DARTS: Heather, Hokianga best

ANENDRA SINGH
Hawke's Bay players Henry Heather and Letitia Hokianga were the best shots from the oche during the New Zealand Junior and Youth Darts Championships at the Hastings Darts Association clubrooms yesterday.
However, the Hastings players made the last eight in the mixed pairs competition of the three-day championships before bowing out to the Bay of Plenty pair of James Allison and Ariana Leaf.
However, it was BOP's Amo Ruri and Ronnie Willis-Findlay who grabbed the youth tile with a 3-1 victory over Cory Herewini and Teri Jane Price, of Capital (Wellington).
Hawke's Bay favourites, the brother-sister combination of Pinky and Tawa Paikea, made a first-round 2-1 exit to Auckland's Tereko Aranga and Charlene Te Paki.
In the juniors' competition, BOP also stamped their supremacy when Norton Place and Ashlee Tukaki defeated Aucklanders Lawrence Oltaches and Maria Sipale, 2-1.
The Hawke's Bay pairings of Kelvin Pokai and Zara Hira and Stanley Heather and Turvhia Irwin also exited prematurely in the first round. Hastings association president Kevin Pullen said there were four 180s during yesterday's play.
"Our kids played well but they were not finishing their games. I'll have to get them on a the board a bit more," says Pullen, who will gird his loins to host two more days of play involving 153 players from throughout the country. Today, the under-17s play in the male/female pairs while the juniors will compete in the singles events.