A pub darts team from Brierley Hill, who won a national competition organised by pub company Punch Taverns, got a chance to battle it out against a professional darts champion on 23rd July.
The eight-man team from The Brickmakers, the oldest pub in Quarry Bank, came top in last year’s Punch Darts Classic Competition, winning a total of £2,400 and a ‘money can’t buy prize’ – the chance to play darts on the big stage in front of the biggest audience of their lives.
The team travelled to the iconic Winter Gardens in Blackpool as VIPs to play at the PDC BetVictor World Match-Play Championship, one of the biggest events in the Darts Calendar.
The team had access to the players’ lounge to throw a few darts and see famous darts players and their opponent for the night Michael van Gerwen – the 2013 Premier League Champion who is ranked Number 2 in the world by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Once on stage, players got into pairs to play one leg of 601 against Michael, and the players won two of the four matches against the professional.
Jeff Batham, captain of The Brickmakers darts team, was thrilled with his prize: “To win last year was brilliant, but tonight has been a fantastic experience we will never forget.
“The Punch competition is such a brilliant competition to play in, the standard of teams who enter are right up there and you have to play your best to go far. I’m really proud of the team, we all play well together and there is real camaraderie – one of the players travels 15 miles from Kidderminster just to play with us.
“We can’t thank Punch enough for this once-in-lifetime opportunity and we are looking to regain the title in this year’s competition,” he added.
Over 1,300 darts teams from 1,150 Punch pubs competed weekly across a six month period, with The Brickmakers beating 32 teams in a tough national final last year.
The Punch Darts Classic is the world’s biggest pub darts competition and this year is currently taking place in more than a quarter of Punch Taverns’ 4,200 pubs, with the regional finals commencing in September.
Punch also run a plate competition open for darts teams who lose in either round one or round two in the main Punch Darts Classic competition. The regional winners each win a professional player in their pub with a £250 bar bill for the evening as well as new darts equipment.
Central Operations Director Andy Slee said the competitions were a powerful business driver for pubs, as it was impossible to replicate the experiences anywhere else.
“The competitions drive people into our pubs on quieter nights and create a real sense of competition and community. By holding these competitions it has generated over 7,000 transaction nights in pubs,” he said.
“Prizes are awarded at all levels of the competition, so even those who go out in the first round get another chance to compete for a professional in their pub.
“We are always looking for ways to help our pubs build their business and as Punch is one of the largest pub operators in the UK, we are one of the few companies who can deliver competitions and once-in-a-lifetime prizes on this scale.”
The 2013 National final is taking place during 25th -27th October at the Winter Gardens and will determine the winner of next year’s ‘money can’t buy’ prize.