North American Dart Championships

I was due to throw in the NADC so I warmed up on my Board with the other competitors. The turnout of 242 players was significantly higher than expected, which was good news for the event. Everyone is assigned to a board and a mini-bracket in advance. Darin Young (the seeded player) and the other six of us would fight it out on Board 5, with the winner finishing in the money at the top 32, and advancing to play against other Board winners.

I like how the PDC organizes the event. Every match is laid out and there is an official standing by to immediately deal with any delays or problems. If a player is not there to start promptly, his/her match is forfeited, which does away with a lot of gamesmanship. Scott Henning won the first match on our Board (Scott-I owe you a round!). I was up second against Cameron Paine from Maine, USA.

Cameron and I both struggled to find any form, either in scoring or taking outs. We found ourselves tied at 3 legs apiece, going into a decider in the best of seven format, with Cameron to throw first. Fortunately, I settled down and hit a nice 14 dart game with a 93 out (T19, D18) to advance. It certainly could have gone the other way easily.

I next faced Tom Sawyer, a fine shot from Massachutses, who had dispatched Scott Wollaston in the first round. My form was unfortunately no better, and Tom was hitting consistent 18 dart games, resulting in his ultimately winning four legs to one. As Darin had defeated Scott Henning on the other side of the bracket, that left Tom and Darin to play the board final.

Darin is human like the rest of us, and has good days and bad. Against Tom, he had a very good day. As I had lost the last board semi-final, I got to score the match. Darin hit four 180's in five legs, winning with two 13 dart games, and a 15 and 16 darter. I heard Tom mutter "saved it all up for me, huh Darin?" with a wry grin. Tom shot well, and if Darin had missed doubles he would have been ready to take a chance. Darin wasn't offering any chances today though.

I then wandered over to watch fellow New Jersey Darter Buddy Lessig play. He was hitting exceptionally well earlier in the U.S. Open, and his good form continued. Buddy's remarkable day continued as he knocked top seed and World Champion John Part out of the tournament and won his board, eventually finishing in the top 16.

I wandered around and watched several other matches. Jim Newman made it to his board final against Johnny K and gave him a good match. A missed double or two cost him, and Johnny took that Board. Philadelphia's Bill Davis continued a great day of darts and won through his board and down to the final four, to be played on Saturday on stage. Joining Bill in the last four were Darin Young, Chris White, and Brad Wethington.

Between matches I visited with a lot of people that I had not seen in awhile. British ex-pat and current Missouri resident Steve Brown and I had a nice chat. We both love to fish so it was mostly stories about recent fish caught and of course ones that got away. It eventually got late so I had a bite to eat and headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

On Saturday the NADC final four played off, and I would do best to refer you to the nice article that the PDC wrote covering the event (click here). Darin Young, who won my board, beat Bill Davis in the semi-final (7-5) and then won against Brad Wethington in the final by a score of 7-6. What a finish! With $10,000 more in prize money for the winner on the line, Brad had two darts at a double. Brad just missed double 20 and double 10, and Darin hit his next dart for a nice 13 dart finish. How must that feel to walk up to the oche, look at a double, and know ten grand is on the line? Next time I see Brad or Darin, I will have to ask them.

The U.S. Open played down from 16 to 8 players on Saturday, and again I would do best to refer you to PDC's good coverage of the event. Two Americans advanced to the top 8, including Dave Fatum with a win over Bill Davis, and Ray Carver with a win over Wayne Mardle. Chris Mason ended Roger Carter's excellent run, and Ronnie Baxter knocked Gary Mawson out of the tournament. Joining them in the last 8 are Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley, Mark Dudbridge, and Colin Lloyd.