The 2014 BDO British International Darts
The 2014 BDO British Internationals, hosted by England Darts Organisation at the Venue in Halifax, featured the men^s, ladies, boys and girls teams of England, Scotland and Wales. The Venue being a new addition to the EDO, although rural provided an ideal arena for the host nation, with seating for 450 people and an open plan layout no dart was to be missed.
The opening match of the event saw Wales Boys take on Scotland Boys, in a four player match, with Rhys Griffin of Wales winning the first game of the session 3-0 with a 23.86 average in a 2-2 draw.
The girls followed next, with two players per team, seeing England defeat Scotland 2-0 with Casey Gallagher highest average of 18.33.
Lorraine Winstanley and Trina Gulliver MBE put England 2-0 up against Scotland in the ladies with debutant Zoe Jones, standing in for Fallon Sherrock who was absent through illness, next to the oche. Jones had the higher average but lost out to the experienced Louise Hepburn 3-1. Lisa Ashton and Deta Headman added to Englands tally before Claire Ball put in a 25.47 average to make the match 5-1 in Englands favour.
The final match of day one saw Scotland and England face off for a third time with England Boy^s coming out 3-1 victors with Connor Levett exciting the crowd with a 26.26 average.
Day two started off disaterously for Wales as they lost 2-0, failing to win a leg, to Scotland in the girls match with Rebecca Graham^s 15.59 average being the best. Next was the boys where again Wales failed to get a point on the board in their 4-0 defeat against England. Nathan Street having the highest average of 26.52.
Now began the start of the men^s campaign and Sadly there was to be a player missing from the Scotland Team. Bryan White was tragically killed in a car crash on 28th February 2014 shortly after finding out he was selected to represent his country for the first time. As a fabulous gesture and a massive show of respect the Scotland players had his name sublimated on their darts shirts and all the players and officials of each country wore patches in memory of Bryan.
Scotland playing full of pride, passion and emotion opened up a 5-0 lead against Wales in the best of 12 set match with Captain Ross Montgomery leading the way with a 29.91 average. Wales took four of the next five legs to get within reach of a possible draw. Welsh Captain Martin Phillips was man of the match averaging 31.46 in his 4-1 win. Scotland took the last two legs to gain a 7-5 victory.
The Welsh ladies got their teams first and what was to be their only victory of the day beating Scotland 4-2 with Rhian Edwards averaging 25.59.
England^s men made an impressive start to the event with an emphatic 11-1 victory over Wales. Paul Hogan started the match with a 31.43 average which was only bettered by Garry Thompson who created a new British Internationals record average of 32.85. Other high averages came from Scott Mitchell (29.85), Mark McGeeney (29.74) and James Wilson (29.35). Mark Layton was Wales^ sole victor.
The final day most definately belonged to England as the girl^s started the session with a 2-0 win over Wales, Casey Gallagher winning with a 17.68 average. England ladies were once again in emphatic form with Lisa Ashton^s average of 28.36 being the best of the weekend in the ladies event, beating Wales 5-1.
The last match of the 2014 BDO British Internationals was fittingly that of Englands men vs Scotland. With both teams on stage and singing their respective national anthems with strong voices, filled with pride and passion it was always going to be a very tense and close match. the atmosphere as usual for a battle with the auld enemy was tense but the result, however, didnt reflect the match as England ranaway 10-2 victors. Glen Durrant setting a new British International average of 35.16 (105.48) per throw in defeating Ross Montgomery 4-0. Ross^s average a very creditable 28.14.Dennis Harbour (29.04), James Wilson (29.47) and Jamie Hughes (30.83) were the best of the rest.
All four England teams won their section and at the end of the presentation Team captain Tony O^Shea said "It was great to see the darts family supporting each other throughout the weekend" and that it was.
The opening match of the event saw Wales Boys take on Scotland Boys, in a four player match, with Rhys Griffin of Wales winning the first game of the session 3-0 with a 23.86 average in a 2-2 draw.
The girls followed next, with two players per team, seeing England defeat Scotland 2-0 with Casey Gallagher highest average of 18.33.
Lorraine Winstanley and Trina Gulliver MBE put England 2-0 up against Scotland in the ladies with debutant Zoe Jones, standing in for Fallon Sherrock who was absent through illness, next to the oche. Jones had the higher average but lost out to the experienced Louise Hepburn 3-1. Lisa Ashton and Deta Headman added to Englands tally before Claire Ball put in a 25.47 average to make the match 5-1 in Englands favour.
The final match of day one saw Scotland and England face off for a third time with England Boy^s coming out 3-1 victors with Connor Levett exciting the crowd with a 26.26 average.
Day two started off disaterously for Wales as they lost 2-0, failing to win a leg, to Scotland in the girls match with Rebecca Graham^s 15.59 average being the best. Next was the boys where again Wales failed to get a point on the board in their 4-0 defeat against England. Nathan Street having the highest average of 26.52.
Now began the start of the men^s campaign and Sadly there was to be a player missing from the Scotland Team. Bryan White was tragically killed in a car crash on 28th February 2014 shortly after finding out he was selected to represent his country for the first time. As a fabulous gesture and a massive show of respect the Scotland players had his name sublimated on their darts shirts and all the players and officials of each country wore patches in memory of Bryan.
Scotland playing full of pride, passion and emotion opened up a 5-0 lead against Wales in the best of 12 set match with Captain Ross Montgomery leading the way with a 29.91 average. Wales took four of the next five legs to get within reach of a possible draw. Welsh Captain Martin Phillips was man of the match averaging 31.46 in his 4-1 win. Scotland took the last two legs to gain a 7-5 victory.
The Welsh ladies got their teams first and what was to be their only victory of the day beating Scotland 4-2 with Rhian Edwards averaging 25.59.
England^s men made an impressive start to the event with an emphatic 11-1 victory over Wales. Paul Hogan started the match with a 31.43 average which was only bettered by Garry Thompson who created a new British Internationals record average of 32.85. Other high averages came from Scott Mitchell (29.85), Mark McGeeney (29.74) and James Wilson (29.35). Mark Layton was Wales^ sole victor.
The final day most definately belonged to England as the girl^s started the session with a 2-0 win over Wales, Casey Gallagher winning with a 17.68 average. England ladies were once again in emphatic form with Lisa Ashton^s average of 28.36 being the best of the weekend in the ladies event, beating Wales 5-1.
The last match of the 2014 BDO British Internationals was fittingly that of Englands men vs Scotland. With both teams on stage and singing their respective national anthems with strong voices, filled with pride and passion it was always going to be a very tense and close match. the atmosphere as usual for a battle with the auld enemy was tense but the result, however, didnt reflect the match as England ranaway 10-2 victors. Glen Durrant setting a new British International average of 35.16 (105.48) per throw in defeating Ross Montgomery 4-0. Ross^s average a very creditable 28.14.Dennis Harbour (29.04), James Wilson (29.47) and Jamie Hughes (30.83) were the best of the rest.
All four England teams won their section and at the end of the presentation Team captain Tony O^Shea said "It was great to see the darts family supporting each other throughout the weekend" and that it was.