Best from the East Coast head this way for weekend tourney

DARTS

IT may not have the same fanfare as the World Championship of Darts, but this weekend the best players from around the East Coast and Hawke’s Bay will be in Gisborne for the annual regional darts tournament.

Up to 100 players are expected over the two days for the Clubs New Zealand Darts Association annual Hawkes Bay East Coast Regional Dart Tournament.

This year the tournament is being played at the 2NZEF club, who are excited to have the opportunity to play host to the region’s best darts players, said 2NZEF Club Committee Secretary Ruby Nepe.

She said they had hosted the tournament previously and it had been a successful weekend with over 80 darts players competing for glory.

They expect similar numbers of competitors this year, but have been told from committees involved in organising the event that there could be upwards of 100 players.

Registrations are done on the day of the event so organisers aren’t sure how many people will be there until Saturday, said Nepe.

She said the club was excited to play host to the best darts players the region has to offer, with children as young as 12 years old and seniors up to 70 years old all competing against each other.

“Locally there’s a high calibre of darts players . . . there’s a lot of top players.”

Play will start on Saturday at 11am with the doubles, which are expected to run through to about 7pm. The singles start on Sunday from 10.30am and running through to around 6pm.