Newfoundland and Labrador Darts Association
Down Under by Jim Croke Jr.
My personal experience in playing the world cup of darts in Perth
Australia.
Well for starters, the competition at the national level which was
held in Victoria, B.C. , this past June was equally as difficult as the world
cup. Our country has a lot of great dart players and it was a great
achievement and pleasure for me to represent my country. In all reality its sad
to see with the amount of good dart players in this province, their participation
level in these events, but of course thats another story.
The World Cup event has so much to offer to anybody that attends. The
sportsmanship that was displayed by all countries, especially by the pros of this
game, was out of this world. To see a dart player cheer on their competition in
match play really hit home for me. Now I know why they call this game a
gentleman's sport, with every game starting and ending with a hand shake.
The format rules in the World Cup are a little different than what we are use to.
Take the singles event for example, its all single round knock out, 4 out of 7. This
type of format demands so much skill and talent that at every opportunity you must
bring your "A" game to the oche every time. The teams event was also
different to what our province is currently playing. when I first learned that we
would be playing a four man team event representing Canada, I thought that we
would be playing 1001 and each of us had turns throwing. At the world level in the
4 man team event you play singles of 501 and its a race to 9. So the first match,
one of the team members plays another countries member and if you win, your
country gets a point. Race to nine wins the match.
Some of the big name pros that attended this event were Martin Adams ranked
#1, Raymond van Barneveld ranked #3, Andy Fordham, and Women's ranked #1
Trina Gulliver.
I believe that our current executive of provincial darts are on the right track in
gaining back our dart players in competing again. It would be nice to see that our
province can be able to compete at a national level with some respect and the
only people that can do this is us as dart players.
Thanks for your time,
Jim Croke Jr.
Headlines
Straight Shooter
September 18, 2005
VOCM News
A Newfoundlander will be among six players representing Canada at an
international darts tournament later this month. Jim Croke Jr. of Shea Heights
was successful in June at becoming one of the top four male dart players in the
country. As a result he'll be among four men and two women travelling to Perth,
Australia on Saturday for the 2005 World Cup of Darts. Croke Jr. said it's great to
be attending the tournament, which will feature 28 countries participating in the
men's competition.
Another similar article titled "Croke's gearing up to head Down Under for World
Cup" appeared in The Telegram.
Australia.
Well for starters, the competition at the national level which was
held in Victoria, B.C. , this past June was equally as difficult as the world
cup. Our country has a lot of great dart players and it was a great
achievement and pleasure for me to represent my country. In all reality its sad
to see with the amount of good dart players in this province, their participation
level in these events, but of course thats another story.
The World Cup event has so much to offer to anybody that attends. The
sportsmanship that was displayed by all countries, especially by the pros of this
game, was out of this world. To see a dart player cheer on their competition in
match play really hit home for me. Now I know why they call this game a
gentleman's sport, with every game starting and ending with a hand shake.
The format rules in the World Cup are a little different than what we are use to.
Take the singles event for example, its all single round knock out, 4 out of 7. This
type of format demands so much skill and talent that at every opportunity you must
bring your "A" game to the oche every time. The teams event was also
different to what our province is currently playing. when I first learned that we
would be playing a four man team event representing Canada, I thought that we
would be playing 1001 and each of us had turns throwing. At the world level in the
4 man team event you play singles of 501 and its a race to 9. So the first match,
one of the team members plays another countries member and if you win, your
country gets a point. Race to nine wins the match.
Some of the big name pros that attended this event were Martin Adams ranked
#1, Raymond van Barneveld ranked #3, Andy Fordham, and Women's ranked #1
Trina Gulliver.
I believe that our current executive of provincial darts are on the right track in
gaining back our dart players in competing again. It would be nice to see that our
province can be able to compete at a national level with some respect and the
only people that can do this is us as dart players.
Thanks for your time,
Jim Croke Jr.
Headlines
Straight Shooter
September 18, 2005
VOCM News
A Newfoundlander will be among six players representing Canada at an
international darts tournament later this month. Jim Croke Jr. of Shea Heights
was successful in June at becoming one of the top four male dart players in the
country. As a result he'll be among four men and two women travelling to Perth,
Australia on Saturday for the 2005 World Cup of Darts. Croke Jr. said it's great to
be attending the tournament, which will feature 28 countries participating in the
men's competition.
Another similar article titled "Croke's gearing up to head Down Under for World
Cup" appeared in The Telegram.
| Jim Croke Jr. and Raymond van Barneveld |
| Left to Right: Mary Dezan - Team Manager, Danny MacInnis - Nova Scotia, Kim Whaley - Ontario, Jerry Hull - Quebec, Greg Lewis - British Columbia, James Croke - Newfoundland and Labrador, Maggie LeBlanc - Team Manager, Robin Curry – Ontario |