
![]() Hurricane Sandy skidded the coast during this year's annual Halloween tournament in Myrtle Beach and caused Sandy's ladies double's partner to cancel her plans to attend. She was lucky to find a talented replacement at the last minute in Candra McClellen and they had success together winning the 501 title and finishing 2nd in Cricket. She also teamed with Ryan Barnette for a 2nd place finish in Cricket and Top 4 in 501. Sandy, Ryan and fellow L-style teammate Larry Butler finished 2nd in 501 Mixed Triples. In ladies singles she took Top 8 in Cricket and Top 4 in 501. She reached the stage, known as the" graveyard" four times and even won the costume contest. All in all she again won over 5% of the total purse.
![]() Sandy was on hand for her third Winmau World Masters representing the United States, the American Darts Organization, the Greenville Premier Dart Assocation and the South Carolina Upstate Dart League. This time she was also representing sponsors L-Style Global, Flying Bull Darts and Kryptonite Darts along with Major League Darts as well. She received a first round "bye" and faced a very talented opponent in the second round in Northern Ireland's Nicole Dillon in a best of 7 match. Sandy got off to a slow start and lost the first three legs only having a opportunity to win the second leg. But the champion she is she dug down deep and started to climb back into the match winning the next three legs to even the match 3-3. She continued her torrid pace in the last leg building a nice lead beating Nicole to the double, but it was there she encountered problems and missed several doubles allowing her opponent to get a chance, a chance that she took full advantage of. Nicole's double 20 sent Sandy home earlier than she had hoped for. There is no shame losing in this world class field of ladies but a feeling of disappointment for opportunities missed. Next year is another year and hopefully another chance to pursue the dream of being World Champion. ![]() Sandy was playing is this event for the third time and after finishing in the Top 32 last year and she was aiming for a better result this time around. The event was held at Costello Stadium and drew darters from around the world. We were honored to meet the CEO of L-Style Global who was on hand to track the progress of his sponsored players and Team Japan. She had a first round "bye" and her second round match against Sanne Jorgensen of Denmark turned out to be a forfeit. In the third round she played Poland's Agnieszka Lega and threw well earning a 3-0 victory. In a room full of world class players she advanced to the fourth round against Kirsi Viinikaznen of Finland and her toughest match of the day began with a loss in the first leg. Sandy evened things up tossing a 15 dart game in the second leg but the talented Finnish player answered with a 14 dart game to again take the lead. The fourth leg was close but she missed a couple of key shots and Kirsi took full advantage winning the match 3-1. For Sandy the Top 16 finish was her best finish ever in the Lakeside Qualifier and while the result was not as good as she had hoped for, it was a good tune up for the Winmau World Masters which is the reason all of us are here. ![]() The Colorado Open is one of our favorite events and one of the absolute best ran and well organized tournaments in the country. While Sandy enjoys it she has never had much success there and usually takes a couple of days to adjust to the thin air. This year she finally ended her drought there and found success in a few different events. While she did not get out of the second round with partners Joe Swick and fellow L-Style teammate Gloria Gutierrez in Mixed Triples, she earned a Top 16 finish in Mixed Doubles Cricket with Darin Young. She teamed with Marilyn Popp in Ladies Doubles winning 501 and finishing Top 4 in Cricket. In singles she took Top 8 in 501 and finished the tournament beating Paula Murphy 4-1 in the Ladies Cricket final which was played in front of a fairly large crowd and was the last match of the weekend. While Cricket is not the game played in the upcoming Winmau World Masters, it did serve as a huge confidence builder and her focus on Sunday was as good as it has been at anytime this year. Hopefully this win will serve as a stepping stone for her upcoming date with destiny. ![]() Sandy was in Denver to compete for a spot on the American team for next year's World Cup to be held in Canada, a place that has traditionally given her fits due to the higher altitude. This year was no different as she again struggled under these conditions. In the past she has never even reached the final bracket here but that streak came to an end on this her fourth trip to the Rocky Mountains. While she managed to make the finals throwing what were average darts for her at best, she could not advance and local favorite and fellow L-style teammate Brenda Roush earned yet another spot by outclassing the impressive field of Ladies finalists. While she was disappointed by her performance she enjoyed the chance to compete and hopes to do better in the thin air this weekend during the Colorado Open. |
Where in the world is Sandy San Diego?This blog features news, events and results from Sandy's dart travels. Archives
August 2023
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