Peters Champion Again.
Day four of the 25th Puma Australian Darts Championships at the Living Waters School in Alice Springs ended with Australia’s World Youth Cup Representative Brie Peters claiming her third Australian Girls Singles title. She won the title from a field of twenty-eight top youth girls in Australia.
Peters claims title No.3
 Brie Peters (right), representing Queensland for the 4th time became the 2006 Australian Junior Girl’s Singles Darts Champion when she defeated fellow Queenslander and Australian Doubles partner Raylee Parsons 3 – 1 in the final.
Peters who hails from Toowoomba and is just fifteen years of age again showed her class today to throw the bid darts when she had to today. She had some challenges along the way but was able to succeed all of these challenges to come through again. She is only the second girl from Queensland to win this title, the other being Kim Fels back in 1989. Peters has represented Queensland at this level four times and once at senior level and has already claimed three singles titles. The opportunity is still there for her to compete at another two Championships, so who is to say how many singles titles she may end up winning by the time she turns 18. What a wonderful talent.
There appeared to be plenty of nervous tension for these two seasoned campaigners in the final. Neither of them could get their full game going like they had shown in previous games throughout the day. I don’t know if it was because they are close friends or because of the situation they were in – an Australian title up for grabs. Peters had the lead of shot and they matched each other shot for shot with some steady scoring. Parsons won the first leg with a nice 63 finish giving her the first break. With Parsons away first in the second leg, Peters scored a little more heavily and was down to a finish first. She wasted a few darts trying to finish the leg giving Parsons the opportunity to get down to the double. She had a chance at finishing from 32 but missed. At this stage Peters could not finish from 4 but on her next shot she tied the final at 1 – 1. The third leg again saw both players going shot for shot, and again both missed chances at finishing the leg but they could not find that elusive double. Final Peters hit double two again and the leg was hers. The fourth leg saw both players hit some big scores mixed in with some lesser scores. It was a real battle for both of them. Again wasted shots at the double, yet Peters managed to hit double five to claim the leg and the title.
 Disappointment for Parsons I’m sure. These two have played each other many times before in Queensland and perhaps next year she will have another chance. She has improved greatly over the last three years competing at these championships. (left – Parsons & Peters)
The semi finals were a lot closer than the scores indicated. The first semi final saw Peters defeat South Australia’s Simon Keogh 3 – 0. Both players matched each other for scoring but the difference between the two players was the cleaner finishing of Peters. Keogh had her chances in the second leg which she was the lead off player in but missed a couple of shots at the double. These misses gave Peters an opening and she took advantage of those opportunities. We the lead off darts in the third leg she scored reasonably well to have first shot at the double which she hit to move into the final.
In the second semi final, Parson started a little slowly, struggling to find the big scores. Her opponent was Western Australian Tarmeka Nestor. This Nestor’s second appearance at a national championships and her she was in a singles semi final. Nestor was scoring just a little better than Parsons, but both wasted darts when they were down at the double. From this point on Parsons stepped up the scoring and finishing to claim the next two legs with finishes of 40 and 60 to advance. Score 3 – 0 to Parsons.
Quarter final scores:
Brie Peters defeated Emily Austin 3 – 1
Raylee Parsons defeated Chelsea Owens 3 – 1
Simone Keogh defeated Kylie Walker 3 – 2
Tarmeka Nestor defeated Penny Gritty 3 – 0
The Girls qualified for the quarterfinals by either topping the seven-player ‘pool’ or placing second. There were four ‘pools’ and each player in each ‘pool’ played a round robin against all players in that ‘pool’
‘Pool A’ had Brie Peters (QLD) (6 wins-12 legs) finishing top and Tarmeka Nestor (WA) (5-10) second advance to the quarterfinals. ‘Pool B’ had Simone Keogh (SA) (6-12) topping the pool, with Chelsae Owens (QLD) second (4-9). Raylee Parsons (QLD) (6 wins-12 legs) finished in first place with New South Wales Kyle Walker (5-10) second. Final group ‘Pool D’ saw Victoria’s Penny Gritty (6-12) finish the round robin undefeated topping the pool, with Emily Austin (NSW) (4-8) filling the final quarter final spot after defeating Queensland’s Kayla Kennedy in tiebreaker as they were equal on points and legs at the end of the round robin.
Girl’s Competition
Winner Brie Peters (QLD)
Finalist Raylee Parsons (QLD)
Equal 3rd Simone Keogh (SA)
Tarmeka Nestor (WA
Equal 5th Emily Austin (NSW)
Chelsea Owens (QLD)
Penny Gritty (VIC)
Kylie Walker (NSW)
Congratulations Brie Peters – Australian Singles Champion
Clegg has a big future
Young Mitchell Clegg from Mayfield in Sydney won his first Australian Junior Darts Singles title today when he defeated Dwayne Seabourne of Tasmania
3 - 0. Clegg at the ripe old age of 15 years has nearly down everything you can on the dart board over the past few years including winning open tournaments and finishing twice on the maximum finish in competition. Representing New South Wales for the fourth time, this young man is a dedicated player and will be a great player for many years to come.
 Clegg (pictured right) has had limited success in this event over his four-year career at Australian Junior Darts Championships although showing plenty of potential. It took him a few years to finally clinch this title after being eliminated by previous champions like Kyle Anderson for a number of years. 2006 was his year and he put in a magnificent day of darts to clinch his first singles title.
Clegg averaged 30.06 per dart in his victory over Seabourne (22.686). An average that would win an Australian Senior Singles title. When the final started you could hear a pin drop in the hall. Everyone was anticipating a great match with both receiving plenty of support when the final was underway. Seabourne lost last year’s final to Anderson and represented Australia at the World Youth Cup in Perth last September and everyone was marveling at the ability of both players. Both players started strongly matching each other’s scores until the fourth walk. Clegg hit a 180 putting the pressure on Seabourne. It would not have mattered what he hit as Clegg finished off the first leg which he started with a 47 finish with two darts. Clegg powered up again in the second leg to score brilliantly. After 15 darts he was sitting on 32. He busted with his first dart on his next shot and it took him from then on another five darts to take the leg. Seabourne had a shot at finishing but did not capitalize on the situation. Leg three and this time Clegg started a little slowly. Two scores of 60 before hitting 140, 100 and a fantastic 141 finish to win the title in three straight legs. He had finished the final with the highest ever-recorded average and the final was all over in just eight minutes and thirty eight seconds. Incredible.
 Seabourne (left) had thrown great darts all day and although disappointed he must have been happy with his performance. For the second year in a row he has been pipped in the final. This was the third year in a row a Tasmanian had missed winning the final with Rhys Mathewson just missing out in 2004. Unfortunately for Seabourne he will not have another opportunity at this title, as he will be too old to compete in these championships next year.
The semi finals saw some great action. Both finalists had to defeat a rookie at these Championships to make the final. Seabourne had to defeat Western Australia’s Clive Curley (17 years) which he did 3 – 1. Both struggled to finish in the first leg which Seabourne claimed. Curley fought straight back taking leg two in 21 darts. Seabourne finished leg three with Curley sitting on double twenty. The fourth leg saw Seabourne out scored by Curley but failed to finish giving Seabourne a shot at the double. Seabourne finished on four to move into the final. This was Curley’s first Championships and unfortunately his last, yet he can be very proud of his performance. He comes from Meekatharra and has only had the one opportunity to represent Western Australia due to the distance he lives away from Perth.
The other second semi final saw 14-year-old Rookie Michael Cassar from Victoria take it right up to Clegg early in this final. Clegg won the first leg in 17-darts, but was out scored by Cassar in the second leg. Cassar missed his chance here, missing the double on two walks. Clegg claimed it finishing on double 1. Leg three and Clegg’s scoring was off a little but his finishing was not. He finished from 56 to move into the final.
On a side point, both these two rookies that lost their semi finals have well know parents on the Australian dart scene. Michael Cassar is the son of Janine Cassar and Clive Curley is the son of Darryl Curley. Both have been involved in finals at Australian Senior Darts Championships.
Quarter Final Scores
Michael Cassar defeated Thomas Fitzgerald 3 – 2
Mitchell Clegg defeated Adam Hawkshaw 3 – 0
Clive Curley defeated Kayne Wyatt 3 – 0
Dwayne Seabourne defeated Nathan Shelley 3 - 0
The boy’s competition was very tight in three Pools. In “Pool A’ Thomas Fitzgerald (QLD) (5wins-10 legs) topped the group with just one lose and Western Australia’s Brendan Phillips (4 - 11) placing second after throwing a great tie breaking leg against Nathan Shelley of Victoria to advance to the quarter finals. Mitchell Clegg (6-12) was undefeated in ‘Pool B’ and Kayne Wyatt (WA) (4 - 8) also made it through after defeating South Australia’s Luke Warren in another tiebreaker. ‘Pool C’ was really tight as well. Clive Curley (WA) (5-10) ended up on top while Kyle Munro (NSW) (4 - 7) just two legs behind Adam Hawkshaw (QLD) who had 4 wins and 9 legs eliminated in another tiebreaker. Dwayne Seabourne (TAS) (6 - 12) topped ‘Pool D’ with Victorian rookie Michael Cassar (5-11) also advanced.
Boy’s Competition
Winner Mitchell Clegg (NSW)
Finalist Dwayne Seabourne (TAS)
Equal 3rd Clive Curley (WA)
Michael Cassar (VIC)
Equal 5th Kayne Wyatt (WA)
Thomas Fitzgerald (QLD)
Adam Hawkshaw (QLD
Nathan Shelley (VIC)
Congratulations Mitchell Clegg – Australian Singles Champion
Friday sees the Mixed Doubles being played and Saturday the best girl and boy from each state participate in the Australian Youth Masters to complete a wonderful six days of junior darts.
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