The Queensland section of the Winmau DPA Satellite tour concluded over the weekend at the fantastic Pine Rivers.
The first day saw 75 entries and as the day progressed a who’s who of the game made it through to the quarter finals. In those quarters Jeremy Fagg defeated Adam Bainbridge and Raymond Smith defeated son Ky, both 4-0. The other two quarters went to last set deciders (4-3) with James Bailey sneaking past veteran Dave Littleboy and Matt Mullen getting through against Mick Lacey.
Neither semi final was a close affair with Raymond Smith and James Bailey progressing to the final. Against Jeremy Fagg Smith went a leg down before holding throw then breaking the Fagg opponent’s throw after Fagg missed out on a 112 check out and Smith threw 101 for the leg before winning the next two legs to secure the match 4-1. Bailey defeated Mullen by the same scoreline although his progress to that end score was different. The bull broke in the first leg and then held throw. Mullen then secured his only leg of the match before Bailey held throw and broke his opponent once more in the final leg of the match.
Thus two of Queensland and Australia’s finest dart players matched off in the final and as expected it was a tight affair, finishing 5-4. Smith broke the Bailey throw after being given the chance by his opponent who left 16 chasing a 92 check out. He then held throw but only after Bailey left 20 chasing a 142 check out. Bailey held throw in the third leg before Smith was able to take a two leg lead in the match once more. Smith then missed out on an 80 checked out against the Bailey throw in leg five and the Bull secured the leg on his next visit to the oche. Smith then held throw once more, this time in 16 darts, with Bailey missing two darts at tops for the leg. Bailey held throw in leg seven and was finally able to break back to parity in leg eight by securing a 41 check out after 18 darts. Thus Bailey had first throw in the deciding leg but a 140 in his third visit put Smith into the lead. Bailey had a shot at a 127 finish but missed the bull for the match and Smith converted 74 to take the leg, the match and the event.
The following day 79 players participated and the quarter finals saw all four semi finalists from the previous day return to the quarter finals, this time joined by Shaun Kopecki, Raymond O’Donnell, Jamie Rundle and James Raroa. Those quarters saw a 4-1 win to O’Donnell over James Bailey, with the other matches finishing 4-2 (Kopecki over Raroa, Fagg over Smith and Rundle over Mullen.)
The first semi final went to a deciding leg. Kopecki fell behind to O’Donnell after the opening leg before holding his throw. The former man from Broken Hill then went back to a 2-1 lead by holding throw before Kopecki secured the fourth hold of throw in a row in the match. Two visits of 140 followed up by an 85 and 118 visit saw O’Donnell throw double 9 with his 13th dart to hold throw once more, and look to have much momentum. However he failed to turn the momentum into results against the Kopecki throw and without a break of throw the match went to the final leg. The leg was to give both players multiple opportunities at a check out, indeed O’Donnell had nine darts to convert 108 whilst Kopecki had the same amount of darts to check out 106. With his 24th dart it was the first break of throw in the match that gave Shaun Kopecki a position in the final.
The other match was not as close with Jeremy Fagg winning 4-1. He held throw from the opening leg and only conceded the second leg, where Rundle collected 99, 180 and 140 before checking out 82 in two darts to throw an 11 darter. In the fourth leg there would be another 11 darter, so on the only two starts of Rundle in the match there were 11 darters, although this time it would be Fagg who secured it, with visits of 180, 100 and 180 and two darts to collect the remaining 41. Fagg held throw in the 5th leg to secure his place in the final.
The final would not be as tight as the previous day. Kopecki started strongly and, despite busting 40, held throw in 17 darts. Fagg then held his own throw before breaking his opponents throw. He doubled down on this advantage by checking out 124 in the next leg to take three successive legs and lead 3-1. He then broke his opponents throw once more to move to within one leg of the match, and he had the darts in the next leg. He failed to take advantage, though, as Kopecki broke his opponent’s throw with a 72 check out. In what would turn out to be the last leg Kopecki could only leave tops as he chased a 66 to extend the match and Fagg (who had missed tops for the match on his previous visit, was able to return to the oche and collect the required double ten with his next dart to take out the event.
The last weekend of October will see the culmination of this championship with events across Australia to determine the overall champion of the Winmau DPA Satellite tour 2021.
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