No rest for the wicked with yet another WDF darts competition away from home soil. This time in the fabulous country of Sweden.
Even though the journey there and back had very early starts, this is by far one of the less stressful journeys with just a quick hop off and on to the next mode of transport and the smallest of walks to the fantastic Scandic Triangulan hotel.
Friday night saw Twinkle and Sparkle (aka myself and Jo Rolls) pairing up. Unluckily we got the worst possible draw against multiple title holders and current mega Champ Beau Greaves and Deta Hedman but we pushed them right to the end. Running out of steam and momentum we ended up losing 3.4 but both us Jo's had some great darts. I took out a tidy 122 only to be out shone by the brilliant Beau who pinged the big fish (170).
Saturday was the first of the ladies singles competitions and got off to a slow start for me. Sometimes you play a newer player, a player who is just starting out in the game and perhaps does not know what most. In the game class as "darting etiquette". These players can bring your game down due to pace, walking back up the oche in front of you - thus breaking your flow and concentration due to their constant checking of their scores. All of which you need to try to ignore to get the win which is easier said than done. Ignore I did as I went on to win my first 2 games 4.0.
My next game was one of my toughest games I have ever had, and for a few reasons. First being that Natalie Gilbert is one of the most talented female darters, the nicest person, one of my best friends on the darting circuit and also is my travel and room buddies. Secondly, Nat is having quite a topsy turvey season like myself and despite wanting my buddies to do well and win, you know you have to put friendships aside on the oche and go for the win yourself.
Nat was by far the more consistent player during the match but lady luck seemed to shine on me on this occasion as there was nothing in it during our game, we both threw some awesome darts. It just came down the the narrowest of wires and me digging in the hardest I ever have to hit the winning double. It was a bittersweet victory for me.
Into the last 8 ladies I went, both physically and emotionally drained. I faced darting legend Deta Hedman. Missed doubles in the 2nd leg cost me a 3.0 lead, and you need all the lead you can against Deta.
Deta punished my slack darts and stepped up a gear. Despite my best efforts I had nothing left in my arsenal to match her. My run ended with a 2.4 defeat.
I am happy with how the majority of my darts went. If I missed the doubles, it was narrowly. It was my slack darts that cost me this weekend and not taking the opportunities I had carved out for myself.
Sundays 2nd silver ranked comp was short for me. Another non-favorable draw meant that I faced Sweden's Snezana Veljkovic. Snez is a very dark horse and can, and has produced some great results over the years. This game again was a toughie. Despite having the higher average, with the majority of my legs over a 70, I still came out second best by missing 2 darts and double top. My Swedish darting adventure was done
Despite being happy with the majority of my darting form at the moment however, there are clearly some areas I need to continue working on. Hopefully, once the 16 week MCC Men's Premier league darts is done (fingers crossed I qualify as its all down to my last game) Superleague and County starts up again I will soon have these areas ironed out and I will be back to full Twinkle. It's all healthy practise for Lakeside 2023.
Where to next:
Lancashire Counties first game on 10th September - Wigan
England Open double header on 17th September - Bridlington
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