Edwards and Owens are the darts champs in Bognor

Division one saw 14 pairs turn up to fight it out with the best the league could give. The semi-finals saw over-50s champion Mick Isles and partner Vince Goddings take on Richmond A team-mates Simon Edwards and Dave Owens and Wheatsheaf brothers Richard and Rob Ragless take on The Ship’s Graeme Dutton and Sam Abrehart.

After some close darts Dutton and Abrehart met Edwards and Owens in the final. High scores and missed doubles from both teams eventually allowed Edwards and Owens to become division-one champions.

Division two’s contest saw 23 pairs, the biggest turnout since 2006.

The semi-finals were mainly filled with Friary players. John Davis and George Claridge took on Dave Wingate and John Mace and Peter Green and Gareth Davis found opponents in the Aldingbourne Social Club’s Stuart Turner and Steve Reynolds.

Wingate and Mace eventually came up against Turner and Reynolds. The final went all the way, but Wingate and Mace eventually won it.

Division three saw a very poor turnout with only three teams turning up to create seven pairs – and then one pair pulled out.

In the semis, Babs Hills and Ian Hills took on Chichester team-mates Peter Hall and Adi Linfield, and Chichester’s Adey Nicholls and Tom Spencer took on the BRSA B pairing of Joe Osman and Lee Passey. Hall and Linfield met Osman and Passey in the final. Hall and Linfield shot past their opponents to become division-three champions.

AMC Worthing Open

For the first AMC Worthing Open, the turnout was disappointing but the quality was high.

The day commenced with the flying pairs, with Bognor’s Graeme Dutton and Joe taking the title 3-2 in a close final against Mick Rodgers and Ian Perkins.

The singles saw every player playing three first round games of four legs, with the top 16 going into the knockout stages. This saw several players expected to qualify fail to make the cut or go into a play-off.

Pairs winner Graeme Dutton failed to qualify after losing his opening game 4-0 and only drew his last two games 2-2.

Brighton’s Ian Perkins and Littlehampton’s Terry Howse found themselves playing off for the last place. Local players Andy Hills and Harry Annals qualified for the knockout stages, but Hills needed to pick up points in his last match despite winning his opening game 3-1 and drawing 2-2 with PDC player Tony Ayres (pictured above).

The draw put Hills and Annals against each other in their last qualifier and despite Annals losing to Hills 3-1 he picked up seven points from his opening two matches to comfortably qualify.

The semi-finals produced two matches of quality and drama.

The first saw Littlehampton’s Gary Blackwood play PDC star Ayres. After six quality legs in which Blackwood hit back-to-back 180s and set him up for a possible nine-darter, the experience of Ayres won the deciding leg.

Littlehampton’s Mick Rodgers took on Frank Davidson in the second semi. Rodgers took a 2-0 lead and was cruising when the wheels come off.

Davidson took the leg and grew in confidence, winning the next three to overturn the match and beat Rodgers 4-2. The final had the expected outcome with Ayres comfortably winning 5-1.

Bognor Star Darts

League Standings

Singles: Richmond Arms (126), Wheatsheaf (117), Claremont (108), Royal Oak (99), Hunston Club (97), Crown (86), Claremont B (82), Eastgate (82), Railway (72), Old Barn (54), Chi Snooker Club (45), Newtown (28).

Pairs: Wheatsheaf (23), Claremont A (20), Richmond (18), Eastgate (18), Royal Oak (16), Railway (15), Hunston (14), Crown (13), Claremont B (10), Old Barn (8), Chi Snooker Club (8), Newtown (3).

Captains’ top four: Wheatsheaf (Jason Hills), Richmond (James Greenfield), Eastgate (Adi Linfield), Railway (Mick Rowland).

Averages top seven: James Greenfield (3014.7), Jason Hills (2915.5), Gary Blackwood (2798.6), Lee Gladman (2099.7), Steve Wright (2094.8), Simon Wood (2090.1), Cliff Prior (1881.7).

Ton average top seven: James Greenfield (9914), Gary Blackwood (9175), Jason Hills (8810), Andy Whitley (7534), Graeme Dutton (7371), Steve Wright (7235), Lee Gladman (7184).

Top 180s: Gary Blackwood (8), Jason Hills (5), James Greenfield (4), Dave Mitchell (3), Andy Whitley (3), Lee Gladman (2), D Jones (2), R Pennells (2), Nick Spicer (2).