After a fantastic weekend of darts, Aileen de Graaf and Peter Machin emerged as 2017 BDO World Trophy Champions.  Australian Machin came close to lifting the title last year, succumbing to Darryl Fitton in a closely-fought final, while 2015 World Master de Graaf had never previously progressed beyond the quarter-finals.

With North American interest ending on Sunday – Jeff Smith went down to a very impressive Nick Kenny – and Corrine Hammond falling to Anastasia Dobromyslova,  Machin was the only remaining non-European in either event.

Dobromyslova made a brave attempt to regain the title she won in 2014, but a brilliant de Graaf ensured that yet another major championship ended up on Dutch soil with a 6-2 final victory.  Machin, who had disposed former BDO World Champs Martin Adams and Scott Mitchell on the way to the final, pipped home favorite Martin Phillips in a tense affair. The Welshman held a slender 8-7 lead, only for his opponent to level the scores with a superb 141 check, and then grab the last two for the win.

This was a long overdue triumph for Australian darts, as it is 20 years since Graham Hunt won the Winmau World Masters!

Full details can be found on the BDO website here.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login