2000-10-01

The Belgrave Sports and Social Club, Tamworth was the setting for one of the regional finals of the BDO British Champions Cup. Two of the Midlands local rivals West Midlands and Warwickshire took part in the competition and in the men’s event met each other in the final.
West Midlands had recorded 5-4 wins over Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire to reach the final while Warwickshire had taken out Leicestershire and Norfolk, again with narrow 5-4 wins. Playing at their home county venue Warwickshire went one up with a 3-2 win from Ian Murdock against Tom Aldridge. Dave Robbins levelled the scoreline with a similar result in his tie with Mark Kane. Dave Pritchard gave West Midlands the edge when he defeated Pat Koyce in three straight legs only to see Steve Cain produce a 3-0 success against Lol Frazer to square the match a two each.
Colin Fowler (Warwickshire) inflicted a rare defeat on Ian Jones to put his team 3-2 up and with the remaining four games being shared Warwickshire took the match 5-4. Steve Parkes and Mick James had wins against Carl Steadman and Trevor Frost for West Midlands, Andy Smith and Carl Betteridge replying for Warwickshire at the expense of Gary Taylor and Carl (Zippy) Davies.
The draw was kind yet again in the ladies knockout as the two local sides featured in the opposite halves of the event. Warwickshire beat Nottinghamshire 5-2 and followed that with a 4-3 win over Lincolnshire to reach the final. West Midlands meanwhile had a 5-2 win over Leicestershire but then made their exit by the same margin in their tussle with Cambridgeshire.
Sue Deery gave Warwickshire the ideal start by beating C.Ramsey 3-0. Then the southerners stormed into the match with wins from D.Greatbach and B.Gosling. Carol Weston (Warwickshire) erased the opposition’s lead when she won 3-1 against L.Gilbert only to see her team mate Julie Liddell go down 3-0 to S.Greatbach.
In the penultimate encounter Jane Coffman won a hard game with J.Judges 3-2 knowing that it was all in vain as her team were a player short and the last game was awarded to Cambridgeshire to give them a 5-4 verdict.
Both winning teams will now go forward to the last eight play off, which will be played off at Trentham Gardens, Stoke on Trent on Sunday 5th November.
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In addition to changing their home venue to the “99” Club, Tat Bank Road, Oldbury, the West Midlands County have also added strength to their men’s teams in the shape of new signings Andy Bastable, Clive Francis, Paddy Johnson, Fred Parsons and Jamie Parsons. The ladies have lost Dawn Holdcroft and Penny Hooley but replace them with Leanne Jennings, Claire Hobbs and Janet Hubbard.
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For the third successive year Sheldon and District Darts League Secretary Alan Blythe and his good wife Cath have organised the Selworthy Open. For the second consecutive year Paul Burnham has won the title. In a great night of darts Paul did not drop a single leg until the final, where Ken Brush took a 1-0 lead. Paul was determined not to let go of the crown and with top shots of 160-136-125 and 100 bounced back to win the next two legs and the trophy. Last season’s runner up, Alan Blythe went out in round one, losing 2-0 to Gordon Clinton.
As usual following the darts, mine hosts Alan and Cath laid on a fabulous barbecue and then ran a quiz.
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A total of thirty players contested the Bass Breweries sponsored Minworth Social Individual League this season and the man who made a successful final run in to claim the top prize and title was Dave Shorthouse. Dave completed his programme with games against Tony Whitehouse and Colin Farrington. Against Whitehouse Dave with 3×140 and 4×100 was in championship form. Indeed he needed to be as in his final tie with Colin Farrington he came up against a player who, if he had peaked a little earlier in the season could well have been a contender for the title. Farrington hit 180-2×140-2×100 and checked out with 115 in one of his three winning legs as he beat Shorthouse 3-0.
Nevertheless Shorthouse on 116 points had done enough to secure the crown as his nearest rival Gary Mills was some five points adrift of him. Last season’s champion Alan Grainger finished in third spot just one point behind Mills.
To round off the season the league staged their singles and doubles knockouts. In the singles Dave Shorthouse emulated the feat of Alan Grainger, who last season added the singles title to his league title. Shorthouse won his semi final game against
Steve Parry by 5-3, Rob South also made the final with a penultimate 5-1 victory over Ian Humphries. Shorthouse powered his way to a convincing 6-2 win.
Terry Clinton produced the competitions highest finish when in the second round he checked out on 167 against Paul Spiers. Spiers went on to win the match 3-2.
The doubles saw ex league champion Alan Grainger gain some consolation. Alan teamed up with Tony Pedley, the duo battled their way through the field to the final where they met Gordon Clinton and Karl Stephens, the result, a tremendous 6-3 success for Grainger and Pedley.
The league will be holding their presentation at the Minworth Social Club on Saturday 14th October. The new season is due to begin on the 4th October.
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Lesley Newcombe has crowned another tremendous season in the Irish Centre Four a Side Ladies League by winning not only the league’s singles title but also the doubles.
Lelsey followed up her semi final 2-0 win over Joyce Webster with a repeat two legs victory over Gladys Beresford, who had beaten Chris Throssell 2-0 in last four match.
Teaming up with Kay Chambers, Lesley then claimed her second prize, the doubles crown. The winning dou were taken the full three legs distance by Joyce Webster and Lesle Phillips before claiming their win.
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Joyce may have narrowly missed out on both the singles and doubles title’s but nothing ever seems to dull her enthusiasm for the sport of darts. She is now on the lookout for challengers to take on her “Ace of Clubs” Charity team, formerly known as the Mercury Ladies Charity team.
The big difference with the new set up, besides the name is the fact that any opponents are able to name the charity of their choice to where the proceeds of the math should be donated. So why not increase the funds of your favourite cause by contacting Joyce on 0121-604-5081 to arrange a mutually convenient date for an exhibition and that’s all you have to do.
Congratulations go to the Bagot Arms who have won the Amber Windows Summer League championship plus the league’s Aston Social Cup title. The K.C.A took the runners up spot in addition to the Aristocrat Cup. Heartlands won not only the Knockout Cup but also the Presidents Cup.
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News of a couple of competitions coming up in our area, first the Birmingham “2000” Darts Open sponsored by the Vauxhall Sports and Social Club. The event will be staged at the club in Duddeston Manor Road, Nechells, Birmingham, B7 4LG on Sunday 12th November. There is a guaranteed £400 for the winner with cash prizes for the last eight.
Entry fee is just£4.00 up to Friday 10th November. However, entries will be accepted on the day at a cost of £5.00. With entries limited to the first 128 players it could well be that there will be no vacancies remaining on the day. To ensure a place in the competition early entries should be sent now to Dennis Stokes at the Vauxhall Club together with a cheque or postal order made payable to “Vauxhall Sports and Social”. Entries will only be confirmed if accompanied with a stamped addressed envelope.
If you’re looking for some early Christmas money then the second competition the “Midland Darts Open” should fit the bill. On Sunday 17th December, at the Barras Social Club, Coventry Street, Coventry, the competition will carry a top prize of £750 with the runner up receiving £350. Losing semi finalists will pocket £125, losing quarter finalists £50 and the last sixteen £20.
Entry fee up to the 7th December is £7.00 with entry on the day £8.00. Entries with a stamped addressed envelope should be sent to Mr N. Pritchard, 99 Gleneagles Road, Coventry, CV2 3BH, telephone number 02476-616057 and entries with cheques or postal orders to Mr K. Atwal, Barras Social Club, Coventry Street, Coventry, CV2 4LZ.
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