
Sandy was in Las Vegas for the 12th time at the ADO Nationals and Las Vegas Open and hobbled through a long, tough weekend of darts among friends and the toughest room for ladies in American darts. Thursday started off with the ADO Cricket Nationals with a huge 10 person bracket. She played well and times and labored at other times but advanced winning her bracket. In the knockout round she drew Paula Murphy first as they renewed their long tradition of meeting in these type of playoffs. Sandy won the opening leg before Paula reeled off 3 straight to advance. Sandy had a solid chance at winning two of those games but Paula just threw better and would go on to win her 4th Cricket National Championship.
The long, grueling day took it's toll though and Friday was truly an ugly day for her. She limped around that day as the defending champion but never played well and did not advance out of her 11 player bracket for the first time in a very long time. Cricket Champ Paula and Debra Ivey advanced and Debra would go on to win her first ADO National Champion playing very well in the process.
When the travel from the East Coast and 2 long days of stiff competion she was drained. We recharged in the hot tub that night and discussed if she needed to skip the singles events during the weekend and rest more, but she felt so bad about the way she played on Friday she charged on, looking to redeem herself. Her first event was the largest payout for the ladies in the tournament, the BDO ranked Ladies 501 Singles. She kept advancing and tried to rest between throwing and get of her bad knee. This is a seeded event thus the competition grows as you reach the later rounds. She reached the Finals to again see her old friend Paula Murphy who has had a ton of success in this event. Sandy would go own to win 5-3 in a tough, back and forth match.
Sandy and Stacey Pace reached the Finals on Ladies Cricket Doubles but had to settle for 2nd Place. They earned Top 16 the next day in 501 Doubles. Sandy had 2nd round exits in Cricket Singles and Mixed Triples but ended up in the last event finishing Top 4 in Mixed Doubles 501.
This trip seemed to take the most out of her but in the end she still shined at times and found some success. She has such amazing sponsors who make the great products she uses and are tied to her success in some many ways. She is blessed to have the support of Winmau, L-Style Global, Magic Wear Sport Apparel and Dutchman Darts.
Sandy will be back in a couple of weeks playing a NC/SC Ladies Cup match in Greenville, SC.