Brean is a lovely place where the sun usually always shines but it didn’t look hopeful upon arrival with the rain bouncing off the pavements and showing no signs of stopping! But, we darts folk are made of tough stuff and carried on regardless!
Friday night saw the Blind Pairs competition, a warm up for the weekend’s festivities, but unfortunately for me, I didn’t progress further than the second round. However, in time honoured tradition I and others were off to the Fun Factory for an evening of well mannered frivolity and questionable dancing.
It was early to bed (early in the morning, that is!) and early to rise for most of us as we tackled the Mixed Triples and Mixed Pairs events. It’s safe to say there were a few sore heads around the venue but the team that eventually prevailed consisted of Scotland International Gary Stone, Scotland Ladies International Louise Hepburn and World Champion Martin Adams.
Their route to the final wasn’t straightforward either, having to defeat several impressive teams. For some people, an early exit from the Triples meant it was power nap time, a quick snooze to recharge the batteries before the Doubles. There were some very impressive pairings in the tournament which was eventually won by Stephen Bunting and Anastasia Dobromyslova.
Sunday was singles day, and an impressive field took to the oches to see who would become the 2011 Champions. There were some unexpected results early on, with the likes of Stuart Kellett, Jan Dekker, Fabian Roosenbrand, Paul Jennings, and Tony O’Shea suffering shock early defeats.
Shocks also in the Ladies draw, with Jan Robbins, Louise Hepburn and Clare Bywaters amongst the early casualties. As both events got to the business end, it was obvious to me that this year’s International Open would be one of the most open events in a long time.
The Last 32 of the Men’s event saw Scott Mitchell suffer a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Jay Foreman and Ross Montgomery lose 3-1 against Barrie Knight. Gary Robson also crashed out to Wesley Harms. Other names into the Last 16 included Martin Adams, Dean Winstanley, Gino Vos, Ted Hankey and young Jake Jones.
The big names through in the Ladies event included Apylee Jones, Lorraine Farlam, Deta Hedman, Dee Bateman, Julie Gore, Anastasia Dobromyslova and Trina Gulliver. The Last 16 of the Men’s offered up some tasty ties, with Martin Adams winning a cracker against Jake Jones 3-1. Dean Winstanley put an end to Barrie Knight’s run, defeating him by the same scoreline. Impressive Wesley Harms won the all Dutch match against Gino Vos with a score of 3-0. Match of the round though had to be Stephen Bunting against Ted Hankey. These two produced some sensational darts in what turned out to be a 3-2 win for Bunty.
The latter stages of the Ladies event also gave us some classic encounters. Sue Brazell claimed the scalp of Lorraine Farlam to move into the Quarters. Trina Gulliver was made to fight for her place, defeating Merryl Dennis 3-2. Catheryn Hulme defeated Dee Bateman in another 3-2 classic. Chris Savvery came very close to taking out Anastasia Dobromyslova, but was on the wrong end of a 3-2 scoreline. In the quarter finals, Sur Brazell kept her amazing run going, taking out Apylee Jones 3-2. Deta Hedman kept her form going, beating Karen Brown 3-1. Julie Gore made the Semis with a 3-1 win over Catheryn Hulme and in a battle of the World Champions, Anastasia defeated Trina Gulliver 3-1. The semi finals saw Deta Hedman put an end to Sue Brazell’s dream run, winning that match 3-1 and Julie Gore was edged out 3-2 by Anastasia. With those matches completed we were just about ready for the Stage Finals.
First we would have the Men’s Quarter Finals. Garry Thompson played very well to beat Martin Adams 2-0 in the first match. Dean Winstanley was beaten 2-1 by Wesley Harms in another great tie. Young Benito Van Der Pas moved into the Semis with a 2-1 victory over Peter Mitchell and Stephen Bunting was into the semi finals after a 2-1 win over Vern Sheppard. In the Semi Finals, we were once again treated to some brilliant darts. Garry Thompson and Wesley Harms produced a close match, with Harms coming out on top 3-2. Stephen Bunting continued his great run of form with a terrific 3-1 victory over Benito van Der Pas. With those matches finished it was finals time!
First up was the youth final. The standard of darts the youngsters had produced was outstanding. Josie Patterson, one of only a few girls in the tournament made it all the way to the semi finals before being knocked out by Rhys Griffin. Nick Kenny also made it to the final with a 3-1 win over Robert Lewis. The final itself was of a very high standard. The match went the 5 leg distance, with Rhys Griffin becoming the champion.
Two of the best in the business would contest the Ladies Final. Anastasia Dobromyslova took on Deta Hedman in what turned out to be a very close contest. The Russian enjoyed a hard fought 3-2 victory to show she was more than happy to be back in form and back in the BDO.
The final match of the weekend was the Men’s Final. Stephen Bunting against Wesley Harms. The young talent of England (26) v the young talent of The Netherlands (27). Some great darts saw Bunting take an early lead, but Harms staged a brilliant comeback to go on and win the final 4-2.
A fitting end to a fantastic weekend’s darts.
The BDO officials had the tournament running on good time and the standard was brilliant. I must congratulate everyone involved with the running of the tournament on a very successful weekend.
Well, that’s all from me for this report. I hope to be back in a few weeks reporting from Aberdeen’s Granite City Open.
Until then, stay safe and may your darts fly true.
‘Poison Arrow’