NATIONAL male champion, Sudesh Fitzgerald, turned in a masterful performance to defeat Anil Lachman 5-2 last Sunday at the Malteenoes Sports Club pavilion, thus retaining his title when the Guyana Darts Association (GDA) held its National Championships.

On the distaff side, Hemwattie Amyan was not so fortunate as she lost her national title to her younger sister, Rosetta Hiralall, in one of the major upsets of the championship which was held over two days at the Thomas Lands based MSC.
The latter player won the first two games, but the defending champion drew level after winning games three and four, before the younger Amyan went on to attain an unassailable lead after winning the other two games to dethrone her sibling and cart off the title with a 5-2 win, along with the Safari Inn trophy.
Fitzgerald, who represented Guyana at the World Championships last year, dominated his matchup with Lachman from the onset when he surged ahead to take the first four games, before Lachman took the other two.
With the scores reading 4-2 in favor of the defending champion, a regrouped Fitzgerald regained his composure and easily captured the next game which turned out to be the final one, to retain the national accolade and the Ramdial Trophy sponsored by former national champion, Bholanauth Ramdial.
The losing semi-finalists, Lallchand Rambharose and Sherwyn Greene, battled for third place, which Rambharose won following a best of seven duel.
Even though he lost out in his bid to be crowned singles champion, Lachman had many reasons to smile when he teamed up with former national tennis champion, Colin France, to take the Men’s Doubles from Greene and Rambharose.
In the playoff for third place in that category, Mark Persaud and Vishnu Bhupan got the better of Francis Correia and Luis Ramirez-Merlano in the best of 5 games, which earned them the third place slot.
Amyan’s poor showing continued in the Women’s Doubles for the Dr. Terrence Joseph Trophy when she teamed up with Hiralal and lost to Mary Correia and Jean DeSouza in the final which went down to the fifth game.
In the Mixed Doubles category, a new champion was crowned when Rambharose and Hiralall unseated the defending champions in Fitzgerald and Amyan in the best of five games, with the third place going to Leonardo Butcher and Melissa Smartt who chalked up an upset victory over Francis Correia and Jean De Souza.
Fitzgerald completed a game, throwing the least number of darts, while he also achieved the highest check-out to finish a game and was awarded incentive prizes and trophies donated by Apex Insurance Brokers while Nicholas Seetaram won a prize for throwing the most 180s.
The list of sponsors were extensive and included Trophy Stall, Guyana National Newspapers Limited, D.Y. Rock Construction Company, Dr. Terrence Joseph, Safari Inn, Apex Insurance Brokers and Ramdial.
President of the GDA, Grantley Culbard, expressed deep appreciation to his many benefactors even as he complimented the players on their respective performances.
He said that in his many years of associating with the sport, he has never witnessed so many upsets, adding that despite competing at this level for the first time, the members of the Bank of Guyana team were consistent and participated in all of the upsets.
“This certainly augurs well for the development of darts, considered a minority sport in Guyana,” said Culbard, even as he intimated that the sport enjoys wide acclaim in other countries.