As the inaugural ADA Tournaments came to a conclusion at Melton Darts Club, Victoria, placings for the Alexandra Palace, the world’s biggest Darts party, and 2x Premier League spots were on the line and remained ‘up for grabs’ as it went down to the wire.
ADA T9
Rhys ‘Muff’ Mathewson went out in the first round, but went on to win the repechage tournament with a 99+ average, when defeated by a resilient Michael Casser in the round of 32. Tim Pusey defeated Dave Hanel in a last leg decider and Ray ‘Guru’ Smith demolished Adam ‘Lookaway’ Leek 6-1 in the Quarter Final. Smith fought hard but eventually went down in another nail-biting last leg finish in the semis to NZ’s Ben ‘Big Rig’ Rob, who proceeded to defeat Tim Pusey 6-3 and win the first event of the weekend.
ADA T10
Ray Smith and Tim Pusey, making his second consecutive Final of the weekend, continued their fine form in another high octane showpiece, which again went down to the wire, with the latter victorious 5-6 to narrow the gap in the ranking’s on Smith who, by virtue of winning the first four ADA tournaments at Pine Rivers, led the field.
T11
Pusey was at it again with a ‘threepeat’ and met James ‘The Bull’ Bailey to win his second title of the weekend with a 6-4 scoreline in a dogged and determined showpiece. Surprisingly with two well noted and players of this calibre, no 180’s were thrown by either. A note worthy of recording for its rarity.
T12
In the last event of the weekend, it was a race between Pusey and Smith as to who would be the overall Champion and Runner-up. The drama unfolded and continued until the final dart was thrown. Pusey again started strongly but fell at the semi-final stage and with Smith progressing to the Final, against 2x winner Brody Klinge, 1st and 2nd was dependent on the result. Smith ran up the first 2 legs before
Klinge stopped the rot and clawed one back. Smith held throw to extend the lead once more and looked to be in control but Klinge battled back and levelled at 4-apiece before powering home to take the win 6-5 in a high quality finale adding 4x 180’s to Smith’s 2.
Smith needed to win the last Tournament to secure top spot but in defeat conceded that to Pusey, who will now make his debut on the Ally Pally stage in December, whilst the pair confirmed themselves as participants in the ANZ Premier League in October alongside James Bailey, Brody Klinge, Joe Comito and Aussie favourite Simon Whitlock.
An exciting finish to the 12 Tournament ADA Tour 2025 couldn’t have been scripted any better and with the expanded 2026 season already in
the planning stages, the opportunities for Oceanic players, both adult and Youth, will grow exponentially also.
Thank you to the host Venues, volunteers and Players who supported us this year and we look forward to greeting you all again in the coming months and remember, stayed tuned for some exciting news coming soon.