ADC Darts Vault 19 Week 1

 Vault 19 is underway, and although it is far too early to decide which will ultimately be the toughest venues of the new series, the opening tournaments have already given me plenty to look at.

The headline comes from Pinches Cue Club in Norwich, which has recorded a Tournament Strength score of 1.350 — the highest figure in my Vault 19 data through Saturday 12 September.

Behind Pinches, there are some very familiar names.

Sartan Club has started strongly again and currently leads the South West, while Lindsay Constitutional Club remains the early Welsh benchmark. North Star has also opened Vault 19 above its previous series level.

I've also now found the WADC Vault 3.0 tournaments.

With my interest in the women's game and the amount of women's darts I already cover on Q4QS, I think it is important that I follow those events alongside the main Vault series.

And the opening WADC figures have produced a story of their own, with South Wales occupying the top three positions so far.

This is therefore my first Tournament Strength snapshot of the new Vault series, covering tournaments in the database up to and including Saturday 12 September.

What Is Tournament Strength?

Tournament Strength isn't simply based on the winner of an event or the highest average recorded on the night.

The Q4QS Tournament Strength measure is designed to look at the overall strength of the field.

That distinction is important.

A tournament containing one outstanding player and a relatively weak field is different from one where strong players are waiting in almost every part of the draw.

Over time, Tournament Strength should therefore help identify the venues where consistently difficult fields are turning up.

One event gives us a snapshot.

Several events begin to establish a pattern.

That is why the Vault 18 figures become particularly useful as Vault 19 gets underway.

Vault 19 – The Early Leaders

These are the strongest Vault 19 tournaments in my data through Saturday 12 September:

Rank	Venue	Tournament Strength	Top-20 Avg
1	Pinches Cue Club, Norwich	1.350	72.50
2	Sartan Club	1.265	68.25
3	Lindsay Constitutional Club	1.250	67.48
4	Bretforton Sports Club	1.248	67.41
5	North Star Club	1.241	67.05
6	Bagley Sports & Social Club	1.238	66.89
7	United Services Club	1.226	66.29
8	Hethersett Social Club	1.224	66.20
9	Stratford Social Club	1.218	65.89
10	Wiltshire Darts House	1.218	65.88
11	Pilcs Sports & Social Club	1.217	65.86
12	Dorchester Trinity Club	1.203	65.16

Pinches Sets the Benchmark

There is no getting away from the standout number in that table.

1.350 — Pinches Cue Club.

There is a sizeable gap between Pinches and Sartan in second at 1.265, while the Top-20 figure of 72.50 also stands well clear of the other early leaders.

I am deliberately not calling Pinches the toughest venue in Vault 19.

We simply don't have enough evidence for that yet.

What I can say is that no Vault 19 tournament in my data through Saturday 12 September has produced a stronger Tournament Strength figure.

Now Pinches has to sustain it.

One exceptional field can produce a huge score. If Pinches continues appearing near the top after five, six or seven tournaments, then we will have evidence of something much more significant.

For now, though, everybody else has a benchmark to chase.

Sartan Still Leads the South West

Closer to home, the strongest opening figure belongs to a venue that featured heavily in my Vault 18 analysis.

Sartan Club is currently the strongest South West venue in Vault 19 at 1.265.

Its Vault 18 Tournament Strength level was around 1.23, so the opening Vault 19 figure is actually higher.

It is far too early to say that Sartan has definitely become stronger. We are comparing one new-series tournament against a much bigger Vault 18 sample.

But it is certainly an encouraging start.

Sartan established its credentials during Vault 18 and has immediately returned with another very strong field.

For now at least, Sartan remains the South West benchmark.

Lindsay Remains No.1 in Wales

There is an equally interesting story in Wales.

Lindsay Constitutional Club has opened Vault 19 at 1.250, putting it third overall in this early table and first among the Welsh venues.

What stands out here isn't improvement.

It's consistency.

Lindsay's Vault 18 level was approximately 1.254.

Vault 18: 1.254.

Vault 19 opening figure: 1.250.

That is almost identical.

A single enormous Tournament Strength score will always catch the eye, but repeatedly attracting strong fields is arguably more interesting.

Lindsay is beginning to provide evidence of exactly that.

North Star Has Started Stronger

North Star Club is another established venue worth watching.

Its opening Vault 19 figure of 1.241 compares with approximately 1.209 during Vault 18.

That is an early increase of around 0.03.

Again, I wouldn't call it a confirmed improvement after one tournament.

But North Star already had a strong Vault 18 baseline, so beginning Vault 19 above that level is significant enough to monitor.

If it is still around 1.24 after several events, then we can start talking about a genuine increase in the strength of its regular field.

Bretforton Joins the Leading Group

The familiar venues shouldn't completely dominate the story.

Bretforton Sports Club has opened with an impressive 1.248, putting it fourth overall and only fractionally behind Lindsay.

Bagley Sports & Social Club is also right amongst the leading group at 1.238.

This is one of the reasons I enjoy looking at Tournament Strength.

The winner of an event naturally receives most of the attention.

This measure gives me another way of finding venues where the difficulty of simply getting through the tournament deserves recognition.

Bretforton has certainly put itself on that list after week one.

WADC Vault 3.0 – South Wales Sets the Early Pace

I've also now added the WADC Vault 3.0 events to the tournaments I am following.

I think that matters.

Women's darts is something I have a particular interest in, and as Q4QS coverage continues to expand I don't want the WADC Vaults to become an afterthought.

I will keep the WADC figures separate from the main Vault 19 table so that we can follow the development of that circuit properly.

And the first set of numbers has produced a very clear regional story.

Leading WADC Vault 3.0 Tournament Strength

Rank	Venue	Tournament Strength
1	The 9 Darter, Port Talbot	0.997
2	Arrows Darts Venue #2, Resolven	0.986
3	Briton Ferry Workies	0.961
4	Walton WMC	0.941
5	London GAA, Ruislip	0.933
6	Shooters, Leominster	0.916

The first thing that stands out is obvious.

The top three are all in South Wales.

The 9 Darter in Port Talbot leads the way with 0.997, followed closely by Arrows Darts Venue #2 in Resolven at 0.986.

Briton Ferry Workies completes the top three at 0.961.

That gives South Wales an impressive early grip on the WADC Vault 3.0 Tournament Strength standings.

Briton Ferry Has Previous Form

Briton Ferry is particularly interesting because I now have historical WADC data to compare against.

During WADC Vault 2.0, an event at Briton Ferry produced a Tournament Strength figure of 1.123.

That means its appearance towards the top of the early Vault 3.0 standings isn't simply an isolated strong tournament at a completely unknown venue.

There is previous evidence of strong women's fields there.

As I add more WADC results, this is exactly the sort of thing I want to explore.

Which venues repeatedly attract the strongest women's fields?

Which areas have the greatest depth?

And do the same venues remain difficult from one Vault series to the next?

After the opening tournaments, South Wales has certainly given me somewhere to start.

Two Rankings That Should Become More Interesting Every Week

The important caveat with everything in this article is the date.

These figures only include tournaments in my data up to and including Saturday 12 September.

They are not final Vault 19 or WADC Vault 3.0 venue rankings.

They're the starting point.

Pinches has produced the standout Vault 19 field at 1.350.

Sartan remains the early South West leader and has started above its Vault 18 level.

Lindsay remains No.1 in Wales and has produced almost exactly the same strength figure as it did during Vault 18.

North Star has also started higher.

And in the WADC Vaults, The 9 Darter, Arrows Resolven and Briton Ferry have given South Wales a clean sweep of the opening top three.

Now I want to see what happens when those venues have three tournaments behind them.

Then five.

Then seven.

One huge score can tell us where an exceptional tournament took place.

Doing it repeatedly tells us where the toughest venues really are.

For now, though, the first Vault 19 target has been set:

1.350 — Pinches Cue Club, Norwich.

And in WADC Vault 3.0:

0.997 — The 9 Darter, Port Talbot.

I'll be watching both.