players that little something extra to play for.
The first ever Maximum Darts Player of the Month for July goes to Darren Brown for his four successive finals and producing some quality darts. Well done Darren, you receive 2 tickets to Friction 4 and a chance to play one of the pros.
See you all at a competition very soon and Happy Darting to everyone.
UPCOMING EVENTS IN AUGUST
6th – Fenland and Norfolk Darts Masters event 6 – March United Services Club – 3pm
6th – Darts Idol Youth (u21) Darts Series event 6 – March United Services Club – 3pm
8th – Pub Players Championships event 4 – The Anchor, Sutton Bridge – 8pm
12th – Friction 3 – Local Player Exhibition – Con Club, Sutton Bridge – 7pm
27th – West End Cue Club Open – Cue Club, Costessey, Norwich – 2pm
29th – Pub Players Championship event 5 – The Anchor, Sutton Bridge – 8pm
Carvery Comp Finalists Lewis Winter and Andy Neve[/caption]
In the Carvery Competition Andy Neve beat Jason for the second time in one day on route to the final where he came up against youngster Lewis Winter and Lewis proved to good for Andy and duly won the £50 Carvery Voucher.
In the youth competition local lad Bernard Hannant pulled out some good performances to make his first Darts Idol Final where he faced former finalist Ashleigh Morton, Ashleigh’s experience of previous finals counted in this game and he claimed his first darts idol event win.
July 15th see Maximum Darts move their roadshow to the United Services Club in March, Cambridgeshire. This was to be the venue for a Champion of Champions qualifier followed by The Tony Kierman County Cup Memorial and The Brian Pope Memorial Shield.
This charity day was kicked off with a Champion of Champions Qualifier which saw an amazing 42 players attend and some top names turned out for this one. Cambridgeshire County A player and former National Singles Champion Steve Carrett was the player that toughed it out in the qualifiers to book his place in Cardiff.
The Tony Kierman Memorial was another fiercely fought competition with one of the early casualties being county player Eddie Martin who had not brought his darts with him and had only popped out for a bit. Maximum Darts debutant Rick Bloy made impressive progress throughout the day and booked his place in the final with a win over Sutton Bridge Open Champion Ian Withers. Rick was to be joined in the final by another County A player Chris Sands Pearce. Chris proved to strong for Rick and became the first ever Maximum Darts Tony Kierman Memorial County Cup winner.
The Brian Pope Memorial Shield was played between the players who had lost in the preliminary or first rounds. Despite his first round exit and borrowing of Darts Eddie Martin made the final where he would play Adam Roper after Adam defeated Ben Groves in the semi final. Eddie’s quality and experience shone through as he became the first ever Brian Pope Memorial Shield Winner.
In the youth event Antony Richardson played Travis Stapleton in the final, this proved to be a close affair and Antony secured the win and took home the silverware.
In the blind pairs comp, taking home the winners trophies were Lewis Winter and Craig Venman who beat Anthony Webb and Adam Roper in the final.
A total of £373.50 was raised on the day and will be given to The Oncology Unit at Peterborough City Hospital.
July 22nd and the next Champion of Champions Qualifier was to take place in a new venue for Maximum Darts as we descended on to The Workers Club in Kings Lynn, a slightly lesser field of 18 players turned up for this event which was below what we were averaging but was still a quality field. Craig Venman and Ian Withers were to battle it out in the final where Craig Venman beat his County team mate to secure his place in Cardiff. This was followed by the first ever Maximum Darts Royal Rumble where Shaun Bitson had the longest run with 8 wins in succession but it was Chris Sands Pearce who would take the honours and taking the winners pot, this was not a bad format but needs a few tweaks, we will definitely try this again. Onto the blind pairs and this was won by Andy Hircock and James Cubitt beating Wayne Wall and Ady Johnson in the final.
July 23rd and Maximum Darts added another new venue to the list when Wisbech Town Football Club was the host for a Champion of Champions Qualifier and the Wisbech Town Football Club Open.
We kicked off with the Champion of Champions Qualifier and this was probably the toughest field we had seen so far. 43 entrants for this one and big games were to be seen in every section of the draw, a familiar pattern was to emerge when Darren Brown and Ian Withers met in the final, this final was the best we had seen so far as both players gave it their all to claim their place in Cardiff which was won by Ian Withers in his second successive final.
In the WTFC Open, Saturdays Champion of Champions Qualifier Craig Venman was an early casualty and found himself in the consolation competition. With both players getting through tough draws it was to be Darren Brown and Ian Withers to face off for the second time in one day, this time Darren Brown got revenge for the earlier defeat and added a second Maximum Darts title to his name following his victory in the Dereham Open earlier in the year.
In the consolation Competition, Craig Venman and James Bales made it to the final and it was James Bales who proved to have to much for Crag Venman on the day and he took the consolation prize.
In what must be one of the funniest blind pairs we have witnessed Ian Wither was to make his third final of the day when himself and youngster Billie-Joe Pearce made the final against Craig Venman and Ashleigh Morton. It was Craig and Ashleigh who were to be victorious in this contest which was played in good spirits.
[caption id="attachment_24955" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Blind pairs finalists from L to R Craig Venman, Ashleigh Morton, Billie Pearce and Ian Withers[/caption]
Onto Maximum Darts final event of a hectic month with the last Champion of Champions qualifier and money comp held at The Railway Tavernin Dereham which is one of Maximum Darts original venues.
Being the last chance to qualify for the Champion of Champions we attracted 27 players for this event. Darren Brown was again on form and made it to his second successive Champion of Champions Qualifier final and he would face former finalist Chris Sands Pearce. Darren would taste defeat again in this final and Chris Sands Pearce secured his spot in Cardiff giving Maximum Darts a strong line up in the shape of Jason Lovett, Steve Carrett, Craig Venman, Ian Withers and Chris Sands Pearce.
We then moved into the money comp with 3 of the players Jason Lovett, Craig Venman and Ian Withers already qualified for champion of champions entered the comp including 2 youngsters Jasleigh and Billie Pearce. making it a field of 32 players.
Again the draw was littered with some great games and Andy Hircock was probably one of the biggest first round casualties losing out to Dave Wallace. In the Semi Finals Ian Withers beat Jason Lovett to secure another final and Darren Brown beat Craig Venman to set up another final with Withers. Darren Brown looked like he had secured another win when he was 4-2 up but Withers held his darts to come back to 4-3 and then against the darts he was on 96 after 9 darts and eventually broke to take the game into a decider with the scores at 4-4. Ian managed to hold his darts and secure the win getting revenge on Darren Brown for his defeat the week before, these two always produce some top quality finals and we look forward to the next time they meet.
In the consolation comp Shaun Futter and Andy Hircock played off in the final after defeating Jonny Pearce and Joe Main in the semis. Andy was to prove to strong for Shaun and won the consolation prize.
In the Blind Pairs Andy Hircock and Evan Wilson were to get the better of Dave Wallace and Maximum Darts player Travis Stapleton in the final.
In what has been a busy month for Maximum Darts there has been some high quality competitions with the standard raising all the time. August things settle down a little bit we have Two Masters event, as well as Friction 3 before it all goes mad in September with the Grand Slam of Darts 2 and Friction 4 where we will be graced with the presence of two professionals in Jamie ‘Jabba’ Caven and former World Finalist Andy ‘The Hammer’ Hamilton. Tickets are on sale now for this event.
Click here for full event details.
[caption id="attachment_24957" align="alignleft" width="225"] Darren Brown (left) Maximum Darts Player of the Month for July[/caption]
All that is left is to announce a new little prize that we will do monthly with our player of the month competition. The prizes will vary on a monthly basis and is a bit of fun and gives players that little something extra to play for.
The first ever Maximum Darts Player of the Month for July goes to Darren Brown for his four successive finals and producing some quality darts. Well done Darren, you receive 2 tickets to Friction 4 and a chance to play one of the pros.
See you all at a competition very soon and Happy Darting to everyone.
UPCOMING EVENTS IN AUGUST
6th – Fenland and Norfolk Darts Masters event 6 – March United Services Club – 3pm
6th – Darts Idol Youth (u21) Darts Series event 6 – March United Services Club – 3pm
8th – Pub Players Championships event 4 – The Anchor, Sutton Bridge – 8pm
12th – Friction 3 – Local Player Exhibition – Con Club, Sutton Bridge – 7pm
27th – West End Cue Club Open – Cue Club, Costessey, Norwich – 2pm
29th – Pub Players Championship event 5 – The Anchor, Sutton Bridge – 8pm