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Charity Fundraiser Knock Out At Libbys 4/8/08.

Ladbrokes as a company support local charities and Sarah Gore of the local Rugeley branch, decided to organise a Blind Mixed Doubles Darts knock Out Competition as a fundraiser, on the understanding that any money raised would be doubled by Ladbrokes, before being handed on to the charity. Several of the shop team comprising of Brenda, Becky, Sarah, Rachel, Carol, Mary and Sam, have some connection with a Staffordshire based charity called Jigsaw, so this was the charity chosen for the event. Jigsaw provide support for parents and families whose children suffer with Autism, Aspergers, and ADHD. (See TreeHouse Web-site)

The Knock Out was 501 straight start, best of 3 legs and the entry fee for the competition was £5 per person with a total of 36 players entering. Unfortunately there were not enough Ladies to go round so some of the men had to play with each other. (No comments please!) Needless to say I was one of those that had no Lady to play with and so I played with young Aid Barry who put in a fine effort. At least I had a partner to play with, usually I end up playing with myself! Someone asked which one of us was the bitch (as it was supposed to be male and female), but the choice of words for my version of the question was unprintable!

Geof Taylor was one of the first players drawn on board 3 with his partner for the night, Michelle who was up from Dover on holiday visiting her sister. In the very first leg Geof hit a 140 and later a 180. In the second he played poorly, but in the third leg he hit another 140 and just missed going out on 142. Michelle eventually got the double 5 and later on hit a 109 score in the next round. Geofs wife Pat played with local superstar John “Ticker” Brindley who also hit 2 X 140 in his game.

The competition attracted several competitors that were not real darts players which meant that BDO rules were not strictly observed including the dress code. I saw one girl who definitely did not play in regulation footware. In fact Amanda did not play in any footware at all as she had bare feet! I’ve never seen a darts player compete in bare feet before in a pub!

Several of the ladies hit some very good scores during the night including Anne Marie who is one of the regular Libbys darts groupies, as she hit a 140 in the course of the evening.

In an attempt to keep the matches more evenly balanced the non mixed pairs were selected to play against each other as far as they could throughout the evening. The two non mixed pairs that got through to the Semis were Glyn Buglar and Mounty, against Steve Boulton and Smithy. The four players really produced some show stopping darts with both Glyn and Mounty hitting a 140 each in the first leg and Steve a 180 in the second. The third leg saw Glyn and Steve both hit a 140 with young Smithy doing his bit following up with a Ton. Steve just missed a 180 in the third as well, when his third dart fell out.

Before the final Graham and the Ladies did the draw for the raffle. Donated prizes included over one dozen bottles of booze and some other more serious prizes donated by local businesses. These were as follows;-

  1. Tickets for Drayton Manor.

  2. Tickets for Wolverhampton Racecourse.

  3. Tickets to a Wolves Football match.

  4. Tickets to Mon More Green Greyhound Track at Wolverhampton.

  5. Meals from Pap Pizzeria.

  6. Meal from The Spice Bazaar.

  7. Various other gift vouchers.

Throughout the raffle draw Billy was getting concerned because he wasn’t winning any of the prizes. Graham kept trying to encourage him not to give up hope until there was only one prize left. Billy won it. With great jubilation and much applause he went up to collect his prize, which was……………….. A Gift Bag Full Of Make Up!

Then, after the commotion died down the final was played. Steve and Smithy had won through to the final as did Geof and Michelle. The first couple of legs were not particularly spectacular, but with the score level at one all, Geof upped his game hitting another 140 and Michelle started throwing her darts without the flights in and still managed to get them to stick in the board! The final ended with a nail biting climax of a finish as Steve and Smithy were in the Madhouse on double one and Geof had chances which he missed. Then suddenly it was all over with Geof and Michelle crowned as champions until next year. Everyone enjoyed the night and agreed that it was a great success. As far as those raising the funds for the charity the evening was a resounding success as well because nearly £500 was raised. The girls that set everything up, said they would round it up to exactly the £500 and that Ladbokes would double it for the charity.