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http://www.jonesbahamas.com/news/123/ARTICLE/20628/2009-10-06.html
 

Bahamas Has Good Showing at World Darts Tourny

The Bahamas Darts Federation (BDF) National Team has much to be proud of after their recent performance at the World Darts Federation (WDF) World Cup of Darts Tournament, held September 23^rd – 27^th in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.  The team that comprised of Harry Brown, Anderson Lewis, Barry Payne, Lloyd Deveaux, Trudy Johnson and Sandra Ferguson was accompanied by BDF president Malcolm Spicer, Team Manager Byron Johnson and Captained by Christian Knowles. 

The World Cup of Darts is the most prestigious tournament available to Bahamian and Caribbean players.  It is like the World Track and Field Championships of Darts.  It gives these players a chance to see extremely high level of play up close, live and personal.  It also allows them to rub shoulders and converse with the some of the best players on the planet.  For dart enthusiasts it is just thrilling!  Team Bahamas’ Men’s Squad placed 21^st out of 32 teams, while the Ladies placed an incredible 13^th out of 28 teams. 

The format of the World Cup is slightly complicated as there are various categories in each division.  The men have a team event, where all 4 players vie against the other 4 players of the teams in their bracket.  Each match against the teams becomes a best of 17 match, with the winner being the first team to 9 wins.  They also have a pairs (doubles) knockout bracket, where the higher seeded teams are separated into the two brackets to ensure that they do not clash until at least the quarter finals…all other teams including The Bahamas are then blindly placed in these brackets.  Finally, the singles competition is also a knockout event and it places all of the players from each team into different brackets.  It is seeded similar to the pairs competition.  The ladies category is slightly different as their team event is also their pairs event.  Their singles competition is seeded as the men’s. 

All of the pairs matches are a best of 7 legs (games) match, until the semi finals and finals where they become best of 9 and 11 legs respectively.  The singles competition matches are also best of 7 legs until they reach the quarter finals, semi finals and finals where they become a best of 9 legs, best of 11 legs and finally, best of 13 legs for the championship.  

There is also a youth category comprised of one girl and one boy under the age of 18 at the start of the tournament.  They have a knockout mixed pairs event and knockout singles event for both genders.  They follow the adult pairs setup with the champions playing best of 11 legs in all categories.

As is the case with most sports nerves have to be settled and in darts a person’s nerves and mind are their worst enemies.  The Bahamas men’s squad started out slow as they were seeded with Finland, Japan and The Philippines.  They were beaten by Japan 9-3, Finland 9-2, but rebounded against Philippines to win 9-6 and earn a valuable World Cup point.  However, this win was not enough for them to advance to the all important knock out round of the tournament. 

The Ladies pairs had a better result as they were paired with The Netherlands, Brazil and Iceland.  They started out against the Netherlands, a powerhouse team, and played well in losing 4-1.  They quickly rebounded and secured a spot in the second round by beating Brazil 4-1 and Iceland 4-0.  This earned Team Bahamas 4 valuable world cup points.  However, they lost to England, a powerhouse, 4-0 in the knockout round.

The second day was knockout day in the men’s and ladies singles events and men’s pairs event.  All of our singles matches were against strong dart countries as our men all fell 4-1.  Our ladies did not get the luck of the draw either as they both fell 4-0.  Trudy played very well against the eventual World Champion, Stacy Bromberg (USA).  Despite the loss, she was extremely happy with her throws as Johnson quoted after the match; “The loss was tough. My darts had her on the edge.  I had a few chances to win some of those games and know that if I did, she knew she was in for a battle!  All in all, I am pleased with my effort.”

The Men’s Pairs event was next and Team Bahamas started out quietly, with Payne and Deveaux losing to a Spanish duo 4-1.  However, Team Bahamas’ next duo of Brown and Lewis were about to embark on a magical journey.  They took on the Barbadian duo of Cummings and Jones and won the tough match 4-2.  Their reward for the win was the imposing English pair of Tony O’Shea (a.k.a. Silverback) and Darryl Fitton (a.k.a. The Dazzler), both ranked in the top 5 in the WDF singles ranks.

At first, only Bahamians and a few Caribbean supporters gathered to watch the “affair on board 17”, as the match was stuck in one of the corners of the large auditorium.  To all the others, it must have been considered just another ho-hum English walkover, but they did not know of the drive and determination of the two Bahamians.  As Brown and Lewis opened to a 1-0 lead, a few glances from other nations were noted, but no real desire to watch.  Surely, O’Shea and Fitton would rebound to wipe them out.  Then 2-0, some concern, but not much, these guys are too good to be caught out by the aspiring Bahamians.  The English team began to gather behind their players, for support, along with interested players and spectators from all countries, Australia, Cayman, Barbados, Trinidad, Germany, The Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Japan, Philippines and more.  The crowd was now 8 deep behind this “affair”.  Then Brown hit double 10 to send the Bahamian supporters into a frenzy, joyous celebration. Now their lead was 3-0.  The result exploded into the auditorium as the news of “England is in trouble!” reached every corner of the huge auditorium.  More persons hustled for a viewing position; European media members all wanted a view of what could possibly be one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history.  The crowd was now the size of a small church congregation.  Nervous whispers in all languages could be heard between each throw.  Could The Bahamas actually do this?  Well O’Shea and Fitton are not top players for nothing.  They quickly answered with 12 and 13 dart games to close the gap to 3-2.  An order of balance was returning, but they were still behind. 

The 7^th leg was important for them, as they would have to break the throw of the Bahamians.  It was agonizing as both squads shot at the double, but England scrapped it out.  They fought back to draw the match 3-3.  Surely the Bahamian bandits would fold now, seemed to be the general consensus.  But in darts, anything can happen.  The crowd was now at about 100, people were standing on chairs as every dart became important.  Both squads fought hard and played well, but England was just so strong with scoring.  They quickly reached the double, while Bahamas was stuck at almost 100 plus.  It seemed a formality, but Brown and Lewis continued to fight and while England missed their shot to close the match; those 3 darts from Bahamas left them with 40.  England faltered again, and with the match on the line, Harry Brown stepped to the oche with the chance of a lifetime…to knockout a powerhouse.  His first delivery was just atop the double 20 and to the left side, the second glanced the first and landed awkwardly and blocked half of the double bed.  He bent over to compose himself, looked to the ceiling and threw the dart.  A dart that changed history of the World Cup, a most improbable dart, a dart viewed by more spectators than any match, other than the finals.  A dart that made The Bahamas proud, The Caribbean proud and all other underdogs around the world, proud.  “The Affair” was over, tears flowed, joyous and sad, cheers rang out, and it was a stunner!  Bahamas beats England 4-3.  As the celebration continued, O’Shea and Fitton graciously hugged both Brown and Lewis and congratulated them on their play and wished them well.  The two wily English veterans were classy all the way.  Fitton quoted; “The highlight of my tournament this year, was to see the joy on Harry’s face when he hit that double.  I wish I had seen him after the closing banquet, so I could have given him my overall team silver medal.”  

As great as the victory was for Brown and Lewis, they could not continue their momentum as they were knocked out in the next round by a Norwegian pair; but the result could not be replaced; they had pulled the upset of the century.

The Bahamas should be extremely proud of their players as they truly showed the world that in darts we are a forced to be reckoned with.