Wednesday was another enormous night for grassroots darts, with 106 tournaments added to Q4QS.
The highest credible average in the export came from Ciaran Forde, who produced a remarkable 118.66 at Staincross Club in Barnsley. Jake B-Smith reached 115.62 in Shrewsbury, while Pete Hughes hit 111.33 at Bengeworth in Evesham.
Closer to home, Ryan Palmer combined a 100.20 with the Sartan Club title, Kieran Smith beat Hughes in the Bengeworth final, Logan Symons Jnr won in Bodmin and Joe Bagguley took the Stonehouse event.
There were also 13 WADC Vault events, including an outstanding display from Rhian O'Sullivan in Resolven.
Forde hits 118.66 – but Jacques takes the title
The biggest believable average of the day belonged to Ciaran Forde at Staincross Club, Barnsley.
Forde produced a superb 118.66 in a 3–0 victory over Richard Dennis. He also recorded 93.94 during the tournament and finished with six wins.
But it was Al Jacques who took the title.
Jacques recorded 103.66, 96.97 and 95.94 among his leading averages, won eight matches and defeated Forde 3–1 in the final.
It's a good example of the difference between producing the single biggest average and putting together the strongest tournament-winning run.
A note on the figures: a small number of implausible averages in the export, including 174.43 and 1503.00, have been excluded from the performance rankings pending verification.
Hughes hits 111.33 – Smith wins Bengeworth
There was another fascinating evening at Bengeworth Club in Evesham.
Pete Hughes produced the biggest average of the tournament with 111.33, while Jason Reeve reached 96.97, Mitchell Leeming 93.94 and Andy Hammond 91.09.
However, Kieran Smith was the player who emerged with the trophy.
Smith beat Hughes 3–0 in the final, averaging 92.02, and finished the night with eight wins. Hughes collected seven, while Dave Honey had six.
For me, this is one of the best examples of why the daily results need a little more digging than simply picking out the biggest averages.
Hughes produced the standout number, but Smith delivered when it mattered most.
Palmer hits 100.20 and wins at Sartan
The Sartan Club in Bishopsworth produced another competitive Wednesday evening.
Ryan Palmer averaged 100.20 in a victory over Kai Carter and followed it with 96.98 elsewhere in the tournament.
Ashton Brown recorded 92.44, while Zach Quinn hit 88.41 and 86.71.
The final brought Palmer and Quinn together, with Palmer winning 3–1.
Both players collected seven victories, while Carter and Brown won six each and Steve Boundy five.
It was a strong night for Palmer, combining the tournament's highest average with the title.
Symons Jnr delivers again in Bodmin
At Bodmin Band & Social Club, Logan Symons Jnr put together one of the most consistent winning performances of the evening.
He recorded 91.09, 85.99 and 85.89, eventually beating Mason Dower 3–2 in the final.
Symons finished with eight wins, Dower seven, and both Martin Smith and William Chaffe collected six.
There may have been bigger averages elsewhere, but this was a particularly solid performance across an entire tournament.
McCready's eight-win night in Leominster
Alec McCready won at Shooters Bar in Leominster after another strong scoring display.
He averaged 90.97 in the final against Chris Hurds, winning 3–2, and had earlier recorded 88.98 and 86.65.
McCready finished with eight victories, while Hurds collected six.
With several strong averages and the title to show for it, McCready deserves a place among Wednesday's most impressive tournament performers.
Ayres wins in Salisbury, Bagguley takes Stonehouse
Two more regular Q4QS venues produced interesting results.
At Stratford Social Club in Salisbury, Shoey Ayres defeated Liam Glister 3–1 in the final.
Glister produced the tournament's highest average of 91.09, while Ayres reached 88.41. Both finished with six wins, with Ben Small also recording 85.08.
At Magpies Social Club in Stonehouse, Joe Bagguley won the title with a 3–0 victory over Alex Cantillion.
Bagguley averaged 86.71 in the final and added an 81.24 earlier in the competition. He finished with seven wins, while Paul Meyer collected six.
Another pair of local tournaments with plenty more going on than the final scores alone suggest.
More outstanding performances across the country
A few more performances deserve recognition.
At the Bagley Sports & Social Club in Shrewsbury, Jake B-Smith hit 115.62, although Oscar Saxton eventually took the title against Archie Wright.
At Sadies in Whittlesea, Phil Johnson-Hale averaged 107.36, added 92.12 and 91.09, and won the tournament with eight victories.
At Royal Sports Lounge in Farnworth, Kirk Shepherd hit 103.66 and went on to win the event, beating Steve Coote 3–2. Andy Turner also reached 103.66, while Coote produced two separate 100.20 averages.
At Rocket Ronnies in Southampton, Joey Cole combined a 103.66 with the title, defeating Jarred Cole 3–2 and collecting eight wins.
At GWRSA Club in Didcot, Johnny Haines recorded 95.94 and 93.94 before defeating Jack Marshall 3–1 in the final. Haines finished with eight victories.
And in Swansea, Louis Melville reached 99.53 on the way to winning at Oliver's Sports Bar, defeating Chris James in the final.
WADC: 13 events and O'Sullivan hits 96.97
Wednesday was a particularly busy day for women's darts, with 13 WADC Vault 3.0 competitions included in the export. Two were labelled as Tuesday events, but all were included in this reporting batch.
The outstanding performance came from Rhian O'Sullivan at Arrows Darts Venue in Resolven.
O'Sullivan hit 96.97, 88.41 and 81.24, then averaged 70.45 in a 3–0 final victory over Kayliegh Webster.
That is a particularly impressive collection of numbers, with Donna Buckley also reaching 81.50 in the same tournament.
At Walton WMC, Laura Turner was another standout. She recorded 81.24, 79.11 and 75.15 before beating Wendy Parish 3–0 in the final.
The other recorded winners were:
- Gracie Willmitt – Alford Sports & Social Club, Warrington
- Coby Voorhees – Beechwood Club, Blackburn
- Karen Williams – Bradmoor Farm, Aylesbury
- Lisa Brosnan – Castle Arms, Denbigh
- Michelle Ewins-Pointin – Challow British Legion, East Challow
- Courtney Hancock – MK Cocktail Lounge, Bodmin
- Elsie-Mai Tarrant – Stratford Social Club, Salisbury
- Alyssya Petty – The 9 Darter, Port Talbot
- Jane Price – Bengeworth Club, Evesham
- Suzanne Price – Monty Club, Newtown
The BRWCA event in Hampshire also appeared in the export, although a winner could not reliably be established from the available match rows.
There were good individual performances beyond the headline names too. Tracey Hancock hit 73.32 in Bodmin, Lisa Brosnan reached 65.35 and 62.63 in Denbigh, and Gracie Willmitt produced 65.35 and 61.35 on her way to winning in Warrington.
It's encouraging to see this many women's competitions appearing in a single reporting batch, with players at very different levels all getting competitive opportunities.
Junior Volts and youth darts
The junior programme provided another substantial set of results.
At the David Street Club in Nelson, Alfie Bracey beat Leo Posteraro 3–2 in the Junior Volts final. Posteraro recorded an excellent 90.18 during his run.
At the Kings Pub in Exeter, Joseph Lauridsen beat Aaron Rea 3–2 in the final, averaging 83.62 and finishing with eight wins.
Other Junior Volts winners included Logan Winyard at Lowestoft, Llewelyn Summerhayes at Llantwit Major, Evan Haines at Pontypool, Max Adderson at Norwich, Will Tomkinson at Crewe and Ethan Goudy at Stowmarket.
The NJDA Elite Series also produced an excellent 98.02 from Harry Childs, although Ethan Beardsley eventually won the tournament, defeating Jude Clarke 4–2 in the final.
Five performances that caught my eye
1. Ciaran Forde – 118.66, Barnsley.
The highest credible average of the day, although Al Jacques took the title.
2. Jake B-Smith – 115.62, Shrewsbury.
Another enormous individual average.
3. Pete Hughes – 111.33, Evesham.
The biggest number at Bengeworth, with Kieran Smith winning the tournament.
4. Phil Johnson-Hale – 107.36 and tournament victory, Whittlesea.
An excellent eight-win performance.
5. Rhian O'Sullivan – 96.97, 88.41, 81.24 and WADC title, Resolven.
One of the most impressive sequences of averages anywhere in the results.
Another 106 tournaments added to Q4QS
Wednesday's results offered a little bit of everything.
There were huge individual averages, strong tournament-winning performances, familiar local venues, a substantial programme of junior darts and 13 WADC events.
And once again, some of the best stories were found by looking beyond the five biggest averages.
Every one of these tournaments adds more information to the Q4QS rankings, player histories, venue records and form data.
With another 106 competitions included, there's plenty more to explore.