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The Need For BYE’s

When running a Knock Out competition it is necessary to break the numbers of players down into multiples of 2. This is because every round halves the number of entrants. In other words the numbers go from say 32 to 16 to 8 to 4 to 2 and finally a winner. It is very rare that the number of competitors is an exact multiple of 2 so BYE’s have to be added to get the numbers right. When I used to run the Weston Darts League the rounds were played at different venues so it was normal to have one or two BYE’s at each venue. However every year I got blamed for the number of BYES at each venue because people failed to turn up to play after putting their names forward to enter. All I could do was give plenty of notice for the matches and arrange the draw according to the number of entries. It was up to the Captains then to tell their players where they were playing, I couldn’t force the players to turn up.

There was one memorable match I recall from a few years ago that had some unfortunate BYE’s in it. It was the in first session of the men's doubles Knock Outs and was held at the Castle where Severn pairs were drawn to play including myself and partner, along with the Castle Landlord and his partner. Now I am not saying Graham (the Landlord) got his priorities wrong, but he did not turn up for the match in his own pub. The excuse was it was the birthday of Linda, his good lady. Personally I would have gone to the match. Maybe it was her big Four Oh. Perhaps I should not have said that if she is not yet 40, on the other hand if she is older than she looks I might get a free drink next time I go in.

Anyway back to the darts. My partner and myself were drawn to have the official BYE, bit of a coincidence that, and with Graham missing another pair had a BYE so the other 4 pairs played.

The two BYE's put Dave Brown and Fletch from the Chase against the Seabridge brothers from the Red Lion. I am sorry to say it was no contest. Next up were myself and John Harvey from the Club. To say we played badly was an understatement and how we won against the Wicket lads I shall never know, but we did. Then came the Heats final against the Chase pair. Non of us excelled and we had a chance in the first leg, missing our attempt at Double Top. The next leg was a bit different though. Remember it was 501 double start and finish. Fletch broke with a fine 100, followed by Dave with a respectable 85. Next Fletch hit a magnificent 180. By this time we had all but given up. Dave hit another 100 leaving Fletch Double 18. First dart, bang, straight in, thank you very much, no messing. 13 thrown darts (12 Scoring Darts) from ordinary pub players. These lads didn't even play Super league never mind County. To say I was impressed was an understatement as was everybody else.