The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2005-01-27, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2005. Sports Verwey competes in PDC championship By Jim Brown Citizen staff An electrician and millwright by day, John Verwey of just outside Walkerburn is a dart player who has competed against the world’s best. A person who listed darts as a hobby at a recent international competition in Purfleet, England. Verwey spent close to 10 days during Christmas and New Year’s in the British capital competing in the PDC World Championships against some of the top players in Britain and throughout the world. Verwey, who insists he is not a serious player, earned the right to compete at the PDC event by finishing in the runner-up spot at the Canadian championships last June. He lost to John Part, his doubles partner, who had already earned a spot at the PDC championship. Going into the national championship, Part was the number one seed, with Part and Verwey the top doubles seed. Although this was his first time in the PDC World Championship, it was not his first taste of international competition. He had competed in one World Masters event and in an Embassy Qualifier. "The competition at the PDC World Championship was just tremendous,” said Verwey. “It was just unbelievable.” “This is the professional end of the darts.” He said while the competition at his previous international events was similar to this one, there is more hype involved with the PDC. The PDC was played at the Circus Tavern, in Essex County, about half an hour outside of London. Purfleet is on the opposite side of London from Heathrow International Airport. According to Verwey, the PDC competition has been going on for about 12 years, with a lot more money involved than in the other competitions. “It is tougher to qualify for this event, than it is for other international competitions,” said Verwey. With approximately 1,800 people watching the event live, and another 11 million people watching on television, this was the darts’ version of Hockey Night in Canada. He indicated there were cameras all over, getting players from different angles. “There was even a camera mounted in the dart board,” said Verwey. There was betting on every match as bookies are legal in Britain. Verwey reached the third round of the world championships, finishing in the joint 17th place (players placing 17 through 32). “I lost to Colin Lloyd of England, the number one ranked player at the event, in the third round,” he said. “I lost 4-1.” “I won my first draw, 3-2, against Anthony Forde, the South African champion and I got past John Lowe in the second round, 3-2.” “I then went up against Lloyd and I did not play well. I think playing against the number one player in the world weighed on me.” Phil Taylor of England defeated Lloyd in the final, to win the event for the 12th time. “Taylor has a very unique throw,” said Verwey. Taylor was the second seed at the competition, but Lloyd plays in more tournaments. The cameras and the crowd noise did not really bother Verwey although it can be kind of distracting, with everyone yelling in the background, he said. “You just have to block it out of your mind,” he said. He was the only competitor to list darts as a hobby in his player’s bio for the program. Verwey has been playing darts for 19 years, after being asked by friends to substitute at a tournament. Now, he competes in a Kitchener-Waterloo league and in the Huron County League. The Huron County league has three teams from Blyth and two from Brussels, with play being held at a variety of venues from Exeter to Lucknow and from Brussels to Goderich. Some of the players are from outside of Huron County. “There is also a singles league in the summer for players to get some practice in,” he said. "They usually play in Goderich or Clinton. Verwey said there is some good dart competition in this area. He said the level of competition is surprising. He said he has been lucky along the way to get to the PDC World Championships. He has also been on six Ontario teams at the Canadian championships. There are some people who have been playing for many years for the sole purpose of getting to the Canadian championships and have never made it. “I’ve been very fortunate,” said Verwey. “I wish everyone could get the chance to compete at the PDC Worlds.” However, he noted it is hard to find sponsorship in Canada as most of the competitions are in the United States or in Britain. “Playing darts is just a great time,” stated Verwey. Dart player Blyth teams compete in tournament The PeeWee and Bantam broomball teams had a two- day tournament in Mildmay, on Jan. 15 and 16. This tournament was attended by teams from Mildmay, Palmerston, Seaforth, Inesfield (Lafroy) and Blyth. Blyth sent two PeeWee teams, the yellow team called the Rollers and the green team known as the Dynamites. The Dynamites played their first game on Saturday at 10 a.m. against the Mildmay Reds. They knew that this was going to be a tough game as they haven’t beat this team all season. Blyth came on strong and scored two goals early in the game. Derek Logtenberg scored the first goal on an assist from Nadine Otten and Zachary Drost. Greg Roetcisoender scored the second goal from the corner after running up the boards with the ball on a breakaway. Mddmay played a strong defensive game and Blyth couldn’t get another goal past them. Courtney Bos played a great game as Blyth’s goaltender, almost earning a shutout. However, when Mildmay had the ball in Blyth’s end, in the last 45 seconds of the game there was a lot of traffic in front of the net, and Mildmay scored. The final score of the game was a 2-1 win for Blyth. The second game was played against Mildmay Blacks, at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. This was a very even game, with play in both ends of the ice. Blyth was very disappointed when the goal they scored was called a ‘no-goal’, by the referee. Bos played another great game in net. Since no goals were scored the game went into a sudden death overtime. Blyth was not ready or prepared, as Mildmay won the lace-off and scored six seconds into overtime. The Dynamites third game was played against Seaforth at 9:30 a.m. J A N U A R Y on Sunday. Both teams were keen to play. Throughout the game, the play was in both ends. Both goaltenders made several great saves. Neither team scored a goal, so with a tie game, they were once again forced into sudden death overtime. Blyth scored a goal within the first two minutes, by forward Logtenberg, on an assist from Laura Dykstra. The semi-final game was once again played against the Mildmay Blacks on Sunday, at 2 p.m. Mildmay came out strong and scored a goal early in the first period. Blyth pulled up their socks and played their best to try to tie up the game. The Dynamites made several shots on goal, and even had a few breakaways, but Mildmay’s goaltender was sharp. Since Blyth lost this game, the tournament playing was over. “Each Dynamite worked hard out on the ice, and should be proud of their third-place standing for this tournament,” said coach Mary Ann Drost. John Verwey of the Walkerburn area recently competed at the PDC World Championship for darts. The tournament was played at the Circus Tavern, just outside of London, England. (Jim Brown photo) Brussels Midgets lead series Brussels took a two games to none lead in their WOAA Midget playdown series on Jan. 23, when they posted a 4-1 decision over Howick in a game played at the Howick Community Centre. Following a scoreless first period, Jordan Campbell gave Brussels a 1-0 lead in the second period, with help from Cory Chapman. Howick tied the score, just 33 seconds into the third period, and just 13 seconds after that, Brent Wheeler scored what would prove to be the winning marker. Chase Chapman received the assist. Insurance markers were added by Greg Bowers from Chris Jutzi and Steven Ropp and Wheeler from Tate Stephenson. Al Johnston was in goal for Brussels and made some big stops in the early going to keep his team in the game. Game three of the best of five series was played Jan. 25 in Howick, with game four, if necessary going in Brussels on Saturday at 5 p.m. A fifth game, if needed, will be played Sunday in Howick at 2:30 p.m. 143 Josephine St.,Wingham (519) 357-2191 Just what you will be looking for this winter ■'Meal of the Month" Large Fish Dinner OO plus tax Open all year round! We have ice cream cakes Bottled Water Cooler ~ 5 gallon refrigeration department ~ 3 taps for hot, cold & room temperature water ~ comes with 2 FILLED 5 gallon refillable bottles