Athlone quartet heading to Gibraltar for Junior World Darts Championship
Four young players from Athlone Youth Darts Academy are preparing to represent Ireland in the Junior World Darts Championship in Gibraltar.
The quartet heading for Gibraltar are James Morris, Aaron Killane, Kyle Greene and Micheal Smyth, and the competition will begin towards the end of November in the Europa Point Sports Complex.
Wishing the four young players the very best of luck in their quest for success, Athlone Youth Darts Academy said it was delighted with a "fantastic night" recently held in Shine's Bar & Lounge, Athlone as a fundraiser to support the four players.
"Thank you to everyone who turned up on the night of the fundraiser, and also well done to Shanie McLoughlin who rocked the place with his fantastic music. A massive thank you to Sinead Morris and Paula Greene who supplied the food," said Seamie Tynan of Athlone Youth Darts Academy.
Tynan also thanked all those who donated spot prizes. "Without all your help, we just would not be able to help our boys out with their expenses to travel to Gibraltar. I would love to be able to thank every one of you individually but I would end up writing a book," he added.
Athlone Youth Darts Academy players have enjoyed considerable success in recent times and they have been playing leading roles on various Westmeath teams.
The Westmeath youth team won the Shield in a competition held in Portarlington on Saturday last. The team members were as follows: Aaron Killane, James Morris, Micheal Smyth, Graham Reilly, Kyle Greene and TJ Fallon, with Seamie Tynan (manager) and Conor Smyth (assistant manager) also involved.
Meanwhile, Westmeath County Darts held their third senior county trial in Dan's Tavern, Athlone last Sunday. The winner was Ross Kelly who overcame Jason Waters 4-3 in the final. Both players from the start of the day were firing on all cylinders. Semi-finalists Mark Dolan and Peter Donlon who were also in great form.
One of the highlights of the day was the game between Ray Enright and young Aaron Killane which went down to the last leg. Ray hit scores of 140, 83, 140, missed double 12 for a 138 finish. Aaron kept battling away and ended up missing double 12 to win. Ray, not giving Aaron a second chance, finished the game on double 6.
"Well done to all 25 throwers who took part. Over the last three trials, there has been a massive improvement in all your games. Keep up the great work boys. Thank you to Dan's Tavern for allowing us to use their premises for the day," said a Westmeath County Darts spokesperson.
The next trial is on Sunday, October 22 (2pm start) and it will now take place in Mullingar Shamrocks. "Hopefully we will see bigger numbers there to fight for a spot on the new and improved Westmeath team," said Westmeath County Darts.