Geyersland darts players aim to do the association proud

The regional darts team for the national championships, from left, Herbie Nathan, Tania Morris, Vicky Tahau and Jannalee Hano Tihema. Photo/Stephen Parker

A marathon day of darts has seen five Geyserland Darts Association players selected to represent the region at the national championships in Motueka in August.

Mai Jonathan and the experienced Herbie Nathan were the two men to qualify, while Jannalee Hano Tihema, Vicky Tahau and Tania Morris were the three women.

Jonathan, Tihema and Tahau are all first-time members of the Region 4 Associations' team that represents the Waihi, Kaimai [Tauranga], Whakatane and Geyserland associations.

There were 24 men and 16 women entered in the qualifying event and, with the format requiring each player to play the others once, qualifying involved more than 800 games of darts in a single day.

Geyserland Darts Association captain Steve Smith, who organised the qualifying event, said having five association members was a step up from the last two years when the association had three representatives.

The most experienced of the players is Nathan, one-time New Zealand No 1 who has played against the likes of Phil Taylor, and who returned to the sport in 2016 after retiring eight years earlier.

"Tania has also been there before," said Smith, "but Hano and Mai have only been playing darts for about two years."

Smith said the selections reflected moves to increase the profile and playing numbers in Rotorua.

"We've been working hard to make darts and the Geyserland Association a professional and competitive association and we feel like we are getting there now. We've won a couple of trophies this year as an association and to get five people in there we think we are heading in the right direction."

Club nights are each Tuesday at the Crates and Cue Bar.

"Our club nights are really competitive. We've got some real top-line players there. The guys who didn't make the team this year on a club night will be beating these [selected] players."

In March an association team took the Neville Powhero Trophy by winning a round robin competition against the other three Bay of Plenty Associations, the first time the trophy has been in Rotorua since 2005.

The week-long national championships in August start with inter-region competition.

Others to make the District 4 Associations' team were Ana Armitage, Judy Fenton (both Waihi), Shar Maru-Habib (Whakatane), Alex Wade, Lou Tai, Rodney Moreland, Brett Walters, Josh Walters, John Darlington (all Waihi), Puni Ngataki (Whakatane) and Mike Grimshaw (Kaimai).