GR8ofdarts

Gr8ofdarts

GR8ofdarts have introduced a fantastic new membership package for those who want all the benefits of the website but without the welcome pack, for just £14.95 a year you get full membership towww.gr8ofdarts.co.uk with all the following:

Your yearly membership includes all of the following:

·         Discounted tickets to all of our events

·         Full access to the member areas of our site

·         Competitions with great prizes

·         Exclusive deals on Dart merchandise

·         Meet the players

·         Tips and advice on your own game from the team of pro players

·         Be part of our practice league and watch your game grow with player specific training routines

·         Exclusive access to GR8 of darts merchandise

·         Discount from our affiliate darts manufacturers and distributors

·         Betting tip, and great sign up bonuses from our affiliate bookmaker

·         Watch over 100 hours of classic matches including Bristow, Deller, Gregory, Harrington, Fordham & Mardle and many more.

Go to www.gr8ofdarts.co.uk and be part of this unique darting website all for just £14.95 a year.

Antwerp Open

This past weekend I was in the country of Belgium playing the Antwerp open which is the second to last tournament for me to gain some World ranking points for Lakeside World Championships and last chance to get points for the Zuiderduin Masters which is classed as another major in the BDO/WDF calendar which takes place in Holland in early December.

I followed my usual travelling routine of flying to Amsterdam and staying with good friends in Veldhoven for the weekend.

I played in the Mixed pairs with Stephen Bunting on the Saturday morning and I am happy to say that we came out the eventual winners on the day. We got to the final without to much hassle and never dropped a leg till we made the final. In the final we were pushed a little harder and was happy to come out 4-3 winners over Darrel Fitton and his partner.

Next in the day was the Ladies pairs. I was without my usual partner in crime Lorraine Farlam as she was in England participating in the LDO "Ladies Darts Classic". I would have liked to have been able to attend this event but I had already booked flights to Holland before this tournament was finalised earlier in the year. I will speak more about this later.

In the pairs I teamed up with a friend, Monique and we were unfortunate to loose in our second game 3-2 against the very experienced pairing of Dutch internationals, Prins & Schuur. Was nice to play in this game and one leg I was able to hit 2x180.

Sunday was the real reason I had come over to play as it was the Ladies singles. It was a seeded draw and as it turned out because of other seeded players entering and not being able to turn up, the bottom half of the draw which I was in had 4 of the 5 seeds that attended.

I had some comfortable games during the day and some tight games which were of my own doing due to lack of concentration at times. I had played well in the semi-final against Unicorn and Russian team mate Irina Armstrong and was 4-0 up when I let the concentration slip. I had just enough left at the end to come through a 5-4 winner and progress to the Final where I was playing Rachna David from Norway. I won the final which was best of 3 sets, 2 sets to nil, Again I was good in patches and bad in others. This was again due to concentration and I also feel the long wait for the stage finals did not help me, But I cant complain with the win and the 22 points I gained.

I have almost certainly guaranteed myself a second seed at Lakeside in January with the recent victory as my nearest rival Julie Gore is a fair few points behind now on the rolling table.http://www.bdodarts.com/tables.aspx?tid=8 (This table has WDF World cup points to come off)

In the Zuiderduin ranking table I have finished third as I have heard I'm not guaranteed to be in this tournament due to the way they give out places in the rankings and wild cards. I'm hoping that I have a place in this but I will just have to wait and see what the organisation decide to do with the invites.http://www.dartswdf.com/Zuiderduin/Zuiderduin-2012-RW.html

As I was reporting earlier my normal partner Lorraine Farlam was attending a tournament in England run by the newly formed Ladies Darts Organisation. This is a organisation that is pushing the ladies game forward independently after it being held back for long periods of time by others in the game. It was unfortunate that I was not able to attend this event but I will be giving it my full support in the future and would urge all Lady players from all over the world to get on board and join as members. I have included the link for the website for you all to have a look at. http://www.ladiesdartsorganisation.com

My next travels take me down to the Sussex cost to play in the EDO England Classic taking place in Selsey. I believe their may be some live internet streaming so I hope you will be able to catch me live over the coming weekend if I'm lucky enough to make the stage finals. http://www.englanddarts.co.uk

Don't forget that you can book me or any of the other GR8 of darts players by enquiring at http://www.gr8ofdarts.co.uk

Well I have typed enough and now its time to get back to the practice.

Thanks for reading and hope to see you all soon.

Anastasia xx

IDPA Super Series and British Open

This passed weekend I was on my travels to Bridlington to play in the IDPA super series and most importantly the BDO British Open.

I played some steady game son the Friday evening in the Super Series beating on my way to the final, Zoe Jones, Michelle Webber, Trina Gulliver and in the final I was happy to come out victorious against Julie Gore from Wales. This was a nice warm up tournament for me as I have been spending the last 2 weeks in Russia with my family and sorting some other darting business out for my darting trips later in the year which I will report on nearer the time.

Saturday at Bridlington was the ladies pairs and I joined up with my usual partner Lorraine Farlam. We played many steady games throughout the day and won thorough to the semi finals on the Sunday evening where we were due to play the pairing of Trina Gullivers and her wife Sue Gulliver.

Sunday was a late start for me as I was seeded number 3 in the ladies draw, Not quite sure how they worked the seedings out with be currently being world number 2 but I was placed as 3rd seed for the day. I played some great darts throughout the day, I had some troubles with my concentration as the venue was very noisy at times. I made it through to the last 8 where I was to play Tamara Schuur from the Netherlands. I raced into a 2-0 lead and then my concentration lapsed again. I eventually lost the game and the last 2 legs Tamara outplayed me on the board and deserved to win in the end. Tamara has been playing very well of late and was recently runner up in the Sweden open last week which I did not attend. Tamara is fighting for the last automatic play off place for Lakeside and at the moment on current form is looking good to get there.

I had to wait around for several hours after I had finished my singles to play in the ladies semi final. We eventually took the stage around 3hrs after waiting and we were very comfortable winners winning 4-0 and not really being pushed to any great degree. In the other semi final was Deta Hedman and Dee Bateman vs Julie Gore and Rhian Griffiths, This was a real battle of a game and Julie and Rhian eventually came out winners 4-3 with it going down to a nail biting finish.

The final is most probably one final I want to forget. It has to go down as a bad day in the office for me and Lorraine. We were in, out and shake it all about. We could not at all find any consistency at all between us and we eventually ended up loosing what can only be described as a poor final from all players concerned 4-2. Congratulations go to Julie and Rhian as they become British Open pairs champions 2012.

Next up I have county this weekend (9th September) for Cheshire vs Lancashire and my next tournament after that will be a trip to Antwerp for my second to last ranking event for Lakeside 2013 where I am currently sitting in 2nd place with a bit of breathing space between myself and 3rd place.

Thanks for reading and I will keep you all updated of my darting adventures.

Anastasia xx

GR8 of Darts Exhibition

This coming Sunday, August 12th 2012, I shall be playing my first GR8 of Darts Exhibition along with team members Dennis Priestley and Chris Mason.

This is going to be a great day and evening of entertainment for all people involved and I am happy to have been invited to attend the event.

Please feel free to take a look at the little write up that Hull Fc have done on the events taking place during the day and the evening.

http://www.hullfc.com/article/21818/hull-to-host-darts-extravaganza

Hope to see some of my fans there on the evening.

Anastasia. xx

EDO England Masters

Anastasia was back at the Ricoh Arena to put things right from yesterdays performances in the British Classic and Grosvenor Finals where she felt she did not perform to her best. After some advice and positive criticism from GR8 of Darts member Chris Mason, Anastasia wanted to prove that she could perform well again today and throw some GR8 darts.

The day started of very well with Anastasia winning her first four games 3-0, scoring highly and consistently   finishing well which is what Anastasia and her fans have come to expect from the current double World Champion. The scoring seemed to have left Anastasia for the first two legs and opponent Dee Bateman took full advantage of this and cruised into a 2-0 lead. Anastasia dug deep and started to play like she had been all day with some encouragement from vocal supporters of hers and got the game back to 2-2. The last leg went well again for Anastasia until the doubles. she missed many darts at the doubles but with her high scoring power she had enough shots at the double to hit double 5 to clinch at 3-2 victory. 

Anastasia was again on stage to play her semi-final against Welsh international and ever present Lakeside player Julie Gore. The game turned out to be a real ding dong of a game with both players powering in high scores and some good finishes. Anastasia hit a crucial 86 (18,18,bull) to make it 2-2. Julie ran away with the next leg and was 3-2 up. Anastasia was well behind in the 6th leg and fired in a 180 and a 60 finish to take it to the deciding leg. Julie had already missed a few darts at the double to see out the game and Anastasia was lucky to still be in the game. The last leg was again not a very good scoring leg or a leg to write home about on doubles. Anastasia was lucky enough to win the leg and go through to the final to play England international Lisa Ashton who had beat Deta Hedman in the other semi final. Anastasia knew she had rode her luck to reach the final and felt for Julie but sometime luck is what is needed in this game and Anastasia grasped it with both hands on this occasion.

The final was a high scoring game with Lisa and Anastasia trading 100's and 140's throughout the legs. The first four legs were shared and then Anastaisa took the lead with a good leg to go 3-2 up. The last leg again was a high scoring leg and Lisa was at the doubles first. Lisa missed her chances to get the game back to 3-3 and Anastasia took out 40 after missing it on a 120 out shot the throw before to be crowned EDO England Master Ladies Champion 2012. Anastasia successfully defended her title that she won in 2011 when it was played in Blackpool.

http://www.englanddarts.co.uk/EnglandMastersLadiesSingles.pdf

Anastasia currently sits at number 2 in the BDO ranking for Lakeside 2013 seeding places. Deta Hedman currently has a healthy lead in the number 1 spot.

This is Anastasia's first win as part of the GR8 of Darts team and is looking forward to working with all the players involved and would encourage all fans to take a look at the website and sign up to be part of the GR8 of Darts team. http://www.gr8ofdarts.co.uk/join-us.html

Grosvenor Casino Grand Finals

Saturday night saw Anastasia take part in the Grosvenor Casino finals night of which she qualified for last week after her victory in the Leeds Grosvenor Casino. The event started around 8.30pm for Anastasia as she was held up from playing in the final if the British Classic.

There was 32 ladies present for the finals night along with 32 men also playing alongside the ladies in the superb casino.

Anastasia cruised through her first to games comfortably with a 4-1 and a 4-2 victory before coming up against Unicorn team mate Tricia Wright who has returned to action after a lengthy layoff due to injury and surgery on her throwing shoulder. The game was nip and tuck for the first 4 legs with all legs going with the throw. Anastasia then stepped up her game and showed the scoring power and clinical finishing that has always been part of her game and ran away with the last 2 legs for a well deserved 4-2 victory. In the semi-final Anastasia was to again play Deta Hedman for the second time today. Unfortunately for Anastasia she did not continue the form that she had shown in her previous game and ended up loosing 4-2 for the second time today.

Deta Hedman went on to win the ladies singles beating Surrey player Apylee jones 4-2 in the final.

http://www.englanddarts.co.uk/GrosvenorGrandPrixLadiesFinals.pdf

This was a great tournament run under the EDO banner in the Grosvenor Casino's which was open to all darts players from both the BDO and PDC. All people hope that this was a success for the Casino and hope that this will run again in 2013.

Congratulations to the EDO for organising a great finals night and also the qualification tournaments.

BDO British Classic

Saturday started off with the BDO British Classic taking place from imp at the Ricoh Arena. This was to be Anastasia's first tournament under the GR8 of Darts team There was not a great amount of entries for the tournament this year even with the ladies price fund being doubled for the top end of the game compared to last years event in Kettering. Anastasia had some tough games through the day due to Anastasia giving her opponents to many chances during the games and not having her usual killer instinct on the oche. Anastasia admitted to not having full concentration on the ochre for some unknown reason and rode her luck in games against Wales international Gaynor Williams and Norway international Rachna David.

Anastasia done enough to fight her way to the stage semi-finals where she was up against Dutch international Tamara Schuur. This game started with Anastasia scoring highly in the first 2 legs but the concentration did not seem to be there on the doubles and the score was 1-1. The standard of high scoring was now not as fluent as in the first 2 legs but with some clinical finishing Anastasia was able to get it back to 2-2. Anastasia again started leg 5 well but the doubles eluded her yet again at the end of the leg to go into the lead. Tamara scored her way down and took advantage of a increasingly poor performance of 6 missed doubles by Anastasia to move 3-2 ahead. Anastasia dug in deep with that Russian grit and determination and managed to level up at 3-3 with a fine leg of darts. The 7th and final leg was a nervy affair for both ladies with snatched and pushed darts happening for both players. The experience seemed to play a part in the last leg and Anastasia was able to win and see herself into the final where she was to play World number 1 Deta Hedman.

The final was not of the high standard that these to ladies are used to performing to and that was evident in the scoring and again in shots at doubles.There was not very many 100+ scores during the first few legs but consistent 81,85 and 60 scores. The game went to 2-1 and Deta pulled out a good leg to take the lead at 3-1 after Anastasia had missed 3 darts to level up at 2-2.Anastasia started to dig in deep to try and gain some respect from the match and produced a 14 dart leg which was the best of the game to get the score to 3-2. In the 6th and what turned out to be the final leg, Anastasia scored the better out of the 2 players and left 58 of a great 138 shot and was hoping for a shot at the double to level up at 3-3 and force a deciding last leg with Deta sitting on 149. Deta stepped up and hit 60, 57 and 32 to seal the win with a great finish and was crowned BDO British Classic 2012 Ladies Champion.

http://www.bdodarts.com/uploads/news/0/BritishClassic2011/TheFinalsBDOWinmauBritishClassic2012LadiesSingles14072012.pdf

Anastasia was not to happy with the way she played throughout the day and knew there had to be an improvement for the following day for the EDO England Masters. A chat with GR8 of Darts stable mate Chris Mason was what was needed as he pointed out a few things that Anastasia was doing wrong during her throw from what he had previously seen her doing from video recordings and watching live games. Anastasia took on board Chris's words of wisdom and was all set to use them tomorrow.

Anastasia wins EDO event in Leeds

Anastasia participated in the EDO Grosvenor casino qualifying event yesterday in Leeds in a bid to win a place in the grand finals which take place at the Grosvenor Casino Coventry which is situated at the Ricoh Arena.

Anastasia played some great darts during the day and was pleased with a 161 finish in her last 16 game. In the last 8 game Anastasia was to play Trina Gulliver which turned out to be a high scoring game and a great battle. At 2-2 Anastasia started the last leg with scores of 140,140,140 and this was enough to give her the goes at the double required to win the game.

In the semi final Anastasia was up against another great player in Englands and Lancashires Lisa Ashton. After a slow start which saw Anastasia trail 2-0, The scores started to flow along with the finishing and Anastasia ran out 4-2 winner with some great clinical finishing.

The final turned out to be a bit of a one sided affair with Anastasia running out the winner in a comfortable 4-0 win over Sue Gulliver. Anastasia scored steadily and again finished well in the legs. Sue never really got going in the final or played to her best.

This win means Anastasia has gained automatic entry into the Finals event in Coventry on 14th July through winning one of the ranking events.