Team Saskatchewan in tough at Nationals

At Drummondville QC, Jun 12-16, the team from Saskatchewan met with some stiff opposition at the NDFC Nationals, finishing up in 10th place overall.

Our best performance was by the men's doubles team of Steve Kristjansson and Jason Skinner, who made last eight.

The team is shown above in the official NDFC team picture. Back Row, L-R: Ashtin Bear, Myles Charles, Steve Kristjansson, Jason Skinner, Karsten Larsen, John Brann, Curt Gamble, Marcus Stephanson (SDA), Jim Dennis, unknown piper. Front row, L-R: Sharon Acker, Angela Aucoin, Elaine Walker, Aspen Hall, Stacey Stephanson, Melanie Thomas, Shelley Stephanson, Bev Roth.

Full results are posted at the NDFC web site.

Youth Nationals report

Youth Nationals were held in May. Here's Youth Director Shauna Grassing with her report from Drummondville:

The 2018 Youth National Darts Championship held in Drummondville, Quebec is all wrapped up.  Team Saskatchewan finished in eighth place overall. We sent a full team of four boys and four girls, as well as four adult chaperones. Some parents also joined us in Drummondville.

The entire team played in the Bursary Shoot on Thursday evening as a warm up to the national events. The provincial directors voted that evening to approve a new bursary. National Finance Director Don Crookshanks proposed a bursary being paid out from Swiftflyte sponsorship. This will mean a significant increase in the bursary being awarded doubling the top prizes to $1000. It is Don’s hope this will attract more youth to play in the event which is open to all NDFC youth members.

Savanah Solomon, our lone graduating player, carried the Saskatchewan flag for opening ceremonies Friday morning.  The singles events were played following team pictures. 

Three of the girls advanced from their sections in the singles events; Rianna December, Taryn Kristjansson and Savanah Solomon. Junior Girl Rianna December had the best showing, finishing with a bronze medal (joint third). Unbeknownst to the youth, the directors also voted to pay the youth cash prizes in the singles events.

Unfortunately, Rianna met teammate Taryn three times in the knock out rounds over the weekend, in the singles event, Americas Cup Qualifier and the World Masters Qualifier, limiting our chances for more points.

One highlight of the weekend was junior boy Joshua Adrian shooting a 180 during a playoff game for fourth position and winning the game to advance in the Americas Cup Qualifier. Rianna December also shot a 180 and a 171 in competition.  Both players were recognized with a national pin at the awards presentations.

Even though the team did not return with many trophies or medals, they did return with memories that will last a life time. For senior player, Savanah Solomon, this was her last opportunity to compete as a youth player and she will be missed by all. Her friendly smile and gentle nature makes her a favorite with everyone. The team presented her with gifts of appreciation at the banquet. We hope to see her continue to play as an adult.

On a sad note, this was National Youth Director Carol Collett’s final year.  After running the youth nationals for thirty years she is stepping down. She will be truly missed by everyone. Her commitment to the youth program has be unmatched.

I also have enjoyed many years on the SDA executive and my two years as youth director.  I am pleased to say the youth will be in good hands with Mel December. Mel was able to attend the youth directors meeting with me and I think that alone will make for a smooth transition.  I would like to thank this year’s chaperones: Brad December, Jack Grassing, and Becky Arndt and the parents for being supportive of our players.  Good luck to everyone involved in hosting nationals next year.

Thanks Shauna! Congratulations to all our youth players. Here's the official NDFC photo of Team Saskatchewan:

Pictured at 2018 Youth Nationals: Back row, L-R: Jack Grassing (chaperone) Dillon Dumont, Joshua Adrian, Saul Arndt, Jaymes Swenson, Brad December (chaperone). Front row, L-R: Shauna Grassing (Youth Director), Taryn Kristjansson, Shaukeena McKay, Carol Collett (National Youth Director), Savanah Solomon, Rianna December, Becky Arndt (chaperone).

Moose Shoot results

Twenty men and 13 women played at the annual Moose Shoot in Moose Jaw on May 12.

Men's champ is Steve Kristjansson (Saskatoon), defeating Jim Dennis (Regina) in the final. The women's title goes to Georgina Ratt (Stanley Mission), with the win over Angela Aucoin (North Battleford).

Doubles winners are John Brann (Regina) and Curt Gamble (Moose Jaw) in men's and Elaine Walker and Stacey Stephanson (both Saskatoon) in the women's.

You can see full results here.

Georgina and Ashtin win Provincials

Georgina Ratt of Stanley Mission and Ashtin Bear of Prince Albert are your 2018 Provincial Champions!

Georgina repeats her win from last year and Ashtin is lifting the trophy for the third time. They'll lead our SK darts team to NDFC Nationals at Drummondville, QC in June. 

Both players won by a comfortable margin, with Georgina taking two firsts and a second, Ashtin a first and two seconds out of the three days of competition.

Joining them in the group of Nationals qualifiers are the following:

The 2018 Adult Provincial Championships were held in Saskatoon April 13-15, with 45 men and 19 women competitors from all four corners of the province, representing all 10 zones. Here are the day-by-day highlights:

Day One - Enter Angela!

Opening day saw the North Battleford contingent take the honours. First-time competitor Angela Aucoin dominated the women's event completely, not losing a single match on her way to top spot, defeating Georgina Ratt in the final. In men's action, Jason Skinner of Battleford overcame Ashtin Bear in a second final to finish day one in first. The team from the Battlefords also scored a third and a fifth in the women's event.

Day Two - Class tells

The second day is a test of mettle, and true to form our reigning champions showed the way. Ashtin Bear of Prince Albert and Georgina Ratt of Stanley Mission both went undefeated. Ashtin beat Myles Charles of Stanley Mission in the men's final, while the women's runner-up was Aspen Hall. Pictured L-R: Myles, Ashtin, Georgina, Aspen.

Shot of the day goes to Grant Dye of Saskatoon for his 170 finish. Nice darts!

Dart Board meeting

Before play started on Day Two, the SDA called an extraordinary meeting, where elections were held for executive positions. We have two new incoming board members this year: Mel December was elected Youth Director by acclamation; Jason Skinner was acclaimed Member-at-Large. Bev Roth was re-elected to the Finance Officer post and Wayne Hudson retains the 1st Vice-president position. Those are all two-year terms.

Also on the agenda was a tabled motion to change the format of play at Provincials back to the full round-robin, which was defeated by a vote of 51-26.

Sharon Acker reminded us of the devastating loss of young hockey players in the Broncos bus tragedy and we observed a moment of silence.

SDA president Elaine Walker expressed our condolences to Laurie Kitzul who had to withdraw from play for bereavement, and also to well-known Saskatoon members the Schmidt family for their loss.

Top shots

The men's winners at 2018 Provincials

Here are the women reps from Saskatchewan for the 2018 Nationals.

Day Three - Final reckoning

After 280 knockout bouts and 390 round-robin encounters, the 39th annual SDA Provincial Championships is in the books. Today saw Saskatoon player Steve Kristjansson battle past Ashtin Bear over two final matches to take first place and finish up second overall. Georgina Ratt once again ran the field until Stacey Stephanson gave her a tough match in the final, where Georgina won at the second attempt. Stacey ends up fourth.

Earlier in the day the draw was made for the $1,000 prize on the squares that were sold for the 2019 Youth Team. The winner is Red Veters of Manitoba. Thanks to everyone who bought a square.

The team for Nationals includes two rookies - Melanie Thomas and Angela Aucoin made second and third place respectively. Nationals should be an eye-opener for them both!

Thanks to host zone Saskatoon, SUDO and our friends at the Anavets Club for a great weekend of darts.

You can see the final results here.

Flin Flon results

Results from the 36th Annual Flin Flon Open are in after another successful tournament. Here's a report sent in from the darts club:

Friday night blind doubles winners were Bryan Dixon and Steve Kristjansson over Jason Skinner and Kelly Fiddler.

Men's singles champion for the third consecutive year was Ron Looker, with a win over Karsten Larsen.

Ladies' doubles winners were the youth team of Rianna December and Taryn Kristjansson over Georgina Ratt and Angela Aucoin.

The mixed triples event was won by the team of Jason Skinner, Rod Swenson and Angela Aucoin over Rianna December, Steve Kristjansson and Brad December.

Ladies’ singles champion is Georgina Ratt with the win over Angela Aucoin.

Men's doubles winners, for the third consecutive year, are Ron Looker and Dean Corlett, defeating Karsten Larsen and Chester Sakebow in the final. You can see full results here.

Over 50 dart players participated over the weekend including five juniors. The Flin Flon darts club thanks all the sponsors, players, officials, ladies’ Legion auxiliary, branch 73 and the many volunteers for making the Flin Flon Open such a success. Special mention goes to Jake Brown who donated her bar tips of nearly $600 to breast cancer charity. The foot locker was won by Trina Morris; Ron Blatz won the $200 draw. A two-hundred-dollar donation was also raised towards some spending money for the Saskatchewan youth team attending this year’s Nationals in Quebec.  

Main Event draws a crowd

Saskatoon's showpiece tournament was held April 6-8 and is as popular as ever. Eighty-one men entered singles and 38 women.

Men's singles winner is Logan Crooks of Alberta, defeating Dion Pilkington, also Alberta, in the final. Logan collects $1,000 for first prize. In the women's event, it was Michelle Spicer over Linda Wilder in the final. That pairing also won the women's doubles event. Logan and Michelle get an invite to the BDO World Masters. Nice going! You can see full results here.

Men's doubles winners are Mike Dwyer and John Hanlon of Alberta, who beat Danny Mckenzie (Stanley Mission) and Bobby Magalong (Saskatoon). In a mixed doubles event on Saturday, Sheridan Chappell and Terril Chappell came out on top, defeating Shawn Currie and Lori Currie in the final.

In blind draw action, Dion Pilkington teamed up with local player Karsten Larsen to win the pot. Organizer Elaine Walker says $9,700 was paid out in prize money, making this Saskatchewan's biggest tournament once again. She thanked all the volunteers who made it happen. We'll have photos from Main Event soon.

Rianna wins first adult title, Jason over Ashtin at Rosetown

Rianna December of Saskatoon (left) defeated Sharon Acker of North Battleford (far left) in the final at the Rosetown Spring Shoot to win her first adult tournament. Congratulations!

In men's, Jason Skinner of Battleford beat provincial champ Ashtin Bear (Prince Albert) in the final, then teamed up with top-ranked SDA man Steve Kristjansson to win in doubles. They're pictured below left.

Women's doubles went to Judy Cleaveley of Hudson Bay and local star Gloria Morrison (below right). Lots of new faces and young players made it a fun tournament. Thanks to Trish and Hunch for organizing!                 

New players take titles at Youth Provincials

Young prospects took to the oche at Rosetown February 24-25 in the 2018 Youth Provincials Championships, and four new team members qualified for Nationals. Here's a photo of all the participants. No names: you know who you are!

With a report, here's SDA Youth Director Shauna Grassing:

We had a terrific weekend in Rosetown! Thirteen young players took part and produced some exciting moments. I think we could have a very competitive team this year.

First year player Joshua Adrian (Nipawin) won the junior boys title and he is a natural. He shot his first 180 and is interested in all aspects of the game. He edged out Dillon Dumont, also from Nipawin, in a playoff game. They were tied through all round robin play. Dominic Saccucci (Martensville) came in third and is the junior boy alternate. Jaymes Swenson (Prince Albert) joins Saul Arndt (Regina) in the senior boys, so that's another strong team.

Junior girls saw Taryn Kristjansson (Saskatoon) coming out on top. The race was for second, with Rianna December (Warman) being the winner. Shaukeena McKay (Nipawin) is the junior girl alternate. Veronika Duchscherer, a senior girl from Nipawin, was encouraged to play. She joins Savanah Solomon (Regina) in her last year of youth competition, so Saskatchewan will take a full team to Quebec.

The female sportsmanship award went to Savanah Solomon and the male award to Jake Larratt. Overall everything was well run. Rosetown did a great job of hosting. Thank you to Trish and Hunch, as well as Dean and Gloria and all the adult players who came to chalk for the youth players. A big thank you to the parents who are very supportive, and to the SDA and in turn SaskSport for their financial support. - Shauna Grassing

Thanks Shauna! Pictures of the individual award winners are posted on our Youth page. Let's wish our team all the best for Drummondville, where they'll be up against some tough competition in May.

First tourney win for Mel at Pines, Karsten takes men's

Melanie Thomas of Spiritwood defeated first-time finalist Angela Aucoin of North Battleford to take the Pines Open women's title February 10 in Nipawin. That's Mel's first SDA singles win - congratulations! - and it lifts her to the top of the women's rankings.

In men's action, Karsten Larsen of Saskatoon overcame Brad December to win his second of the season.

Doubles winners are Steve Kristjansson and Brad December in men's; youth players Rianna December and Taryn Kristjansson were top in the women's event. The juniors are pictured below right.

Blind draw doubles went to Randi Friess of Nipawin and Karsten Larsen. You can see full results here.

Thanks to Shauna Grassing of Nipawin zone and her group of volunteers for another successful Nipawin shoot. Shauna is off to Rosetown in her role as SDA Youth Director on February 24-25 for the SDA Youth Provincials.

Rianna receives WDF award

Rianna December of Saskatoon placed second in 2017 in the World Darts Federation Americas region for girls' darts. She was presented with a cheque for US$300 by SDA president Elaine Walker.

In more Rianna news, she defended her WDF title in Edmonton February 2-4. Congratulations! Rianna defeated Taylor Huber in the girls' final. That puts Rianna up to 9th place on the WDF rankings. That's world-wide, people!

Rianna, the reigning SDA junior girls' champion, is pictured at the Edmonton tourney with fellow Saskatoon youth player Taryn Kristjansson (far right), who took part in the WDF qualifier for the first time. 

SDA girls were on a roll that weekend, with Rianna finishing second in the Snowflake youth tournament, while Taryn was third. 

Elaine hits second, Jason first at Icicle

Elaine Walker of Saskatoon won her second title of the season with a defeat of Stacey Stephanson at the North Battleford tournament February 3. They're pictured right.

In men's, Jason Skinner defeated Noel Aucoin in a 'battle of the Battlefords' final, to mark his first tournament win of 2017-18. Skinner later teamed up with Austin Morrison to win doubles. Austin and Jason are pictured left.

Women's doubles went to Melanie Thomas of Chitek Lake and her partner Rita Larsen of Saskatoon. They're pictured far right. You can see full results from North Battleford here.

Aspen on form, Steve hits fifth at Copeman Memorial

Aspen Hall of Mortlach took top spot at the Pat Copeman Memorial tournament at Regina January 20, with a win over long-time rival (and mom) Judy Cleaveley of Hudson Bay.

Men's champ is Steve Kristjansson of Saskatoon, who defeated Curt Gamble of Moose Jaw in the final. That's Steve's fifth tournament win of the season, and he remains at the top of the rankings.

In doubles events it was Steve again with partner Saul Arndt (Regina) taking first. Women's winners, repeating their win from 2017 are Bonnie Lapierre (Regina) and top-ranked woman Elaine Walker (Saskatoon). We'll have more from Regina soon. You can see results here.  

New Year wins for Ashtin, Stacey

Team Saskatchewan players took top spots in the singles events at the Al Heminger tournament in Saskatoon January 6. Men's winner is Ashtin Bear of Prince Albert with a victory over Austin Morrison of Rosetown. They're pictured far right.

Women's champ is local star Stacey Stephanson, who defeated Aspen Hall of Mortlach (near right).

Over in the doubles, men's pair Curt Gamble and John Brann (far left) placed first, while Elaine Walker (near left) joined with novice Taryn Kristjansson for the win in the women's.  

The Al Heminger Sportsmanship awards were decided by player votes. 2018's good sports are Elaine Walker and Larry Unrau.

Bruce Buxton