Australian International Darts Players Tony David and Dot McLeod (below) have started 2005 in fine form winning the first ranked event on the W.A.D.C. Inc calendar. The "Cooby" Open event was contested this year on Sunday 27th February, and carried both DFA & WADC Rankings on the Coolbellup Hotel Ladies and Men's Singles. Being the first open of the year it was very well attended with player numbers up on 2004 and there were plenty of supporters in attendance to enjoy the action.

Ladies
The ladies open attracted a field of 36 entrants. Who were drawn on to eight boards 4 x 5 and 4 x 4, with board winners only to go through to the quarterfinals. Ladies game format: 501 best of 5 during the board draw, 501 best of 5 in the quarterfinal, 501 best of 7 in the semi-final and 501 best of 9 during the final.

With one (1) ranked player allocated to each board it would have seemed that it would be a rather easy task for them to go through as board winners, however there were quite a few excellent games during the board round robins, with most board results being decided by play-off's or on the very last game.

First quarterfinal: Dot McLeod v Michelle Whitehead.
Though the score line may indicate that this was an easy game for McLeod, it was anything but that Whitehead played very solid darts through out the match and McLeod had to be right up on her own game to claim the match 3 - 1.
Averages: McLeod: 20.79 per dart. Whitehead: 16.42 per dart.

Second quarterfinal: Samara Ash v Kath Berecz.
A great game to watch this one. Both ladies played some top darts and took the match the full distance to the tiebreaker with Ash claiming the match 3 - 2 after Berecz missed 35 out.
Averages: Ash: 17.98 per dart. Berecz: 17.87 per dart.

Third quarterfinal: Natalie Carter v Lauren West.
Another of those games where the score line belies the actual game. West really put it to Carter (left) and though she ended up being defeated 3 - 0 she did in fact leave herself on a peg in each game.
Averages: Carter: 19.52 per dart. West: 18.44 per dart.

Fourth quarterfinal: Colleen Praetz v Jenny Ransley.
This in fact was a ripper game to watch. Ransley hit the oche on fire and reeled off the first two games and looked set for a white washy over Praetz. Games however can change very fast, in the third leg Jenny missed a 56 out to let Praetz in and claim the leg with a 22 out. Then in the fourth leg Ransley left herself 40 only to watch Praetz smack in a top 123 out and tie the match. The fifth leg was really tight score wise Praetz threw excellent darts to be on a peg (115) on her sixth walk, it was to take her another 4 walks to claim the match 3 - 2 after Ransley failed to put away 35.
Averages: Praetz: 18.74 per dart. Ransley: 18.99 per dart.

First semi-final: Dot McLeod v Samara Ash.
McLeod burnt the board during this match, she was awesome and in a hurry winning the match with 6 walks, 7 walks, 6 walks, losing in 7 walks and winning again in 8 walks and along the way hitting a 180 and putting 103 to sleep. Even though McLeod was burning the board Ash was far from out of the game claiming the fourth leg on her 8th walk and taking the game right up to McLeod.
Averages: McLeod: 25.15 per dart. Ash: 20.78 per dart.

Second semi-final; Natalie Carter v Colleen Praetz.
While McLeod was burning her board Carter was doing a darned good job of scorching her board, with winning walks of 8,6,7 and 7, she also was in one hell of a hurry. Praetz (right) though never gave in and claimed the second leg on her 10th walk.
Averages: Carter: 22.64 per dart. Praetz: 15.92 per dart.

Final: Dot McLeod v Natalie Carter.
Great game for the spectators with some great darts being thrown. McLeod hit the boards running and reeled off the first two games with 7 and 6 walks. Carter hit back in the third to claim it on her 10th walk and should have claimed the next on her 6th walk to tie the games, McLeod however was able to steal the leg and then claim the next two and the points for the third year in succession. During the match McLeod hit 12 x 100+ scores with Carter hitting 8.
Averages: McLeod: 21.95 per dart. Carter: 19.29 per dart.

Winner: Dot McLeod.
Runner-up: Natalie Carter.
Equal Third: Samara Ash and Colleen Praetz.
Equal Fifth: Michelle Whitehead, Kath Berecz, Lauren West and Jenny Ransley.

Men
Fifty-seven (57) men nominated for the open and they were drawn on eight boards 7 x 7 and
1 x 8. Format for the game during the round robin stage and quarterfinals 501 x best of seven legs.
Semi-finals 501 x best of 9 legs and final 501 x best of 11 legs. Once again with a ranked player drawn to each board, getting through to the quarterfinals was not going to be easy, and once again as with the ladies several boards where not decided until the very last game or after a play-off.

First quarterfinal: Tony David v John Rodd.
David hit the board smokin; he claimed the 1st leg on his 5th walk with a 150 out and the 2nd on his 5th walk with a 74 out and the 3rd with a 20 out on his 6th walk. Rodd hit back to claim the 4th leg with a 90 out on his 5th walk. David however was not about to give up the match and claimed it in the next game 4 - 1.
Averages: David: 31.12 per dart. Rodd: 24.93 per dart.

Second quarterfinal: Harvey Mayall v Brad Austen.
An excellent game for the spectators with some great games of darts throw the highlight of which was Austen's (right) 4th leg win; 100, 140, 100 and 161 out. Austen went on to win the match 4 - 1 with walks of 6, 6, 4 and 8. Mayall's win in the 2nd leg was in 6 walks.
Averages: Austen: 28.33 per dart. Mayall: 24.83 per dart.

Third quarterfinal: Graham Hunt v Cyril Councillor.
Councillor hails from Geraldton "Midwest Association" and has been making his presence known over the last couple of years as he can match it with the best of them. It looked at one stage as if he was going to pull off a real boil over being two games to one up and on a peg in the 4th leg, Hunt had other ideas though and pulled of the save to level the games at 2 each. Once again in the 5th leg Councillor had the chance to take the lead but wires cost him and again Hunt saved his backside. The 6th leg was locked on scores all the way through but Hunt had advantage of the shot and put 40 away to claim the match 4 - 2.
Averages: Hunt: 23.86 per dart. Councillor: 24.31 per dart.

Fourth quarterfinal: Colin Hucker v Kim Lewis.
This was a top match to watch and went game for game with neither player seeming to be able to get the upper hand, with the games tied at 3 each the tie-breaker 7th leg was played. Lewis (left) finally hit his straps in this one and claimed it on his 5th walk with a 118 out.
Averages: Lewis: 26.35 per dart. Hucker: 24.40 per dart.

First semi-final: Tony David v Brad Austen.
David skipped away with the first 3 legs all on his 6th walk before Austen hit back claiming the next 2 on his 7th and 6th walks, David then fired up again to claim the next 2 legs and the match on his 6th walks.
Averages: David: 28.51 per dart. Austen: 25.68 per dart.

Second semi-final: Graham Hunt v Kim Lewis.
Hunt and Lewis gave the spectators a real exhibition of darts during this match and though Lewis left himself on a peg in 4 of the 5 legs he just could not find the gap between the wires while Hunt couldn't miss. Hunt's match 5 - 0.
Averages: Hunt: 28.16 per dart. Lewis: 26.71 per dart.

Final: Tony David v Graham Hunt. (right)
Hunt hit the oche smokin in the 1st leg and should have claimed it in 12 darts but he eventually claimed it in 19. David then moved into overdrive and reeled off the next 5 legs with walks of 5, 5, 4, 5 and 6, the 4th leg being the highlight, 140, 140, 99 and 122 out. Hunt struck back claiming the next 2 legs on his 6th and 7th walks with a 111 out in the 8th leg. 9th leg and David started slowly while Hunt was hitting the scores, then David come back from the dead with scores of 140 and 180 to leave 36, Hunt left 80 after hitting 54, David stepped up requiring 36 for the match and the points but walked away needing 18, Hunt then left himself 7 after a couple of unlucky darts only to watch David hit the required 18 and claim the points for his third successive year.
Averages: David: 27.13 per dart. Hunt: 25.63 per dart.

Winner: Tony David.
Runner-up: Graham Hunt.
Equal Third: Brad Austen and Kim Lewis.
Equal Fifth: John Rodd, Harvey Mayall, Cyril Councillor and Colin Hucker.

76 x 180s were recorded on the day. Justin Miles x 7, K. Whear x 5, K. Lewis x 5,
C. Hucker x 4,
B. Anderson x 4, J. Rodd x 4, G. Hunt x 4, T. David x 4, H. Mayall x 3, E. Green x 3,
T. Phillips x 2,
C. Councillor x 2, C. Austen x 2, B. Mickle x 2, H. Searle x 2, B. Phillips, S. Sutcliffe, A. Aird,
P. Sutton, I. Hisa, J. Butao, M. Wieland, K. Dunn, J. Narkle, Jamie Miles, B. Austen, O. Ford,
S. Taylor, H. Forman, S. Nicolas, G. Sawyer, D. Whear, G. Dann, W. Battersby,
D. Heta, J. Haebick and G. Duffy x 1 each.

35 x 100+ peg-outs were also recorded with the highest being 164 by
George Omond.

Special thanks to Kevin Reynolds and his staff at the "Cooby" for his continued support of the Council our sport of darts and Sponsorship of The Coolbellup Open, the staff always do a great job of looking after us and we look forward to our trips down there.

To all the players that attended, great stuff, numbers were well up on last year and your behaviour and sportsmanship displayed throughout the day was outstanding, It was great to see so many of the junior and "B" players participating and giving the name players a real run for their money.

Thanks also to Don and Pat for their continuing support and encouragement. We wish you all the best during the Legends Australia Championships in October.

To Betty, Agnes, Jasmine and Lorraine my thanks for your on going assistance at all events.

Congratulations to the winners both McLeod and Tony have won the event for the past 3 years and that is not as easy as it may seem when you have a look at the players that they have to face each time.

Until next time I catch ya on the boards.
Good health, good luck and good darts.
BG