Midlands Regional Final

Sunday 24^th February 2013

Carl Newton will be joined at the National finals by his brother, Kieran, as both players from the Round Oak in Brierley Hill made it through their groups on Sunday in Leicester. Carl won his group with a +6 legs difference whilst Kieran finished runner-up in his group with a +1 difference which meant he missed out on the quarter finals buy a single leg.

Shaun Wharton from Leicester Rileys ran out the clear winner of Kieran’s group, equalling Carl’s +6 legs difference: both players deservedly going all the way to the final.

Father and son, Gaz…and Gaz Wilson (both playing out of Leicester Rileys…confused?) both made it through their groups with the elder of the two losing out in the quarter finals to Carl Newton. Gaz junior made it one step further than his father, losing out in the semi-finals (also to Carl).

Two players who also made it to the national finals were brothers Adam and Andrew Smith from the Gamlingay Social Club in Sandy. Andrew doing a little better than his brother on this occasion, making it through to the semi-finals on the day, despite having a broken arm!

Andrew lost out to Leicester Rileys’ Shaun Wharton, who would book his place in the finals to face Carl. It was a fiercely contested final that Carl won in the deciding leg. Congratulations to all qualifiers on the day and especially to Carl Newton: a worthy regional final winner!

South Regional Final

Saturday 23^rd February 2013

It always seemed destined to be a Symes/Hogg final at Rileys Victoria on Saturday as both players threw some cracking darts to top their respective groups. Chris ‘Hogging’ the early limelight with a +6 legs difference, one leg better than Matt’s +5.

Mike edged out The Exhibition’s (Cambridge) ‘Mr Angry’, Simon Cassidy in his group; alas Simon qualified for the quarter finals as a runner-up, hitting six 180s on the day.

Chris blew his group away with a +6 average with Matt Carlon also making the quarter finals with a reputable +2 legs difference.

Last season’s Q school qualifier Darren Cotterell won his group on the day and looked a threat throughout, losing in the semi-finals to the eventual winner, Symes. Hogg saw off Phil Johnson-Hale in the other semi to set up a mouth-watering final.

The final was fiercely contested with some high scores from both; alas there could only be one winner and it was The Carisbrooke Arms’ (Gosport, Portsmouth) Mike Symes who emerged as a worthy one. Congratulations, Mike!

We will see all eight quarter finalists in the National final later in the year.

North Regional Final

Rileys, Wigan

Sunday 17^th February 2013

It was a similar story over in Wigan on Sunday as Frank Kirkwood breezed through the group stages of the Redtooth Darts Northern Regional Final with a +6 leg difference. The Three Horses thrower from Keighley epitomised what our competition is all about and says he has used this competition as inspiration to try to take his game to the next level, which seems to be working!

The Three Horses at Keighley is run by Denise, who told me how successful the competition is in her pub, drawing in 12-18 players week in week out and proving to be a great business-builder on a Friday night.

Frank played fellow “Three Horsean” Martin Copperweight in the quarter finals, which proved to be his toughest encounter as he scraped through 3-2. The other quarter finals were relatively one-sided with James Ashcroft and Chris Long both 3-0 victors and Carl Bolshaw seeing off Karl Robinson 3-1.

The one-sided theme continued into the semi-finals with Chris Long and Frank both winning 3-0; Frank recording an 11 dart leg to boot and setting up a mouth-watering final against Woodlands St Helens’ Chris Long. Frank took the final with relative ease, 4 legs to 1.

We will see Frank, Chris, Carl, James, Martin, Richard, Ben and Karl in the National final – congratulations, fellas!

Scotland Regional Final

Rileys, Edinburgh

Saturday 16^th February 2013

Paul Burrows made it back-to-back titles at Rileys Edinburgh to kick-off a couple of weeks of Redtooth Darts regional finals on Saturday.

From the start of the afternoon, Burrows looked the part as he cruised through his qualifying group losing only one leg to Gary Watt, who he would eventually meet in the final.

The Paraffin Lamp’s Alex Tweedy was equally impressive in the group stages, finishing with a +2 leg difference and edging out his “pub-mate” Rab Dougal into third spot. Rileys Edinburgh’s Scott Parry joined Alex, in making progress through the group, which included an impressive victory over the group winner.

The semi-finals were fairly one-sided with Paul overcoming fellow Rileys-man, Scott 3-0 and Rileys’ Gary seeing off Livingston’s Tweedy 3-1 in the other semi-final.

The final was a tense affair with both players hitting some good scores. When Paul checked out the incorrect score to believe he had won with the scores at 3-3, the crowd gasped and would have been forgiven in thinking that Gary would check out the 60 required. Alas, the pressure got to Gary and he hit the treble 20. Paul composed himself and took out the double 5 required to take a second consecutive regional final title.

Congratulations, Paul – we will see you, Gary, Scott and Alex at the National final later in the year!