Beaton beaten despite heroics
LEINSTER V LA ROCHELLE
DARTS LEGEND Steve Beaton hit a perfect nine-dart leg just days after turning 60 — one of three at Players Championship 7.
Beaton is competing in what he thinks will be his final season on the professional tour.
The Bronzed Adonis may have lost 6-3 to James Hurrell yesterday but he secured the most memorable moment of their contest, striking his first ninedarter since 2019 and the fourth official one of his career.
Not only was it the perfect way to mark his landmark birthday, it went on to be the starting gun for an afternoon dominated by multiplenine darters.
Daryl Gurney and Chris Dobey both recorded their own nine-dart legs.
Gurney landed his perfect finish in his second-round 6-4 victory over Jeffrey de Graaf. Moments after the Irishman’s perfect finish, Dobey got in on the act in the second leg of his clash against Mickey Mansell.
Clash
At the time of his, Beaton was trailing Hurrell 3-1 in the clash.
Things began to look promising when he started the fifth leg with two impeccable
180 finishes. He then concluded the jawdropping leg with an emphatic 141 finish to put the pressure back onto Hurrell.
After he followed up his extraordinary achievement by making the score 3-3, Hurrell refocussed and managed to win the match 6-3.
It will have been extra special for Beaton as he previously explained how this will likely be his final year on the pro circuit.
“I think next year will definitely be my last,” the former Lakeside World Champion said last December.
“However this tournament goes, I’m 60 next year and it’s a gruelling circuit, the ProTour. I’ve been married 30 years and my wife hardly sees me, I’m only home half the year.
“I’d have loved it if it was like that when I was 21 but it’s quite draining and it’ll be nice to spend a bit of time at home for a change.”