Group back L to R: Craig Taylor (KDDL committee), Robbie Norquoy (KDDL President), Brian Moar (KDDL Secretary and quarter-finalist), Lauren Dohrn (Furthest Lady), Jamie Drever (Furthest 'B'/'C' league player, Jamie Marwick (quarter-finalist) and Davy Henderson (KDDL Treasurer).
The Tennent's Kirkwall Open (sponsonred by J.W Gray & co.) weekend began on Friday evening in the Masonic with the warm-up singles competition, which is now in its third year and continues to be a popular event for those travelling up or down to Orkney. With guaranteed prizes of £100 for the winner, £50 for the runner-up and £25 each of the losing semi-finalists, it was great to see 35 folk taking part.
Of the few ladies who entered it was birthday girl Lizzie Irvine who got the furthest by reaching the quarter finals. Locals Brett Dickinson and Bruce Moar were the only Orcadians still flying the flag by the semi-finals but it was Bruce who won their clash by 4 legs to 3. The other semi-final saw Shetland's Ryan Inkster triumph by the same score over Stirling's Jamie Hearns.
Ryan started the final in cracking form, with Bruce struggling to find his best, and soon built up a sizeable lead. Bruce had a mini-revival at one point before Ryan stepped on the gas to win 5-2.
Then on Saturday afternoon it was time for the main show, the Tennent's Kirkwall Open, which is now into it's 16th year as an event. Before play began, KDDL President Robbie Norquoy presented long standing committee member Craig Taylor with an engraved silver quaich and a bottle of his favourite tipple on behalf of the KDDL in recognition of his 30 years service to the league, 18 of which he served as President before stepping down to become an ordinary committee member, if there is such a thing! Craig's wife or”darts widow” Senga was presented with a bouquet of flowers.
Sizeable numbers were attracted from further afield such as Stirling, Caithness, Shetland and the Western Isles, all trying to pry the title away from Orcadian hands, which had never released their grip on the trophy since it began. A few local favourites in the form of Robbie Stanger, Bruce Moar and Stevie Linklater were noticably absent and, when one of this season's top performers in the KDDL, Brett Dickinson, was the first player knocked out of the competition, there was a feeling in the venue of impending doom that the Orkney streak may be coming to an end.
It was a strange day as there are usually one or two standout performers who shine much brighter than the rest and invariably make the final but nobody on the day was particularly catching the eye. Dampening the chances of there being a local winner once again there was a tasty clash of past champions in the last 32, when the previos two victors, two-times winner Brian Moar and four-time winner and defending champion Kevin Gray, locked horns. Despite taking an early lead and having the vocal backing of almost everyone immediately around them, Kevin failed to take advantage of his opportunities as Brian won out 3-1.
By this point the last of the female and 'B'/'C' league players had exited the competition at the last 32 stage and there would be a play-off to decide the destination of each trophy and the £100 prize that accompanied them. The furthest lady prize went to Lauren Dohrn who defeated Hazel Firth 2-1, and the furthest 'B'/'C' prize went to recent KDDL Orkney intercounty player Jamie Drever from the 'B' league with a 3-0 win over 'C' league player Jacob Urgias.
By the quarter-final stage five Orcadians remained but wins for Ian Linklater, Aidan Halley, Wayne Monkman and Ryan Inkster over Brian Moar, Jamie Marwick, Jim Brown and Frank Watt respectively reduced that number to just two.
Aidan Halley began his semi-final with Ian Linkater in determined fashion and took an early 2 leg lead. Ian produced a sublime 154 checkout under immense pressure to halve the deficit before drawing level. Chances at double were missed by the Quoyloo man and the boy from Stirling was not in a forgiving mood as he checked out twice more to reach the final with a 4-2 win.
Over on the other board the match was progressing at a slower pace, so by the time the other semi had finished, the entire crowd were able to turn their attention to it. There were loud cheers on both occasions when Wayne manged to check out a leg, but ultimately Ryan Inkster would win through with another 4-2 victory and in doing so ensured that the title of Kirkwall Open Champion would be leaving Orkney shores for the first time.
And so, after 8 hours of play, the final would be a battle between Aidan Halley from Stirling and Ryan Inkster from Shetland. Much was expected of the clash but in truth the start was extremely poor from both, with averages dropping shy of the 50 point mark in the initial legs, with Aidan taking a 3-1 lead in the race to five. A brace of 180s from Ryan helped in raising the averages as well as the standard from both and he rattled off three legs on the spin to move within touching distance of the prize. Cheered on by the remaining boys from Stirling, Aidan produced the best leg of the entire weekend to draw level at 4-4, with a 112 checkout rounding off a superb 12 dart leg. Aidan started the brightest in the deciding leg, but as he watched chances at the double go agonisingly close, it was beginning to look like lady luck may be shining on the Shetlander. Ryan approached the oche with 102 remaining and left himself a shot at tops with his third dart, which unfortunately missed by quite a margin, leaving Aidan to hit the same target and claim the £500 prize and title of 2026 Tennent's Kirkwall Open Champion.
Scott Burns the General Manager of the Kirkwall branch of J.W Gray & co. was on hand to present all prizewinners with their trophies.
The KDDL committee would like to thank the Masonic Club for hosting the event and keeping the athletes well hydrated, as well as Mitzi and her crew in the kitchen for keeping the participants well fueled. Thanks must also go to all the lads who helped in the running of the competition and enabled the committee to run it as well as compete themselves. And a massive thank you goes to the sponsorship from J.W Gray & co. and Tennents, without whom this competition would not be possible.
Results and prize money:
Furthest Lady (£100): Lauren Dohrn
Furthest B/C league player (£100): Jamie Drever
Quarter-finalists (£20): Brian Moar, Jamie Marwick, Jim Brown and Frank Watt.
Semi-finals: Aidan Halley 4, Bruce Moar (£50) 2
Ryan Inkster 4, Wayne Monkman (£50) 2
Final: Aidan Halley (£500) 5, Ryan Inkster (£200) 2
180s were scored by: Lewis Plank, Jamie Hearns, Erland Ritch, Jim Russell, John Bain, Kevin Gray, David Scott, Sandy Uttley, Kevin Sarling, Jim Brown, Alan Findlay (two), Roger Irvine (two), Wayne Monkman (two), Jamie Marwick (two), Davy Henderson (two), Aidan Halley (three), Brett Dickinson (three), Frank Watt (three), Stuart Paul (four) and Ryan Inkster (seven). Neil Redfern recorded scores of 171, 171 and 177.
High Checkouts: Brian Moar 100, Ryan Inkster 100, Neil Redfern 100, Colin Mitchell 106, Frank Watt 110, Craig Gilmore 111, Shane Rendall 112, Aidan Halley 112, Geordie Harcus 114, Brett Dickinson 121, Lewis Plank 127, Stevie Garner 129, Ian Linklater 154, David Bain 160 and Willie Plank 160.
Short Legs: Brett Dickinson 15, Frank Watt 15, Davy Henderson 15, David Bain 15, Ian Linklater 15, Neil Redfern 14, Erlend Lennie 14, Lewis Plank 14, George Low 14, Ryan Inkster 14, Colin Mitchell 13, Stuart Paul 13 and Aidan Halley 12.