The WDF was in full swing over the weekend, with events taking place both in Selsey for the England Open and over in Zurich for the Swiss variety.
And in Blighty, down on the coast of West Sussex, it was literally lights out as the complex was plunged into complete darkness on Saturday evening. If only the WDF hierarchy could have had a whip round and stuck a few more coins in the meter!
We will start with events in England and, once again, the headline maker was reigning Lakeside Champion Deta Hedman who, at the ripe old age of 66, shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. The true Rolls-Royce of the sport, she clearly possesses a generator far stronger than the local electricity suppliers do.
The Caribbean Queen has not only won everything the game has to offer but has also been recognised by Buckingham Palace. If that lot knighted Jimmy Savile, the least they can do is chuck a Damehood Deta’s way. If the empress of the oche ever got a job with the BBC, you’d feel she is nailed on for that particular honour.
With three individual events up for grabs, Hedman claimed two of them – the England National and Selsey Open – and was only denied a hat-trick after being defeated in the final of the England Open.
That accolade went to another player flying high recently, Gemma Hayter, who was magnificent. But speaking of flying high, the Eastleigh-born Ace doesn’t have the best of records when it comes to avoiding pigeon poo. No problem taking out talented female darts players, just not great at dodging whatever those pesky birds drop from the sky. And when electricity fails, she is normally amongst the victims on that score too. Still, she’s a damn good player despite the amusing calamities that generally follow her.
Over in the men’s events, the honours were evenly shared. Stuart Dutton bagged the Selsey Open title. Harry Lane, who sounds more like your Nan’s mate down at the nursing home, claimed the England National honours. And a man so Scottish that his name is practically his nationality, Scott Robertson got the better of Chas Barstow to become the new England Open champion.
Over in the land of cheese with holes and a nation big on neutrality – Switzerland – Catalonian chucker Daniel Zapata walked away with the Helvetia Open trophy. For those of you not overly versed in Latin, Helvetia is their word for Switzerland. It’s a way of distinguishing two sets of tournaments without using “Swiss” in the title which, quite frankly, would have caused more confusion than Selsey’s power cut. If in doubt, go Latin. Unless you stick it into Google or have Indiana Jones on speed dial, no one will have a clue.
Zapata, whose proud Catalonian status almost dares anyone to suggest he is Spanish, defeated Moreno Blom in the final of that event. However, the Dutch youngster managed to smash in a nine-darter over the weekend and seemed happy enough with that. Bless little Blommy!
In the women’s division, the imperious Aileen de Graaf further embellished her already extensive collection of honours to once again underline her enduring eminence on the WDF circuit. As good as Deta Hedman is, she still hasn’t mastered being in two places at once. So whilst the Queen of Hearts was busy dominating in England, the door was left ajar for the rest. And it was indeed the Dutch Deta, De Graaf, who claimed the Latin-named Swiss Open title, defeating Italian Aurora Fochesato.
There was déjà vu for Ms Fochesato, whose name sounds more like a loaf of bread than a darts player. Once again, she crumbled in the final, losing the actual Swiss Open showdown to Germany’s experienced Irina Armstrong.
And it was double Deutsch delight as Paul Krohne claimed the men’s crown, defeating Ron ‘The Bomb’ Meulenkamp, who simply failed to explode on the oche in the manner his moniker suggested.
With most of the standard-bearers for girls’ darts competing in England, the Swiss tournament directors decided to stage a couple of youth events instead. That worked out rather well for Burnley superstar Kaya Baysal, who cleaned up in both. Pity his football team don’t do as well on the pitch as this 15-year-old Lancashire prodigy does on the oche. They might have stayed up if that were the case.
That’s that for the WDF weekly round-up. In summary, Deta Hedman has now opened a fifth lock-up for all her silverware. Hayter continues to soar – hopefully high enough to crap on a pigeon herself. And Kaya Baysal is the best thing to come out of Burnley since the M65.
