Bell books place in Lowe v Mitchell final

Competing at the Liberal Club this week, 28 players were all trying to win and progress through to the main event and be skippered in the team event by icons Scott Mitchell or John Lowe.

The six winners made the teams automatically, with the 12 highest point scorers taking the the remaining places.

This competition was a double-in double-out format.

Early rounds saw Paul Tuplin defeat Carl Ashwell 2-0 and Bell beat Sean Willis 2-0.

Scott Smith was the highest point scorer going into the night and assured of his place, but he wanted to win.

He took on Hayley Reeson, winning 2-0 to move into the next round, where he found Sam Hewson waiting for him.

Scott again won this one 2-0 before beating Lee Woods by the same score to reach the semis.

Mark Williams, who had beaten Rick Seaman and Kristian Thein, those two scoring enough points to make the final, also made the final four.

Pete Evans needed to win the event to progress and he beat Chris Fletcher 2-1, then Jim Wilson 2-0 and Lee Yates 2-1 to book his semi spot.

Bell had made steady progress to the semis with hard-fought victories over Mark Simpson and Nick Casswell, though Caswell has enough points to also go through.

The first semi-final saw Bell beat Smith 2-1 to progress to the final.

Next up was Williams versus Evans, the latter the stronger.

Williams, however, also secured enough points to progress to the showpiece event.

The final was dictated by the first double as Bell won the first leg, then Evans took nine darts to start in the second, where Martin was away straight away and took full advantage to record a 2-0 win to progress through.

After six qualifying rounds with more than 60 players taking part, the whole venture again has been a huge success.

Lowe, a three-time World Champion, will captain the team of Chris Simpson, Spencer Davis, Carl Abbiss and Scott Smith, who will all play singles for him.

John will then play pairs with Rick Seaman, Gordon Smith, Kristian Thein, Mark Williams and Terry Cox.

Scott Mitchell, who was only nine-years-old when John won his first title, won his World title in 2015 and is the current England captain.

He will lead Mark Carter, Neil Cook, Martin Bell and Stewart Giles in the singles and team up with David Tuplin, Lee Yates, Eric Hammond, Darrell Webb and Nick Casswell in the pairs.

This event will all take place at the Liberal Club on Friday, February 23.

Entry for spectators will be free.

Team Lowe is Sponsored by Cein Rymer and Team Mitchell is sponsored by Stuart Hodson Tyres.

A knockout event will be held at the Seaview on February 11.

Entry costs £2 and the winner will receive two tickets for Caven and Priestley night coming up in March.