Western Australia grabbed both the Boy's and Girl's Teams titles at the 28th Formula Australian Junior Darts Championships at Grand Central in Adelaide today. A great turn around on the 2008 performance where the boy's finish in last place and the girl's in fifth with just one win. And a high percentage of their players have a number of years ahead of them at this level if they pursue their darting endeavourers.
Competition in the Teams Event started Tuesday when three s were completed in the Girl's competition and five rounds in the Boy's. The remaining two rounds were completed today.
Teams to WA girls.
Western Australia is the new Australian Junior Girls Darts Teams Champions with a dominant performance from them. They took on every State and managed to defeat all of them. And they did it by coming through some really tight battles early with close victories over New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland 5 - 4 in the first three rounds. The final two contest of the final day against Tasmania and Victoria were a little more comfortable on the score board but they were still hard fought wins. They last won this event back in 2000.
Captain Lisa Dann was in charge of this team for the very first time after she was called in to replace Kerry West who unfortunately broke her leg a few weeks ago and the players did her proud. They were Jucinta Dann, Kristine Smith, Teagan Wyatt and Gillian Methven. "Thanks girl's for a first year experience. The girls' played well and I am extremely proud of them. Kerry make sure you get better this one's for you. I enjoyed the friendship and team spirit of all the states." said Lisa
Second place went to the Queensland. They lost just the one game to Western Australia with their other round matches appearing to be relatively comfortable. This team lost a lot of experience from last year's team coming in with three "rookies" and one second year player. This team though showed how strong junior darts are in Queensland with three of these players eligible next year; they may be very tough to defeat next year. Those players were Rebecca Webster, Elle Ward, Mikayla Hatch, and Leah McNicol. Team Manager was Rosemary McLeod.
Captain Leonie Campbell said after the final match, "This year the Queensland Girls have played really well together over the two days of the Teams Games. With three "Rookies" in this year's Team, it was a big challenge for them. Four wins and one lose put us in second spot place to Western Australia. I am very proud for their effort they put in."
New South Wales placed third with three wins and two loses to Western Australia and Queensland. Fourth place went to South Australia (2 wins), fifth to Tasmania (1 wins), and sixth to Victoria (0 wins).
Western Australia wins back title
For the first time in four years the Western Australian Boy's clinched the Australian Junior Boy's Teams Event back with a Team that included two Rookie darts players in their team. They have struggled a little over the last few years, but 2009 saw the boy's from the west dominate the event by winning all but the last round of competition against Tasmania. Just for the record Western Australia finished in last place in 2008. A great feat to get back to top place considering the closeness of the competition at this year's championships.
The Boy's Team Championship is a hotly contested event with all teams virtually capable of winning any match. Queensland has dominated the event for the last three or four years with New South Wales not far behind them. With Western Australia (5 wins 34 legs) winning outright with one lose, this year's competition came down to the last round of matches to find second place. Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales all entered their last rounds with two loses. The three teams all won so the second placing would be decided on leg won. At the completion of competition South Australia (4 wins 34 legs) had won the most legs throughout the event which secured second spot for the host team. New South Wales (4 wins 32 legs) ended up in third spot with Queensland finishing fourth place with 4 wins and 29 legs. This highlights how close the Boy's competition was. Even Western Australia suffered a lose surprisingly to Tasmania who previously had won one of their five rounds.
The players representing Western Australia (right) were Gavin Dann, Sean Methven, Blake Hatchett and Deon Wyatt.
Western Australian Captain Betty Hislop said, "Well what an exciting two days of the teams championship. The Boy's Teams event was a close competition and the WA Boy's worked really hard as a Team to take the Championship points. I'm extremely proud of them because they stuck to the task even though those wins didn't come easy."
Mark Edwards captained the second placed South Australia Team and the players consisted of Bradley Vine, Michael Conlan, Brayden Sperling, Rohan Perkins and Jacob Loch.
Mark Edwards said,"Well. Well, what an interesting but very even competition we have had this year. All States have thrown some very good darts and mostly really enjoyed themselves which is what it is all about."
"Competition wise was a good result for our boy's getting the runners up position in the Boy's Teams Event and unlucky not to have gone one step further. Congratulations go to the Western Australian Boy's on their success."
"All in all a good spirit was shown by all competitors and appreciation for good darts was shown."
"Looking forward to another gripping teams event again next year in Brisbane"
Victoria finished in fifth place overall. They were very unlucky after playing so well. They won two rounds and lost four rounds all will 4 - 5 score. 2009 could have easily been Victoria's year if a little luck was on their side. Sixth place with two wins went to Tasmania. They too were a little unlucky but they were the only team to defeat Western Australia. Final place went to the Northern territory. They may not have won a round but they put a scare into Victoria. But the thing we like so much about the Northern territory, they are back playing in the Australian Darts Championships after missing for a couple of years.