IT was heartache for Rebecca Allen and Robyn Byrne at Blackpool's Winter Gardens this afternoon as they both lost out in their first match on stage.
Carlow star Allen had qualified for the JDC Girls Ultimate Challenge Match against England's Paige Pauling as they had finished as the top two in the JDC Girls Series this year.
Allen (16) came into the game in good form having only recently beaten Pauling in the final of the JDC Junior Power League (JPL).
However it was Pauling who grabbed the bragging rights this time as she raced into a 3-0 lead in the best of nine match.
Allen was far from overawed though as she came straight back into the game at 3-2 as she won the best two legs of the match in just 14 and 16 darts.
Despite averaging higher than her opponent in the game, Allen just couldn't find another winning double with Pauling taking the final two legs to wrap up a 5-2 win.
Byrne took to the stage about an hour later to take on four-time world champion Lisa Ashton in her Women's World Matchplay quarter final.
With a place in the semi-finals against last year's winner, Beau Greaves, up for grabs, Dubliner Byrne was very much in the hunt as she trailed 3-2 in the race to four.
However she just couldn't match Ashton in the scoring stakes in the crucial sixth leg, as the Englishwoman got to a finish first and despite missing a few doubles eventually won the game on double 16.
It means Byrne missed out on a chance to at least equal her best PDC Women's Matchplay performance to date, when she made the semi-finals in 2023.
She's well in contention again next year, though, currently sitting in seventh spot in the overall PDC Women's Series Order of Merit.
FOR CUSTOM MADE SPORTS SHIRTS, CHECK OUT SHIRTS4U. JUST CLICK ON THE LOGO BELOW:
Add comment
Comments