Barbados Darts Festival 2006 – Sunday 29/10

Pictured : Collecting my Runners Up prize (L to R : Mark Cummings, John Lowe, Simon Thomas)

This is where I really hit my best performances. In the Preconco Mens Singles I reached the finals and was the Runner Up! Here is an extract from the Barbados Advocate newspaper :

What a difference a day makes! Only 24 hours earlier the visiting darts players from the UK and Canada were badly mauled by their Bajan opponents in the first round of competitions. On Sunday they had their own dart board installed in their hotel and put in some extra practice, and then pulled off some remarkable victories in the Preconco Mens Singles and Ladies Pairs.

First to feel the backlash was leading Bajan darts player Winston Cadogan, who was defeated 2-0 by a re-energised Rob Sime. Then Anthony Forde, winner of the Mens Doubles the previous evening with Winston Cadogan, found himself dumped out of the competition by Simon Thomas from Durham.

I rode my luck incredibly throughout the three games which took me to the Preconco final. Several times I was well behind in the legs and relying on my opponents to miss their doubles. My finishing was good though, including a 78 in 2 darts (54, 24), and I scraped through to the Final by beating the excellent Bajan Steven Skinner, with my heart pumping raw adrenaline through to my shaking throwing hand!

In the Final I got down to 56 in a single leg of 701, but there my luck finally ran out, and I was was beaten by Bajan Mark Cummings. I was disappointed to beaten in the biggest game of my life, but very proud of my performance. I won a Preconco t-shirt which I will treasure as my first ever trophy. Being photographed with John Lowe and Mark Cummings was also a real thrill, and softened the defeat somewhat.