Deta Hedman (71.19) clinched a last leg decider against Welsh International Rhian O'Sullivan (76.15) to take the Scottish Open Ladies singles title 5-4 for an amazing 7th time.
The Men's Singles final saw Jordan Brooks (83.77) take a close 6-4 victory of Martin Atkins (86.85) of Lancashire to become the 2023 Scottish Open Men's Singles Champion.
In the Ladies Pairs Final Lorraine Hyde of Scotland and Rhian O'Sullivan of Wales teamed up to take a 4-1 victory over the Dutch pairing of Anca Zijlstra and Aletta Wajer.
The Men's Pairs final went down to the wire as the Welsh pairing of Mark Graham and Dafyd Edwards overcame the Scotch pair of Craig Robertson & Michael Murray 3-2.
The first event of the Scottish Open was the Mixed Triples which was won by R. Parkin/R. Brouse/S. Matthews beating R. North/T. North/S. Walters in the final.
Full match report and write up :- The 29th Scottish Open, this year sponsored by Darts Corner, got underway last weekend at the Normandy Hotel, Renfrew with the traditional ice-breaker mixed threes competition.
The champions were Richie Parkin, Rebecca Brouse & Shaun Matthews who defeated Scott Walters, Richard North & Tracy North 4-1 in the all-English final. Semi-finalists were Scots trio David Forsyth, Barry Somers, & Sharon Leslie along with Tammy Jo Grafton who teamed up with Scottish duo Greg Ritchie & Ryan Murray.
The real hard work of the Scottish Open is completed on the Saturday but no title is awarded as players battle to qualify for the stage finals on the Sunday. In the mens singles 19 Scots made it into the Last 32 whilst no Scottish ladies made it to the semi-final stage with three losing out in the Last 16, Sophie McKinlay, Susanna McGimpsey and Christine Hyde.
The stage finals on Sunday kicked off with the mens and ladies doubles semi-finals. Scotland’s Craig Robertson & Angus Murray had reached the semi-finals last year and this year they defeated the England pairing of Gary Blackwood & Cliff Prior, 3-2, to progress to the final where they were joined by Mark Graham & Dafydd Edwards from Wales who took out another Scots pair Gary Stone & Ryan Hogarth by the same score.
In the ladies doubles the Scots/Welsh pairing of Lorraine Hyde & Rhian O’Sullivan put paid to the hopes of Phonsowan Whillis & Julie Thompson, winning 3-1. In the final they would meet the Dutch team of Aletta Waters & Anca Zijlstra who were victorious over England’s Rebecca Brouse & Evonne Taylor, winning 3-1. It was the Welsh duo who triumphed in the mens pairs final as Mark Graham & Dafydd Edwards registered a 3-2 scoreline in a close final over Scotland’s Craig Robertson & Angus Murray. Lorraine Hyde & Rhian O’Sullivan became the new SDA Ladies Open pairs champions with a 3-1 victory over Dutch duo Anca Zijlstra & Aletta Watters in their final. Lorraine is the first ladies Scottish champion at the SDA Open Doubles since 1998 when Ann Kirk & Donna Robertson took the title.
Top Scottish performance in the mens singles came from Davie Kirwan from Kilsyth who reached the semi-final before losing out 5-0 to Jordan Brooks from Fleetwood. In the second semi-final Lancashire Martin Atkins had a 5-1 victory against Richard North from Hertfordshire to claim his place in the final. Jordan Brooks became the 27th different champion in the 29 years the event has been held with the only two players to have won it twice being Wesley Harms and Robbie Green. “The Sheriff” Brooks hit close to a 30 average to win 6-4 in the final against Atkins. Making up the last eight were Gary Blackwood, Ryan Hogarth, Darren Armstrong and Antony Allen.
Once again Deta Hedman set the standard at the SDA Ladies Open, winning her seventh title, in fact appearing in the last four for the twelfth time, and successfully defending the title she won last year, with a 5-4 victory over Welsh ladies captain Rhian O’Sullivan. Deta had earlier defeated England’s Kirsty Hutchison 4-1 in their semi-final, the second consecutive year Kirsty had reached this stage. In the other semi-final Rhian took out another English player Rebecca Brouse in straight legs. Rebecca had a very successful weekend however winning the triples and semi-final spots in both ladies singles and doubles. Making up the last eight were Julie Thompson, Anca Ziljstra, Natalie Gilbert and Lorraine Winstanley. .
