The DPA held their first events of the 2022 season thanks to sponsors Winmau and Pirate Life over the weekend of the 11th to 13th of February 2022. With two tournament wins and another appearance in the quarter finals Tim Pusey has secured the Russell Stewart classic over the weekend. Events were held across Australia, at Morwell Italian Australian Sporting Club Victoria, Warilla Sports and Recreation Club NSW, Port Kennedy Tavern WA, Surfers Paradise Golf Club Qld and Northern Districts Darts Association SA.
On Friday night Pusey defeated Benjamin Owen 6-0, Jeremy Fagg 6-3, Ricky Pickett 6-5, and Dave Burke 6-3 to make the final. He threw off in that match against Dave Littleboy who continued to roll back the years as he defeated Jamie Brown 6-3, Chris Crabbe 6-3, Brody Kling 6-5, and Dave Charnock 6-2 to make the big dance.
Littleboy won the bull in the final and threw 20 darts to take the first leg. Pusey then got to a check out with a 132 visit, but it took him three more visits to put the match back into parity. With Littleboy unable to convert 8 in the next leg Pusey had a shot at tops but wasted the chances and his opponent held throw to lead 2-1. Pusey then held throw in 19 darts of his own to tie it up. He then opened with a 180 followed by 135 and 140 to break in 11 darts. On a roll his first three visits on throw in the next leg were 180, 123 and 119 and he held throw in 13 darts to take his lead out to two legs.
A 101 check out helped Littleboy reduce the lead by one leg before Pusey cleaned up on his own throw to move within a leg of the match. A 140 on his second visit against the throw saw The Magnet move ahead in the leg and Littleboy was unable to get back in front, Pusey throwing 80 to win the event.
The Saturday and Sunday events then reverted to state bubbles, with winners crowned in each state.
In Victoria Team Rebel’s Mal Cuming defeated Brody Klinge in the two Victorian finals. Klinge had also made the quarter finals on the Friday event. Cuming had defeated Luke Wilson 5-1, Troy Jackson 5-0, and Rhys Mathewson 5-4 to make the Saturday final. Meanwhile Klinge got past Aaron Simpson 5-2, Brandon Weening 5-0, and Ash Britt 5-0. Cuming opened the final in 15 darts before his opponent secured his own throw in 17darts. After holding throw in the third leg Cuming pounced on a miss at the bull by Klinge to convert a 50 of his own and move ahead into a two-leg lead. He then held throw in 16 darts before Klinge bettered that by one dart to hold throw of his own. A 78 check out in the 7th leg gave Cuming a 5-2 win in the final.
Sunday’s path to the final saw Cuming progress past Hudson Nolan 5-1, Steve Duke 5-0, and Brandon Weening 5-2. Klinge defeated Oscar Drew 5-0, Rhys Mathewson 5-2 and Ash Britt 5-0. This final was the best of 11 affair and Cuming held throw in the opening leg in 14 darts. Klinge then busted a shot at 10 on his own throw and Cuming pounced to take a two-leg lead. For the second consecutive time Cuming held throw in 14 darts. Both players then held throw twice before a 15-dart leg from Klinge moved the score to 5-3. He had to break the Cuming throw and a 140-visit left him needing 94 before a visit of similar magnitude left Cuming just a double 16 away from victory. Klinge left 20 on his next visit and with his second dart on the next visit Cuming secured the leg, the match, and his second event of the weekend.
Just across the border in South Australia Danny Porter was matching the efforts of Cuming and Pusey over the weekend by winning dual events. On Saturday he defeated Phillip Rowland 6-0 in the quarter finals and Colin Edwards 6-1 at the semi final stage. He would match up against Scott Hallett in the final who had progressed past Adam Leek (6-0) and Steve Letts (6-1) in his previous two matches. The final saw Porter win the bull and open first. Hallett had the first shot at a check out but missed multiple chances. Porter almost secured a 138 check out but then busted twice chasing 4 before Hallett finally broke the throw. Hallett then held throw to move 2-0 up. Porter held throw in 15 darts in leg three before Hallett moved 3-1 clear. Hallett then missed three at double 16 when trying to move up by three clear legs and Porter secured a double 8 (he had busted his previous visit) to hold throw. Hallett then held throw comfortably to move ahead once more before Porter won the next leg. In leg 8 Hallett had throw but visits of 140 and 100 from Porter late in the leg but pressure on his opponent. Hallett left 7 chasing an 83 check out and Porter pounced with a double ten to takeback the break of throw. Porter then held throw to lead in the match for the first time, five legs to four. 17 darts later and the match needed a deciding leg. It was Hallett who had a shot at the match first but left tops chasing 62. Danny Porter halved 80 to leave tops on his next visit. Hallett then scored 30 to leave 10. He would not get another throw as Porter took out his required score on the next visit to win a very tight affair, 6 legs to 5.
On Sunday Porter defeated Steve Letts 6-2 in the quarters, and Hallett in a rematch of the previous night’s final by the same score from that match, 6-5. Adam Leek was his opponent on Sunday having won his quarter final 6-2 over Rob Modra and Colin Edwards 6-3 (the NDDA legend’s second semi final of the weekend.) This final saw Porter go 2-0 up instead of down, with a break and then a 15-dart leg hold of throw. He then missed several visits to go 3 up and Leek was able to hold throw. Porter put that disappointment behind him to comfortably hold throw. He then broke throw for a second time in leg five before moving 5-1 clear on this own throw. Leek then held throw in 16 darts before the next leg saw him check out 116 as Porter could only halve his shot at 80 on the previous visit. Leek then held throw but in the 10th leg he was unable to come close to breaking the Porter throw to force the match into a deciding leg (in which he would have had the throw) and thus Danny Porter stopped the unlikely comeback and secure his second title of the weekend.
Further west and Tim Pusey secured his second event of the weekend. He made his second final of the weekend having defeated Ricky Pickett Jnr 6-0, Howard Jones 6-5 and Koha Kokiri 6-3 in the knockout stages. He would take on Justin Miles who had progressed past Loz Ryder (6-3), Rodney Demeza (6-1) and Keith Charchalis (6-4.) Both players opened by holding throw before Pusey moved ahead for the second time thanks to an 11-dart leg. Miles then threw 140, 180 and 140 before securing the 41 required for the 4th leg in three darts for a 12 darter. Pusey then held in 15 darts before breaking the Miles throw with the same amount of darts. The Magnet held throw before breaking Miles for a second time to take the final out by six legs to two.
On Sunday It was Bailey Marsh, who had shone so brightly at the Oceanic Masters last year, that won the third event of the weekend. Marsh had defeated Ricky Pickett 5-0 then Keith Charchalis 5-1 and Brenton Lloyd 5-4 to make the final. Dave Burke joined him in the final having defeated Justin Miles 5-1, Je Comito 5-2 and Howard Jones 5-4 (having been 4-0 down!) March held throw in the final before breaking the Burke throw after his opponent hit a maximum from 182 but was unable to hit the madhouse on two visits. He then remarkably busted 120 in the next leg and Marsh held throw to go 3-0 up. Marsh then broke for the second time before holding throw as both players busted along the way in the fifth leg. At 5-0 Burke finally held throw before securing one of the breaks back in 16 darts. Burke would have had memories of his semi-final comeback, but Marsh broke the Burke throw with his 18th dart in the next leg to win the match six legs to two and secure the final event of the weekend in WA (and across the country.)
Back over on the east coast at the home of NSW DPA darts, the Warilla Bowls and Recreation Club, new names lit up the event. On Saturday Jake Buckley had defeated Jud Hoyle 5-2 before eliminating Pat Molloy 5-1 at the quarter final stage. His semi-final defeat of Stephen Tormey by five legs to one saw him make his first final at Warilla. His opponent would be Daniel Pearson. The local Pearson defeated Mark Wortley 5-2 then Russell Northey by the same score line and David Boyle 5-3 in the knockout stages of the tournament. The final saw Buckley immediately break Pearson only to be broken on his own first throw. Both players then held throw three times, with each spurning opportunities to take breaks in that period. Although legs 7 and 8 went comfortably on throw. Thus, with Pearson on throw in the ninth leg it was he that was favourite in this best to five affair. Pearson missed trebles on his first two visits and as with most of the match Buckley also started relatively slowly. On his fourth visit Buckley threw a ton with Pearson then doing the same before a 138 visit took Buckley to 60. Buckley only scored 40 at his next visit and Pearson left tops having chased 91 for the match at his next turn at the oche. With last dart in hand Buckley secured the check out and his first DPA win at Warilla.
On Sunday David Cairns called upon all his experience to pave a way through the field, defeating Judd Hoyle 6-0, Mark Wortley 6-4 and Dave Hanel 6-3 in the knockout stages of the event. On the other side of the draw Mark Taafe defeated the winner from the day before, Jake Buckley, 6-4 in the round of 16, then Scott Johnson 6-4 in the quarters before upsetting Dave Marland 6-4 in the semi-finals. Thus, Taafe and Cairns faced off against each other at the oche for the final. Both players held throw in the first leg, although Cairns had a shot at the Taafe throw in leg two but failed to capitalise. Leg three then saw Cairns unable to put 80 or 5 away and Taafe pounced with visits of 134 and 24 to take the lead. That lead was short lived, though, as Cairns checked out 89 to return the match to parity. A 78 check out in the next leg put Cairns ahead before Taafe also held throw in 18 darts. He then broke the Cairns throw with a fantastic 122 check out. Both players had multiple chances in the next leg, but it was Taafe who finally converted to move within a leg of the match. Taafe was able to break the Cairns throw in the ninth leg to take the match 6-3 and win the event on home soil! A great reward for a hard working and dedicated player on the DPA circuit.
Further north there were two more events and in Queensland the quality of the field shone through. On Saturday Ray O’Donnell of Team Misfits made the final having eliminated Scott Mitchell (6-2), Ben Justice (6-2), James Bailey (6-5), and Matt Mullen (6-3) in the knockout stages. His opponent in the final would be Robbie King. King made the final having won his top 32 match 6-3 over Patrick Cosgrove, his round of 16 6-1 over Jack Marchant, his quarter 6-2 over misfit teammate Brendon McCausland, and his semi 6-5 over Dewayne Turner (having been 5-4 down.) In the Final O’Donnell snapped up the chance King presented him in the first leg against the throw, King unable to convert a visit for 10. The former Broken Hill local then snatched up the next leg in 12 darts thanks to visits of 81, 180, 140 and a 100 check out. 15 darts later he was three nil up (thanks in main to successive 140 visits) and King was unsure what hit him. King got back on tilt in the next leg and despite busting 36 returned to the oche to take the one of the breaks back. He then held throw before breaking again to move the match back to three all. Both players then held throw although in leg eight King busted an attempt at tops to move to a two-leg lead. Instead, the match was 4-4 and O’Donnell pulled out two 15 dart legs, against and on throw, to take the event thanks to his 6-4 win in the final.
Sunday would see Robbie King make the final once again, this time against another Team Misfit colleague, Raymond Smith, demonstrating the strength and importance of Team Misfit to the Australian darting landscape. King won his top 32 match 6-0 over Jakob Goldsmith whilst Smith defeated Chayce Woods 6-1 at the same stage. King then defeated Dewayne Turner 6-5 (a repeat of his semi final score the previous day), whilst Smith made the quarter finals thanks to a 6-1 win over Patrick Cosgrove. A 6-0 whitewash of Josh Kime set Smith up for a semi final against son Ky, whilst King scraped through another tough battle, winning 6-5 against Adam Bainbridge. King would defeat his conqueror in the final from the previous day, Ray O’Donnell, 6-1, whilst Ray Smith would give his son, and world championship colleague, Ky, 6-0. The final saw Smith win the bull and hold throw before King held throw comfortably in 16 darts in the second leg. Smith then demonstrated his class and the kind of darts that made him the DPA number one last year, with visits of 180, 140 and 140 before throwing 41 in three darts. Both players then held throw before legs 6 and 7 exemplified both misfit player’s class with 15 (King) and 14 (Smith) dart legs. King then held throw once more (despite a 145-visit leaving Smith on 36) before Smith hit a maximum to leave 20 and then comfortably hold throw on his next visit to the oche. Thus at 5-4 the pressure was on King to hold once again, as had happened in all nine previous legs. Both players opened with non-treble visits before 130, 100 and 105 visits from Smith put him in the driving seat. A 100 visit from King then moved him to 197 as Smith left 8 having attempted 88. King then threw 140 to leave 57 but he would never return to the oche in the Final as Smith’s next dart landed in the double four bed to take out the match and the event.
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