Players from all over the country gathered in the Tony Currie Suite at Sheffield United’s Bramhall Lane ground on Sunday 6th December for the 2015 Redtooth National Darts final.
Players were drawn out into groups of four for the early stages, guaranteeing everyone at least three matches before moving on to the knock-out phase to decide the eight players who would win places at Q School in January and also to crown the 2015 Champion.
For the first time ever we had a female qualifier for the finals, Shanna Kirkland from the Star Hotel in Kirkudbright. After a spirited display the understandably nervous Shanna was eliminated at the group stage.
Unluckiest player in the group stages was Lee Slack (The Wilton, Rotherham), with three players all tied on two wins each, Lee was eliminated by the narrowest of margins on leg difference.
In the last 32 knock-out round we lost four of the group winners who had progressed to that stage with unbeaten records; Neil Hood (New Crown Hotel, Bridlington), Joe Lynch & Brian Jenkins (Eagle Coaching Inn, Dundee) and Adam Colin (Warsop Ex-Servicemens, Warsop).
With Q School places up for grabs the last 16 knock-out provided some of the closest matches of the day.
The lucky eight who all qualify for Q School in January are as follows;-
Craig Breeze (Royal Oak, Barlborough)
Jason Kirkland (Star Hotel, Twynholm)
Jono Poole (Hop Pole, Long Eaton)
Norman McHenry (Star Hotel, Kirkudbright)
Paul Burrows (The Ball Room, Edinburgh)
Paul Siddle (Warsop Ex Servicemen’s, Warsop)
Rob Pierce (Gigmill, Netherton)
Stephen Limer (Bridge Inn, Oldham)
The quarter final results saw 4-2 wins for Craig Breeze over Jono Poole, Paul Burrows over Stephen Limer and Jason Kirkland over Paul Siddle, Rob Pierce completed the semi-final line up with a 4-0 win over Norman McHenry.
Both semi-finals finished with 5-2 score lines with victories for Paul over Jason and Rob over Craig, with the losers winning £250 each.
The final between Paul Burrows and Rob Pierce was a fitting end to the day with Paul romping to a 4-0 lead before a great fight back from Rob; eventually Paul secured a 6-4 win, picking up the £1,000 first prize and the trophy whilst valiant loser, Rob had to settle for the runner-up trophy and £500.
Good luck to all the qualifiers at Q School in January, a report on their progress will be posted on here later.
