Holland backs up doubles titles
New South Wales player Guy Holland (right) has gone back-to-back by winning the 2009 Australian Junior Darts Doubles titles at the Central Districts Football Club in Adelaide. He had a very experienced partner last year, but in 2009 he was the experienced one.
Australian Junior Boys Doubles
The round robin competition is split into two pools, which resulted in some very close competition in the boy's event. Pool 'A' saw a very close competition with Western Australia's Gavin Dann and Sean Methven winning all of their matches (5 wins 10 legs) to move straight into the finals. Joining them in the finals from this Pool was Tasmanians Liam Philpott and Nathan Seabourne (4 wins 8 legs). They lost matches to the Western Australian pair and Victorians Joe Ennor and John Tuhi. That was not enough to qualify for the semi finals automatically though. They had to win a tiebreaker against Queensland's Stuart Wright and Harleee Chauntler Pool 'B' was a little more closer with all pairings losing at least one match. At the end off the round robin New South Wales pair Luke Sipple and Guy Holland finished with four wins (4 wins 10 legs), the same amount of wins as the Queensland pair of Peter Moretti and Aaron Marsh and Western Australia's Blake Hatchett and Deon Wyatt (4 wins 9 legs). This also meant that these three pairs would need to play a tiebreaker to see who would claim the number one placing. Starting from 1001 Blake Hatchett and Deon Wyatt were first to hit the winning double to finish top of the pool and Luke Sipple and Guy Holland finishing second making them the second qualifier from this pool to contest the semi finals.
With the completion of the preliminary rounds the semi finals in the Australian Junior Boy's Doubles were:
Gavin Dann & Sean Methven (WA) v Luke Sipple & Guy Holland (NSW)
Blake Hatchett & Deon Wyatt(WA) v Liam Philpott & Nathan Seabourne (TAS)
The first semi final saw a very close contest that went the full distance. The Western Australian pair were away first and immediately lost the advantage when they lost the first leg. The second pegout by Holland saw the New South Wales pair take a 2 - 0 lead. Dann and Methven are experienced players at this level and fought back strongly to even up the match at 2 - 2. The deciding leg saw Dann hit his second 180 for the semi final, but that would not be enough. Some brilliant scoring by Luke Sipple saw them take the advantage in this leg and for the third time his partner in Guy Holland hit the double to take the contest.
The second semi saw a one sided result but the match was a lot closer than what the score line indicated. Blake Hatchett and Deon Wyatt (left) won through 3 - 0 over Liam Philpott and Nathan Seabourne from Tasmania. The opening leg went against the darts to the pairing of Hatchett and Wyatt. The second leg saw Philpott play a brilliant leg hitting the triple twenty with each throw, but Wyatt was able to match him and hit the winning double to take a 2 - 0 lead. The Tassie Pair were desperate now to win the third leg to stay in the contest but the WA pair had other ideas and had first crack at the double finishing from 60 to clinch a spot in the final with the Tasmanian's left sitting on double tops.
Boys Doubles Semi Final Averages
1st Semi Final
Luke Sipple 23.210 & Guy Holland 22.464 (NSW)
Gavin Dann 20.929 & Sean Methven 20.968 (WA)
2nd Semi Final
Blake Hatchett 17.750 & Deon Wyatt 21.614 (WA)
Liam Philpott 21.396 & Nathan Seabourne 15.378 (TAS)
The final would be contested by pairings from the same Pool for a shot at the title. The Final was shaping up to be a cracker with the Western Australian's being slight favourites as the topped the pool at the end of the round robin and they defeated the pairing of Holland and Sipple (right) 2 - 1 in those qualifying rounds. Unfortunately for the Western Australian pair of Hatchett and Wyatt came up against a pair in pretty consistent form. New South Wales players Sipple and Holland performed a great display of accurate darts. The first leg saw the New South Wales pair finish in 26 darts with Holland finish from 24 with two darts. The second leg saw Holland repeat his opening shots of 140 and 100 he threw in the first leg and Sipple slipped in a 121 with his second shot to give them a good lead heading for the double. However Holland missed double 18 at his fourth walk for the leg to give Hatchett and Wyatt a chance at the leg which they missed out on. Sipple hit the winning double to see the NSW pair take a 2 - 0 lead. The third leg saw the pressure rise on all players. The darts were accurate but the big scores went missing a little. Holland again was able to hit the double which was enough to inflict the second break of throw on the Western Australian's and give Holland and Sipple a third leg and the title. This was Holland's second Australian Youth Pairs title previously winning in Perth in 2008 partnering Mitchell Clegg.
Boys Doubles Final Averages
Luke Sipple (NSW) 19.949
Guy Holland (NSW) 21.674
Blake Hatchett (WA) 16.769
Deon Wyatt (WA) 22.000
Australian Junior Girls Doubles
The Girl's were not to be out down by the Boy's. Their competition was just as close. In Pool "A" a tie breaker was not required to determine the winner of the pool. At the completion of the round robin Queensland's Rebecca Webster and Elle Ward finished in second place after losing just one round 2 - 0 to the Tasmanian pair of Lauren Seabourne and Kristen Gatty (left) who finished on top of the Pool undefeated. The tightness of the competition was shown in this Pool with every combination winning at least one round.
Makayla Hatch and Leah McNicol from Queensland finished in top place in Pool "B" after losing just one round to the Western Australian pairing of Gillian Methven and Teagan Wyatt. A tiebreaker was required to separate the two and determine that top place after both combinations had finished with 4 wins and 8 legs. The Western Australian pair lost their only qualifying round match to the Chloe Hoskinson and Hayley Smith of Tasmania. As in Pool A in this Pool B every pairing won at least one round.
With the completion of the preliminary rounds the semi finals for the Australian Junior Girl's Doubles were:
Makayla Hatch & Leah McNicol (QLD) v Rebecca Webster & Ella Ward (QLD)
Lauren Seabourne & Kristen Gatty (TAS) v Gillian Methven & Teagan Wyatt (WA)
The first semi final saw the two Queensland Pairings playing off against each other. Legs went with darts for the first four legs. A tiebreaking leg was required to separate the two. The Webster Ward combination were away first in the decider, and throughout the whole leg, both pairs were matching each other score wise. With Hatch and McNicol ready to take the leg sitting on 32, Ward pegged 47 to stake their place in the final. It's hard playing your teammates in a competition like this, but both pairs played some great darts in this semi final.
The second semi final saw the pairing that took their opportunities win the legs. Both pairs missed chances at the doubles after both pairings were matching each other when scoring. The Tasmanian pair of Lauren Seabourne and Kristen Gatty took the match 3 - 1 but the result could have easily been the other way round. Gillian Methven and Teagan Wyatt just missed their chances, especially at the double.
Girls Doubles Semi Final Averages
1st Semi Final
Makayla Hatch 18.914 & Leah McNicol 14.119 QLD)
Rebecca Webster 16.978 & Ella Ward 16.593 (QLD)
2nd Semi Final
Lauren Seabourne 13.466 & Kristen Gatty 13.928 (TAS)
Gillian Methven 15.176 & Teagan Wyatt 15.127 (WA)
The Grand Final was played by some nervous Girl's in front of a large crowd. It was the last match of the day and both pairings had come out of pool "A". Webster and Ward were away first and back-to-back 140's by Webster saw them with the early advantage. The Queenslander's won the first leg after both players missed a few darts at the double. The second leg saw Tasmanian Lauren Seabourne hit the big scores while her partner Kristen Gatty finished off the leg with a 48 pegout to square up the final. Leg three saw Ward and Webster out score their opponents and they powered ahead towards the double. They could not find that leg winner immediately though giving the Tasmanians a slight chance, but after just setting up for a shot at the double Webster claimed the leg by finishing from 10. Leg four and a must win for the Tasmanians. Webster and Seabourne were matching each other with the big scoring making the race to the double very close. Ward had first crack at the double missing double top to leave 20. Seabourne had a chance leaving 16 from 84 but their luck ended there. Webster hit double 10 with her next shot to win the leg and the title. Congratulations to Rebecca Webster and Ella Ward (right) on being crowned 2009 Australian Junior Girls Doubles Champions. Rebecca Webster went one better in 2009 than 2008 when partnering Brie Peters, where she lost the final to Kayla Holland and Melissa Sica
Girls Doubles Finals Averages
Rebecca Webster (QLD) 17.684
Ella Ward (QLD) 13.143
Lauren Seabourne (TAS) 18.507
Kristen Gatty (TAS) 13.937