It was finals day at the new BDO Daily Mirror World Trophy. The first of 10 matches kicked off with the Lakeside Finalist Alan Norris meeting the current Granite City Open Champion Gary Robson.
This was a fantastic game to open the day and the speed of these players was a quick, quick, quick quick quick…. In The Ballroom of the Blackpool Tower. There was high scoring from both players but Gary progressed to the semi-final with a near 100 average.
Martin Adams took on Ross ‘The Boss’ Montgomery in the second quarter final. The game started pretty evenly until Ross took 5 legs on the bounce and despite a comeback from Martin, Ross took the game 10 legs to 8.
The first ladies semi-final was between former Lakeside Champion Anastasia Dobromyslova and Irina Armstrong. It was an entertaining game and despite having double trouble throughout the game Anastasia took out a massive 160 to win the game.
Lisa Ashton took on 19 year old rising star Fallon Sherrock and showed her World Championship form by hitting 17 ton scores during the game. She took the game 6 legs to 1 to set up a final with Anastasia.
The 3rd men’s quarter final saw Paul Jennings take on Scott Mitchell. It was a tentative start from both players with Jenno taking an early break of throw. It was a high scoring game and a great battle from both players but with doubles hit percentage of 47% to Scott’s 28% was the difference.
The last quarter final of the day saw Dutchman Jeffrey De Graaf play James Wilson. There was heavy hitting from both players from the start but Jeffrey pushed into an early lead. Wilson fought back from 5-1 down and continued to push on to take the game 8 legs to 10.
The first semi-final of the day saw Gary Robson take on Ross Montgomery. An early break and an impressive 143 out set the tone for the match and it was all level at the break. Both players took a while to settle down.
You couldn’t split these two players and Ross took out 104 on 3 occasions, the last of which levelled the game at 8 legs each. It was a tense race to the finish line and Ross took the match with double 12.
The second semi-final was between Paul Jennings and James Wilson. Wilson who has been slow out of the blocks in the last few days went from 2-2 to take the lead 8-2 just after the break. James booked his place in the final with Ross Montgomery taking out double 10 with an average of 96.45. James seemed to be able to hit anything asked of him, hitting 20 ton scores and 7 maximums in the game.
The ladies final saw a repeat of this year’s Lakeside Ladies semi-final. Each lady held their throw during the first six legs and Ana brought the game alive with a 139 out with treble 20, treble 13 and double top. Ana went on the break the throw twice but Lisa won 3 legs in a row to go within one leg of the title. Lisa however won the 12th leg to take the game into a tie break. The ladies traded darts until Ana again broke the throw and went on to win 9 -7 with double top.
The enthusiastic crowd then welcomed the men’s finalists to the stage – Ross Montgomery and James Wilson. James won the bull in the backroom but Montgomery broke the throw with Wilson breaking straight back. The game was all even at the break with some high out shots from Ross. In the 8th leg Wilson broke the throw and maintained the lead of 7-5 by the time of the next break. Ross breaks back in the first leg after the break, holds his throw and levelled the game.
Break of throw from James in 16th leg put James back in front. The two players traded blows and were all level in the 18th leg. The game was now on a knife edge just waiting for one of the players to take control. The pressure was on Montgomery as Wilson moved to one leg of the game. Scores of 180 and 137 put Wilson within 56 of the title which he takes with double top.
A fantastic game played by both players.
Many congratulations to Anastasia Dobromyslova and James Wilson.
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