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Summside, PEI June 8-11, 2004
All of Canada’s best were on hand for the 27th Canadian National Championships in
Summerside, Prince Edward Island. What a spectacular place this Island is! As we crossed the 13km Confederation Bridge, which links New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island, we could already feel the excitement building. We were talking about darts and tournaments and about old friends and new ones that we would meet at the Nationals. And finally, we were there...
Our 11-day stay on the Island began with the Island Open that was held on June
4-5-6th. The Sharpshooters Association hosted this event and it was well attended by players from all across Canada.
The National Championships began on Tuesday, June 8th with the Men's and Ladies
Doubles events. The Ontario Team of John Part and John Verwey defeated the British Columbia Team of Michael Lockstead and John Markham. For the ladies, it was Patricia Farrell and Clara Bailey from Newfoundland/Labrador over the Northern Ontario team of Tami Boyer and Roxanne Van Tassel.
The Men’s and Ladies Singles events began on Wednesday morning and everyone was
geared for the Championship. What a day of competition! After the initial round robin play, it was down to the top 32 in each event and the knock out began. Reaching the final four were John Part (Ontario), Doug Scanlon (Ontario), John Verwey (Ontario) and Ken Woods (Alberta). In the first best of 7 semi-final, John Part defeated Doug Scanlon 4-3, and in the second semi-final, it was John Verwey over Ken Woods by the score of 4-3. In the final match, best of 9, John Part defeated his doubles partner, John Verwey, to earn his 4th title and become the 2004 Canadian Singles Champion.
First up for the ladies semi-final was Gayl King (Alberta) against Amy Earl
(Newfoundland/Labrador).
In this best of 5, we saw King defeat Earl with a score of 3-2. The other semi-final match was between Cindy Veith (Nova Scotia) and Patricia Farrell (Newfoundland/Labrador) with Farrell winning this match 3-1. In the final match, best of 7, Gayl King defeated Patricia Farrell 4-0 and took the title of Canadian Champion.
The Mixed Doubles event on Thursday saw the team of Danny McKenzie and Bonnie
Dennis from Saskatchewan defeat the team of Gerry Convery and Tricia Wark from Manitoba.
On Friday, the traditional Nodor Cup event was held.
This is a team event and one that is very exciting for the players. The Men’s Cup was won by the Ontario team with Alberta finishing in second place. For the Ladies Cup, the Alberta team defeated Nova Scotia in the finals.
Friday was also the day for the Americas Cup Qualifier and the lucky winners were
John Part (Ontario), Tim Bradley (New Brunswick), Joanne Luke (New Brunswick), and Mandy Fleck (British Columbia). These four players will be travelling to Fort Lauderdale in July to represent Canada at the 2nd WDF Americas Cup.
2004 Prince Edward Island Open - Event Results
Canadian Open
The Canadian Open Tournament was held on Saturday, June 12th with the
registration of 123 men and 69 women. The tournament was well attended by
the National players, several local players, and a contingent of players from England and Sweden.
The final four for the women were Peggy Mackay (Canada), Patricia Farrell
(Canada), Shirley Hickox (Canada), and Anna Karin (Sweden). First up for the women in the semi-final match was Farrell against Mackay. Farrell was
on her game and with several throws over 100 she won her match 3-0. The
other semi-final between Karin and Hickox was a bit slower. In the first leg,
Karin managed three scores of 100 but had trouble taking out the game and finally finished it in 26 darts. The second leg was similar to the first, with
Karin also taking that one. The third leg was a marathon, as neither player seemed to want to finish the game. But when it finally came down to the wire
, Anna Karin won her match 3-0.
The final set, best of 7, proved to be a bit more exciting as we watched Farrell
and Karin put their games together and you could tell that they were both
looking for that single's title. Farrell easily took the first leg but then Karin
came back and took the next two legs. In the fourth and fifth legs, Farrell put
on the pressure and threw a 21 and 23-dart game to put her up 3 games to 2
. But Karin was not going to bow out. She came back and won the 6th and 7th legs to become the 2004 Canadian Open Women’s Champion.
Reaching the final four in the men’s bracket were John Part (Canada), Tony
Martin (England), Jerry Hull (Canada), and Guy Tremblay (Canada). First on stage were Part and Martin and what exciting games these were. Even
though Martin threw two 140s and a100, Part took the leg in 12 darts (100-125-180-96). In the second leg, Martin managed to take out the game in 16
darts. Part won against the throw in the 3rd leg and then won the 4th leg even though Martin was throwing very good darts. In the 5th leg, Martin threw
back to back 140s and finished with a double 20. The 6th and final leg went to Part and he was headed to the finals.
The second semi-final between Jerry Hull and Guy Tremblay was also very
exciting with 26 scores of 100 or more being thrown in the 7 legs. Hull, with the throw, took the first leg with Tremblay coming back and taking the
second leg. The third and fourth legs went to Hull with the fifth leg belonging
to Tremblay. Coming on strong in the sixth leg, Hull threw 140-140-41-100-58
, but Tremblay took the set with the darts in 17. Hull, throwing a 180 in the seventh and final leg, put himself into the finals of the Open.
The finals between John Part and Jerry Hull proved to be worth the wait. Both
players were aiming for the Single’s Title and they put on a great show. Part,
in the first and second legs, threw 15-dart games to take the lead 2-0. Hull,
in the fifth leg, threw a 159 to leave 32 and finished the game. But Part then
responded with a couple of 140s in the sixth leg and ended the hopes of Jerry Hull. This was the 3rd Canadian Open Singles title for John Part.
As everyone started on their journey home, they said their good-byes to old
friends and to the new friends that they had made during the week. They expressed their hopes of meeting up with them again next year when the
2005 Canadian Nationals and Canadian Open will be hosted in Victoria, British Columbia.
Hope to see you there,
—Mary Dezan, NDFC General Secretary
Canadian Open - Event Results
2004 NDFC National Youth Championship - Event Results>>>">
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