THE 2007 ISLE OF WIGHT OPEN DARTS FESTIVAL
28TH TO 30TH SEPTEMBER 2007
The 2007 Isle Of Wight Darts Festival, Organised by the Isle Of Wight County Darts Association, and sponsored by Isle Of Wight Tours was hosted for the first time by the Trouville Hotel, Sandown. Four other local hotels, The Carlton, Channel View, Royal Pier, and the Riviera all assisted to accommodate the 490 or so, players and guests that arrived on the Friday to attend the three-day event. Matches got underway on the Friday evening, when the County Officials organised Money in Money out, men's and ladies pair’s tournament. Getting the weekend off to the perfect start.
Winning the men's pairs was R. Spicer and W. Sentence who beat A. Collins and B. Yeomans, in the final. Winning the ladies pairs were (40th Birthday Girl) Dawn Stanley and Amanda Abbott, beating Linda Ithurralde and Janice Butters into the runners up spot.
The Premier Singles event for both the Men's and the Ladies got underway at 10am on the Saturday morning. Many great games later, both sections were down to the Semi Final stages of the competition. In the first Semi Final, Linda Ithurralde beat England International Trisha Wright 3-2. The second Semi final saw seven times World Champion and England Captain, Trina Gulliver breeze past Amanda Abbott to make her forth final in four years. So the final was set, Trina Gulliver, who won the Isle of Wight Open, 3 years ago, and has been runner up for the last two years, and was the firm crowd favourite, against Ex England International Linda Ithurralde.
Trina opened proceedings by taking the first leg of the final, then Linda found a rich vein of form and consistency which led her to take the next three legs on the trot to win 3-1 taking the title and receiving the winners cheque for £1,200, yet again Trina Gulliver had to make do with the £600 runners up cheque.
Linda Ithurralde
Winner of the Ladies Singles with Vanessa from IOW Tours and cheque for £1,200
The Men's Final was played out between Roy Brown from Basingstoke, who was up against James Allison from Romford in Essex. You could tell from the first dart thrown that this final was going to live up to all expectations, and rightly going the 5 leg distance it deserved. It was James Allison that held his nerve to hit the winning double, and claim the title and the £1,500 winners cheque. Roy Brown received the runners up cheque for £800. The two losing semi finalists were Paul Woolenden and Simon Laws, who each received a cheque for £250.
James Allison
Winner of the Men's Singles with Vanessa and cheque for £1,500
A £400 cheque was on offer to the winners of both the Men's and Ladies Pairs Competition. Scooping the prize for the men was Andrew Mallett and Hamish Varnon. Triumphing in the ladies pairs and winning the title was Alana Allsopp and Sue Biddle.
Andrew Mallett & Hamish Varnon
Winners of the Men's Pairs with Vanessa and cheque for £400
Alana Allsopp & Sue Biddle
Winners of the Ladies Pairs with Vanessa and cheque for £400
On the Saturday night it was the turn of the juniors to show us all, that the future of the game will be in good hands for a few good years to come. 12 of the country's top young players battled there way down to a final, with many good darts being thrown along the way. The final between the Islands very own Keegan Brown and Aaron Monk, son of Colin Monk, was a totally enthralling affair, rightly also going the 5 leg distance it deserved. Eventually, Aaron Monk hit the winning double to take the title.
Aron Monk, Winner of the Junior Event
Taking place on the Sunday Morning was the Mixed Pairs, the last competition of the three-day event. 91 pairs entered, with the final being played out between Men's Singles Runner Up Roy Brown and Ladies Singles Winner Linda Ithurralde, who were up against Terry Jenkins And England International Trisha Wright. Yet another final going 5 legs, with Linda and Roy taking the title and the £400 winners cheque.
Linda Ithurralde & Roy Brown
Winners of the Mixed Pairs with their cheque for £400
The Isle of Wight County Officials, would firstly like to thank Isle Of Wight Tours for continuing to sponsor the Isle Of Wight Open Darts Festival, staff at the Trouville Hotel, The Stage Crew for erecting and dismantling all the boards, and the Tombola girls, but the biggest thanks of all must go to all the player's who attended, from all over the country and making this such a memorable event for us all.
Anyone who may require any of the photos that I have taken over the weekend can contact me by E-Mail danny.1964@hotmail.co.uk
Kind Regards "Danny the dart "
Other Pictures from the weekend
Dawn Stanley on her 40th birthday
Shirley Winn, Managing Director of IOW Tours with Elvis
Tracey & Nina from IOW Tours in the party mood
Some of the guests having fun
The 2007 Isle Of Wight Open Darts Festival was a great success, with darts competitons being played throughout the day and live entertainement being played at night. Everyone is looking forward to the 2008 Isle Of Wight Open Darts Festival and the re-booking desk on the last day of the event saw most of the guest re-book for next year. If you are interested on next years break contact our sales team on 01983 405116 and get booked up for another fabulous event.
Click HERE to view details on the 2008 Isle of Wight Darts Open |
