The 30th edition of the Malta International Darts Open came to an end last Thursday with top quality darts witnessed throughout the 3-day event. 290 men and 80 ladies participated in the singles competition with another 170 pairs in the doubles competition for a total of 540 entries.
In the men’s singles the competition the final was contested between Mark Layton of Wales ranked 69 in the world and young Englishman, Joe Davis with the veteran Layton coming out on top 6-2 to claim the prestigious trophy and a cheque for €3,500. The best performance for a local player came from Andy Keen who was eliminated at the last 16 stages by the tournament’s top ranked player, Richie Edwards of Wales 4-2. Godfrey Abela and Norbert Attard lost a round earlier at the last 32 stages.
The ladies’ singles competition this year featured no less than six top 10 world ranked players. The quarter final stage was contested by the top 8 seeds in the competition with World number 2 - Deta Hedman of England claiming the honour as she comfortably defeated Maret Liiri of Finland 4-0 in the quarter final, then World number 6 – Corrine Hammond of Australia 4-2 in the semi-final and finally World number 3 – Aileen de Graaf of the Netherlands 4-2 in a high-quality final.
Meanwhile, both Hedman and Hammond spoke to Times of Malta about their experience at the Malta Darts Open prior their final commitments, last Thursday.
Hammond, among the strongest darts players in Australia, has underlined the organisation and level of this tournament which struck her, given she has never been on our shores.
"There is a lot of great players here in Malta and I am really glad to have had this opportunity, because it is a very challenging tournament," Hammond said.
Hedman, on her part, expressed her satisfaction for the fact that the level of women darts is increasing and therefore any tournament she is participating in, is becoming furthermore challenging her.
"The Ladies game has made massive steps in the past 20 years, considering that previously our darts was predictable but nowadays the challenge has increased and therefore the bar was risen in our movement," Hedman underlined.
In the pairs competition, the men’s title went to the 2016 Malta Open Singles Champion, Paul Williams and his partner Andy Chalmers as they comfortably dispatched of Paul Wenn and Steve Carrett 4-0 in the final. A mention in this competition must go to local pair Enrico Scerri and Danijel Serences who made it all the way to the quarter final stage. The ladies’ pairs title was dominated by mother (current World Champion) and daughter, Lisa & Danielle Ashton as they only lost one leg all the way to the title. In the final they defeated Laura Patton and Tracy Curry of England with a 3-1 scoreline.
Men’s Singles
Quarter Finals
R.Edwards-WAL 2-4 J.O’Shea-IRE, F.Carragher-IRE 1-4 J.Davis-ENG, S.Carrett 3-4 C.Van Cleef-NL, M.Layton-WAL 4-1 C. Jackson-ENG
Semi Finals
J.O’Shea-IRE 4-5 J.Davis-ENG, C.Van Cleef-NL 1-5 M.Layton-WAL
FINAL
J.Davis-ENG 2-6 M.Layton-ENG
Ladies Singles
Quarter Finals
D.Hedman-ENG 4-0 M.Liiri-FIN, F.Sherrock-ENG 0-4 C.Hammond-AUS, A.De Graaf-NL 4-2 D.Ashton-ENG, C.Gallagher-ENG 4-3 L.Ashton-ENG
Semi Finals
D.Hedman-ENG 4-2 C.Hammond-AUS, A.De Graaf 4-1 C.Gallagher-ENG
FINAL
D.Hedman-ENG v A.De Graaf-NL 4-2
Men’s Pairs
Semi Finals P.Wenn/S.Carrett 4-3 G.Siegfried/W.Halliwell, M.Taylor/M.Woods 2-4 A.Chalmers/P.Williams
FINAL
P.Wenn/S.Carrett 0-4 A.Chalmers/P.Williams
Ladies Pairs
Semi Finals L.Ashton/D.Ashton 3-0 S.Goebel/A.Wigmann, K.King/M.Perrin 1-3 L.Patton/T.Curry 1-3
FINAL
L.Ashton/D.Ashton 3-1 L.Patton/T.Curry
Deta Hedman (centre) reacts after winning the Ladies Open.