AMERICAN ace Scott Kirchner took the glory as DARTSLIVE staged their SUPER DARTS 2013 event in Hong Kong recently, overcoming Benny Dersch in the final.
The SUPER DARTS 2013 made in DARTSLIVE event, an exciting mix of 701 and cricket, is one of DARTSLIVE's most prestigious soft tip dart tournaments, which was for the first time this year an invitation only event.
The event saw 16 players from around the world pre-selected to battle it out on April 7 at Hong Kong’s KITEC centre, a mega complex in the heart of Kowloon City - including former World Champion Mark Webster, former World Matchplay champion Colin Lloyd and Spanish World Cup star Antonio Alcinas.
US star Kirchner, known as Scotty K, started off by whitewashing Lloyd 3-0 in the first round before narrowly defeating Alcinas in round two.
Webster, meanwhile, enjoyed a first round win over Japan's Haruki Muramatsu but then lost to Dersch in the quarter-finals, in a game which was regarded as the match of the tournament.
Dersch then knocked out Paul Lim in the semi-finals, with Kirchner edging out Philippines' Lourence Ilagan at the same stage before winning the final 3-1.
Kirchner won the final's opening leg, hitting an 18-dart leg of 701, before Dersch levelled following a marathon game of cricket, scoring 740 points to his opponent's 721.
Kirchner then took the third leg with a 398-330 win in cricket, before finishing 101 in the next leg with a bullseye, single one, bullseye combination to take the title.
"Wow what a day!" said Kirchner. "I could have only dreamed about what has happened.
"I am truly humbled by all of this. I owe it all to my family who have always supported me in whatever I do. DARTSLIVE are doing great things, I’m so glad to be part of it"
SUPER DARTS 2013 made in DARTSLIVE
Top 16
David Fatum (Canada) 3–2 Sho Katsumi (Japan)
Lourance Ilagan (Philippines) 3-2 Franck Guillermont (France)
Scott Kirchner (USA) 3–0 Colin Lloyd (England)
Antonio Alcinas (Spain) 3–2 Takehiro Suzuki (Japan)
Benjamin Dersch (USA) 3–2 Royden Lam (Hong Kong)
Mark Webster (Wales) 3–2 Haruki Muramatsu (Japan)
Morihiro Hashimoto (Japan) 3–2 Raymond Carver (USA)
Paul Lim (Singapore) 3–1 Cyril Blot (France)
Quarter-Finals
Lourance Ilagan 3–1 David Fatum
Scott Kirchner 3–1 Antonio Alcinas
Benjamin Dersch 3–2 Mark Webster
Paul Lim 3–2 Morihiro Hashimoto
Semi-Finals
Scott Kirchner 3–2 Lourance Ilagan
Benjamin Dersch 3–1 Paul Lim
Final
Scott Kirchner 3–1 Benjamin Dersch
Final – Leg-by-leg. Loser goes first.
0–0 Kirchner wins the bull and throws first
1-0 Kirchner wins 701 in 18 darts and finishes on the bull, with Dersch waiting on 62.
1–1 Dersch wins a marathon game of cricket with each player having thrown 36 darts. Dersch’s 740 points is good enough against Kirchner’s 721 points. Although Dersch ends with a lower mark average of 5.0 versus 5.67 for Kirchner.
2–1 Kirchner easily wins cricket with stats of 6.67 and 398 points vs Dersch’s 5.4 mark average and 330 points.
3-1 With 101 left Kirchner goes a slightly unorthodox route of bull, single 1, bull - instead of electing to hit bull then T17, and wins in 15 darts with Dersch waiting on 72.
Further photos and details can be found at http://www.dartslive.com/superdarts/
Images © DARTSLIVE Co., Ltd.
DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD
Soft Darts World Championship 2013 Schedule
Stage One - April 28, Hong Kong
Stage Two - May 26, Hong Kong
Stage Three - June 16, France
Stage Four - July 14, Korea
Stage Five - August 25, TBA
Stage Six - September 21, USA
Stage Seven - October 13, Hong Kong
Stage Eight - November 3, Hong Kong
Grand Final - Dec 14-15, Hong Kong