West Coast Classic 2010:
WDF Invitational, DBO, DFA & WADC Inc Ranked Singles.

The inaugural West Coast Classic was held at Gloucester Park, Perth on Sunday 7th February after qualifying games to join the ranked players were held on Saturday 6th February following the West Coast Pairs.

Ladies Singles:
Saturdays qualifying games, after receiving 26 nominations for the ladies singles we ranked 8 ladies, they being in ranking order 1 Carol Forwood, 2 Louise Ball, 3 Julie Thomas, 4 Pam Burr, 5 Dot McLeod, 6 Kerry Crowdey, 7 Jodie Hislop, 8 Kim Kelly, the rest of the ladies were then drawn into 4 groups 2 x 5 and 2 x 4 to play a round robin with the top two (2) players from each group advancing to Sundays main event.

The qualifiers from Saturday to advance were Robyn McCloy, Jan Matthews, Cheril Coffey, Stephanie Moriarty, Vickie Hepple, Natalie Carter, Emma Penn, Jucinta Dann.

Ladies Open: Elimination Round.
Sunday morning games commenced at 9 am. First up for the ladies is the elimination round, due to there only being 16 final entries the elimination round is to consist of four groups each of 4 players playing a round robin best of 3 sets 501 best of 3 with the winner and runner-up from each group qualifying for the quarterfinals.
Winner group 1: Carol Forward, runner-up: Kim Kelly.
Winner group 2: Pam Burr, runner-up Dot McLeod.
Winner group 3: Louise Ball, runner-up Natalie Carter.
Winner group 4: Kerry Crowdey, runner-up Jucinta Dann.

Quarterfinals: Best of three (3) set each 501 best of 3.
1st quarterfinal: Dot McLeod 20.26 defeated Carol Forward 20.84 in a very close game pegs made the difference 2 - 1.
2nd quarterfinal: Pam Burr 23.20 defeated Kim Kelly 21.50 Pam shone in this one 2 - 0.
3rd quarterfinal: Louise Ball 17.90 defeated Jucinta Dann 17.64 neither player stood out in this game and it was a struggle by both with Louise prevailing 2 - 1.
4th quarterfinal: Natalie Carter 20.17 defeated Kerry Crowdey 18.31 the game of the quarters to watch great darts and skill with Natalie holding on to win 2 - 1.

Semi-finals: Best of five (5) sets each 501 best of 3.
1st semi-final: Dot McLeod 21.80 defeated Pam Burr 19.64 this was a very good match with Dot showing the type of form that has made her one of Australia's best. Pam played well but just could not get the big pegs when needed 3 - 1.

2nd semi-final: Natalie Carter 20.69 defeated Louise Ball 20.12 this was the classic battle Natalie won the 1st set, Louise the 2nd Natalie the 3rd Louise the 4th 5th set. Natalie won the 1st leg Louise the 2nd Louise then seemed to have the game sewn up wanting just 32 with Natalie a long way back, but 2 walks to the board and leaving 16 gave Natalie her chance and she whacked double top to take it out 3 - 2.

Ladies Final: Best of five sets each 501 best of 5.
Really looking forward to this game both ladies have met and defeated some top opponents to get to this stage. Dot wins the first set 3 - 1, Natalie claim's the second 3 - 0 with some great darts, the third set also goes Natalie's way 3 - 1 with some precision pegging, Dot grabs the first leg of the 4th set and seems to be on a roll but then Natalie kicks in to top gear and powers away to claim the next three legs and the inaugural title as West Coast Classic Ladies Champion. 3 - 1.
Averages: Natalie Carter 21.88pd - 70.33; Dot McLeod 20.27pd - 68.52.

8 x 180s: Pam Burr 3, Kerry Crowdey, Louise Ball, Dot McLeod, Natalie Carter and Deb Powell 1 each.
4 x 100+ pegouts: highest 137 Dot McLeod. Best Junior Girl: Jucinta Dann.

Men's Singles:
Saturdays qualifying games, after receiving 40 nominations for the men's singles we ranked 16 players they being in ranking order 1 Kyle Anderson, 2 Beau Anderson, 3 Neil Hembrow, 4 Kim Lewis, 5 Justin Miles, 6 Kerry Whear, 7 Dave Methven, 8 Peter Sutton, 9 Steve Sutcliffe, 10 Gary Hunter, 11 Rodney Manikam, 12 Henry Forman, 13 Jamie Miles, 14 Glen Harper, 15 Paul Adams, 16 Harvey Mayall, the rest of the men were then drawn into 4 groups each of 6 players to play a round robin draw 501 best of 5 four (4) top players from each group to advance to Sundays main event. Players to advance to Sunday's main event were David Platt, David Sawyer, Darryl Plowman, Chris Evans, Denis Parr, Conan Ugle, Darren Batchelor, Murray Penn, Steve Baston, Paul Suhajcek, Stephen Doherty, Tony David, Ron Joyce, Ryan Penn, Keith Mills and Clifton Beauchamp.

Men's Open: Elimination Round.
Sunday morning games started at 9 am as with the ladies first up for the men is the elimination round, two qualifying players were drawn with 2 ranked players to each of 8 boards the 4 players on each board to play a round robin format best of 3 sets each 501 best of 3 legs the winner of each board to advance to the quarterfinals second placed player of each group to finish as equal 9th overall.
Winner Board 1: Kyle Anderson, runner-up Harvey Mayall.
Winner Board 2: Peter Sutton, runner-up Darryl Plowman.
Winner Board 3: Henry Forman, runner-up Justin Miles.
Winner Board 4: Kim Lewis, runner-up Murray Penn.
Winner Board 5: Beau Anderson, runner-up Paul Suhajcek.
Winner Board 6: Tony David, runner-up Dave Methven.
Winner Board 7: Kerry Whear, runner-up Ryan Penn.
Winner Board 8: Neil Hembrow, runner-up Glen Harper.

Men's Quarterfinals: Best of five (5) sets each set 501 best of 3.
1st quarterfinal: Kyle Anderson 27.57 defeated Peter Sutton 25.78, 3 - 0 power house game by Kyle.
2nd quarterfinal: Kim Lewis 27.91 defeated Henry Forman 25.18, 3 - 1 good game by Henry, Kim though was too strong.
3rd quarterfinal: Tony David 25.28 defeated Beau Anderson 28.37 a very tight game this one Tony won the 1st set 2-1, Beau then won the 2nd & 3rd sets 2-0, Tony won the 4th 2-0, the last set was a pearler Tony snatched the 1st leg after Beau busted 10, Beau then grabbed the 2nd leg with Tony wanting 81, Tony then snatched the 3rd leg with a 2 dart 41 finish after Beau had busted out leaving 16, Tony's win 3 - 2.
4th quarterfinal: Neil Hembrow 27.05 defeated Kerry Whear 25.79, 3 - 1 Kerry took the first set 2-0 then Neil changed gears and stormed through the next 3 sets all 2 - 0.

Men's Semi-finals: Best of seven (7) sets each set 501 best of 5.
1st semi-final: Kyle Anderson 27.34 defeated Kim Lewis 25.97, 4 - 1 this was a far better match than appears on paper Kyle won the 1st set 3 - 2 and the 2nd 3 - 0 Kim fought back to take the 3rd set 3 - 2 Kyle then pushed on to win the 4th & 5th sets 3 - 1 a very good game by Kim but a better one from Kyle.
2nd semi-final: Neil Hembrow 28.04 defeated Tony David 27.08, 3 - 2 a fantastic game to watch, this is the type of game they pay big bucks to watch in England. Tony won the 1st set 3 - 1 he was showing a lot of his old skills on the board after such a long lay off with a debilitating illness, Tony then grabbed the 2nd set 3 - 2, Neil fought back in the 3rd set to take it 3 - 1, Tony however stormed back in the 4th to claim it 3 - 0. At this stage it looked like Tony was going to come back from 2 years of severe illness and claim a spot in the final remarkable. Neil however is not one to lay down easily, in the 5th set after his 5th walk Tony had 4 left, Neil toed the oche on his 5th walk and put 144 to sleep and went on to win the set 3 - 0. 6th set and Tony claims the first 2 legs Neil then strikes back again claiming the next 3 legs and the set 3 - 2. 7th and final set Neil claims the first 2 legs Tony the 3rd before Neil puts the 4th to bed and claims the game. Brilliant darts by both players.

Men's Final: Best of nine (9) sets each set 501 best of 5.
This should be one hell of a game both players are in my opinion among the top 10/15 players in the DFA.
Neil starts well with a 180 and claims the 1st set 3 - 1 the result of the 2nd set is the same, Kyle hits back in the 3rd set claiming it 3 - 1, Neil comes back to claim the 4th set 3 - 2, Kyle gets it all together in the 5th to take it 3 - 1 and storms through the 6th set 3 - 0, Neil then settles to take the 7th set 3 - 1 and then slips into another gear to claim the 8th set 3 - 0 what a brilliant game. I always think at a time like this that it is a pity there has to be a loser. Neil Hembrow inaugural West Coast Classic Men's Champion. 5 - 3.
Averages: Neil Hembrow 26.97pd - 84.16, Kyle Anderson 26.67pd - 83.09.

79 x 180s: Neil Hembrow 8; Kyle Anderson, Darryl Plowman 7, Dave Methven, Tony David, David Platt 6, Beau Anderson, Kim Lewis, Murray Penn, Kerry Whear 5, Justin Miles 4, Ron Joyce 3, Harvey Mayall, Steve Doherty, Ryan Penn 2, Denis Parr, Henry Forman, Steve Sutcliffe, Michael Andrzejewski, David Sawyer and Darren Batchelor 1 each.
15 x 100+ pegouts: highest 160 Dave Methven.
Best Junior Boy: Conan Ugle.

Saturday 6th February West Coast Classic Ladies and Men's Open Doubles.
Fourteen pairs contested the ladies open doubles:
Ladies Open Doubles:
Winners: Natalie Carter 64.93 & Carol Forward 61.60;
Finalist Louise Ball 62.52 & Dot McLeod 57.15;
Equal Third Jodie Hislop 61.06 & Kim Kelly 60.69; Jucinta Dann 68.85 & Shirley Corker 38.75;
Equal Fifth Jan Matthews & Gillian Methven; Julie Clarke & Julie Thomas; Pam Burr & Kerry Crowdey; Stephanie Moriarty & Deb Powell;
10 x 180s: Jodie Hislop 3, Kerry Crowdey, Dot McLeod 2, Pam Burr, Natalie Carter & Louise Ball 1 each.
4 x 100+ pegouts: highest 147 Annette Evans.

Twenty-two pairs contested the men's open doubles.
Men's Open Doubles:
Winners Kerry Whear 82.51 & Harvey Mayall 85.65; [left]
Finalists Neil Hembrow 82.41 & Lindsay Haji Ali 74.52; [image below]
Equal Third Kyle Anderson 86.38 & Beau Anderson 86.50; Henry Forman 69.26 & Denis Parr 60.25;
Equal Fifth Paul Adams & Michael Andrzejewski; Murray Penn & Darryl Plowman; Grant Dobson & Mick Smith; Justin Miles & Jamie Miles;
33 x 180s: Kerry Whear 8, Neil Hembrow 4, Dave Platt, Beau Anderson 3, Justin Miles, Paul Adams, Lindsay Haji Ali, Kim Lewis, Kyle Anderson 2, Dave Methven, Clifton Beauchamp, Harvey Mayall, Ryan Penn and Keith Mills 1 each.
12 x 100+ pegouts: highest 160 N Hembrow.

This was the first time we have staged the West Coast Classic. It would have been extremely difficult to have staged this event with out the generous donation of $5000.00 by one of our own players Ms Colleen Praetz as sponsorship for the singles events. We in the Council and all players are forever indebted to you for you kind and unselfish generosity.
I would also like to thank Shane Bubb and Darren Grayson who come to our rescue on Friday morning so that we could get the gear up stairs and set up my thanks also to the ladies that came and helped with getting things done (just always seems to be that small group of us) also to those that came to help later when they could get away from work. My grateful thanks also to those that come to help on Sunday Shane, Rick, Gayle & Ted plus everyone else who pitched in THANK YOU ALL.

Formats' used in this event have not been used in an event like this in Australia before to the best of my knowledge.
Funny strange thing was it went off even better than we thought it would.
I/we knew that there would be opposition to this form of competition from a small vocal group that do not want change that means more open competition to their standing. Round Robin formats' started the opposition and now that a new form of play has been put forward the opposition started even before a dart had been thrown and before the format could be proved to work or fail.
We as a committee have not yet met to make any decisions with regards the format used at this years West Coast Classic but this I can tell you and that is that going by the reaction of all but a couple of players the players themselves loved it and want more of it. All we need to do is refine things a bit and it's a goer.
The committee would also like to extend their thanks to the ladies from Qld, SA and Vic who came to compete we loved having you and your input and I look forward to catching up with you in Gosford and getting some of your opinions. Carol's I already know straight knockouts or nothing.
To the fella's what's wrong? Couldn't have been the airfares they are now cheaper than 10 years ago.

My thanks to Gloucester Park WATA for the use of the premises to all of the committee for your help care and assistance thanks heaps love ya all.

Till I catch ya on the oche next year
Good Luck, Good Darts and Good Health.
BG

 

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