Darts stars Johnston and Parkin sparkle in ADC Vault Series
Local darts stars have been battling it out as the new season of the ADC Vault series has kicked off.
The series of round robin events take place over a seven-week period with in Yorkshire and Humberside there are more than 25 weekly round robins which allow players to accumulate ranking points which go onto the regional tables and go towards the regional and national finals.
Full details and breakdown are on the ADC’s website.
The Scarborough and Whitby area have three events each week.
On Monday November 17, The Flask Inn played host to the region’s first event.
Gary Johnston ran out a worthy winner on the night, beating fellow Whitby star Richie Parkin in the final 3-1, posting an average of 78.42 in the process.
Parkin though did have the honour of posting the night’s highest average, posting 88.41 on two occasions, once in the group stage and in the quarter-final.
Semi-finalists on the night were Mick Carrick and Mike Hobson and quarter-final honours go to Morgan Noble, Richard Major, Andrew Thomas and Danny Lans.
On Thursday November 20, the area has a choice of two events for the first time in this series.
Scarborough Cricket Club hosted its first-ever event, Lee Cusworth scooping the £50 prize and 32 ranking points.
Cusworth beat Graham Usher 3-0 in the final, with an average of 83.5, to Usher’s 80.71.
Semi-finalists, receiving 16 points, were Oliver Mitchell, who posted a high average on the night of 108.5 in a 3-1 victory over Usher in the groups, and Sam Spivey (90.62) who lost out to Usher (94.73) 3-2.
Quarter-finalists, receiving eight points, were Joe Usher, Paul Yorke, Brad Milburn and Kieran Rutter.
Also on Thursday was the weekly event at the Whitby Conservative Club, which saw a repeat final from Monday’s event at The Flask Inn.
This time however it was Richie Parkin who took the spoils against Gary Johnston, by the same 3-1 scoreline.
Parkin showed consistent quality all night, with an average of 80.77 for the full event.
Semi-finalists were Daniel Johnson and Mick Carrick and quarter-finalists were Rich Nicholson, Mark Jackson, Andrew Thomas and Lewis Peel.
The November 24 edition at The Flask Inn saw Johnston once again walk away with the victory, dropping just one leg in the knockout phase, averaging 80.5 for the night, picking up victories against Graham Usher in the quarter-final, Danny Lans in the semi-final and Tom Dawson in the final.
Other quarter-finalists were Andrew Thomas, Mike Hobson and Joe Usher, the other semi-finalist was Richie Parkin.
The November 27 event at Scarborough CC was won by Graham Usher with a 3-0 victory over Tom Dawson in the final.
Usher piled in six 180’s in his seven games on the night, dropping just two legs all night.
Semi finalists were Craig Hill and Phil Hoggarth, and making the quarter-final was Daniel Patterson, Dave Butterfield, Ryan Hanlon and Jacob Lawlor.
The regional tables make good reading for the local players, Gary Johnston sitting in fifth on 48 points, Richie Parkin in sixth – both of which are in the provisional spots to join Oliver Mitchell and Graham Usher in securing their place in the 2026 Vault finals.
The top 32 will qualify for the end of season play-offs to try and secure a week’s spot on the Modus Super Series as well as a cash payout for the top 16.
Registration is now open for the upcoming weeks event via the Dart Atlas website, for more information on these events please feel free to contact Joe Usher.