Saturday brought another 48 tournaments into the Q4QS database, and once again there was far more to the day than simply looking at who won each event.
The headline average came from Kirk Shepherd, who fired a superb 115.62 at the Hoop and Mallet in Warrington. David Mayle and Johnny Haines both reached 111.33, while there were 103.66 averages from Richard German, Dave Burrows and Stephen Cake.
There was plenty happening closer to the usual Q4QS area too. Danny Humphries won at Stratford Social Club in Salisbury, Stephen Cake completed an excellent night with the title in Neath, and Johnny Haines produced another big set of numbers at Wiltshire Darts House.
There was also a substantial Junior Volts programme and, importantly, six WADC Vaults, as well as the Shrewsbury Ladies Open.
Shepherd hits 115.62 – but Welding takes the title
The biggest average I'm picking out from Saturday came at the Hoop and Mallet in Warrington.
Kirk Shepherd produced a tremendous 115.62 in a 2–0 victory over Maciej Suchy. It wasn't his only big performance either, with Shepherd also recording 100.20, 93.94 and 91.17 during his run.
But he didn't win the tournament.
That honour went to James Welding, who beat Shepherd 3–1 in the final and finished with seven victories.
Welding averaged 93.94 earlier in the event, and once again we have a good example of why these reports shouldn't simply be a list of the day's biggest averages. Shepherd produced the headline number; Welding took home the title.
Two 111.33 averages
There were two more huge performances on Saturday.
At Dave's Darts Competition for Breast Cancer Now, David Mayle averaged 111.33 and backed that up with a 101.79.
Richard German also reached 103.66, while eventual winner Phil Johnson-Hale joined the ton-plus group with a 100.20.
Johnson-Hale beat Mark Lynn 6–3 in the final to take the competition.
Meanwhile at Wiltshire Darts House, Johnny Haines produced another exceptional set of numbers.
Haines hit 111.33, followed it with 103.66, 95.66 and 95.35 and collected eight wins.
Yet again, the man producing the huge averages didn't take the title.
Scott Mc beat Haines 4–3 before going on to defeat Chris Rose 5–0 in the final. Scott also recorded a 95.01 against Haines.
That's some serious depth of performance from one tournament.
Stephen Cake combines 103.66 with the Neath title
One of Saturday's best complete tournament performances came in Wales.
At Shooter's SportsBar in Neath, Stephen Cake hit 103.66, as well as 93.94, 91.09 and 85.99.
More importantly, he finished the night with eight victories and beat Craig Blake 3–0 in the final, averaging 93.94.
Bobby Short also reached 93.94 during a six-win night.
Big average, consistency and the tournament win – Cake ticked pretty much every box.
Dave Burrows hits 103.66 – David Evans wins Farnworth
There was another 103.66 at the Royal Sports Lounge in Farnworth, this time from Dave Burrows.
Burrows finished with six wins, but the tournament belonged to David Evans.
Evans reached 98.02 and 91.09 before beating Steve Coote 3–1 in the final, where he averaged 89.56.
Evans finished with seven victories to complete a strong tournament.
Danny Humphries wins at Stratford Social Club
There was another result to add to the growing Q4QS history at Stratford Social Club in Salisbury.
Danny Humphries came through the Darts Mayhem event, beating Dave Moule 2–1 in the final.
Humphries also produced the tournament's best average of 96.97, added a 91.09 and finished with seven wins.
Dave Moule also collected seven victories, while Lee Evans won five matches and recorded averages of 91.09 and 88.41.
Another busy event at a venue that is appearing increasingly regularly in the Q4QS data.
Paul Rowley impresses in Shrewsbury
Paul Rowley put together one of the strongest winning performances of the day at the Inn On The Green in Shrewsbury.
Rowley beat Jake B-Smith 3–1 in the final with a 99.00 average, while B-Smith averaged 96.20.
Rowley also recorded 91.29 and 91.09 on his way to eight victories.
That's a particularly strong set of numbers to accompany a tournament win.
Paul Hogan wins at Burghfield
At Burghfield Community Sports Association near Reading, Paul Hogan enjoyed an excellent tournament.
Hogan recorded 93.94, 92.02 and 83.50, finished with eight wins and beat Mark Tomlin 3–0 in the final.
Tomlin had seven victories himself and twice reached 88.41.
Steve Haggerty makes it eight wins
At Wych Elm in Burntwood, Steve Haggerty produced another very complete performance.
Haggerty hit 98.02, 93.94, 88.41 and 86.48 during the event before beating Harvey-Lee Nelson-Harris 3–0 in the final.
Eight matches, eight wins and some very solid numbers alongside them.
John Nelson dominates at Southend
John Nelson was another player who combined the biggest averages at his venue with the tournament victory.
At the Len Forge Centre in Southend, Nelson recorded 96.97, 93.94 and 91.09.
He then beat Craig Vickers 3–0 in the final and finished with seven wins.
Vickers also won seven matches on his route to the final.
Junior Volts produce another huge batch of results
Saturday was another busy day for the Junior Volts Series, with tournaments spread across the country.
Charlie Lowin won at Blackheath, Prem Ahluwalia at Bushey, Nathan Ward-Wilkinson at Clacton, Logan Smith at Gamlingay and Rhodri Phillips at Llandysul.
Elsewhere, Callum Kerrigan won in Lincoln, Harvey-Lee Nelson-Harris at Lichfield, Harland Newbegin at Grimsby and Finley Rix at Norwich.
There were some good numbers among the juniors too. Nathan Ward-Wilkinson and Cayden Jones both reached 81.24, while Jack Turner and Charlie Lowin hit 79.11.
At the Shrewsbury Youth Under-18 Open, Sam Morris produced an 87.35 and went on to win the competition, beating Callum Robinson 4–1 in the final.
It's another sizeable block of junior results going into the database.
Seven women's tournaments added to Q4QS
There was plenty of women's darts on Saturday as well, with six WADC Vault 3.0 tournaments plus the Shrewsbury Ladies Darts Open.
At the WADC events, Pat Moody won at Great Float Social Club in Wallasey, while Joanne Oldershaw produced an excellent all-round performance in Newark. Oldershaw averaged 62.63 and then 61.03 in her 3–1 final victory over Kelly Stevens.
Danielle Evans won at The Gamull Pub in Ribbleton, finishing with seven victories and occupying the top four positions among the event's recorded averages.
Michelle Bull won at The Glebe in Stevenage, while Dannie Hughes took the Cinderford title after beating Vicky Fairbrother 3–1. Fairbrother produced the best WADC average of these six events with 66.80.
At the Royal Oak in Rhyl, Jackie Brighton beat Trisha Harley 3–0 in the final and averaged 61.77. She also recorded two 60.12 averages.
Away from the Vaults, Sue Lane won the Shrewsbury Ladies Darts Open, beating Emma Tapp 3–2 in the final. Tapp produced the competition's highest average of 64.41.
That's seven women's competitions from one Saturday feeding more results into Q4QS.
Five performances that caught my eye
1. Kirk Shepherd – 115.62, Warrington
The biggest legitimate average I'm picking out from Saturday, backed up with another 100.20.
2. David Mayle – 111.33, Breast Cancer Now competition
Mayle also hit 101.79, making this far more than a one-match performance.
3. Johnny Haines – 111.33, Wiltshire Darts House
Another huge day from Haines: 111.33, 103.66, 95.66 and 95.35.
4. Stephen Cake – 103.66, Neath
Cake gets the nod because he combined his big average with eight wins and the tournament title.
5. Paul Rowley – 99.00, Shrewsbury
There were higher individual averages elsewhere, but a 99.00 in the final to win the tournament, backed by 91.29 and 91.09, makes this one of my performances of the day.
Another 48 tournaments into Q4QS
Another 48 tournaments are now part of the Q4QS database.
The 115.62 from Kirk Shepherd grabs the headline, but Saturday again showed why there is so much more to these results than one leaderboard of averages.
James Welding beat the player who produced that 115.62. Scott Mc won at Wiltshire despite Johnny Haines throwing 111.33 and 103.66. Stephen Cake combined big numbers with the title in Neath, while Danny Humphries added another Salisbury victory to the records.
Add another sizeable Junior Volts programme and seven women's competitions, and there was plenty to take from Saturday.
And all of it now adds another layer to the rankings, player histories, venue records, head-to-heads and form behind Q4QS.
