The profile of darts in Cyprus has once again been raised by the contesting of the inaugural Open Tournament held in Pathos.
Organised and hosted by the Pafos Darts League (PDL) and sponsored by Timbertech, the Open was staged at the Ambassador Restaurant in the city, which is now the official headquarters of the PDL). The tournament attracted over 150 darts players and spectators from around the island and the event followed on from two recent home team matches against darts leagues from Larnaca and Limassol.
In the semi-finals of the Men’s Singles, Enros Karradou (Limassol) beat Tony Croxford (Pathos) while Paul Deacon (Pathos) beat Andreas Riccos. The eventual winner was Karradou who beat Paul Deacon 4-2 over the best-of-seven-legs final.
Doubles winners – Andreas Laos & Ermos Karradou
Enros Karradou also featured in the Open Doubles. Partnered by Andreas Laos the Limassol pair beat Clive Ford and Mick Williams. The losing semi-finalists were Mick Saggs & Carl Wood and Wayne Madeley & Chris Kolas.
Women’s Finalists – Lorraine McCormick & Amanda Sanderon
The Ladies Singles was an all-Pathos affair with Amanda Sanderson (Bandanas) beating Lorraine McCormack (Phoenix) 4-2. Sanderson beat Anne Rose in the semi-finals, while McCormack accounted for Therese Allen.
League Chairman and Tournament Director, Bernard Dangerfield, told Darts World (magazine) that this inaugural event had gone very well indeed. He said, “Play had run very smoothly with only a couple of minor disputes. However, these had been settled quickly. The PDL have taken on board some valuable suggestions to help improve future events still further.”
Paphos Darts Association is officially launched
> Following negotiations with the Cyprus Darts Federation (CDF), the dart players of Paphos have been formally accepted into the federation as the Paphos Darts Association (PDA).
The new association started a league competition in February with a format where every player in the league will be guaranteed to play each other. Each team will be made up of a minimum of only five players and each player will play five games per night with the whole match taking 25 legs.
All involved believe the format to be the best for improving the general standard of darts. Bernard Dangerfield, Chairman of the Pafos Darts League sent his organisation’s congratulations and best wishes to Tony Newbon, the President of the PDA and stated “We [the PDL] see this as another step to promoting darts in Pathos and are happy to offer our support whenever possible. We look forward to your co-operation with us in the future towards stamping out any negativity caused by any individuals towards either of our organisations.”
Bernard also told the President of the PDA, “…the PDL was set up as the people’s darts league and from this many good players have emerged. The PDA has been set up by the darts players for darts players. We said all along that the PDL would be a good platform for the emergence of such a league. It was just a matter of timing. The people of Pathos now have a wonderful opportunity to enjoy darts at all levels.”
The PDA representative team will be chosen directly from the top eight players in the statistics from the league with two wild card positions given by the captain. In addition, the top sixteen players in the new league will be put forward to represent Paphos for the national team trial.
With links to various national and international organisations including the World Darts Federation, the Cyprus Sport Organisation and the Cyprus Olympic Committee the setting up of the PDA is seen by all as a major advance on the road to darts being officially recognised in the Paphos region at a national level.
PDA President, Tony Newbon is delighted that all the hard work has resulted in acceptance and told local newspaper reporter Chris Mills, “There has already been a great deal of work done so far and now that we have had official acceptance into the CDF we can only go from strength to strength.”
Tony Croxford, the current Cyprus number one and PDA team captain, is equally enthusiastic. He said, “This is the best thing that could have happened to darts in Paphos. We have played many friendly games against other associations all over the island and have made some great friends but now we can play them in official competitions like the forthcoming Federation Cup.”
Clearly darts continues on the up on the island of Aphrodite.
Patrick Chaplin (UK) and Chris Mills (Pathos)
Clearly this article was written some time ago but I can guarantee that darts continues apace on Cyprus and in Pafos and Limassol in particular today. (2019)
Dr Patrick Chaplin 