Chas Barstow and Robbie Martin will contest the England Classic Open final, with Deta Hedman and Lorraine Hyde facing off for the Ladies title. Both finals are on stage later today.
England Classic Darts Open Final: Barstow vs Martin
Barstow made it through the semi-finals the hard way, ending top seed Kaya Baysal’s weekend with a 4-3 win in a deciding leg.
Baysal had arrived as the man to beat, in his first WDF weekend under the Turkish flag. He managed two 105+ averages before Barstow stopped him. Barstow has dropped just eight legs on his way to the final. He opened with a 105.47 average in a 4-0 win over Nick Fulwell in the Last 32, beat Callum Grealis 4-2 in the Last 16 and Paul Lewis 4-1 in the quarter-finals.
Martin has been the more consistent of the two, averaging over 100 twice. He beat Dimitrii Rogov 4-1 (101.45) in the Last 32, then Tom Cromwell with a 100.20 average in the Last 16. Jarred Cole was beaten 4-0 in the quarter-finals before Mason Teese fell 4-2 in the semi-finals.
Martin conceded only six legs, three of them in a last-leg decider win over Tom McInnes in the Last 128. He has also had a good year on the MODUS Super Series, reaching the Week Four final in February, where he lost to Derek Coulson.
England Classic Darts Ladies Final: Hedman vs Hyde
In a repeat of the England Masters final, Deta Hedman will take on Scotland’s Lorraine Hyde.
Hedman has been the dominant force, dropping just three legs in the knockout stages. She whitewashed Efa Kay 4-0 in the Last 3, beat Hannah Davies 4-2 in the Last 16, and averaged 90.33 in a 4-1 win over Erdenechimeg Dondov in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, she saw off fellow Europe Cup Teams winner Paige Pauling 4-0.
Hyde has had it slightly tougher. She beat Lilly Wheeler 4-0 in the Last 32, and Ella Hannaford 4-2 in the Last 16. She needed a deciding leg against Jojo Rolls in the quarter-finals, before edging Macy Gibbons 4-2 in the semi-finals. It was the second time this weekend that she’d beaten Gibbons 4-2 in the last four, having done the same in the Masters.
The Open winner takes home £1,500, with £700 for the runner-up, from a £5,040 total. In the Ladies event it’s £750 for the winner and £250 for the runner-up, from a £2,170 prize pot. Both finals are best of nine legs.
Images: WDF
