Darts players from Barbados and the Caribbean rose to the occasion at Solidarity House Friday night to acquit themselves with honour in the first two tournaments of the BrydenStokes Barbados Darts Festival.
The women led the way in the Vitamalt Pairs with the Bajan duo of Shelley Taylor and Jennifer Smith taking the $600 prize when they defeated fellow Bajans Elouise Martin and Debra King 2-0 in the final. Both pairs defeated highly fancied British teams to reach the final. They never conceded a game to any opponents in the tournament.
The Bacardi Men’s Doubles produced some scintillating darts as the British contingent came into their own. Three of the semi-finalists were British teams with only the Guyanese duo of Sudesh Fitzgerald and Sherwyn Greene matching them on the oche.
In the bottom half of the draw, the father and son pair of Kevin and Aaron Hardy were edged out 2 -1 by fellow Brits Peter Ward and John Downs. Fitzgerald and Greene maintained their form of the early rounds by defeating the fancied British team of Alan Collins and Bob Race 2-0, with Fitzgerald showing the kind of form that won him a place at the World Championships in London a few years ago.
The final produced darts of the highest order with heavy scoring from all members when they were at the oche. The British pair grabbed their chance in the first game when Fitzgerald narrowly failed to bring off a brilliant three figure check out. However, the Guyanese left hander kept his team in the match by hitting the double eighteen to level the scores in the next game.
In the decider Ward and Downes hit three-figure scores at will and were on a finish after just 12 darts. Ward wrapped up the final with aplomb, taking just two darts to hit 25 and then double 18 to take the match. (BA/PR)