News:                         

 

 

O'Connor is Number One    

 

Shane O'Connor (right) won Round Seven of the 2008 Bruce Betting Ireland Players' Championship with a 6-3 victory over Jason Barry in the final at the Coolquay Lodge in Dublin.

 

The beaten semi-finalists were Aodhagan O'Neill and Roy Bailie.

 

O'Connor finishes the qualifying competitions as Number One on the Ireland Rankings List and he will now be the top seed in the Grand Finals of the Championship in Kilkenny next August.

 

The Top 32 players on the Rankings List will be invited to compete in the finals which will have a prize fund of

€ 8,000 plus an opportunity of winning a magnificent Peugeot 207 car for a 9-dart finish.

 

There was also a very entertaining youths' competition at the Coolquay Lodge with 32 players competing on the day. 

 

The winner was David Concannon (pictured right) who defeated Paddy Meaney 3-2 in the final.

 

Click here for full results of Round 7

 

 

 

Damian O'Driscoll Wins in Bettystown

 

Joe Coyne congratulating Damian O'Driscoll}

 

Damian O'Driscoll from Cork won Round Six of the 2008 Bruce Betting Ireland Players' Championship at the Bettystown Court Hotel in County Meath with an emphatic 6-1 victory over Daryl Gurney {Antrim} in the final.

 

Almost one hundred and thirty players competed on the day and some excellent performances were witnessed throughout the afternoon.

 

Shane O'Connor was close to hitting a 9-dart check-out in his board final against O'Driscoll.  He scored 477 with his first eight darts but then clipped the wire on double twelve.

 

O'Driscoll was on top of his form, however, and went on to win the board before eliminating

Mervyn Robinson and Simon Wykes to reach the final.

 

Gurney was equally as good in the other half of the draw with impressive victories over Connie

Finnan, Michael Blair and Keith Rooney on his road to the decider.

 

Damian O'Driscoll was unstoppable in the final and he wrapped up his second victory in this

year's Championship with an 11-dart game in the final leg.

 

Paddy Meaney from Kilkenny won the youths' competition once again when he defeated Ryan

Courtney {Cork} 3-2 in the final.               Click here for full results.

 

 

 

The 'Big Lad' Wins in Newbridge

 

Martin Murphy and Roy Bailie

 

Martin Murphy from Kildare thrilled the home crowd at Sarsfield's GAA Complex in Newbridge

at the weekend when he captured the first prize of € 1,000 in Round Five of the 2008 Bruce

Betting Ireland Darts Players' Championship.

 

Murphy, known as the 'Big Lad', was in superb form throughout the competition hitting countless

maximum scores of 180 and finishing his matches in clinical fashion.

 

In the final he came up against Roy Bailie from County Down who is one of the veterans on the

Irish darts scene and one of the most consistent throwers over the past two decades.

But Martin Murphy was unstoppable in the final as he fashioned a brilliant 6-1 victory against his

more experienced opponent.

 

The beaten semi-finalists were Garrett Gray (Dublin), who lost 4-6 to Murphy, and Daryl Gurney

(Antrim), who went down on the same scoreline to Bailie.

 

Five Rounds - Five Winners

 

After five rounds of the Championship we have had five different winners and Shane O'Connor (Kildare) still tops the Rankings List ahead of Damien O'Driscoll (Cork).

 

Benny Grace (Kilkenny) is at Number Three and Martin Murphy's win moves him into joint fourth position with Johnny Donovan (Cork)

 

Round Six of the Championship will take place on Saturday, April 19th., at the Bettystown Court Hotel, Meath, in conjunction with the Tommy Dunn Memorial Singles which will be held on the Sunday.

 

The closing date for receipt of entries is Wednesday, April 16th.

 

The Ireland Youths' Championship has turned into a head-to-head confrontation between Sean McArdle (Dublin) and Paddy Meaney (Kilkenny).

 

Before Newbridge Meaney enjoyed a slender two points lead at the top of the Rankings List but McArdle brought them level again when he defeated his rival 3-2 in the final.    They are now both on 50 points way ahead of the rest of the pack.

 

Maeve O'Connor, Joe Coyne and Joan Flynn

The beaten semi-finalists in Newbridge were Kian Barker (Dublin] and Philip Doheny (Kilkenny]

 

The final round of the Ladies' Championship once again produced some top-class darts with former Irish International Joan Flynn (Kilkenny) taking the honours with a 4-2 victory over Maeve O'Connor (Carlow) in the final.

 

The beaten semi-finalists were Theresa Maher {Laois} and Maureen Kelly {Carlow}

 

Click here for full results.

 

 

 

Round Four of Players' Championship Goes to Cork

Damien O'Driscoll (pictured right) from Cork won Round Four of the 2008 Bruce Betting Ireland Players'

Championship at the Two Mile Inn Hotel in Limerick.

 

Damien defeated Benny Grace {Kilkenny} 6-2 in the final.

 

In the semi-finals O'Driscoll defeated Chris Connery {Kilkenny} 6-2 while Grace defeated Shane O'Connor {Kildare} 6-3.

 

Denise Cassidy {Fermanagh} defeated Martina Scallon {Wexford} 4-0 in the Ladies' final and the beaten semi-finalists were Kay O'Carroll {Cork} and Gemma Keogh {Kilkenny}.

Paddy Meaney {Kilkenny} defeated Ryan Courtney {Cork} 3-1 in the Youths' final.

 

 

Round 2 to Goes to Shane O'Connor at  Abbeyleix 

 

A record number of 201 players entered Round Two of the 2008 Bruce Betting Ireland Players' Championship which was played on Saturday, December 8th., at the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel.

There was a top-class entry of 154 men from all corners of the country in the men's event and they produced some of the best darts in the Championship to date.

Shane O'Connor (pictured right) captured the first prize of € 1,200 with a 6-2 victory over fellow-Dub Garret Gray in the final.        The beaten semi-finalists were Johnny Donovan (Cork) and Michael Blair (Co. Down).

In the Youths' Championship Paddy Meaney (Kilkenny) (pictured left) overcame Sean McArdle (Dublin) by three legs to one in the final while the beaten semi-finalists here were David Concannon (Roscommon] and Craig Casey (Kildare).

A Ladies' Championship has been added to the programme and this has proved to be a tremendous success with 29 players competing on the day.  Sharon O'Brien (Kildare) (pictured right)  emerged victorious with a 4-1 win against Joan Flynn (Kilkenny) and the beaten semi-finalists were Theresa (Laois) and Maeve O'Connor (Carlow) 

Prize money totalling € 4,320 was paid out on the day.

Click here for full results.

Round One to the Kingdom              

Sean Marshall (pictured right) from Kerry won Round One of the 2008 Bruce Betting Ireland Players’ Championship when he defeated the legendary Jack McKenna from Kildare 6-2 in the final at the Springhill Court Hotel in Kilkenny.

A record entry of 125 players entered the competition and it produced some of the best darts seen in the country for a long time.

In the top half of the draw Marshall eliminated Irish International, Steve McDonnell, in the last sixteen and the Tramore Autumn Champion, Damien O’Driscoll, in the quarter-finals while McKenna defeated John Elder and Patrick Keane to set-up a semi-final clash with Benny Grace.

Sean Marshall defeated Cork County player, Johnny Donovan, 6-1 in the first semi on stage while Jack McKenna came from behind to defeat Benny Grace 6-5 in an epic encounter.

This latter match seemed to have taken it’s toll on Jack, however, and he was unable to reach the same heights in the final as Sean powered his way to a 6-2 victory.

The winner took home a cheque for €1,000 while the total prize money on the day was in excess of €3,000.

“Rocket” Powers His Way to Victory in Youths’ Championship

(Photo - Ryan Courtney on the right with Jason Hahessy)

Ryan ‘The Rocket’ Courtney from Cork defeated newcomer Jason Hahessy (Tipperary) 3-1 in the final of Round One of the 2008 Ireland Youths’ Championship in Kilkenny.

In the semi-finals Ryan defeated David Colcannon (Roscommon) while Jason eliminated the 2007 runner-up, Sean McArdle from Dublin.

Click here for full results.

2007 Title Goes to Kildare:     see more here

Joe Coyne, Paul Irving and Russ Bray

Paul Irving from Kildare was crowned 2007 Ireland Players’ Champion at a packed Springhill Court Hotel in Kilkenny on Sunday, August 19^th.

Thirty two players competed on the day and they were divided into eight groups of four playing-off on a round robin basis.

There were many shock results in the early stages with many fancied players, including Patrick Keane and Aodhagan O’Neill, failing to win through to the last sixteen.

The standard of play was extremely high throughout the afternoon with many close encounters.

Brian Cathcart and James Keogh both qualified from Board (1) and they both advanced to the semi-finals where they lost out to John Elder and Paul Irving, respectively.

In the final John Elder never hit his true form and this allowed Paul Irving to grow in confidence and went on to take the first prize of € 2,000 with a 6-2 victory.

The players in the Youths’ competitions produced some great darts with Paddy Meaney winning the Championship with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Sean McArdle and Kevin Mullally winning the Youths’ Plate defeating Shane Nolan 3-1.

The prize fund on the day was € 7,000 making a grand total of € 24,00o paid out throughout the Championship.

Unfortunately, nobody won the car for a 9-dart finish but James Keogh came closest with a shot at a 10-darter in the quarter-finals.