Another busy Thursday for grassroots darts, with 62 tournaments added to the Q4QS Database and some excellent performances from players right across the country.
The biggest individual average came from Alfie Fisken, who produced a superb 111.33 in Bletchley. Jonathan Kavanagh wasn't far behind with 104.86 at Hindley, while four other players reached the 100.20 mark.
But, as we often find when looking through these results, the biggest average doesn't always lead to the trophy.
Kaya Baysal continued an excellent couple of days with another tournament victory in Keighley, Mason Hale put together a particularly impressive series of averages in Huddersfield, and Anthony Paul Hitchen came through a substantial competition at Hindley.
Closer to home, Ricky Palmer was back among the winners at Hangar61, while Samuel King collected another Under-70 title.
Alfie Fisken produces the day's highest average
At Hotshots Sports Bar in Bletchley, Alfie Fisken recorded 111.33 against Adam Hefferon, the highest individual match average across Thursday's results.
Fisken also recorded a 91.09 against Kurt Bradnam, making it a very good evening in terms of individual performances.
However, the tournament went to Mat Caste, who defeated Bailey Martin 3–0 in the final and finished with seven victories.
Ben Foster also impressed with averages of 93.38, 91.26 and 91.09.
It's a familiar story, really. The player producing the highest average doesn't necessarily end up winning the competition, but that shouldn't take anything away from Fisken's performance.
Kaya Baysal wins again – and keeps producing the numbers
Kaya Baysal featured prominently in Wednesday's roundup after winning nine matches at Pendle and producing two averages of 100.20.
Well, Baysal was back in the winners' enclosure on Thursday.
This time it was the Division 1 Open competition at Pilky's in Keighley, where Baysal defeated Bobby Haste 4–0 in the final.
There were seven victories altogether, with the leading averages including:
- 95.94 against Ollie Bibby
- 88.14 against Glenn Gibson
- 87.53 against Charlie Devoy
- 85.08 against Gaz Hannan
That's now two tournament victories across two consecutive days in the results, with 16 match wins recorded between them.
We often talk about a player producing one exceptional evening, but backing it up the following day is another achievement entirely.
And that's what makes Baysal's performances particularly interesting.
Mason Hale's consistency stands out in Huddersfield
Another performance that deserves attention came from Mason Hale at Rack Cafe in Huddersfield.
Hale won seven matches and defeated Joe White 4–1 in the final, averaging 96.69 in the deciding match.
But the figures leading up to that final were equally impressive.
| Average | Opponent |
|---|---|
| 96.69 | Joe White |
| 93.94 | Cobi Cartwright |
| 92.02 | Brooklyn Coates |
| 85.08 | Shaun Hale |
| 83.62 | Nolan Pollard |
Those are the five leading averages recorded for Hale in the competition.
I think this is one of the strongest performances of the day when you look beyond just the single highest average.
Seven victories, three averages above 90 and a particularly good performance in the final. That's exactly the sort of consistency that wins tournaments.
Anthony Paul Hitchen wins a big competition at Hindley
The Thursday round robin at Hindley Social Club was one of the larger events in the day's results, with 125 matches recorded.
Anthony Paul Hitchen came through to win the competition, defeating Jonathan Kavanagh 4–2 in the final and recording nine victories.
Hitchen produced a 96.97 against Charlie Sinclair and a 93.94 against Brook Waterworth.
Kavanagh recorded the second-highest average of the entire day, 104.86 against Martin Bradbury, and finished with eight victories.
Dan Fingard also produced a 96.97, while Kirk Shepherd recorded 93.94.
That's a lot of good darts in one competition, and Hitchen deserves credit for coming through such a sizeable field.
Ricky Palmer wins at Hangar61
Ricky Palmer was one of the featured winners on Thursday, defeating Martyn Freeman 3–1 in the final of the Thursday Night Round Robin at Hangar61.
Palmer also produced the highest individual average in that competition, 89.72 against Antwon Phillips.
There were some other good performances too. Rich Griffee recorded 88.41 and 87.24, while Brandon Goddard and Robbie Long both reached 85.89.
Brandon Goddard and Corey Oates recorded seven victories apiece, while Palmer finished with five.
It's another reminder that there are different routes through these competitions. Sometimes the player with the most wins isn't the eventual champion, depending on the competition format and results.
Darren Webster wins at Game Shop Darts
Darren Webster won the GSD Thursday competition at Game Shop Darts LTD, beating Kevin Peacher 3–0 in the final.
Webster recorded six victories and produced a 95.94 against Marcus Stubington, along with an 88.29 against Kieran Jefferson.
James Hubbard was another standout performer, recording 100.20 against Darren Massen and 93.94 against Sonny Page.
Hubbard finished with five victories, but Webster was the player who took the title.
South West results: Samuel King wins again
Samuel King made it two tournament victories in successive daily roundups.
After winning at Devizes on Wednesday, King returned to the winners' enclosure at the Deers Leap Under-70 competition, defeating Wayne Millin 4–1 in the final.
King recorded six victories, while Millin led the match-win count with eight.
Dillon Moran produced the highest average of the competition, 85.89 against Lee Judd, and also recorded 84.41.
Lewis Saunders reached 79.11, with six victories of his own.
It was another substantial Under-70 event, with 70 matches recorded, and good to see King continuing his winning form.
John Nelson makes it another winning evening
Another player who followed up Wednesday's success was John Nelson.
Nelson won Thursday's Inbetweener competition, defeating Arun Grewal 3–0 in the final.
He recorded nine victories, with leading averages of 95.94, 92.02, 90.18, 85.08 and 83.50.
That's a particularly strong collection of figures.
After his Tadworth victory on Wednesday, which included two averages above 100, Nelson has now recorded two tournament victories in consecutive daily reports.
The consistency across both evenings is certainly worth recognising.
Women's darts: Crystal Larkin wins at Boundary Park Academy
There was a ladies' round robin included in Thursday's results at Boundary Park Academy, held at Bar 1895 Darts.
Crystal Larkin won the competition, defeating Heidi Heald 2–1 in the final and finishing with five victories.
Heald recorded the highest average in the event, 54.78, and finished with four wins. Larkin's best recorded average was 51.83, while Lottie Tomlin reached 47.71.
There were 19 matches recorded in the competition.
WADC update
I couldn't identify any specifically WADC-labelled competitions among Thursday's 62 tournaments, so there are no confirmed WADC results to report in this roundup.
That doesn't mean there wasn't women's darts taking place, of course, and the Boundary Park Academy ladies' competition deserves its mention.
Junior Volts: six competitions across the country
There were six Junior Volts competitions recorded on Thursday, with some good performances from the younger players.
| Location | Winner | Final result |
|---|---|---|
| Resolven | Cody Hughes | 3–2 v Ashton John |
| Oldham | Oscar Monkton | 3–1 v Matthew Roberts |
| Buxton | Adam Bines | 3–1 v Angus Redfern |
| Penarth | Dylan Person | 3–1 v Leo Driscoll |
| Manchester | Harrison Doherty | 3–2 v Ollie Pollard |
| Gillingham | Charlie Smith | 3–0 v Ralph Burnett |
There were several performances worth picking out.
At Resolven, Kenzie Watkins produced a 91.09 average against Ollie Griffiths, the highest individual average among the six Junior Volts competitions. Jack Powell recorded 85.89, while Cody Hughes came through to win the title.
At Manchester, both Charlie Thomason and Harrison Doherty recorded 81.24 averages. Doherty won six matches and the competition, while Thomason also recorded six victories.
Dylan Person recorded 81.24 at Penarth on the way to winning the event, while Adam Bines produced 73.32 and seven victories at Buxton.
Oscar Monkton won six matches at Oldham, recording a best average of 77.08.
And at Gillingham, Charlie Smith won five matches, defeating Ralph Burnett 3–0 in the final.
Once again, it's encouraging to see so many juniors getting regular competitive darts.
More performances worth mentioning
With 62 competitions in the database, there were plenty of other results that deserve recognition.
At Brynmawr Social Club, Ben Bevan defeated Finley Bennett 3–1 in the final, with both players recording seven victories. Paul Jarvis hit a 100.20, while Bennett recorded 96.97, 93.94 and 91.09.
At Cardiff County Conservative Club, Edward Manley defeated John Cotterell 3–1 in the final. Josef Howlett produced the highest average of 91.09.
At Clwb Emrys Circuit 3.0, Lee Hughes won nine matches and defeated Jeff Bass 3–0 in the final, with a best average of 91.09.
At the Rock Avenue Club in Gillingham, George Cressey won seven matches, beating Michael Finch 3–1 in the final. Cressey recorded averages of 95.36, 88.41, 88.30 and 86.64.
And at Credenhill Social & Sports Club, Adam Mitchell won nine matches to take the Sub-60 Series title, defeating Edward Richardson-Morris 3–0.
These are the sort of performances that can easily get overlooked when we're concentrating on the highest averages.
Thursday's ten highest individual averages
Based on the Q4QS daily results report. These are individual match averages, not tournament averages.
| Player | Average | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| Alfie Fisken | 111.33 | Hotshots Sports Bar |
| Jonathan Kavanagh | 104.86 | Hindley Social Club |
| Rhys Evans | 100.20 | Vetz Sports Bar |
| Paul Jarvis | 100.20 | Brynmawr Social Club |
| James Hubbard | 100.20 | GSD Thursday |
| Ryan Davies | 100.20 | Junction Inn |
| Finley Bennett | 96.97 | Brynmawr Social Club |
| Dan Fingard | 96.97 | Hindley Social Club |
| Anthony Paul Hitchen | 96.97 | Hindley Social Club |
| Mason Hale | 96.69 | Rack Cafe, Huddersfield |
My five standout performances
- Alfie Fisken: The highest average of the day, 111.33, backed up by a 91.09.
- Mason Hale: Seven victories, three averages above 90 and a 96.69 in the final.
- Kaya Baysal: Another title following Wednesday's success, with seven victories and a best average of 95.94.
- Anthony Paul Hitchen: Nine victories in a competition containing 125 recorded matches.
- John Nelson: Nine victories and five leading averages between 83.50 and 95.94, following Wednesday's tournament win.
Special mentions to Jonathan Kavanagh, George Cressey, Lee Hughes and Adam Mitchell.
Another 62 tournaments added to Q4QS
Thursday's results were a good mixture of high averages, consistent tournament winners, junior competitions, ladies' darts and the various average-restricted competitions that provide opportunities for players at different standards.
Alfie Fisken's 111.33 was the headline number, but I think Mason Hale's performance deserves just as much attention.
And it's interesting to see Kaya Baysal and John Nelson winning on consecutive days. That's something you don't always notice when looking at tournament results individually, but it becomes apparent when you start following the daily reports.
That's one of the reasons I enjoy putting these roundups together. There are always stories beyond the biggest averages and the most recognisable names.
Another 62 competitions are now part of the Q4QS Database, with more players, matches and performances contributing to the bigger picture of grassroots darts.
Full results, rankings and player statistics are available at QuestForQSchool.
