5 days ago
Top Irish ladies darts stars to join the PDC Matchplay party
BLACKPOOL'S fabulous Winter Gardens has been packed to the rafters with noisy darts fans all this week as it hosts one of the biggest events on the PDC calendar in the World Matchplay.
While the likes of Northern Ireland's Josh Rock and teen sensation Luke Littler battle it out to claim the £200,000 Matchplay prize, two brilliant ladies are set to join in on the party.
Dubliner Robyn Byrne has been one of the best ladies darts players on the planet over recent years, which she has proven once again this year by finishing fifth in the PDC Women's Series Order Of Merit to claim her spot at the Ladies World Matchplay on Sunday.
Byrne will face off in her first match against England's legendary four-times world champion Lisa Ashton.
It won't get any easier for her after that should she win that game, with Byrne then likely to come against Beau Greaves, a young woman who has been dominating the ladies game for the past two years.
But if anyone has the pedigree and experience to go toe-to-toe with these ladies and beat them, then it is Robyn Byrne.
She certainly won't be overawed by the occasion, with Byrne playing top level darts for over a decade.
And she's won her fair share of big titles too, including the WDF World Cup with the Irish ladies team, the WDF Europe Cup singles last year, two PDC Women's Series events and dozens of Irish National Darts Organisation (INDO) ranking tournaments.
Byrne also made it to the final of the recent Modus Super Series women's week and made it to two ranking finals at the INDO Irish Matchplay in Galway last weekend.
So she's coming into this in good form and has every chance of success.
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Another Irish player that has become accustomed to success is teen sensation Rebecca Allen.
A three-time INDO Inter Counties Girls champion over the past three years, Rebecca is now transferring that dominance onto the international stage.
She is a regular competitor in the Junior Darts Corporation's (JDC) Girls Series in the UK and has earned her place at this weekend's World Matchplay at the Winter Gardens by finishing in the top two of the Girls Series this year. Rebecca Allen with her JDC Junior Power League trophy
Rebecca will now face off against English protege, Paige Pauling, in the JDC Ultimate Challenge Match, a player she is well used to competing against.
She will fancy her chances of victory too, having only beaten Paige in the final of the JDC's Junior Power League (JPL) in Coventry last month.
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Those familiar with Irish darts know that this will be far from Rebecca's last big win.
Another may well come in front of the noisy Winter Gardens crowd on Sunday.
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