The Spots and Stripes Club in Southwark opened its doors over the weekend of 22/23 October to some of the best ladies players in world darts, writes Mark Litchfield…
Names such as ten times World Champion Trina Gulliver MBE, three times World Champion Anastasia Dobromyslova, dual World Champion Lisa Ashton and the current world number one Deta Hedman were among the 68 entrants in the field for the competition.
All seeds reached the Last 16 stage, but that was to be as far as Hedman would go, as she was defeated by the eventual finalist Maria O’Brien from Devon.
The quarter-finals saw Maria, Trina Gulliver and Anastasia progress comfortably, with Lisa Ashton also making the last four, having been taken to a decider by Sharon Prins.
The tournament was to reach its culmination the following day, along with the Gerry Haywood Memorial Trophy.
Hedman fell in the last 32 to Essex’s Donna Gleed, whilst Number 8 seed Anca also suffered the same fate.
The Classic semi-finals saw Maria O’Brien defeat Trina Gulliver 4-3 and Anastasia beat Lisa Ashton 4-1, whilst in the final, Anastasia went on to take the crown, beating O’Brien 5-2.
Meanwhile, in the Ladies Open, Gulliver made her way through to the final with a 5-1 victory over Diane, whilst the other semi saw Anastasia despatch Ashton by the same score-line.
The final saw Dobromyslova defeat Gulliver by six legs to three, completing the double.