The Welsh Open wrapped up the WDF’s busy summer schedule and, as always, pulled in a decent crowd. The venue? Pontins in North Somerset – which, for those who skipped geography, is in England. A strange choice for something called the Welsh Open.
Still, not as daft as the PDC holding the Baltic Sea Darts Open in landlocked Germany. Baltic? Nowhere near. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
Anyway, geography lesson over – the action was high quality and, in some cases, high stakes. For many, it was about crucial ranking points in the chase for Lakeside qualification. For others, it was about covering the weekend’s accommodation bill and a bar tab that looked like the national debt of a small country.
As is tradition, the weekend began with warm-up events. Carl Wilkinson took the men’s curtain-raiser, edging Ryan Hogarth in a short race to three. Over in the women’s, Finland’s Kirsi Viinikainen got the better of St Helens thrower Eleanor Cairns 3-1. A nice way to loosen the arm and the nerves.
The main events were, of course, the Classic and the Open. Ladies first – from 60 entrants, Rhian O’Sullivan delivered a dominant 5-1 win over Aileen De Graaf to take the Classic. Not to be outdone, Viinikainen, apparently warmed up enough by now, added the Open crown with a comfortable 5-1 win over Priscilla Steenbergen.
The Men’s Open was a monster field of nearly 300 hopefuls. By the end, it was 14-year-old Scottish prodigy Mitchell Lawrie lifting the trophy with a ruthless 6-1 win over Darren Johnson. Another one-sided final, which was starting to look like the theme of the weekend.
But not in the Classic – where it all came down to an all-Welsh battle. Richard Rowlands overcame Stephen Cake 6-4. Tempting as it was to go for one of a dozen puns, let’s keep it simple: Rowlands had his cake and ate it. That’ll do.
The youth events ran alongside, continuing to showcase a conveyor belt of talent. No shock to see Paige Pauling among the winners again. Only six girls entered, but Pauling was in no mood for mercy, whitewashing Wales’ Yazmine Ruck-Havard in the Open final to add yet another trophy to her already strained shelf.
Meanwhile, fresh from winning the men’s Open, Mitchell Lawrie decided to double dip by storming through the boys’ version, dropping just one leg all tournament. He sealed it with a 4-0 demolition of Kaya Baysal, averaging a tidy 97 in the final. Baysal did manage to put a fly in Lawrie’s ointment though, nicking their Classic youth semi-final 3-2 before beating Mason Teese 4-1 in the final.
There were pairs titles up for grabs too. In the mixed, Welsh duo Jon Darlington and Del Stapley saw off Rhian O’Sullivan and Jim Chucky McEwan 4-1. Rhian’s run of near-misses continued in the Ladies’ doubles, as she and Rachel Kingdon lost 5-3 to Lorraine Winstanley and Eve Watson. And in the Men’s pairs, Callum Francis and Cavan Phillips sealed a last-leg shootout win over Lloyd Pennell and MODUS Super Series 10 champ, Jenson Walker.
And with that, the WDF summer is done. September onwards, things get serious. Until then, Pontins can take a breath, stock up the bar, and probably start preparing for Christmas – assuming they are open.
—–ENDS—–
Images: WDF / WDO
