Joshua ‘The Fergs’ O’Sullivan eased his way past the competition to pick up the winner’s trophy in the first ever Prospect Darts tournament, hosted at Liverpool’s Bluehouse.
The home crowd’s cheers grew louder and louder throughout the night as the red-hot Scouser lit up the oche.
The tournament – made up of 16 players who had won through previous qualifying weeks – began in style.
A win for Michael Donnely, who cruised to a 2-0 win, which included a 112 checkout, in the best of three-legged match.
Elsewhere, Shrewsbury’s Taylor Jackson shone with clinical finishes to put his opponent away in a 2-0 win, going 2/4 with darts on a double.
In Jackson’s way in the quarter finals was eventual winner O’Sullivan, who had also swept aside his opponent in an impressive first round display.
Players exchanged trebles in a first leg that was eventually won by O’Sullivan, who had to overcome some light-hearted heckling early in the match.
The second leg was won with the highlight of the night, with the Liverpool man reeling in the big fish to unleash mayhem in the crowd.
He said about the 170 checkout: “Each dart came with a louder cheer, the last dart I felt like I wasn’t allowed to miss.”
To complete the semi-final fixtures, Donnely kept up his good form to go through, Brendan Ward stormed through 2-0 and Tom Lawrence advanced after a 3-leg thriller.
At this stage of the tournament, the crowd was immersed. Cheers and jeers after every arrow, hands – and pints – waved in the air as “Stand up, if you love the darts” echoed around the arena.
The first semi-final brought instant entertainment, with Tom Lawrence igniting the crowd with the tournament’s first 180. Lawrence continued his fierce form to defeat Donnely with aplomb, securing his spot in the final.
The second semi-final was a closer encounter, O’Sullivan and Ward split the first two legs. But the Liverpudlian couldn’t be stopped, as he checked out 86 to join Lawrence in the competition decider.
‘The Fergs’ carried his form through to the final, and, despite five 100+ scores from Tom Lawrence, he ran away in the final to lift the first Prospect Darts Tournament trophy.
He said: “I’m so happy with how I played. Training earlier was rubbish, so I thought I didn’t have a chance.
“I think the crowd helped, I liked being booed, I think. Already looking forward to the next”
After a sell-out first tournament, the new event at The Bluehouse in the city centre is aiming to become ‘Liverpool’s biggest darts competition’.
