Thursday produced another excellent night of grassroots darts, with 30 tournaments from 3 September added to the Q4QS database.
The biggest South West story came from Hangar61 in Bristol, where a substantial 121-match Thursday round robin ended with Owen Smith taking the title. The same tournament also produced the biggest average anywhere in Thursday’s results, as Danny Humphries fired an extraordinary 120.24.
Elsewhere, Lee Evans combined two ton-plus averages with another tournament victory, Lloyd Sterio produced 99.25 on his way to a title, Ryan Moulder won at Evesham and Johnny Haines followed Wednesday’s spectacular scoring with another victory.
Smith comes through huge Hangar61 field
With 121 matches recorded, the Thursday Night Round Robin at Hangar61 was one of the biggest tournaments of the day.
Owen Smith eventually emerged as champion, defeating Dan Raby 3–2 in the final. Smith, Raby and Danny Humphries all accumulated seven victories, with Jacob Godber and Paul Meyer not far behind on six.
But the scoring story belonged to Humphries.
He produced an astonishing 120.24 average, then added 103.66 and 100.20 performances during the same tournament. Andrew White also hit 103.66, while Robbie Long reached 93.00.
Humphries may not have taken the title, but those three averages make his night impossible to ignore.
Evans produces two ton-plus averages and wins
Lee Evans put together one of the best complete performances of Thursday at The Wolversdene Club.
Evans won the Money In Money Out Round-Robin, defeating Jamie Kelling 3–1 in the final, after collecting eight victories across the competition.
His numbers were excellent throughout: 104.86, 103.66 and 96.97 all appeared during his winning run. Geoff James also reached 96.97, while Kelling recorded a 91.09.
Unlike several of the day’s biggest averages, Evans managed to combine the huge numbers with actually taking home the title.
Sterio edges another competitive Vault field
There was another impressive performance from Lloyd Sterio in The Bird Pre Vault Round Robin.
Sterio and Mike Huntley both finished with eight victories, but Sterio came through their deciding match to take the title.
He produced an excellent 99.25 average, while Huntley recorded 91.09, two separate 88.41s and 87.63. Ciaran Price also enjoyed a strong event with seven wins.
With Vault 19 approaching, that looks like another useful result to put into the form book.
Moulder takes Evesham U17 title
There was youth success at Evesham Darts Competitions, where Ryan Moulder won U17 Night 5.
Moulder and Lewis Clements both collected six victories before Moulder came through the final.
Clements actually dominated the highest-average list, producing 68.32, 66.31, 65.35 and 62.63, but Moulder ultimately got the result that mattered.
Haines follows 115.62 with another title
A day after Johnny Haines produced a remarkable 115.62, he was back among the winners.
Haines took the Inbetween Vault 2 title after an eight-win tournament, with Stewart Wilde finishing on seven.
Haines also topped the averages with 95.94, while Callum Weaver reached 91.09 and Wilde recorded two 88.41 performances.
That makes it an excellent couple of days for Haines.
Russell wins Cardiff Pre-Vault event
At Cardiff County Conservative Club, Joshua Russell won the Pre Vault 19 MIMO Cash Competition.
Russell finished with eight victories, one more than finalist Edward Manley, and produced averages of 93.94 and 85.08 during the event.
Josef Howlett matched Russell’s best with a 93.94, while Alec Small reached 88.98.
Quiney breaks the ton at Evesham
The senior Evesham action also produced another big number.
The export couldn’t reliably identify a tournament winner for Night Ten, so I’m not going to assign one, but Joe Quiney hit 100.20 and followed it with a 91.09.
Mitchell Leeming and Darrel Williams both reached 93.94, while Dave Honey recorded 88.41.
More huge averages further afield
Humphries’ 120.24 led the overall list, but it wasn’t Thursday’s only enormous number.
Neil Wild hit 115.62 in the Vault Style Round Robin, while Lee Evans produced his 104.86 and 103.66 and Andrew White matched Humphries with a 103.66 at Hangar61.
Toby Clements also broke the ton with 100.20 in the Hampton Thursday Premier Singles.
Wild’s performance didn’t result in the tournament title, which instead went to Mike Breckell after seven victories.
Plenty more Thursday winners
Among the other winners, Lee Evans also won the Cambrian Sports Bar Thursday Money Tournament, giving him two recorded tournament victories on the same day. He beat Liam Hughes in that event after nine wins and a best average of 91.09.
Morgan Fowler dominated the numbers as well as winning the Deers Leap Under-70, filling all five places on its leading-average list.
There were also titles for Mat Caste, John Ayris, Joey Cole, Stephen Cake, Kai Kitchen, Bradley Biddulph-Perrin and others across another deep Thursday schedule.
One of the biggest scoring nights yet
Thursday’s 30 tournaments were notable not simply for the number of events, but for the quality at the top end.
A 120.24, a 115.62, three further averages above 103 and several more around or beyond the ton mark make this one of the strongest scoring days I have seen since beginning these daily Q4QS roundups.
Yet the Hangar61 result perhaps sums up grassroots tournament darts perfectly: Humphries produced the spectacular numbers, but Owen Smith was the man who navigated the field and finished the night as champion.
And with Evans winning twice, Sterio taking another Pre-Vault title and Moulder, Haines and Russell all adding victories, there was plenty more than one huge average to take from Thursday’s results.
