Early Friday 6th September the usual crew set off for the 5 + hour journey to Selsey. With a little cat nap en route we arrived at our usual caravan to relax before the England Darts double header.
Friday night saw me with a bye before facing my first opponent. First games are sometimes nervy but this one was quite calm. I claimed a swift 4.1 victory. My next game was against Sue Gulliver. With years and years of darting experience on all levels this was destined to be a good game.
It was a great game with us both matching each other score for score. Sue pipped the doubles to take an almost infallible lead 3.1. However I dug in, focused and started to out score. I managed to pull back the deficit to get it all square at 3.3. It was a race to the finish. Sue set off the better in the deciding leg. She managed to keep her lead and just edged the double before I stepped up for my attempt. Sadly lost in the last 32.
Saturday morning saw the higher ranking competition. Arriving early doors to get seats can also have a detrimental effect when you're not playing for over 3 hours. The White Horse is a fantastic venue. There were a lot less issues than the teething problems from earlier in the year. The organisers had provided the ladies more room, all facing the same way so people weren't coming behind you to often when playing. The only thing I feel they need to do is provide more practise boards for the ladies. Whilst there were a few practise boards each time you tried to go and practise meant you were having to wait for up to 5 other throws before it was your turn. This is far from ideal for rhythm players like myself.
After a bit of a stressful start to the Saturday and a 3 hour wait I finally played my first game. I set off well taking the first leg smoothly, including a nice 180. However our marker struggled not only with counting up our scores but using the new electronic system. The fact I had to add up my scores and also help the marker use the system did not bode well for my focus... in fact my focus was none existent.
I ended up crashing out 4.1 to a fantastic player Suzanne Smith. In doubles Heather and I fell to the fantastic pairing of Lorraine Winstanley and Corrine Hammond.
This visit to Selsey just seems to be one of defeat and certainly not memories I will strive to remember.
However there is a positive.... I never drew the fabulous Vicki Pruim!!!!
As this BDO season comes to an end the new season of the BICC restarts. I am looking forward to putting on my treasured Lancashire shirt and seeing all my team mates again. Our first game is against Maria O'Briens great Devon team. Should be a corker!
