The second last entry into the NSW Darts Masters to be played in Wollongong at the WIN Entertainment Centre on August 19 and 20 was determined at the Warilla Bowls and Recreation Club on Monday. (Nb A few tickets are still available at Ticketek but be quick.)
Raymond O’Donnell and David Hall Snr played in the first quarter final. O’Donnell opened with the throw and visits of 100 on his second and third visit and a 140 on his fifth saw him leave 20. Two visits later and O’Donnell threw double 5 with his last dart to win the leg. Three 100 visits in the second leg from Hall Snr helped him stay in the leg and when O’Donnell could not convert 80 to leave 20 Hall had a shot at 73 but left eight. O’Donnell checked out with last dart in hand to lead 2-0. Hall then opened with 140 but two visits of 100 from O’Donnell’s second and third visits and a 117 late in the leg left O’Donnell requiring 38. With Hall on 77 O’Donnell threw double 19 to take a three-nil lead. O’Donnell opened with a 140 against the throw in the next leg before doubling it on his next visit. He soon secured the break and a four nil leg lead. In the fifth leg Hall moved ahead with 100 on his third visit but a 140 pushed O’Donnell to 177 on throw. Hall was unable to move back ahead on his next visit and despite missing Shanghai Bubba was far enough in front to come back to the oche and secure a 5-0 lead. Hall then opened with 100 on throw with O’Donnell scoring the same on his second visit. Hall scored a 140 to leave 56 but he left 20 on his next visit. With O’Donnell far enough behind Hall would come back to the oche and secure his first leg of the tournament. Three successive 100s
from Hall at the end of the seventh leg could not match O’Donnell’s strong visits and O’Donnell checked out four to win the match 6-1.
In his quarter final Brenton Lloyd broke at the first attempt after Sam Ballinger missed a whole visit at 36. Lloyd then scored a 180 on throw with his second visit and then secured 102 to leave 40. Both players struggled towards the end of the leg with Lloyd finally checking out 16 to lead 2-0. Visits of 140 and 132 helped Ballinger to move ahead in the third leg but he left 10 chasing 20 to leave Lloyd an 86 check out for this third leg. He missed double 16 and Ballinger finally got a leg with first dart on his next visit. In the fourth game Ballinger secured three scores of 100 in four visits and with his 17th dart secured the leg, albeit under some pressure after Lloyd had thrown 130 on his second from last visit and then stood behind his opponent requiring 20. Ballinger secured a 140 visit on his second time at the oche and two visits later he scored the same to leave 120. Two visits later and he was in front for the first time in the match. In leg six an opening 180, and then 140 in the third and 105 in the fourth visits left Ballinger needing tops. Lloyd could not punish the couple of outside opportunities that his opponent then presented to him, and Ballinger finally went 4-2 up. Ballinger opened with a 100 in the seventh leg and a 138 near the end of the leg left him needing 52, which he converted with his next two darts. Ballinger left 161 after 4 visits in leg eight. A 137 left Ballenger on 24. Lloyd had a shot at 101 but left 49. A double 12 on Ballinger’s next dart gave him a 6-2 win.
Bailey Marsh opened his quarter final with Tim Pusey with visits of 97 and 140 on throw and comfortably took the opening leg. He then missed out on an 85 check out to leave 32 as Pusey scored the 57 check out he had set up for himself with a 140 on the previous visit. 15 darts from Pusey later and he held a break of throw thanks to visits of 140 and 177 and an 83 check out. He then held throw but not before Marsh missed three darts at double six for the leg. Marsh then opened with a 140 and closed his leg on throw with a 101 check out to move within one leg of his opponent. Visits of 78, 121, 138 and 100 set up Marsh for a 15-dart break of throw when he checked out 64 before visits of 100 and 180 helped him on his way to a lead in the match for the first time since the opening leg. In the eighth leg both players opened with a 140 and three visits later Marsh replicated that visit. Despite that Pusey was still able to hold throw to move the match to 4-4. He then broke the Marsh throw with an opening visit of 137 and a 144 check out. At 5-4 to Pusey he opened with visits of 92 and 134, Marsh throwing 100 and 97 in response. A 97 to Pusey later in the leg left him requiring 135 and after a visit of 83 he scored 52 with his second dart on his next visit to the oche to win 6-4.
In the final quarter final Chris Krabbe opened the match with a visit of 100 which was bettered by Stuart Coburn on his opening visit. It was Krabbe, however, who held throw after Coburn left 16 chasing 109. Coburn then had to stand behind Krabbe as he attempted to check out 12 in the next leg. When he failed to do so Coburn pounced to secure 40. A maximum from Krabbe in the next leg upon his third visit helped him take a strong lead and whilst it took a few visits after that he checked out ten to lead 2-1 on throw. He then opened up with a 140 which Coburn responded by throwing 119. Two visits later and he hit a ton to leave 178. Coburn then struggled to check out but eventually took the leg to make it 2-2. Krabbe then opened the next leg with two tons and scored a third one two visits later. A 76 check out to Coburn, though, saw him steal the leg and lead 3-2. Both players struggled in the sixth leg but eventually Krabbe broke the Coburn throw to return the match back to parity at 3-3. Krabbe then opened with 100 but Coburn hit 140 second time around and then visits of 100, 120 and a check out of 101 left him 4-3 up. On throw Coburn secured an 84 and 140 but a maximum helped Krabbe’s cause. Coburn got to the first check out chance at 122 but a 140 put pressure on the throw as Crabbe moved to requiring 78. Krabbe secured the break to move the match back to even terms once again. The ninth leg was a nervous affair for both players, but mid leg Coburn scored two tons and Krabbe secured 118 and 100 to leave 120. He left 80 as Coburn moved from 187 to 50 after a 137 visit. Both players struggled to check out, but Coburn finally got it to move to within a win of the semi-finals. Crabbe opened with a 100 as Coburn struggled at the beginning of the next leg and Krabbe got to a check out target first, that being 155. Crabbe eventually secured the leg to push the match to a deciding leg. A 99 from Krabbe on his third visit in that leg was bettered by a 140 from Coburn who took the darts in the leg at that point. A 95 left him not on a check out at 162 whist 100 from Krabbe left him needing 155 for the match. Krabbe could not put away 114 but Coburn missed out on 60 with match darts. Krabbe came back to the oche but also missed out with
a match dart. Coburn finally cleaned up with his next dart to join the list of semi-finalists.
In the first semi-final Ray O’Donnell took the opening leg on throw having responded to a 140 thrown by his opponent, Tim Pusey, on his second visit with the same immediately he shortly thereafter checked out 20. On throw in the second leg Pusey threw 100, 121 and 130 on his second, third and fifth visits but could not convert 34 in two visits to leave O’Donnell to check out 32 after he had busted the previous visit. O’Donnell threw 100, 123 and 100 in three of his last four visits in the third leg but a 180 from Pusey third visit had kept him in the. Pusey then left 12 chasing 72 and O‘Donnell took his chance with a 12 and tops to check out 52 and lead 3-0. Pusey then opened with a 140 on throw in the fourth leg. Two visits of 100 left O’Donnell needing 120 and with Pusey missing the bull for the leg O’Donnell attempt Shanghai but left 20. Pusey then scored the required 25 with last dart in hand to win his first leg. O’Donnell then opened with 100 on throw for Pusey to respond with 137. O’Donnell backed it up with another 100 and a later visit oof 134 and check out of 32 was soon 4-1 up. O’Donnell then opened up with a 134 in the sixth leg against the Pusey throw and collected a 140 on his second visit. He had a shot at 164 put left 66 with his misfit opponent well behind. O’Donnell secured the 66 required to move to within a leg of the match. He opened with two 140s on throw in the seventh set but a 140 and 95 from Pusey in his second to fourth visits moved him to needing 108. O’Donnell gave his opponent a shot at that, but Pusey left 70 and O’Donnell stepped up and threw the required double four to win the match 6-1.
The second semi-final saw Sam Ballinger open with the throw only for his Team Rebel teammate Stuart Coburn take it from him, thanks in main to visits of 140 and 130. Coburn then opened with 180, 140 and 100 to take the second leg and lead 2-0. Against the throw in the third leg Coburn had 125 and 140 visits at his first and third attempt and then threw 136 to leave tops. Balinger put pressure on by scoring 140 to leave tops for himself but Coburn gained a 3-0 lead with last dart in hand on his next visit. Both players collected 100 on their second visit on the Coburn throw and Ballinger was left with an outside shot at 117 but left 20 just before Coburn secured the leg with his third dart to lead 4-0. Ballinger held throw in leg 5 with a 13-dart effort before opening with a 180 and 140 against the Coburn throw and securing the leg in 11 darts. Coburn had to weather the storm and visits of 123 and 100 straight up helped that cause. He checked out 70 to restore his own winning ways and move the score to 5-2. The next leg was a tight affair and after three visits each they were exactly equal. Two visits later and a 130 from Coburn left him requiring 85 to win but a 100 put Ballinger on 100 and the Coburn response under pressure. Coburn left 35 as but Ballinger left 10 and Coburn did not need another invitation to clean up for a 6-2 victory in the semi-final.
The Final started with Coburn on throw scoring 140 before O’Donnell secured 100 with his first visit. The middle of the first leg slowed down but it was Coburn who got to a check out chance with 102. He was unable to put it away, leaving 16, so O’Donnell had a chance of a break but was also unable to secure it, leaving 20. Coburn then presented his opponent with another chance which O’Donnell gratefully took. In a replica of the first leg the player first with the walk secured a 140 visit and his opponent a 100 in the opening visits of the second leg. This this time, however, O’Donnell backed it up with 125 and 140 visits to leave 96. At the same time Coburn scored 134 and 77 to leave 190. Four darts later for O’Donnell and he was 2-0 up. O’Donnell did not pounce on a poor start from Coburn in the next leg until visits of 134 and 125 left him needing 37. He threw that with his last dart in hand to lead 3-0 and be up by two breaks of throw. Coburn opened up with 140 against the throw in the fourth leg but a 140 from O’Donnell left him needing 28 and despite a 104 visit from Coburn it was not enough as double 14 gave O’Donnell a 4-0 lead. O’Donnell then took a good lead against the throw with 93 and 140 in the next leg and got to a first check out chance at 128. A 79 left O’Donnell on 49 as Coburn left 130. O’Donnell secured his fifth leg with a 49 visit. O’Donnell opened with 100 and 140 in the sixth leg with Coburn scoring 125 in between. O’Donnell threw a ton to leave 104 and he collected the check out to move 6-0 up. A 97 visit late in the seventh leg left Coburn needing 170. He secured 105 of that but then busted chasing that total on his next visit. O’Donnell was ready to pounce and secured 60 with last dart in hand to take out the Final 7-0 and win a place in the NSW Darts Masters in Wollongong.
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