Samson thirsts for more

DARTS
Derrick Samson admitted nerves got to him in the Asia Pacific Cup singles final in Palmerston North yesterday, but he's keen to go to the World Cup in the United States next year.

The Palmerston North player was part of the New Zealand Black Flights team which lost its hold on the international tournament when it finished second behind the powerful Australians.

Along with teammate Mihi George, who made the women's final where she was walloped by player-of-the-tournament Australian Corrine Hammond 4-0, Samson was the best-performed of the Black Flights.

"I was petrified before the match - it was the biggest game I've played," a disappointed Samson said after his 4-2 loss to Australian Peter Machin. "But up 2-0, I had chances to go three up, but missed and it gave him confidence," said Samson, who admitted it would have been nice to have had a drink to calm his nerves. He recently found he was unable to do this, being diagnosed with acute pancreatitis.

"It just relaxes me, and I can get into a rhythm. At the moment I feel as though I'm forcing the darts and not letting them go."

His first taste of playing for his country has made Samson hungry for more, though he knows he'll need to do plenty of work over the next few months.

"I'll have to chase tournaments and get into finals. It's going to take time to get comfortable playing without a drink, but I really enjoyed this week and want more."

The Black Flights went into yesterday's finals needing to win the teams game as well as the two singles finals, because the Australian women's pair of Hammond and Louise Ball had also made the final against Japan.

In the end, the Australians made no race of it, winning all four finals, though the team and women's pair were tight affairs.

Japanese player Yuka Hamasaki was disconsolate after she and partner Mayumi Ouchi had let a 3-2 lead slip, losing the last two games after missing doubles. Earlier the Black Flights let a lead slip against Australia as well.

The most exciting game of the day was in the men's pairs where Malaysians Selbaraju Subramaniam and Anandan Tandrian threw brilliant arrows to beat the high-scoring Japanese duo Taro Yachi and Atsushi Takeuchi 4-3.

Australia's hot form yesterday won it the Asia Pacific title for the first time in more than a decade.

With its two finals appearances Japan finished third, ahead of Malaysia, while Hong Kong was well back.

Finals, Teams: Australia bt New Zealand 4-2. Pairs, Men: Malaysia bt Japan 4-3. Women: Australia bt Japan 4-3. Singles, Men: Australia bt New Zealand 4-2, Women: Australia bt New Zealand 4-0.

Final points: Australia 296, New Zealand 216, Japan 186, Malaysia 152, Hong Kong 62. (story source)