- Fitzgerald suffers upset defeat

National darts champion, Sudesh Fitzgerald, was welcomed back into the real world with a bump.
The player, who qualified for and participated at the World Darts Championship held in England earlier this month, was knocked out in the first round of the singles competition played at the Granny’s Sports Bar.

Norman Madhoo

In the biggest upset of the first round, Fitzgerald lost to Anthony Bissoondyal.

The mini-tournament saw seven competitors line up to fire their first dart last weekend but, at the end, the wily veteran Norman Madhoo had rolled back the years to take his first title of 2009.

The field which included the likes of Lallchand Rambharose, Anil Latchman, Bryan James, Ricardo Madhoo, Bissoondyal, Fitzgerald and Madhoo, saw Madhoo and Ricardo meeting in the final which was won by the more accomplished Madhoo.

Madhoo, who threw a perfect three darts score of 180 points, walked away with three thousand dollars for his effort.
The three darts 180 is achieved when the player throws a dart in the triple 20 on three consecutive occasions.
In the Open doubles category, Fitzgerald was again on the losing end.

Sudesh Fitzgerald

That event along with the six thousand dollars first prize was won by the pair of Rambharose and Latchman with Fitzgerald and Bissoondyal being the runners up. The team of R and N. Madhoo managed to score only one win in the three pair, round robin encounter.

In the Luck of the Draw Doubles competition Fitzgerald finally had a taste of victory as he teamed up with  Krishna Bissoondyal to claim the title from Rambharose and James and in the process the $4,000 first prize on offer.

The competition continues tomorrow at the Salt Air Club, Pegasus Hotel when a blind draw tournament will be held. This tournament is expected to see far more competitors walking with their darts sets in preparation for the Mashramani event.

According to Madhoo, the Guyana Mashramani Classic will be played from February 20-22 and contingents from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and St. Lucia will be arriving to do battle with the locals for the more than $300,000 in prize money that will be on offer.

Madhoo said that while the Guyana Mashramani Classic is still in the planning stage the date and prize money has already been agreed upon. Within another few days the remaining details of the tournament will be declared.