WARRNAMBOOL darts player Leigh Giblin says he’s struggling to take in the enormity of Victoria’s accomplishment in claiming the champion state title at the Darts Australia championships in Townsville.
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Giblin was one of eight men on the Victoria team, which also had eight women, in his first appearance at the national titles.
Victoria took out the Peter McMenamin Cup in both the men’s and the ladies’ categories, the mixed pairs, ladies pairs, men’s singles and produced the winner and runner-up in the ladies’ singles, leaving it with the highest points tally of the 10-day tournament.
The men’s team also finished third, with every state and territory bar the Northern Territory represented at the event.
Giblin was pleased with his own form in the high-pressure environment, but said there were some areas for improvement.
“It was definitely an eye-opening experience,” he said.
“One a personal note, it was pretty positive – I have played better, but in that environment it was pretty good.
“There was a lot of pressure on all the time to perform my best, which was a little bit daunting.
“The volume of the passion from everyone that’s there for their team and their state to perform was huge.”
A tough draw put an early end to Giblin’s singles campaign, but he said he won more games than he lost in the men’s doubles and in the mixed doubles he and partner Renata Downs made it to the top 16.
Victoria accumulated 571 points across the championships, finishing ahead of runner-up Queensland on 514.7 points and Western Australian on 478.4 points.
“We were fortunate enough in the Victorian side that we’ve got probably one of the best female players at the moment (in Tori Kewish) on our side and one of the best, if not the best, males in Justin Thompson,” Giblin said.