Queensland just to strong in Junior Darts Teams Events

Queensland Junior Girl's Darts Teams continue to dominate the 25th Puma Australian Junior Darts Championships at the Living Waters Primary School in Alice Springs today. The Teams competitions was completed today with the Queensland Girls Teams winning back the title of Australian Girls Teams Champions after losing the title to New South Wales last year in Tasmania. Prior to last year they had won the title three years in a row.

Queensland are the new Australian Junior Darts Teams Champions with a dominant performance from them. They took on every State and Territory and managed to defeat all of them. And they did it with relative ease. The only close match they had was against South Australia, winning 5 - 4. That was the first round this morning and South Australia had to win this match to give themselves a shot at the title and give all the others a chance as well. That Queensland victory seeled the title for them with two rounds of competition to play. The Northern territory girl's put some pressure on them in the next round but lost 6 - 3. The final round saw Queensland have the bye.

Captain Leonie Campbell was in charge of this team for the fourth time and was assisted by second year Manager Rosemary McLeod and the players did them both proud. They were Brie Peters, Chelsea Owens, Raylee Parsons and Kayla Kennedy (Pictured above)

Campbell said after the match, "This is fantastic. We are elated at the success of the Girls. Full credit must go to these girls who came away fully prepared for any challenge. They have great team spirit and support for each other. Brie and Raylee being experienced at this level were a great inspiration for our two rookies Chelsea and Kayla. Chelsea is definitely a player to watch at future Championships."

"I could not have asked any more of the players. They gave me 100%" said McLeod.

A very tight Girls Teams Championship between the other states. Second place went to the defending Champions. New South Wales lost two games yesterday, which only gave them a slim chance of reclaiming the title. Today they played great darts winning all three of their remaining games against Tasmania, South Australia and Northern Territory. They could not accomplish any more than they did today. Captain Janelle Wilson was in charge of this team for the second time as was the Manager Teresa Hore a former junior representative herself and the players did them both proud. They were Kylie Walker, Hannah Williams, Kayla Holland, Amy Clegg and Emily Austin.

Victoria placed third with three wins and three loses. They had close contests with all teams and with the experience gained over the last few years may see them in contention for the title in 2007 in Sydney. June Sinclair in her 20th year has Captain lead the team with Shirley McKinley assisting her as Manager. Players were Jessie Breneizeris who leaves the team after this year, Penny Gritty, Emily Wills, and Nicole King who all have the chance to compete next year.

Fourth place went to South Australia (3 wins), fifth to Western Australian (3 wins), sixth to Tasmania (2 wins), and seventh to Northern Territory (0 wins).

Girls Day 2 Results: (Round by Round)
New South Wales: (TAS 5 - 4) (SA 6 - 3) (NT 8 - 1)
Northern Territory: (Bye) (QLD 3 - 6) (NSW 1 - 8)
Queensland: (SA 5 - 4) (NT 6 - 3) (Bye)
South Australia: (QLD 4 - 5) (NSW 3 - 6) (VIC 5 - 4)
Tasmania: (NSW 4 - 5) (VIC 3 - 6) (WA 3 - 6)
Victoria: (WA 7 - 2) (TAS 6 - 3) (SA 4 - 5)
Western Australia: (VIC 2 - 7) (Bye) (TAS 6 - 3)

Tasmania wins Boy's Teams Event for First Time.

The Tasmanian Boy's clinched the Australian Junior Boy's Teams Event for the very first time here in Alice Springs. These Championships started back in 1980 and the Tasmanian Boy's have been close on several other occasions but 2006 sees them successful at long last. They have had a great battle with Western Australia over the last two days.

Day 2 of this event saw both Tasmania and Western Australia enter the competition undefeated. Both won their opening round today - Tasmania against New South Wales and Western Australia against Victoria. Round six saw Western Australia have the bye, so they could sit back and watch the action between Tasmania and Victoria. A shock for Tasmania with the Victorians throwing brilliant darts to defeated Tasmania 5 - 4.

This left the final round of the competition. Tasmania had to defeat Western Australia to win the title as they had won more legs than Western Australia through the earlier rounds. Western Australia had to defeat Tasmania to win the title and to remain undefeated. After the four pairs legs, the two Teams were locked at 2 - 2. The singles legs were the deciders. Tasmania won three of the four singles to give them a 5 - 3 lead and enough for victory. Western Australia won the teams leg to give the final score of 5 - 4 to Tasmania. This gave Tasmania victory by just four points, finishing with 5 wins and 39 legs to Western Australia's 5 wins 34 legs.

Tasmanian Captain Robbie Walker said, "It has been a hard two days of darts competition wise, as well as having to withstand the extreme heat for us. The Tasmanian Boy's approached the dart board with confidence and determination this year. The Boy's said to me earlier in the week "If we are ever going to win a Teams Event, this would be the year." The boys have been very supportive of each other all week and have really banded as a Team both on and off the board. This is great for Tassie DARTS".

"I am so proud of all off our players. They are simply fantastic. They are so easy to manage and they all played well through out this event. " said Walker. "The Teams Event is a top competition and every State wants to win this one and we have in 2006."

The players representing Tasmania (picture above) were Dwayne Seabourne, Rhys Mathewson, Brad Thorp and Sean Methven and all have competed at this level for previous years. Jamie Hales did not get a throw in this event but he was still part of their Team. It was the last year at this level for Australian World Youth Cup player Dwayne Seabourne, Rhys Mathewson and Brad Thorp.

The Western Australian Team was Captained by Betty Hislop, and the players consisted of Robert Carpanoni, Brendan Phillips, Clive Curley, Kayne Wyatt and Quentin Phillips placed second with only the one loss to Tasmania. Apart from Tassie, the Western Australia boys were rarely challenged on the scoreboard.

Third place saw a tie between was New South Wales and Victoria (4 wins - 31 legs). The remaining three States, Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland recorded one win each. (Northern Territory defeated Queensland, South Australia defeated Northern Territory and Queensland defeated South Australia)

Boys Day 2 Results: (Round by Round)
New South Wales: (TAS 3 - 6) (SA 6 - 3) (NT 9 - 0)
Northern Territory: (Bye) (QLD 5- 4) (NSW 0 - 9)
Queensland: (SA 5 - 4) (NT 4 - 5) (Bye)
South Australia: (QLD 4 - 5) (NSW 3 - 6) (VIC 3 - 6)
Tasmania: (NSW 6 - 3) (VIC 4 - 5) (WA 5 - 4)
Victoria: (WA 4 - 5) (TAS 5 - 4) (VIC 6 - 3)
Western Australia: (VIC 5 - 4) (Bye) (TAS 4 - 5)