Gontier to the Manor born in first Sarnia Darts event

Gontier is president of Sarnia Darts, a newly-formed association that he hopes can provide ‘a better opportunity’ for many local players.

Sarnia Darts takes charge of the Triples, GDL and Maple Leaf leagues. The Guernsey Darts Association (2010) still runs the Western Individual and Herald leagues.

This competition marked the first major tournament under Sarnia Darts organisation and brought players from all leagues to the Manor Hotel, utilising a cracking set-up that was finished just six weeks ago.

The Sarnia Darts president has thanked hotel director and new GDL treasurer Andrew Galsworthy for the Manor’s support.

‘What a massive difference he’s brought into darts as a business, not only darts as a social event, but as a business,’ he said.

‘And he’s brought in this fantastic venue for darts players.’

Gontier praised a ‘magnificent’ set-up where seven boards can be used at once. The upgraded hotel will be a permanent base for the Manor Open, plus potentially other tournaments, and likely a large section of the Maple Leaf.

‘But yeah, this competition can grow. This competition can grow to be bigger and bigger,’ he added.

‘And that’s what we want. Us at Sarnia Darts, we want to look at the bigger picture – the majors.’

Thirty-four men and 16 women contested the inaugural Manor Open and, like any good tournament, there were upsets. That included Jason Allez’s early exit at the hands of Lee Smith.

Returning great Mick Le Gallic then took out Smith and Kevin Brouard to make the final against Gontier.

Gontier raced to a 2-0 and 3-1 lead in the final, only for Le Gallic to rush back, force a decider and nearly win that. He missed two match darts on ‘tops’ and Gontier stole it with a 32 finish.

Similarly, Yvonne Le Gallic lost out on the checkout to Debbie Hamon in a women’s final that also ended 4-3.

Two Plate competitions also took place, in which Chris Hamon and Kirsty Bishop won consolatory prizes.

‘Massive level of interest. Obviously we’ve got a lot of big names away,’ Gontier said.

‘Nick Ogier, Adie Exall, Michael Ogier, Mark Fletcher, and obviously Shaun Allez, who was absent at last minute, would have made this competition a little bit harder.

‘I’m not taking that away from the 34 guys that were in there battling it out for the same prize. I think it’s brilliant we’re all here.’

The Open offered a £300 first prize for men and £200 for women, together with other cash awards and a meat draw.

Sarnia Darts secretary Gill Le Cras described the venue as a ‘darters’ paradise’ and welcomed the high interest in their first tournament.

‘It’s brilliant. Seriously I’m really over the moon with the support we’ve had, because we didn’t know how it would go.’

Galsworthy has his own darts background, which has driven him to give back to the sport locally.

‘My motive is to have a professional darting association that’s open to anyone and that we provide, in time, the financial backing to subsidise our members to go to different events, and to hold prize money tournaments, and to take Guernsey darts to a different level.’

• The Grand Slam, RAF Open, Medway match and a likely Women’s Open are all among Sarnia Darts’ tournament plans this year.