Perth native Tim Pusey banged in a superb oche hat-trick at the Victoria leg of the recent ADA Tour in a stunning weekend display that made you wonder if Raymond Smith and Brody Klinge had finally decided to share the loot.
The Thunder From Down Under went on full Pusey Patrol, picking off wins in the opening two events.
Whilst folk in the UK were melting, the cream of Antipodean arrow-smiths were in Melton – phonetically the same, but it was Pusey putting everyone under the heat, stopping what has emphatically been the Smith & Klinge show this season.
Yes, Tim may look like Harry Potter has really let himself go, but he was in magical form from the start. On Friday evening, after edging Joe Comito in a thrilling semi-final last-leg decider, he got the better of The Guru 6-4 in the showdown.
That took the 33-year-old’s ADA career title tally to four. But he wasn’t done there. A quick cocoa, off to bed, then up sprightly in the morning to seek more oche victims.
A few hours into what Aussies call Saturday ‘arvo’, Pusey was at it again, racing through the field quicker than Rolf Harris on a kangaroo being chased by the cops. This time, he took out Raymond Smith a round earlier before edging local lad Stuart Coburn in an exhilarating, epic encounter in the final.
With all due respect to Stuart, he wasn’t a player I was overly familiar with. What I discovered was he’s just turned 34, lives practically down the road from the venue, takes his dog to visit Santa Claus and, together with long-term partner Jade, has visited Disney World in America at least once. Oh, and he is a very good darts player – more on him shortly.
So that was two events down, two to go, and later on Saturday, Joe Comito popped up and grabbed a win to finally start spreading these titles around. Absolutely nothing against Smith & Klinge, who are undoubtedly world-class players – you have to be to dominate on this continent. But from a writer’s perspective, let’s just say it’s better when you have different players to expose sarcastically every now and again.
Therefore, thanks Joe, who reminds me of some kind of Down Under mafia boss. With a name like Comito, there’s got to be a bit of The Sopranos about him. If, after saying this, I wake up with a horse’s head on my pillow in the morning, chances are I was probably right.
Anyway, known as The Waterboy, which is about as intimidating as nicknaming someone ‘Giant Pile Of Marshmallows’, he made a big name for himself last year at Ally Pally, sensationally taking out the highly fancied Niko Springer. In England, for purely banter purposes, we quite enjoy seeing Germans lose – and don’t really mind if that defeat is inflicted by an Aussie.
Comito finally put Pusey’s gushing winning streak to bed, smashing him 6-1 in the quarters. He then took out Mal Cumming before comfortably overcoming Howard Jones in the final.
However, I have to give a nod to that man Stuart Coburn, who bagged himself a nine-darter against Josh Kime. Known as The Cobra – more a play on his surname than choosing the most non-Australian animal for a nickname – the Victorian lost the match but had the consolation and distinction of becoming only the second player in ADA history to hit the perfect leg. Fair play, mate.
Then onto Sunday and the weekend’s last event. As is typical on this tour, yet baffling for those watching Darts Connect, the format switches to set play. For those not familiar, it may look like they couldn’t be too bothered and merely wanted to get to the pub quickly. Not the case, I assure you.
Anyway, it made no odds whether it was matchplay, set play or foreplay as far as Pusey was concerned – he was shooting from all angles. Tim found himself up against Don Corleone in the curtain-call match, but on this occasion Comito wasn’t able to share the weekend spoils, with the Perth man metaphorically dribbling around Joe before smashing the ball into the top corner for his hat-trick.
After all the slinging and dancing was over, there were PDC World Series spots to dish out. Congrats to Raymond Smith, who will be popping across what Antipodeans call ‘The Ditch’ in August to represent the ADA at the upcoming New Zealand Masters.
As far as the Aussie version – the Wollongong Masters – goes, Smith is joined by Brody Klinge, Tim Pusey, Joe Comito and Darren Penhall who, by all accounts, according to the ADA’s official Facebook page, couldn’t be arsed hanging around for the group photo.
Another weekend, two new different winners for the tour this year. A man with a surname similar to a woman’s genitals and a mob boss. At least it’s different.
