Richie Howson avenged his Seniors World Championship final loss to Robert Thornton by defeating him in the Quarter-Finals of the Champion of Champions. But it was a non competitive moment for Trina Gulliver that will be remembered.
The Thorn defended his World Seniors Darts Championship title at the Circus Tavern last month, defeating hometown favourite Howson in the final. But it was The Owl that came out on top in the opener at Viva Blackpool.
David Cameron also defeated Richie Howson on his way to the World Seniors Masters title last season. Excalibur will do battle with Howson in tomorrows Semi-Finals after overcoming Kevin Painter in our second match of the afternoon.
The Canadian set the tone in the early part of the match, racing into a 4-1 lead at the first break. The players returned to stage, but their doubling didn’t after the interval. Crucially for Cameron he maintained the gap into the second intermission, leading 7-3.
Painter produced the odd moment of brilliance, as he once again strutted his stiff on stage following a 142 checkout, but it wasn’t enough to save the game. Cameron winning the match in the 15th leg 10-5.
Phil Taylor’s return to Blackpool was always going to be a tough battle having been drawn against the Golden Ticket Qualifier. But The Power will have no doubt been fearful having seen Leonard Gates come through a strong field on Friday.
But despite a strong start from the Texan, it was Taylor that got the better of the middle part of the game. From 3-2 behind Taylor won the next 3 legs to lead 5-3 as Gates began to get edgy on the outer ring. The Soulger responded though to take back to back legs and go to the second interval level.
The pair continued to go back and forth as the match neared the full 19 legs, but it was 3 ton plus finishes from The American that flipped the game in his favour. Firstly a 121 in leg 14 with Taylor sat on 76 followed by a consecutive 104 and 102 to win the match.
Martin Adams completes the Semi-Final line up after defeating Trina Gulliver 10-7. Wolfie was pushed all the way by The Golden Girl, but despite her best efforts, Gulliver was thwarted by Wolfie.
Despite the result, the moments that followed on stage after the match will live long in the history of darts.
At the end of the match Trina was asked to remain on stage by Helen Chamberlain to have a short conversation. During this chat, Chamberlain announced to Trina and a packed Viva Crowd that World Seniors Darts Tour Sponsorship Partner Pete Turrell had recently been successful in winning the auction for the BDO Women’s World Championship trophy and presented this as a gift to the 10 times World Champion.
This full moment can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p14Xu-OI4yw&ab_channel=WorldSeniorsDartsTourTV
JenningsBet Champion of Champions
Quarter-Final Results
Richie Howson 10-6 Robert Thornton
David Cameron 10-5 Kevin Painter
Leonard Gates 10-8 Phil Taylor
Martin Adams 10-7 Trina Gulliver
Semi-Finals (Best of 25 legs)
From 12pm BST
Richie Howson vs David Cameron
Leonard Gates vs Martin Adams
Final
Best of 25 legs
—–Ends—–
Images: Chris Sargeant/ WSDT
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