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SPORT: Darts: Taylor and Nelson dominate Masters

Report by IOM Darts Organisation

Isle of Man Masters 2022

Saturday 26 November saw the Isle of Man Darts Masters take place at the RAOB Club in Ramsey; with men’s and ladies singles competitions held over the longer than usual format of best of 3 sets, with each set the best of 5 legs.  Robbie Nelson was in imperious form all day and emerged as the 2022 Men’s Masters Champion, whilst Sarah Taylor dominated the Ladies event to add the Masters title to the Island Championship she won earlier in the year.

 

Ladies Singles

The first Quarter-final of the Ladies singles saw a clash of two of the favourites for the title, with Sarah Taylor putting in an excellent performance to beat Margaret Kelly 2-0. She was joined in the semi-finals by Nikki Bardsley who eased to a 2-0 win over Janet Bailey. The other semi-final was to be an all-Western affair, after Sophie Hicklin beat Sophie Moore 2-0 and newcomer Jess Corlett overcome Alana Timoney by the same score line.

On paper the first semi-final should have been a close one but Sarah Taylor (4 x 100, 105, 123) was clinical in her finishing and ran away with it against Nikki Bardsley (3 x 100, 121, 135) winning both sets 3-0 and hitting a 105 finish in the process. The second semi-final went the same way as the first, with Jess Corlett (135, 140) repeatedly punishing missed darts at the double by Sophie Hicklin (3 x 100, 121) on her way to a comprehensive win.

In the final, Sarah (7 x 100, 120, 2 x 140) continued the fantastic form she was in all day as she took the first set 3-0. Jess (125) put up a real fight in the second set, but the heavy scoring of Sarah eventually saw her take the set 3-2 and the match 2-0.

 

Men’s Singles

There were some excellent clashes in the early rounds of the Men’s singles. In the top half of the draw Kevin Lane pulled out a superb 13-dart last leg in the decider against Ady Hogg to move into the quarterfinals. He was joined by Brian Gelling, whose run included a hard-fought win against disabled darts superstar Darren Kennish. Alan Young recovered from losing the first 4 legs against Paul Sertin to win 0-3, 3-2, 3-1 and John Halsall played some fantastic darts to complete the quarterfinal line-up in the top half of the draw. 

In the bottom half, eventual winner Robbie Nelson had to dig deep to get past Willie Biggane 2-1 in a last leg decider, before beating the standout player from the Super League, Aaron Bradley, 2-0 to make the quarterfinals. Colin Tyrer, Ian Fields and Wayne Harrison all cruised through their matches to complete the quarterfinals line up.

In the first quarterfinal, Brian Gelling caused a huge shock as he beat one of the favourites for the title, Kevin Lane, 2-1, punishing some uncharacteristically sloppy play from his opponent. Alan Young then put an end to John Halsall’s day, easing to a 2-0 win. Robbie Nelson and Colin Tyrer then played out a superb match, with both sets going Robbie’s way in a deciding leg. Wayne Harrison completed the semi-final line up with a solid win against Ian Fields.

Alan Young (3 x 100, 134, 2 x 140, 168, 180) put an end to the superb run of Brian Gelling (3 x 100, 121, 3 x 140), easing to a 2-0 win, winning both sets 3-1. In the other semi-final, Robbie Nelson (2 x 100, 122, 2 x 123, 139, 5 x 140, 2 x 180) put on a display of power scoring as he beat Wayne Harrison (8 x 100, 140) 2 sets to nil by scores of 3-0 and 3-2.

In the final, Robbie (4 x 100, 112, 121, 125, 126, 130, 2 x 140, 180) punished some lacklustre play from Alan (100, 120, 121, 137, 2 x 140) to take the opening set-in dominant fashion 3-0, including a 130 finish in the first leg. The second set was much more competitive but, with Alan leading 2-1 and looking to level the match, Robbie took out finishes of 94 and 112 in consecutive legs, with Alan sat on a double both times, to recover from 2-1 down and take the set 3-2 and the match 2-0.

 

The next IOMDO event will be a fun darts competition at The Manor in Douglas on Boxing Day, with a 7pm start.

 

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