by: Kevin Thorsteinson
The 2000 version of the Golden Harvest Dart event culminated on May 22 after a full week of several events that make the Golden Harvest truly a ‘darts experience’ !!! This year’s Golden Harvest was the 5th year of this great event and the pressure was on to exceed the high standards of the previous four years.
The first objective was achieved with the total prize purse increasing from the previous year of $230,000 to over $300,000. The second objective was achieved with the total number of participants increasing from 294 (192 men and 92 women) to 365 (144 men and 121 women) for an increase of 24%.
Incidentally, the increase in the number of participants has been steady, year after year, right around the 25% mark. You can also see that the ratio of men to women has remained very near to the 2:1 ratio which is why the Golden Harvest pays out in that ratio for the same position finish between the men and the women.
The third objective was to be able to run the tournament without a single hitch (a promoter’s dream) and though there may have been some behind-the-scenes hitches, the players and public did not see a single problem, even the blind draw went off without a glitch !!!
This was the first year that the blind draw was closed to participants only and the public not allowed to enter and that made a huge difference in getting it set up and played through on time.
Let us step back to May 15th to start the full Golden Harvest experience off correctly, starting with the Golden Harvest Pro-Amdarts event. The Pro-Am event pits 8 British professional dart players against 8 Canadian dart players, who qualified at the Golden Harvest A.D.O. tournament in November.
The British and Canadian teams square off in a head to head match with the victors winning $20,000 and the runners-up collecting $10,000 !!! The British team, consisting of Phil Taylor, Rod Harrington, Alan Warriner, Cliff Lazarenko, Mick Manning, Jamie Harvey, Bob Anderson and captain Keith Deller were up for a strong challenge from the Canadian team. The Canadians, Carl Mercer, Jose De la Cruz, Ken Woods, Rikk Arnott, Pat Robinson, Ivan Eddy, Rory Orvis and Al Gransch (and alternate Eugene Earnshaw) came out fighting from the start.
The match consisted of an 8-man team game of 1501, 2 - 4-man matches of 1001, 4 doubles matches of 501 and then two full rounds of singles. The doubles and singles were 3 legs each, all other matches were a single leg and each leg was worth one point. The team to reach 32 points first would be declared the winner. The British team jumped out front with the 8-man team game and the 4-man game, but the Canadians came back with a win in the second 4-man game and continued on an even pace through the doubles matches. A couple of missed opportunities in the last doubles match that could have put Canada ahead in the match was a chance to put more pressure on the professionals, but Phil Taylor proved to have the calm, collected manner of a champion and managed to bring his team the 3 legs in the last doubles match that opened up a 12-6 lead for the British team. A solid 3 legs from Carl Mercer helped to bring the Canadian team to 12-9, but again, Phil Taylor stepped to the line and rang off 3 legs in his singles to open up a 15-9 lead. The wind seemed to run out of the Canadian team’s sails at that point and though the boisterous crowd tried to rouse their team to victory, the professionals never let up and finished the match with a 32-18 victory. There were numerous great matches and numerous life-long memories for the players and spectators alike. This truly kicked off the week of the Golden Harvest.
Now the scene shifts to Saskatoon, where the players and executive have traveled to and the work on the Golden Harvest itself steps into high gear. The setup crew was busy on Tuesday in the Prairieland Exhibition Centre getting all the boards, draping and displays set up. There is also a media conference on Tuesday morning at the Sheraton Cavalier with several TV, radio and newspaper reporters attending. Founders of the tournament, Ken Finch and Kevin Thorsteinson gave the reporters the background on the Golden Harvest and the information on this year’s event. Kent Smith-Windsor informed the media of the involvement of the city of Saskatoon and more particularly, the Partnership and the Chamber of Commerce involvement. Tuesday night was a ‘meet and greet’ night for the media and several of the players along with the sponsors, volunteers and executive of the Golden Harvest.
Wednesday brought around the Golden Harvest Charity Day, starting with the golf Tournament at the Willows Golf Course in Saskatoon and the weather, though cool, was still very nice for everyone to play a round of golf. The charity teams are made up of sponsors (or paying players) teamed up with celebrities such as the professional dart players, media personalities, Saskatchewan Roughriders and political celebrities. The teams have a ‘Texas Scramble’ golf tournament followed up by a steak supper at the Sheraton Cavalier where the teams pick up their donated prizes for their golf scores. After supper, everyone moves to the large banquet room at the Sheraton where the Charity dart tournament called ‘Shoot for the Stars’ takes place. The same teams that played the golf tournament together get a few more celebrities (such as the Saskatchewan Roughriders Cheerleaders) added to their teams and they play a dart tournament. All the monies raised from this day of charity events are donated to the Children’s Health Foundation. This year’s estimate was that we raised $15,000 for the charity. It was a super day enjoyed by one and all.
Thursday brings us to the last minute preparations and getting ready for registration. Players continue to arrive all day long, checking into the hotel, registering for the tournament and receiving their player packages. The first event of the tournament, the blind draw is scheduled to get under way at 7:00 P.M. Announcements are made and play officially starts at 7:20 P.M. with players joining up to play the straight knockout blind draw event. This is a fun event that gets players meeting other players as well as letting everyone get a feel for the playing conditions and their darts before the real event begins.
Something new for the Golden Harvest dart tournament this year was the involvement of the people from Ultimate Sport Challenge who create insurance policies on sporting events that help create excitement for the players during the event. The Ultimate Sporting Challenge along with the Co-Operators and Molson’s, brought forward a perfect game package for the tournament as well as some other challenges. The perfect game prize for the tournament started with a value of $5,000 if hit during the round-robin play or during the preliminary playoff rounds. The value of the perfect game prize increased to $25,000 for the playoff round of 16, then increased again to $50,000 for the round of 8’s. The value of the perfect game award increased to $100,000 for the semi-finals on the stage and finally the perfect game award was worth $250,000 in the stage finals of the tournament !!! In addition to the perfect game awards during the tournament, there was also a betting challenge during the blind draw event that allowed players to bet money on themselves to try to complete a 9,10,11 or 12 dart game with their partner. Any team scoring a 9-to-12 dart game would get paid out according to the payout schedule and what they bet on themselves. Bets ranged from $5 to $50 and the payouts ranged from $50 to $25,000 !!! Unfortunately, the only team that shot a twelve dart game had neither player registered for a bet, so nobody managed to win any of the money that was up for grabs in the blind draw event. That was not the end of the challenge games included at this year’s Golden Harvest as there were two other challenges left for players and public to participate in. The Bulls Challenge asked players to throw 3 darts for a $2 fee and any player recording two bulls in their throw was entered for a chance to be drawn for the final throw-off. Many players participated and many players were drawn to try their skill in the final. The final had each competitor throw 3 darts, but this time they had to record one double bull and two single bulls with their three darts and they would win a brand new set of golf clubs valued at over $1,700 !!!
The pressure was too much as many competitors hit the required score with their practice throws, but nobody was able to do it when their turn came in the final. Most players even passed up their automatic $25 gift certificates for a second chance to win the golf clubs, but still the pressure had people missing their single bull with their last dart to win. It was great fun and the players were talking a lot about the chances they had to win. The other challenge open to the players and public alike was a putting green that would have players pay $1 per ball to try and sink a 40’ putt to be entered for the final where they would get one putt at 100’ to win a brand new BMW convertible !!! This display area created the most noise and the most fun with almost every player trying their hand at it and several even having some side games and bets with each other on it. The finalists from each day came back on Sunday for the chance to be driving home a luxurious brand new car, but again the pressure proved too much for anyone to relax and make the putt they would remember for a lifetime. The Ultimate Sports Challenge also put up some challenges during the Charity Golf Tournament with a closest to the pin and a hole-in-one hole on the golf course. The par 3, 150 yard hole with the pin sitting on the lower half of the green looked like a very makeable target and several players gave it their best attempt. The hole-in-one for $10,000 was not made, but Bob Lewis took the closest to the pin prize of a trip for two to Laughlin, Nevada with a shot that probably had them dancing and thinking it would be a $10,000 hole-in-one, but alas it remained 4 inches away from the cup and Bob had to settle for a nice holiday package with his shot. Many thanks to Al Vinet and his group from the Ultimate Sports Challenge for the many different games and prizes they put forward to help create some more excitement for the players and public alike at the Golden Harvest. The Ultimate Sports Group is interested in putting these types of challenges on around the world and would like to hear from interested parties in setting up packages similar to this or to your own choosing. Please contact Al Vinet through the Golden Harvest Web Site (www.goldenharvestdarts.com) or e-mail goldenharvestdarts@home.com.
Now back to the darts and the blind draw event. There were several early favorites that the crowd felt would be the winners based on the draws, but like all things in life, nothing is a given and teams with players like Phil Taylor and Rod Harrington were eliminated by determined individuals who rose to the occasion. In the end, the final was played with John Part and Wayne Walsh taking on Erik Clarys and Davis Snider with Erik and Davis eventually winning a great match and the $1,000 winner's prize. In all, there was $7,800 in prize money distributed to the top 32 teams in the blind draw. The event finished just after midnight and still gave everyone lots of opportunity for sleep or other nocturnal activities that dart players get up to.
Friday morning saw a more determined atmosphere amongst the players as the first day of the round robin play began and everyone knew just how important every match, every set and even every leg were. There were several attempts to finish a 141 for a perfect game, but nobody managed to get the seventh dart into the triple so the perfect game award was still safe.......for now. The sections were all seeded by using several ranking lists including the Golden Harvest rankings, the PDC rankings, the WDF rankings and the NDFC rankings.
This is an extremely difficult process to try to create a fair seeding system that will ensure that the sections are relatively equal for the first day. The men played in sections of 9 and 10 and the women played in sections of 7 and 8, with everyone playing everyone in their section a match of best of 3 legs, best of 3 sets. These results are all compiled into the computer and everyone is sorted from top to bottom based on their match win percentages with any ties being broken by the set win percentages and further ties by the leg win percentages. If their was still a tie at this point, then the tie would be broken by the initial rankings at the beginning of the tournament for ranked players or a coin toss for unranked players. These new results become the seeding order for round-robin sectional play on Saturday.
Friday evening, back at the Sheraton Cavalier, the players and public are welcomed to participate in the Charity Casino Night with games of chance such as Blackjack, Roulette, Crown & Anchor and many more. These are all competed in with play money and you could by entry tickets with your play money. With your entry tickets, you then decided which prizes you wanted to put your tickets into the draw for. You could put all your tickets in one prize drum or spread them out among all the prize drums as you wished. When the games closed for the night, then the tickets would be pulled from the prize drums and the winners would collect their prizes. The prizes ranged from T-shirts and golf balls, to waffle irons and cordless drills. This was another great social event at the Golden Harvest, with the proceeds of the event going to the youth darts of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Saturday morning saw everyone back at the venue ready for another grueling day of darts in the round-robin sectional play. The pressure was a little greater as this was the last day for qualifying for the playoffs and again every leg counted towards the final position of the competitors. Saturday also saw a few more competitors throw back to back 180’s to open their legs, but nobody could manage to hit the seventh triple required for the perfect game and so again it remained safe.
Saturday night was the night of reckoning, where everyone attended the banquet and ceremony where players would find out how they finished and whom they would play in the playoffs. It was also a night to thank the sponsors and volunteers who help to put on this great show. The banquet is also where the 2000 Golden Harvest Hall of Fame inductees would be introduced and recognized. The 2000 inductees, by category, were;
Canadian Male Player &emdash; Carl Mercer
Canadian Female Player &emdash; Laurie CourtInternational Player &emdash; Rod Harrington, Builder &emdash; Rob Milne (Nalley’s) and Volunteer &emdash; Robert (Bob) Haddow
Persons who are close to them introduced these players and each received their Golden Harvest Hall of Fame dart shirts, plaques and had their pictures taken to hang in the Hall of Fame.
The banquet is also the place where the Golden Harvest Executive Ring is presented to a person who makes an above average contribution to the success of the Golden Harvest. The 2000 recipient of this award went to Colin Angus. Colin has been a supporter and volunteer of the Golden Harvest since its inception and players readily recognize Colin as he picks players up at the airport and shuttles them to the hotels, helps in setting up the boards and tearing them down, runs the control desk at the tournament, chalks for stage matches and much more.
Colin is a well deserved recipient of this award for all his years of hard work in ensuring the success of this event. The next announcement at the banquet is the naming of the players to make the cut for the playoffs and after a word from the sponsors, everyone enjoyed a great meal. After the meal, there was a dance with karaoke and everyone enjoyed themselves once again. This was the night before the playoffs and several people slipped away for a good night’s rest before the big day.
Sunday morning brought the consolation playoffs beginning at 9:00 a.m. with a straight knockout best of five legs format. The ‘A’ side playoffs began at 10:00 a.m. and the pressure began to mount in the venue with each dart thrown. The consolation round went fairly quickly and the field narrowed down until there were just two men and two women left to play off for the final round. Donna Wilson gave a great effort, but was defeated by Debbie Ball in the women’s final. On the men’s side, John Bryan gave Steve Kenney a run for the money, but in the end it was Steve who took the top spot. The consolation playoffs paid out $4,600 in total with 24 players taking a share of that pot. Back in the ‘A’ side playoffs, the matches had started off going with the favorites (except for the surprise loss by Kevin Thorsteinson in the first round) but eventually there became more and more interesting head to head matches that were bound to bring some upsets.
Keith Deller met Phil Taylor in the second round with the Power prevailing and the first high seed of the tournament was eliminated. The second round also saw Steve Brown (last year’s semi-finalist) bow to the unrelenting scoring power of Dennis Ovens. One of Canada’s top ranked players, Carl Mercer, was left wondering by Raymond (Barney) Barneveld who seemed to be hitting top form. Another of Canada’s top ranked players, Ken Woods was sat down by the ‘Menace’, Dennis Priestley. Jamie Harvey and Cliff Lazarenko had a battle royale with the Scotsman coming out ahead of the gentle giant. Two more of Canada’s finest dart players battled each other in the second round when John Part edged out Rikk Arnott. Peter Evison had his weekend stalled when he lost to Howard Meyers in the second round.
Paul Lim managed to get by top Canadian player Gaston Gagne in his second round. Dave Askew (remember that name from a few years ago ??) rolled past American Dan (Cujo) Lauby and then defeated another American, Paul Lim in the third round......sign of things to come ?? Meanwhile, there were still six Canadians left trying to win for the Maple Leaf on home turf and Pat Robinson, Gord Mills, Scott Cummings, Dennis Latimer, Alain Valcourt and John Part had rolled through the first two rounds and were looking very good.
Pat Robinson met Phil (the Power) Taylor next round though and the Canadians were down to five. The third round also saw Alain Valcourt succumb to Dennis Ovens, Dennis Latimer fell to Alan (Iceman) Warriner and John Part could not get by the old veteran, John Lowe. Scott Cummings was playing Dennis (the Menace) Priestley and Gord Mills was playing the Scotsman (coming off his win in Belgium) and the two Canadians both got past their formidable foes. This left them playing head to head in the round of 16’s. The big upset in the 32’s was Ronnie Baxter defeating the three time champion Rod Harrington. Another player making some waves of his own was the relatively newcomer, Gary Spedding from England.
In the round of 16’s the matchups looked like this;
Phil Taylor vs. Shayne Burgess
Dennis Ovens vs. Roland Scholten
Raymond Barneveld vs. Andy Jenkins
Scott Cummings vs. Gord Mills
Ronnie Baxter vs. John Lowe
Mick Manning vs. Gary Spedding
Alan Warriner vs. Dave Askew
Bob Anderson vs. Peter ManleyPhil Taylor got by the Bulldog, Dennis Ovens beat Roland Scholten, Raymond Barneveld cruised past Andy Jenkins, the crafty old veteran John Lowe looking like days of old waltzed past Ronnie Baxter, Mick Manning dashed the young dreams of the kid, Gary Spedding, Peter (One Dart) Manley used a couple of those one dart finishes to get past Cowboy Bob Anderson, Dave Askew (remember) must have started feeling reborn as he rolled past Alan Warriner. That left the two Canadians duking it out in the only other match and like two heavyweight fighters, they battled to the very end where Gord Mills slipped in a 14 darter to win the match over Scott Cummings.
This gave us the matchup of the 8’s;
Phil Taylor vs. Dennis Ovens
Raymond Barneveld vs. Gord Mills
John Lowe vs. Mick Manning
Dave Askew vs. Peter ManleyDennis Ovens pushed Phil, but never to the point of breaking, and Phil finished Dennis’ run with a nice 15 darter in the last leg. Gord Mills, the last Canadian hope was up against the WDF #1 ranked man in Raymond Barneveld and Gord threw some great darts, but in the end, the man they call Barney held steady and true to his ranking and won the match. A great showing by Gord Mills from Ontario though and we look forward to seeing more of him in the future. John Lowe must have started to smell the lights of the stage as he leapt past a rejuvenated Mick Manning to land a spot in the semi-finals. Then we come back to Dave Askew, up against Peter (One Dart) Manley, but Dave wouldn’t let Peter get too many shots for a one dart finish and Dave advanced to the semi-final.
This brought us to the stage and the semi-finals.
As for the women’s side, let us catch up to the men and fill you in with what has been happening so far on the better looking side of the room.
In the second round of the playoffs, the first upset was recorded when Lise Filiatrault defeated high ranking Canadian Kim Whaley (almost perennially on stage at the Golden Harvest). That left the other top seeds to battle onwards with American Lori Verrier coming into the playoffs as the #1 seed, Trina Gulliver, the WDF #1 ranked woman, Francisca Hoenselaar (WDF #2 ranked and last years Golden Harvest Champion), Crissy Howatt, the WDF #3 ranked female, Patricia Farrell (two-time Golden Harvest Champion), Stacy Bromberg, ADO #1 ranked female, Vicky Pruim and Sandra Pollett from Belgium, both ranked in the top 10 on the WDF women’s ranking list and of course Edmonton’s Gayl King (the first (1996) Golden Harvest Champion). There were lots of other contenders that would be trying to knock these ladies off, but these were the favorites to carry on.
In the round of 16’s, Lori Verrier defeated fellow American Holly Part, Sandra Pollett defeated Canadian Lise Filiatrault, Trina Gulliver defeated another Canadian, Saskatchewan’s Bonnie Dennis, Canadian Patricia Farrell defeated her friend Peggy McKay, Vicky Pruim got by strong Canadian Martine Devillers, American Marilyn Popp snuck past Golden Harvest Hall of Famer, Laurie Court and Gayl King, getting stronger as the rounds progressed, defeated #1 American, Stacy Bromberg. The match that was hotly contested and watched was the WDF #2 and #3 ranked women battling it out, Crissy Howatt and Francisca Hoenselaar with the newly married Crissy Howatt (to Peter Manley) coming out the victor (a nice wedding present from Francis) !!!
Crissy Howatt continued on her ‘honeymoon’ by getting past Vicky Pruim from Belgium to become the first semi-finalist. Lori Verrier got past the other Belgium girl when she beat Sandra Pollett and advanced to the semi-final. Edmonton’s Gayl King and America’s Marilyn Popp had a real battle going on and eventually Gayl’s scoring prowess overcame the ever-dangerous Marilyn. The last match of the round of 8’s had everyone buzzing as Canada’s Patricia Farrell had the WDF #1 ranked lady down 1-0 in sets and 1-0 in legs in the second set and just needed the leg to win the match. Trina Gulliver missed some crucial doubles in the match and Patricia took advantage of the misses and sunk the doubles that sunk the WDF #1 female. This set up the stage semi-finals to look like this;
Lori Verrier (USA) vs. Patricia Farrell (CANADA)
Crissy Howatt (ENGLAND) vs. Gayl King (CANADA)The 2000 Golden Harvest Stage Matches (Semi’s and Finals)
This is where the Golden Harvest dart ‘experience’ truly shines as the excitement of the day of playoffs has been building to these last couple of matches and everyone is buzzing with who they believe is going to win. Can the veteran John Lowe pull out some glory from past days ?? Or for that matter, can Dave Askew ?? Can anyone stop either of Phil (the Power) Taylor or Raymond (Barney) Barneveld ?? What will happen when they meet, will the results of the made-for-television match that pitted them head-to-head be repeated or will the result be different this time around ?? Will Patricia Farrell, the two-time Golden Harvest Champion, be able to win her third title, especially after coming off a victory over the #1 ranked woman in the world ?? Will the American poster girl Lori Verrier who has been on stage a few times at the Golden Harvest, finally put all that experience together for a victory ?? Will Crissy Howatt, the #3 ranked woman in the world defend the WDF rankings and uphold the European pride at the Golden Harvest ?? Will the first-ever Golden Harvest winner, Edmonton’s Gayl King, be able to feed off the frenzied hometown crowd to claim a second title and a second gold ring, not to mention the $25,000 first place prize ?? Hang on to your seats as we are going to find out..........
The first match up on stage is the ladies semi-final matching up Lori Verrier and Patricia Farrell. Patricia had defeated Lori’s partner and friend, Stacy Bromberg, on stage, for the last three years and Lori is looking for revenge for her red, white and blue partner. Patricia is looking to play in her fourth final in four years with a victory over Lori here. Game on !!!
The match is a best of 3 legs, best of 5 sets and Patricia wins the start. The first leg of the first set is a little shaky for both ladies and Patricia wins the first leg with her 26th dart with Lori sitting on 40. That win seems to fire Patricia up and she rolls to her second win with a beautiful 156 finish to win the first set. Either that finish took the wind out of her sails or it fired Lori up, but whatever it did, Lori started to settle down and throw a little better. Lori took the next leg with a 23 darter, Patricia came back with a 28 darter to tie the legs up at 1-1 in the second set, but Lori prevailed with a 26 darter in the third leg to make the sets 1-1. Patricia started the third set, but missed her chances at doubles and Lori finished a 25 darter to lead 1-0 in sets. Then Patricia came back, against the start, and threw a brilliant 15 darter that had the crowd going wild. Again, after a brilliant game, Patricia seemed to slow down and Lori fired up and Lori broke the start back with a 21 darter to win the second set 2-1 and go up in sets 2-1. Now only needing one more set for the victory and with the start, Lori took the first game of the fourth set with a 23 dart leg and was one leg away from the final. After a close call, Lori got a chance and broke the start with a 23 darter to win the leg, the set and the match. During this match, Lori threw a 20.55 p.p.d. and Patricia threw 20.78 p.p.d.
The next match up on stage was what everyone was considering to be the highlight of the tournament and people were already saying that this should be the final, not the semi-final, but since that is how they came out of the round robin seeding, that is how they would play. Now European television had just put forth a hefty sum of money to have these two play head-to-head on European television a short time ago and today gave everyone the opportunity to see it live. Phil (the Power) Taylor, an 8-time World Champion and Raymond (Barney) Barneveld, the #1 WDF ranked male and Embassy Champion, would compete head-to-head onstage at the Golden Harvest in a best of 3 legs, best of 7 sets match. Sit back and fasten your seatbelts as talking with Phil earlier in the week, he said that he really wanted to win this tournament and also knowing or Raymond’s scoring prowess and concentration, this was going to be a match.
Phil won the toss and the start and began to set the pace with a 14 darter in the opening leg. The second leg was a real cracker and really set the tone of the match with Phil going 83-180-140 to sit on 98 after 9 darts and Raymond going 180-100-100 to sit on 121 after 9 darts. Barney threw a single 20, single 17 and triple 20 to leave 24 leaving Phil the shot from 98. Phil could only put 60 points up and Barney finished 24 in one dart for a 13 darter and tying the legs up at 1-1 in the first set. Phil came out in the third leg with 40-180-140-100 to leave 41 after 12 and Barney hit back with 60-100-140-135 to leave 66. Phil then hit the single 9 to leave 32, but then hit the single 16, only to come back with the double 8 on his last dart to finish the 15 darter and win the first set 2-1.
Raymond had the start in the second set and seemed to be ready to storm back as he opened with 180-60-125-100 to leave 36 after 12 and Phil responded with 100-139-140-54 to leave 68 but left to sit and watch as Barney had 3 darts to take out 36, however Raymond missed and was left with 18 when Phil stepped up with single 20, single 8, double 20 to break the start with a 15 darter. Now starting the second leg, Phil opened weakly with a 43, but followed up with 140-100 to sit on 218 after 9. Raymond, still annoyed with missing the double in the first leg, opened up with 180-60-180 to sit on 81 after 9 and looking at breaking the start and evening the set up again.
Phil replied with a 140 to set 78 and watched again as Raymond missed double 20 for the win. Phil stepped to the oche once more and delivered the single 18, single 20, double 20 finish that rocked Barney and opened up a 2-0 set lead. With the start in the third set, Phil slowed the pace a little with a 120-60-100-60 to sit on 161 after 12 while Barney rattled off 100-60-59-140 to sit on 142. Phil then stepped up and delivered a 129 to leave 32 and the crowd could almost sense another victory for Phil. Raymond could only muster 100 to leave 42 and Phil checked out single 16, double 8 for a very poor leg of 17 darts (at least in this match anyway). Raymond started next and recorded 100-58-140-137 to sit on 66 after 12 and Phil fired 59-134-174-76 to leave 58 and the crowd seemed to sense that Raymond may be coming apart again and letting Phil take another leg, but this time Barney checked out with triple 10, single 18, double 9 to win the leg and tie the third set up at 1-1. Phil had the start in the third leg though and made use of it by going for the throat with scores of 60-180-180-49 to leave 32 after 12 while Raymond could only rip 43-140-125-140 to leave 53.
Phil seemed to tease the crowd with a single 16, single 8 before drilling the double 4 to win the leg and the third set. Now only 1 set away from winning the match and with the finishing touch that evaded him in last year’s final, Phil seemed to be heading for a sweep. Raymond seemed to falter a little in his scoring as he came out with 60-100-97-58-60 to sit on 126 after 15 while Phil followed with 140-60-123-100 and then checked out the 78 with a triple 18, double 12 to break the start and have a chance to end the match in the next leg with the start. Steady darts from Phil with 100-81-99-140 left him poised on 81 after 12 darts whereby Raymond had struggled with 45-100-100-140 to sit on 116, but would not get a shot as Phil delivered the 81 finish, on the bull, and ended the match with a commanding 4-0 sweep of sets and only dropped 2 legs while winning the other 8. Against any other man, Raymond would have probably thrown the darts to win with a 33.41 p.p.d. average for the match and four 180’s, but as is his habit, Phil rose to the task and delivered a 34.13 p.p.d. average and four 180’s of his own. Very hard to beat the Power when he is shooting like that.
After that exciting match which most people had been dying to watch, you could be excused if you thought the following women’s semi-final would be boring in comparison and this would be the time for you to take a break and stretch your legs. If you were one of those who did this, then you probably missed most of the match that was every bit as good and maybe even more entertaining than the last match. I am sure that the roars of the crowd brought you rushing back to your seat to find out what was going on though. I am talking about the match between #3 WDF ranked female Crissy Howatt of England and Edmonton’s Gayl King. Early bettors would have heavily favored the higher ranked Crissy Howatt, but Gayl was going to give them a show and let them know what she was made of. Gayl won the toss and started the opening leg and her nerves may have been acting up a little as she opened up with 60-83-45-60 to sit on 253 after 12 while Crissy was going all out with 100-180-41-100 to be left 80 after 12 darts. Realizing the danger, Gayl ripped off a 125 to leave 128 and a shot, but Crissy hit single 20, single 20, double 20 to break the start and in style with a 15 darter !!! Crissy continued with the start in the second leg with 55-60-45-140-81-60 to leave 60 after 18 and Gayl could only punch in 60-43-85-60-100-47 to sit back on 106 waiting for a shot. The shot would not come as Crissy checked out with single 20, single 20, double 10 and a 21 dart leg for the set. Crissy now had the start in the second leg and continued her pace with 100-55-43-100-60-97 to have 46 left after 18 while Gayl threatened with 41-100-140-100-50 after 15, but could not finish as she hit the single 20 going for the double 20 and Crissy hit single 6, double 20 to take the first leg of the second set and threaten to open it up. Gayl, fuelled by her improved scoring in the last leg and the cheers of the crowd, began the leg with 100-81-140-55-41 to leave 84 after 15, but Crissy had thrown 92-60-100-140-49 to leave 60 after 15 and was poised to move up 2 sets to nil.
Gayl fired the 84 checkout with 3 darts and brought the crowd to their feet and now the match was on !!! Crissy still had the start in the third leg and proceeded with 60-60-100-140 to sit on a 141 finish after 12 darts while Gayl was rolling along with 85-140-100-81 to sit ahead with 95 after 12. Crissy nailed an 82 to leave 59 putting the pressure back on Gayl who shrugged it off with a triple 19, double 19 to break the start and win the second set, making it 1-1 and getting the start back.
The crowd was now pouring back into the venue to join in the cheers for the Canadian girl. Gayl continued to roll along and started the first leg of the third set with a beautiful start of 60-100-140-81 after 12 and sitting on 120 while Crissy answered with 85-100-45-123 to sit on 148. Gayl then hit triple 20, single 20 and another single 20 to leave 20. Crissy hit 63 to leave 85, but Gayl checked out the double 10 with one dart. Now the pressure had swung back to Crissy and she responded in the second leg of the third set with 60-100-121-95-85 after 15,leaving 40, while Gayl seemed to run out of steam with 60-40-76-66-85 and back on 174, could only watch as Crissy hit the double 20 on her second dart. Gayl, with the start in the third leg of the third set, needed to get back her scoring touch and seemed to get it back with a 140-60-140-60 to sit on 101 after 12 and Crissy was back, with a 60-100-140-41 on 160. Gayl could only get a 45 to leave 56 on her next throw, but Crissy’s attempt from 160 only brought the score down by 43. A miss from Gayl at 56 left 40 giving Crissy another try, but the 117 finish was not there and Gayl had yet another try for 40, but the double 20 eluded her and she left 20.
This time Crissy took the gift and checked out the 60 with a single 20, double 20 and took a 2-1 lead in sets. That meant that Crissy only needed to win one more set for the match and she would have the start in the fourth set. Maybe feeling a little too relaxed, Crissy only opened up with 95-26-45-100-80 for her first 15 while Gayl came at her with 60-180-21-58-130 and left 52. Crissy then hit the 131 to leave 24 and put the pressure on Gayl, but to no avail as Gayl hit single 12, double 20 and broke the start in the fourth set. Gayl then started the next leg and buried home 81-60-41-60-121-98 to leave 40 and Crissy stayed right behind with 45-45-85-100-56-98 to leave 72, but again Gayl delivered the goods with a double 20 on her first dart. This now set up the fifth and deciding set to see who would advance to the final. Gayl had regained the start and proceeded to open up with 100-60-45-100-55 to leave 141 after 15, but Crissy was flying also with 60-95-100-140-58 to leave 48. Gayl then stepped to the oche and delivered the triple 20, then the triple 19 to leave 24 with her last dart, but alas it flew over the wire and left Gayl with 24. Crissy, unnerved by this, proceeded to hit the single 16 and double 16 to break the start and sit in a position to wrap it up with a win in the next leg. Crissy also had the start, but this match seemed to be proving that having the start did not always mean the win. Crissy started quickly with 140-100-83-41-45 and Gayl replied with 100-60-125-45-81. Crissy could only take 25 off her remaining 92 giving Gayl a shot from 90 to which she removed 50, leaving 40. Crissy missed her chance from 67 and Gayl hit single 20, missed, double 10 to tie this match up at 2-2 in sets and 1-1 in legs in the third set. The bull was won by Crissy and she opened with a 41, Gayl stepped up and drilled a 180 !!! Crissy then came back with a 60 as did Gayl on her next shot. Then Crissy hit a 100 and Gayl answered that with a 100 of her own. Crissy then hammered a 140 to bring her down to 160. Gayl clicked an 80 to leave 81. The Crissy stepped to the oche and delivered the triple 20, triple 20, leaving her double 20 for the match and a 160 checkout, but she fell just short and hit a single 20 giving Gayl a chance from 81. Gayl took her turn at the oche and delivered the first dart into the heart of the triple 19, leaving 24 with two darts. The crowd was buzzing loudly and on the edge of their seats, ready to burst into the air with a double 12, but alas, the fairy tale ended with both darts sitting on the outside wire and Crissy nailed the double 10, just like her new husband’s nickname, with one dart, to end this fantastic match and advance to the final.
After all this excitement, it was hard to believe that we still had one semi-final to go yet. The match between John Lowe and Dave Askew was still to come and this would pit two wily old veterans up against each other.
The coin toss and the start went to John for the first leg of the first set and John fired a respectable 81 to get the match under way, but Dave replied with a 121 of his own and we were off. Dave picked up another ton and finished 80 with a triple 20, double 10 to steal the first leg against the start in 17 darts. The quick start and the steal must have inspired Dave as the next leg went with his start in 16, going 100-100-100-41-140 and the double 10 in one dart. The second set stayed with the man who had the start as Dave saved a nice 18 darter with a 121 finish while John was sitting on 96. Then John came back with a 17 of his own in the second set and in the third set, with both men on 48, Dave finished his in three darts for another 18 dart leg and the set Now trailing 2 sets to nil, John came out in the first leg of the third set with a nice 15 that went 78-100-180-43 and the 100 checkout. Continuing to throw well and fighting to get back into the match, John returned in the second leg with scores of 95-140-140 and then hit the single bull on the 126 finish. In the meantime Dave had slipped in his scoring and could only put up a 59 to leave 118. John hit 17 out of the required 25 and gave Dave a shot at the 118 finish for the leg, but the double 20 fell inside the wire and John finished his remaining 8 with a double 4 to win the set. The fourth set gave Dave back the start and with his scoring touch back, he recorded 100-140-135 and with John back on 201, checked out the 126 with triple 19, single 19, bull. This put the pressure on John again and though he had the start, he could not keep up to Dave’s scoring as Dave plugged 100-100-123-140 and took out the 38 with single 6, single 16, double 8 and moved up 3 sets to 1 and only needed one more set to make the final. John had other plans however, but with both men scoring a little less and the trouble around the doubles let John take the first leg in one of the longest legs of the semi-finals, with 24 darter. The next leg was a complete 180 in the scoring though and after Dave had put up 140-100-140-57 to leave 64, John had replied with 85-140-100-127 to leave 49. When Dave missed the double 20 and gave John a shot at the 49, it was gone with the 15th dart and the sets were now 3-2 for Dave. The pressure must have really been on the two of them now as Dave held the start, but only with a 27-dart performance. Missed double in the next leg brought an end to John Lowe’s run with a joint third finish as Dave finished the match with a 20 dart leg and a 2 dart checkout of 40 to earn the right to play Phil in the final.
The first final on the stage was the women’s final that had Crissy Howatt of England playing Lori Verrier from the USA. The ladies would play a best of 3 legs, best of 5 sets for the final. Crissy seemed to have a steadier scoring touch than Lori in the final and Crissy started off with a 19 dart leg and then followed it up with an 18 darter against the start, to take the first set. Crissy then proceeded to improve upon that leg by following it up with a 16 darter against the start with scores of 85-100-60-100-140 and checking out the double 8 with one dart. With Lori starting the next leg and being in danger of dropping down 2 sets to nil, Lori was pushed and could not find the required big scores. Crissy, on the other hand, was still rolling with scores of 100-83-180-60-38 but missed the remaining 40 with three darts. Crissy still had another throw to finish the remaining 10 points though, to which she did and now opened up a 2 sets to nil advantage. With the start in the third set, Crissy looked to finish things up with a 21 dart game and only needed one leg to win the championship and the $25,000 !!! Lori, who had not won a leg to this point, was determined not to get swept and delivered her own 18 darter with scores of 60-100-100-100-109 and checked the remaining 32 on her last throw to bring the legs back to 1-1 with a chance for Lori to get back into the match. Crissy opened up the third leg of the third set with 60-55-40-83-60-121 while Lori had put up 45-55-125-60-45-100 and was left with 71 while Crissy was on 82. Crissy only removed 34 of the 38 remaining and gave Lori a chance to really get back into the match with a set win here, just a double 10. Alas Lori missed it and Crissy checked out her remaining 48 with two darts, single 16, double 16.
This crowned Crissy as the 2000 Golden Harvest Women’s Champion along with the $25,000 prize purse and the coveted Golden Harvest Champions Gold Ring.
The men’s final was supposed to be a blowout for Phil and you could even get odds on Dave even getting a set off Phil, especially after he so easily took care of Raymond Van Barneveld. Well, a fool and his money are soon parted and if you thought Dave wouldn’t be a worthy opponent for Phil, you had better take notice.
Phil won the toss and began first in the first leg of the first set and immediately sent notice that he was serious about winning this great event that has eluded him for the past four years. With a 135-140 opening two shots, he was in command right away and with Dave only answering with back to back 60’s, you could smell a Taylor victory would be forthcoming, but Phil only put up 62 points with his next three darts and Dave cut into his lead a little with his first ton of the match. Phil answered Dave’s ton with one of his own and was left with 64 while Dave was well back on 281, but a 140 from Dave put him on a finish at 141. Phil only took half off the remaining 64 and still had 32 to go, giving Dave a shot for the 141. The triple 20 went but the triple 19 fell short and another single 20 left Dave on 52, but Phil neatly checked out with his next dart. Dave opened up the second leg with some great scores, 100-123-140-98 to leave 40 after 12 darts and Phil could only reply with 140-60-123-45 to sit on 133 and watch as Dave finished his 40 with his first dart at it. Now it was Phil’s turn to show the scoring prowess as he opened the third leg with 180-140-99 to leave 82 while Dave shot a very respectable 100-100-81 but was still sitting on 220 when Phil walked up to clean up the 82, but again Phil did not complete the out and left 20, so Dave put up a 140 to leave 80 and put some pressure on Phil, which must have been what he needed as his next dart was in the heart of the double 10 for the first set.
Dave now had the start in the second set and continued scoring fairly well with 100-81-60-100-60 to sit on 100 after 15 darts. Phil had slowed a little since his last leg and had registered 100-60-41-140-44 to leave 116. Dave’s attempt at the 100 finish left him with 40 giving Phil the shot of triple 20, single 16, double 20 to steal the first leg of the second set. Again, the smell of victory was in the air and Phil opened the second leg with 99-180-140-50 to be left 82 after three throws, but Dave was not going to let up that easily and returned with 60-180-60 to leave himself on 201. Phil only reduced the 82 down to 32 and Dave put up 81 to leave 120. The pressure of Dave sitting on a makeable finish seemed to spark Phil again as he hit the single 16, then outside the double 8 and with his last dart, nailed the double 8 to go up 2 sets to nil and looking to run away with the best of 7 sets final.
Now starting in the third set, Phil continued on his pace with a 99-100-100-60 opening but the fire seemed to ignite inside of Dave and he whipped in a 140-140-100-89 to sit on 32 and while Phil reduced his score from 142 to 52, he could only watch as Dave put his second dart into the double and broke the start in the third set. Dave continued shooting well in the second leg and opened with 100-41-100 and was on 260 while Phil, seeming to reel from the first leg loss could only put up mediocre scores of 60-83-81 but was still in it with 277 left. Dave then punched a 180 to leave himself 80 and Phil could only muster 96 to sit well back on 181 and watch Dave check out the 80 with a triple 20, double 10 and win his first set.
After winning that set, against the start, Dave now had a chance to even up the sets with the start in the fourth set and opened with a steady 100-100-100-60, but again Phil came alive and spanked 140-100-97-132 to leave 32 after 12 darts. Dave put up another 81 to leave 60, but Phil cleaned up the 32 with his second dart going into the "money-pit" of the double 16. The battle heated up again in the second leg with Phil going 140-85-99-99 to leave 78 and Dave answering with 140-60-100-100 to get down to 101 remaining, but that makeable finish for Dave again inspired Phil to hit the triple 18, single 12, double 6 to open the lead up to 3 sets to 1. Now Phil only required one more set for the match and the title and he had the start in the fifth set.
The lead seemed to relax Phil and fire Dave up as Phil opened with 97-95-44-98 to leave 167 and Dave went 140-100-100-99 to leave 62. Phil took a shot at the 167 but only removed 139 points to leave 28 and Dave proceeded to hit the triple 10 and the double 16 for a nice 14-darter to break the start once again. Dave then initiated the second leg with a 140-100-85-100 to sit on 76 and Phil came back alive with 140-100-41-100 to leave 120. Dave’s next shot was single 20, single 16 and double 20 for a 15-darter and broke the start once again to bring the sets score to 3-2 and give himself a shot to get right back into this final.
Seemingly fired up by this great set, Dave proceeded to open the next set with 180-140-121 to leave himself only 60 after 9 darts and right behind him was Phil with 180-140-97 to leave only 84 for himself after 9 darts. Dave finished the beautiful leg with a single 20, double 20 for a wonderful 11-darter and seemed to send the message to Phil that it was "game on". Phil opened the second leg up with a 59-140-85 to leave himself on 217 while Dave, who was now firing with all guns blazing, ripped 140-180-100 to sit on 81. Phil knocked off another 81 to bring himself down to 136, but Dave popped a single 19, triple 12, double 13 for another super leg with this 12-darter. That set Dave won was an 11-darter and a 12-darter which tied the sets up at 3 apiece and created a stir in the crowd that this was a final and who is this Dave anyway ?? Can he really knock off the "Power" ?? "What kind of darts is he throwing ??"
This brought us to the final set, with Phil throwing first in the first leg and the man who said he really wanted to win this event this year, opened up with 99-140-81-137 to sit on 44 after 12 darts and the man who was on fire in the last set, Dave, put up his scores of 100-140-100-60 to be left with 101 again. Phil shot the single 4, missed the double 20 on the inside and planted the double 10 to win the first leg.
Now it was up to Dave to win the second leg, where he was starting, to bring this match to a final, deciding leg. Dave could not lose this leg or it was all over and he seemed to feel the pressure of this and was only able to open up with 55-81-100-60 to make it down to 205, while Phil seemed to be sensing the victory peeled off 100-180-100 and with 121 remaining hit the single 20, triple 17 and with the bull left and Dave on 205, threw a single 18 to leave 32. Dave came down to a finish of 164 with a 41 and watched Phil put his second dart into the double 16 for the let, set and match. The "Power" had finally done it, he had shaken the ghouls of the Golden Harvest and recorded his first championship. The $50,000 prize purse and the gold ring were finally within his grasp and nobody was going to spoil the moment for him as the fireworks and confetti rained down around him on stage and the audience stood in applause for both Phil and Dave and a great close to a great event !!!
There were presentations made on stage and some announcements from sponsors and final interviews before everyone wrapped it up and proceeded back to the Sheraton Cavalier hotel for a final dance and one last party before everyone left for another year. This year was bigger and better than previous years and next year promises to be even better, so mark it down on your calendar and get entered early for next year as it is bound to fill quickly.
Watch your local television listings on the CTV SportsNet Channel for the 3-part television program of this great event, airing on or around June 14, 20, 28 in your area.
The next great Golden Harvest event to be held will be the Golden Harvest &emdash; Big Valley Jamboree Dart Tournament held at the second largest country and western outdoor concert in North America with a $25,000 payout for men’s and ladies’ singles. This is another great time and another unique event that you should not miss, but if you do, watch here for the written recap of the event. Until then, I need a rest.......
Kevin Thorsteinson
Vice President, Golden Harvest Darts
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