On Sunday the weekend was capped off with another huge round of DPA darts. In Victoria previous finalists Mal Cuming and Brandon Weening renewed their rivalry in the final after Weening eliminated Tommy Hyland 5-0 and Cuming got past the previous winner the night before, Stuart Coburn, 5-2. In the Final Cuming held throw before breaking in 16 and holding again in 17 darts. Weening then held his next two legs on throw, both in 15 darts, with Cuming holding in between. At 4-2 Weening needed to break the throw but was denied any chance of that as his opponent got through the leg in 14 darts. Weening held throw once more but 15 more darts from Cuming and the match was the Bulls by six legs to three.
In South Australia there was a renewal of another rivalry as Friday’s final of Rob Modra and Danny Porter was repeated, and like Victoria there was a different winner on the Sunday. Both had eliminated females in the semi finals of the event with Kym Mitchell falling to Porter 5-3 and Alecia Ritchie losing to Modra by the same scoreline. The final saw Porter break the opening leg of the match and then hold throw in 12 darts. 18 darts later he had broken the Modra throw again but this time Mods was able to strike back and with a break of throw the match was delicately balanced at 3-1 with Modra having the darts in the fifth leg. Modra missed an outside chance at a 136 check out in that leg and had to watch behind Porter as he checked out the leg with his 15th dart. Porter then held throw to move within a leg of the match. Modra secured a maximum to leave 6 for the leg but Porter pounced and with his 14th dart of the match he had secured the final and a second title of the weekend. Like Brandon Weening in Victoria Porter appeared in all three finals across the weekend in South Australia, picking up one more title than Weening did across the weekend.
In NSW there was another repeat of the Friday final with Dave Marland taking on Mark Taafe in the final and like in South Australia the title would end up going to the same man. Mark Taafe saw off a strong finishing Mitchell Clegg 5-3 in their semi final whilst Marland took out the resurgent Zinzan Culshaw 5-1 in the other semi. In the final the first three legs were break of throws before Marland held firm on throw in the fourth to lead 3-1. He then broke once more before holding throw in 15 darts. Taafe’s tenacity was demonstrated as he held throw and then broke the Marland throw to move the match score to 5-3 with Taafe to throw next. A 140 visit on his fifth turn at the oche saw Marland leave 85 for the match and at his next attempt he secured the leg and the match with his 18th dart, the final score being 6-3 to Marland.
In the West Justin Miles became the seventh player to make the final on Friday and Sunday but his opponent would not be David Platt, it would be the young sensation on the tour so far, Bailey Marsh. The all Team Eclipse affair was set up after Miles eliminated Joe Comito 5-3 and Marsh saw off Brenton Lloyd 5-4 in the semi final stage. In the final Marsh held in 14 darts before Miles did the same on throw. Miles then broke the Marsh throw in 15 darts before holding throw to go 3-1 up. He knew there was a long way to go and this was evidenced as Marsh held throw and then moved the match back into parity by breaking his opponent’s throw in 13 darts at the next attempt. Both players then held throw to move the match to 4-4 before Marsh was broken once again by his opponent. Miles would have known he could not afford to throw the next leg away, even at 5-4 up, as the decider would have then seen Marsh take the first visit to the oche. With no real fuss Miles got through the next leg and secured his second title of the weekend.
Thus the weekend came to a close and familiar winners were crowned. Danny Porter, Justin Miles and Dave Marland picked up multiple wins across the weekend whilst big names in Australian darts like Weening, Coburn, Cuming, Modra, Clegg and Platt all won finals over the weekend. Queensland will catch up this event later in the year, whilst the Winmau / Pirate Life DPA Satellite Series 2022 competition will continue next month in venues across Australia.
Vic Italian Australian Club Morwell
Fri Brandon Weening 6 Mal Cuming 4
Sat Stuart Coburn 6 Brandon Weening 4
Sun Mal Cuming 6 Brandon Weening 3
SA NDDA
Fri Rob Modra 6 Danny Porter 3
Sat Danny Porter 6 Jed Nethercott 1
Sun Danny Porter 6 Rob Modra 1
NSW Warilla Bowls and Recreation Club
Fri Dave Marland 6 Mark Taafe 5
Sat Mitchell Clegg 6 Dave Hanel 4
Sun Dave Marland 6 Mark Taafe 3
WA Port Kennedy Tavern
Fri Justin Miles 6 David Platt 5
Sat David Platt 6 Howard Jones 2
Sun Justin Miles 6 Bailey Marsh 4
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