Eight of Gisborne's darts finest compete in Auckland

'Best Uniform’ Team: Gisborne Region 7. Back from left: Lorenzo Kaa, Cristopher Kiri, Hayden Kiri, Cody Kiri, Errol Tamihana. Front from left: Shakayla Northover, Monique Renata, Denise Renata, Renata Leach. Picture supplied

ON JULY 17, 150 young dart players from 12 regions around New Zealand descended upon Auckland to compete at the 2016 Youth/Junior National Dart Championships.

Gisborne sent eight of its finest to represent Region 7 in what would be their greatest medal haul in the history of the event. The youth, aged 13 to 17, consisted of brothers Hayden (16) & Cody (15) Kiri, sisters Monique (17) & Denise (16) Renata, Lorenzo Kaa (16), Shakayla Northover (16), and Errol Tamihana (13). Renata Leach was the sole junior at 10 years old.

The event was spread over three days in games of singles, set pairs, and mixed pairs. The first day saw the juniors play set pairs and the youth going alone in singles. Rules state that you must play with someone from your own region so Renata Leach was relegated to the consolation round where such rules don’t apply.

Unfortunately he and his partner from Auckland never made it past the first round. This was not to deter him in future events. All was not bad news, though, as each of the youth qualified from their section to fight their way to their singles title.

Lorenzo and Cody won their first- and second-round games but had to face each other in the quarterfinals, Lorenzo emerging the victor. Hayden also made his way to the same round but lost to the eventual winner, Bailey Matthews from Auckland.

Lorenzo met the same fate in the semifinals. Errol Tamihana, in his first national tournament, showed true grit and strength to qualify, only to fall in the earlier stages of the main round. The Renata sisters turned it up to 11 with both storming to the semifinals.

Denise had to face compatriot Shakayla along the way, who was fresh from eliminating last year’s winner. Her semifinal was one sided. Monique gave it her all but would not meet her sister in the finals. Like her semifinal, Denise took out the final in devastating fashion to win the youth girls’ singles title.

On Day 2, juniors played singles and the youth partnered up to play set pairs. Renata Leach failed to qualify for the main round but battled his way back to take out the consolation round and receive the first of his three golds.

Monique and Denise continued their form from Day 1 by qualifying, and steamrolled the competition to take out the youth girls’ set pairs, dropping only one leg along the way. These two have come off winning two local tournaments together before this event and the experience gained was invaluable.

In the youth boys’ set pairs, Lorenzo and Errol fought gallantly to earn their spot in the semifinals but lost to a strong pairing from Auckland. Hayden and Cody improved on their placings last year (albeit with a different partner) winning a spot in the finals after seeing off some strong contenders. They could not reproduce the results of their cousins, the Renata sisters, but can be satisfied with a spirited performance.

Mixed pairs was the final event on the last day, Renata once again having to play in the consolation round, which he was able to take out with his partner from Hawke’s Bay. Hayden and Monique were unable to advance past the round of 16.

The pairings of Cody and Denise, and Lorenzo and Shakayla made it one step further but had to settle with fifth-equal placing. Errol did not have a partner for section play or consolation.

At the completion of the main events, selectors chose eight of each gender and in each of the juniors and youth to make up eight tournament teams for a battle royal and last bragging rights. They took notice of the burgeoning talent amoung the Gisborne lot by selecting the majority for their tournament teams.

Denise had the prestige of captaining her team. Overall, the team took away nine gold and five silver, which included medals from the tournament team event. They were a smart-looking bunch and the selectors took notice — the team taking out the “best uniform” trophy.

With the dart scene flourishing in the past five years, darts is now a legitimate platform for youngsters to discover a hidden talent and showcase it around the country.