Midlands Regional Final – 2nd December 2012

Posted on December 4, 2012 by admin

Midlands Regional Final

Leicester Rileys, Sunday 2nd December 2012

Our final regional final of the inaugural season of Redtooth Darts got under way at 3pm on Sunday after the many pub champions present on the day were presented with their certificates and champions’ trophies.

The five groups got under way with the top three players going through to the last 16, to be joined by one more ‘best placed loser’ on the day.

The group stage lasted longer than anticipated with some very tight matches keeping the crowd enthralled. Three from each group emerged, though, and the one ‘lucky loser’ Scott Rollings (after losing 3 out of 4 of his group matches and scraping through with a -2 leg difference).

Scott, from the Three Crowns and Sugar Loaf in Kidderminster, failed to keep his emotions in check as his name was announced and this adrenaline was to prove a terrific weapon for the rest of the day. Scott’s momentum continued in the last 16 as he whitewashed Rileys Coventry’s Ian Shaw 3-0. The quarter final was significantly tighter as he scraped by Rileys Northampton’s Neil Culley 3-2, recording a maximum 180 en route to victory. From here, nothing could stop Scott getting to the final, not even The Gate Inn Tamworth’s Mark Mcloughlin who put up a brave fight in the semi-final.

Scott was to be joined in the final by The Cleveland Arms’ (Wolverhampton) Shane Yeomans who fought off Rileys Leicester’s Gary Wilson in his semi-final. The final was a tight affair, going down to the final leg. It always seemed like Scott’s day from the moment he scraped into the last 16 on leg difference; thereafter, there was not a more deserving winner, Scott showed flashes of brilliance on the day and will be a force to be reckoned with in Leeds if he keeps his concentration.

All eight quarter finalists booked their place in Leeds. Bring it on!

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North Regional Final – 1st December 2012

Posted on December 4, 2012 by admin

North Regional Final

Wigan Rileys, Saturday 1st December 2012

There was a real ‘buzz’ around Wigan Rileys from the moment we arrived at around 1pm on Saturday with many players taking advantage of the great Darts facilities on site, getting a few hours practice in before the start.

As always, pub champions’ certificates and trophies were awarded to the deserving winners before the commencement of play.

The draw was made for eight groups with the top two players from each group qualifying for the last sixteen.

The standard in the early stages was excellent in parts with Tom Gregory recording an 11 darter in one of his group matches. The group format allows players the opportunity to play a number of matches and a loss does not necessarily mean elimination. There were no defeats for A180’s Jamie Landon from Stoke, though, as the 21 year-old cruised through his group with a +6 legs difference. It was the same story for Rileys Scunthorpe’s Tom Gregory as he followed up a first match whitewash of his fellow ‘Scunthorper’ Vinnie Hawksworth with two more clear wins.

Landon followed up his group dominance with a fantastic 3-0 victory against Colin Craven in the last 16. However, in the quarter final, the Stokey was put under more pressure as Danny Lidgett took the first leg. Jamie then drew level but found himself back on 150 as Lidgett left 32 to go 2-1 up. Alas, Landon stepped up as cool as can be, finishing on two treble twenties and a double fifteen to go 2-1 up. This proved to be a turning point and from there Landon never looked back as he stormed to a 4-1 win in the quarter final and promptly following up with a 5-0 whitewash of Woodlands Hotel’s (St Helens) Stephen Marrow in the semi-finals. Marrow had fared well in the competition until coming up against an in-form Landon.

So, it was Jamie Landon through to the final, but who would he be facing?

After being defeated 2-0 in his first group game and having a self-confessed “nightmare month” in the run up to the Redtooth North Regional final, Scunthorpe’s Vinnie Hawksworth must have thought it wasn’t going to be his day, especially as he drew his nemesis Tom Gregory in the last 16. This match was a different story, though, and Vinnie turned the form book on its head as he emerged as a 3-0 winner. A rejuvenated Hawksworth followed this victory up with a 4-0 whitewash of Carl Bolshaw (Cricketers Arms, Sandbach) in the quarter finals and a 5-2 victory over Six Bells’ (Barrow upon Humber) Jamie Ellam in the semi-final.

Both Jamie and Vinnie played a tremendous final with both players hitting a 180 to the delight of the 180-waving crowd and it was Vinnie who emerged the 5-3 victor. Landon had threatened a comeback from 4-1 down to get back to 4-3 it was Scunthorpe’s day as Vinnie triumphed: a deserving winner.

All eight quarter finalists have qualified for Leeds, where the standard promises to be excellent.

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South East Regional Final – 25th Nov 2012

Posted on November 27, 2012 by admin

South East Regional Final

London Victoria Rileys, Sunday 25th November 2012

Before the commencement of play, Pub Champions’ trophies were presented to the many deserving pub champions present on the day.

The 32 man draw was made and the best of 5 first round matches got under way at 3pm with Porters Lodge’s Darren Peetoom sailing through his match with a 100 plus average in 13, 14 and 12 dart legs: incredible standard.

12 year-old Jack Warner from Rileys Gillingham also impressed in his first round victory with plenty of ton-plus scores.

With 8 places in the National Final in Leeds up for grabs, the last 16 players knew that one more victory would have meant qualification for the prestigious final. Unfortunately for young Jack, it was one victory too many as he came up against one of the best players on the day, Mr Angry himself Simon Cassidy. Everyone could see that there is a very bright future for Jack, despite the heart-breaking exit.

The last eight was littered with incredible Darts talent, from the youngest member, 23 year-old Michael Stevens, representing Rileys Colchester, who won his quarter final convincingly against the Fox and Hounds’ James Watson, to a player many will be familiar with who is now in his sixth decade, ex-PDC star Lionel ‘The Lion’ Sams representing the Sir John Barleycorn in Hitchin.

As we arrived at Rileys Victoria at around midday, Lionel was hard at it practising – clearly, as is the case with our National Skills league winner and ex PDC star Chris Mason, Lionel sees Redtooth Darts as a pathway back to the top of the sport.

Lionel was joined by Paul Amos in the final on the day and it proved to be a cracking affair.

The first 6 legs were shared with Lionel hitting two maximum 180s to the delight of the crowd and his travelling entourage; alas, it was steady scoring and accuracy on the doubles that won the day and Bellingham Ex-servicemen’s Club’s Paul Amos was a worthy Regional final winner, emerging as a 5-3 victor.

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South West Regional Final – 24th Nov 2012

Posted on November 27, 2012 by admin

 

South West Regional Final

Exeter Rileys, Saturday 24th November 2012

Before play commenced, Pub Champions’ trophies were awarded and the round robin draw was made.

There was a high standard throughout with Pete Underwood topping his group with a plethora of ton-plus scores and a cracking 13 dart leg in the semi-final. Pete went on to edge out his son Shane in the semi-finals to set up a meeting with fellow Welcome Home Inn’s Nigel Coombe in the final.

The final was a terrific affair with both players choosing a best of 5 leg format as the weather outside had worsened. The darts got better, though, and Pete followed up his 13darter with a scintillating 12 dart leg to triumph 3-1.

Both finalists from The Welcome Home Inn, Par, take their place in the National Final in Leeds on the 9th December.

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Scotland Regional Final – 24th Nov 2012

Posted on November 26, 2012 by admin

Scotland Regional Final – 24th Nov 2012

Before play began individual pub champions were presented with their certificates and trophies by Martin Green of Redtooth, a random draw then took place to determine the groups.

The group’s got underway promptly at 3.00pm at the Scottish Regional Final held in Riley’s, Edinburgh, it was soon apparent that we were in for a high standard event with Scott Parry (Riley’s) and Chris Gray (Riley’s) both hitting maximum 180s in the opening game on Board 1.

Following the group stage a further draw took place to determine the matches for the knock-out phase, group winners were seeded to meet in the latter stages.

The four players who met in the semi-final all qualify for the National Final in Leeds on December 9th.

The semi-final games were much closer than the score line’s suggest, with Steven Mackie (Easthouses Road MW) defeating Alan Tulloch (Easthouses Road MW) and Paul Burrows (Riley’s) beating Dickie Lewis (Royal) both by 4 legs to 1.

In the final Steven raced into a 3 – 1 lead but Paul demonstrated great resilience to come back and eventually win 5 – 3.

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Mason starts PDC comeback with pub tournament

Posted on November 20, 2012 by admin

Former professional darts player Chris Mason has started a sensational career comeback after winning a national amateur skills league.

Chris, who reached back-to-back semi-finals in the World Championships in 1999 and 2000, is using the Redtooth Darts pub tournament – described as the X-Factor of darts – to make a remarkable return after nearly two years out of the sport.

The 42-year-old beat-off competition from hundreds of pub darts players across the UK to win the first stage of the tournament, which allows players to test their skills with challenges set by Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor over a 12-week period.

The Redtooth Darts tournament, powered by Protégé Events, involved more than 270 pubs across the country. The top 32 players from the skills league have now qualified for the National Final in Leeds on December 9 with Chris finishing top of the leaderboard after scoring 329 skill points out of a possible 480 from the 12 tasks.

A further 32 players will qualify for the National Final through regional tournaments taking place during the coming weeks.

Out of the top 64 players, the best 16 will have the opportunity of being mentored by Taylor and the chance to win a place on the 2013 Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tour.

Chris said the prospect of being mentored by former rival Taylor, who he had a public argument with on stage at the 2007 World Championship following a 4-0 defeat, does not bother him.

He added: “I’ve known Phil for more than 20 years. We did fall out once in what was a heated argument. I didn’t act professionally, but I apologised to him afterwards and we moved on. I’ve always said that if losing doesn’t matter to you then you shouldn’t be playing.

“I’m a competitive person and always will be. I know I’m starting from scratch, but I have experience of playing competitively and I’m only 42, so we’ll see how things progress.”

Chris, who took part in the Redtooth Darts tournament at his local pub, The Cleveland Arms in Wolverhampton, said: “I’ve been out of the game for a couple of years and not played at a competitive level for some time, so I thought the challenge would be good for practice if nothing else. When I learned more about the opportunity to progress through the tournament and have the chance to reach the PDC tour, I decided to go for it.

“To gain a tour card can be a big risk due to the costs involved, with many players struggling to break even every year, so for amateur players to be given this opportunity is fantastic.

“There’s no guarantees I’ll get a tour card as there are so many decent players which are taking part across the country, but I thought it was worth giving a go. I didn’t look at the table and just submitted the results to see where it placed me.

“It’s a fabulous opportunity to get involved as an amateur darts player and for the pubs to bring darts back to their venues. It’s a great concept and important for more people to embrace it and get involved.”

The top two players at the National Final will play a match at Alexandra Palace during the 2013 Professional Darts Championships. The winner will win an all-expenses-paid trip to the World Cup of Darts in Hamburg, Germany in February 2013.

For more information about Redtooth Darts, visit www.redtoothdarts.com or call 01246 813713.

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