Darts in Ireland

NEWS - October 2009 - September 2009

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Double Delight for Taylor in Killarney

World Champion, Phil "The Power" Taylor, was in unbeatable form at the 3rd. Annual Killarney Darts Festival as he captured the Gleneagle Irish Masters and John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic titles with impressive victories.

On the Saturday he won the first prize of € 5,000 in the Gleneagle Irish Masters with a 6-1 victory over Wayne Jones in the final after defeating Colin Osborne 5-3 in the semis.

Quarter-Finals

Phil Taylor 5-2 Vincent van der Voort
Colin Osborne 5-4 Connie Finnan
Brendan Dolan 5-2 Aodhagan O'Neill
Wayne Jones 5-4 Colin Lloyd

Semi-Finals

Phil Taylor 5-3 Colin Osborne
Wayne Jones 5-2 Brendan Dolan

Final

Phil Taylor 6-1 Wayne Jones

Brendan Dolan - Best Irish Player

Brendan Dolan and Robbie Kelly {Commercial Cleaning Services}

Brendan Dolan from Fermanagh reached the semi-finals of the Masters and he was presented with the trophy for the Best Irish Player by Robbie Kelly from Commercial Cleaning Services.

John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic

On the Friday night 182 Irish players competed in the qualifying competition for the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic and 32 players came through for the main event on Sunday. Once again the world champion was unstoppable as he captured the title and £ 6,000 with a 6-0 win over Paul Nicholson in the final.

Quarter-Finals

Jamie Caven 6-5 Wes Newton
Paul Nicholson 6-4 Andy Jenkins
Phil Taylor 6-1 Andy Hamilton
Wayne Jones 6-5 Mark Dudbridge

Semi-Finals

Paul Nicholson 6-5 Jamie Caven
Phil Taylor 6-2 Wayne Jones

Final
Phil Taylor 6-0 Paul Nicholson

Also on the Sunday almost 130 players competed in the Silver Dart Ladies' Singles and the Bronze Dart Youths' Singles and they resulted in wins for Denise Cassidy and Paddy Meaney who defended their titles from last year. Denise defeated Rebecca Rose while Paddy had a win over Dean Forde in their respective finals.

Denise Cassidy with David and Marie McEvoy

Ladies' Results:

Semi-finals:

Maureen Kelly 1 - 3 Denise Cassidy

Kay O'Carroll 1 - 3 Rebecca Rose

Final:

Denise Cassidy 4 - 0 Rebecca Rose

Dean Forde, Marie McEvoy, Paddy Meaney and David McEvoy.

Youths' Results:

Semi-finals:

Anthony McMahon 1 - 3 Dean Forde

James Gearon 2 - 3 Paddy Meaney

Final:

Dean Forde 0 - 3 Paddy Meaney

Tramore's Farewell to Tom Kirby

Colin Osborne, Ann Kirby, Terry Jenkins and Michael O'Sullivan.

On Sunday, September 27th., many of the late Tom Kirby's friends from the Irish and International darts scene gathered on the beach in Tramore, County Waterford, to bid a final farewell to the Irish darts legend.

One of Tom's final wishes was that his ashes should be scattered on the beach in the beautiful seaside resort of Tramore where he was a regular visitor to the many darts festivals played in O'Shea's Hotel.

Tom and his darts partner, Jack McKenna, regularly walked the beach on the Sunday morning before the singles competitions in O'Shea's and it was fitting that Jack should carry out Tom's wish together with Tom's widow, Ann.

Jack McKenna and Ann Kirby scattering Tom's ashes on the beach in Tramore.

A large crowd gathered on the beach on a glorious sunny day and they bade farewell to the great man with a rapturous round of applause.

22nd Tramore Autumn Darts Festival

Tramore Players of the Year

Sharon O'Brien and William O'Connor with Noreen O'Shea {O'Shea's Hotel}

The Tramore Autumn Darts Festival is one of the longest-running Festivals in Ireland and it still attracts large crowds to the seaside resort since the first event was held in O'Shea's Hotel in 1988.

The Festival commenced on the Friday night with Men's and Ladies' Doubles and it was a double victory for Wexford with Ashling O'Leary and Martina Scallan winning the Ladies' title and Jason Cullen and Andrew McCormack emerging victorious in the Men's competition.

The runners-up were Vera Ronan and Kate Monaghan and Philip Standing and Dale McCarthy, respectively.

Ladies' Doubles Winners - Martina Scallan and Ashling O'Leary

The Mixed Pairs Championship brought more success for Wexford with Martina Scallan and Jason Cullen teaming up to beat John Burke and Kate Monaghan 4-2 in the final.

Mixed Pairs Champions - Jason Cullen and Martina Scallan

Almost 180 players competed in the Singles competitions and the large attendance were treated to some magnificent matches.

The Men's Singles was won by John O'Shea from Cork who defeated William O'Connor {Limerick} by 5 legs to 2 in a first-class final.

The beaten semi-finalists were Roy Bailie {Down} and Denis McCarthy {Kilkenny}. There was no stopping Sharon O'Brien {Kildare} in the Ladies' Singles as she eliminated Martina Scallan {Wexford} 3-0 in the semis and Liz Shanahan {Cork} 4-0 in the final.

The other beaten semi-finalist was Ashling O'Leary {Wexford}.

The Under-21 Singles title went to David Coyne {Kilkenny} who defeated James Gearon {Tipperary}

in the final.

Click here for full results.

The Tramore 'Player of the Year' Awards for the best overall players at the three Festivals in Tramore during 2009 were presented to Sharon O'Brien {Kildare} and William O'Connor {Limerick}.

The next event at O'Shea's Hotel will be the 2010 Tramore Winter Gala on the weekend of January 15th/ 16th/ 17th., and it will incorporate Round Three of the Ireland Players' Championship.

8th October 2009

IRELAND'S Jacko Barry delighted his home fans with a final-leg thriller against Steve Beaton to reach the quarter-finals of the Skybet World Grand Prix on Thursday.

Barry, who lives only 35 miles from the Citywest Hotel in Stamullen, won through to his first televised quarter-final in a dramatic contest, which saw Beaton come from behind to lead 2-1 only to let the advantage slip.

Barry, a truck driver by trade, will now meet five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld in the last eight on Friday night in front of a sell-out 3,000 crowd at the Citywest Hotel IECC.

"It's a dream come true," said Barry. "I'm absolutely delighted and I'm speechless, but I did it.

"I've beaten a World Champion in Steve and I get to play another now. I joined the PDC to play the likes of Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld, and to get to Ray in front of my home crowd is extra special."

Major Sponsorship Deal for CDPA.

Brendon Dolan {Maher Sports} presenting the sponsorship cheque to the CDPA Treasurer, Chris Collins. On the left is Noel McCarthy {CDPA Secretary}

The Cork Darts Players' Association has secured a major sponsorship deal with Maher Sports and Unicorn for the forthcoming Cork City and District Darts League which commenced on Monday night, September 28th.

Details of the sponsorship were announced on at Ardmanning House in Togher by Brendon Dolan {representing Maher Sports} and Dave McCarthy {representing Unicorn}. CDPA Chairman, Michael O'Sullivan, expressed sincere gratitude to the new sponsors for their very generous commitment to Cork Darts and he urged all of the Association's members to support the sponsors.

Maher Sports presented all of the CDPA members with Loyalty Cards which can be used to purchase sports goods at discounted prices in the Maher Sports Shops around Cork City and Unicorn Products presented top of the range Eclipse Pro dartboards for all CDPA competitions.

The Cork City and District League has now been re-named the Maher Sports/ Unicorn Darts League and it has 24 teams competing in three divisions.

John O'Shea Wins in Tramore

John O'Shea on the right pictured with Willie O'Connor and Noreen O'Shea {O'Shea's Hotel

Congratulations to John O'Shea from Cork City who won the Men's Singles competition at the 22nd. Tramore Autumn Darts Festival at O'Shea's Hotel. O'Shea defeated Willie O'Connor from Limerick on a 5-2 scoreline in the final.

Cork players dominated this competition with Peter Quinn reaching the quarter-finals and Damian O'Driscoll, John Paul Dowdall, Declan O'Sullivan and Pakie Donovan collecting prize money for the last sixteen.

Liz Shanahan in Final of Ladies' Singles

Liz Shanahan on the left pictured with Noreen O'Shea {O'Shea's Hotel} and Sharon O'Brien

Liz Shanahan from East Cork was the best of the Cork players in the Ladies' Singles in Tramore. She reached the final where she lost out to Kildare's Sharon O'Brien.

Kay O'Carroll was beaten in the quarter-finals of this competition.