THE Western Tavern was a hive of activity over the weekend, with the St Pats Invitational darts tournament hailed a success.
Much focus was on world champion Peter Machin, but in the end it was South Australian representative Aaron Delvendiep who claimed the coveted singles title.
Many players from around the state and further afield travelled to compete for the $9500 prizemoney on offer.
Friday night saw drawn doubles on show, with 44 entrants competing and many spectators flocking to the venue.
Considered the social warm-up event for the weekend, it was played as a double-life straight knock out tournament, with eventual winners Machin and Australasian women’s singles champion Amanda Loch.
This was Loch’s second win at this event in as many years, as she made it back-to-back after drawing state singles champion Dylan Mitchell in 2018.
Saturday saw the main event of the Invitational singles, with 48 players competing across eight boards.
The final eight saw Limestone Coast players Karl Schaefer and Jason Fulham in the mix.
Schaefer continued on when he defeated Melbourne’s Adrian McDevitt in the first quarter final, while Machin lost his battle in the second quarter-final to Delvendiep.
The third quarter-final was won by Mildura young gun Riley Berry over Mount Torrens representative and 2018 semi-finalist Jonny Kay.
In an enthralling battle, Port MacDonnell hope Fulham succumbed to Mildura’s Ryan Lynch in the last quarter-final.
In high-quality matches, the semi-finals were won by Delvendiep over Schaefer and Riley Berry over Ryan Lynch.
There were seven maximum-180s thrown in the two matches.
In the final Delvendiep won the deciding leg 6-5 over Riley in an impressive display of darts the entire crowd enjoyed.
Riley hit a 160 finish during the match and both players hit several 180s.
Sunday saw 64 entrants for the open doubles, the first time the event had been added to the weekend.
Broken Hill representatives Scott Edgecombe and Phillip Bottrell claimed the open doubles in one-sided final 5-1 over Delvendiep and Dylan Mitchell.
The women’s final was a much closer affair, with high quality darts thrown.
The final leg went the way of Loch and Millicent’s Julie Taylor over Adelaide’s Erinn Scally and Barossa representative Melina Kieboom 4-3.
Event organiser Danny Scally said this year’s event was bigger than 2018, with the 2020 tournament expected grow further, with around 64 players expected to compete.
