Queenslander's take Australian Mixed Doubles Darts Titles

Queensland has always done well in this event, highlighting the strength of both Men's and Ladies darts in Queensland. 2006 saw little change as they backed up last years win by Simon and Peta Whitlock. Just as dominating in this event has been Western Australia who has won many Mixed Doubles titles over the years, but this year they would just come up short.

The final event at the Croatian Club in Adelaide at the 27th Puma Australian Darts Championships saw Ian Brown and Pam Burr (pictured left) win the Australian Mixed Doubles title with a solid performance against the Western Australian pairing of Graham Hunt and Dot McLeod. A fitting reward for Pam Burr after being a finalist last year in Perth where she partnered Dave Anderson. Hunt and McLeod have won this event on two other occasions (1996 & 1998) and Hunt another two times in 1993 with Michelle Kenny and 2003 with Natalie Carter.

It was a case on the new and the experienced gelling together to claim this title. Ian Brown the 'rookie' and Pam Burr the 'experienced' (18th year at Australian championships) were too strong in the final winning 5 - 2. All players played fantastic darts which had big scoring and great finishing in particular by Ian Brown. Hunt and McLeod won the first leg and the Queenslander's winning leg two. Brown and Burr applied the pressure in leg three with both players hitting the big scores and they were able break their opponents in this leg, They backed up the break by holding the next leg to see them out to a 3 - 1 lead. Hunt and McLeod (pictured right) held their throw to win leg five. Leg six went to the Queenslander's to be just one leg from the title. WA was away first in the seventh leg and had to win it to stay in contention. Both pairs scored heavily but the WA pair missed a shot at the double leaving Brown a shot at the title. He stepped up to the oche and calmly finished from 68 to take victory.

Final Averages:
Ian Brown (27.59) & Pam Burr (20.48) QLD defeated Graham Hunt (23.05) & Dot McLeod (22.03) WA 5 - 2

In the first semi final Brown and Burr accounted for another Western Australian pairing in Tony David and Natalie Carter. David and Carter were champions in 2004 and just missed the final last year. 2006 saw David and Carter's campaign stall in the semi finals again. I think after this semi they would reflect back and ask themselves what they did to lose. All played brilliant darts with high scoring and one dart finishing. The Queenslander's reeled of the first three legs which included a 148 finish by Brown in the second leg to inflict a break on David and Carter. WA won the fourth leg in 19 darts to get one leg on the scoreboard. The second 180 hit by Brown in this match set up a 40 finish for Burr which she hit first dart gave them a 4 - 1 victory.

The second semi final saw Hunt and McLeod up against a pairing from Victoria in Steve Duke and Joanne Hadley. This was a real battle between these two combinations. The first four legs went with the darts. The fourth leg saw Hunt and McLeod produce a 17 darter and were looking pretty strong. They broke the Victorian pair in the next leg to be leading 3 -2. The Vic pair was not going to go away easily and immediately broke back to ensure this semi final was to go the full distance. Both pairs were matching scores coming down until both pairs were sitting on double tops. Dot McLeod with her first dart smacked it in the middle to see them move into the final after this 4 - 3 triumph.

Semi Finals Averages:
Ian Brown (30.25) & Pam Burr (21.96) QLD defeated Tony David (31.13) & Natalie Carter (21.22) WA 4 -1
Graham Hunt (26.204) & Dot McLeod (22.73) WA defeated Steve Duke (30.35) & Joanne Hadley (20.12) VIC 4 - 3.

Quarter final results:
Tony David & Natalie Carter (WA) defeated Terry Lawson & Nancy Myers (QLD) 3 - 0
Graham Hunt & Dot McLeod (WA) defeated Kerry Whear & Gillian Hackett (WA) 3 - 1
Ian Brown & Pam Burr (QLD) defeated Eddy Sims & Janine Cassar (VIC) 3 - 0
Steve Duke & Joanne Hadley (VIC) defeated Dave Methven & Sandra Smith (TAS) 3 - 2