TEENAGE tungsten prodigy Leighton Bennett took a remarkable win at the 2019 Southern Counties Darts Open at the George Albert Hotel.

Bennett, 13, a JDC Player who had travelled from Lincolnshire, took the Southern Counties Title and £2,000 prize money on offer by beating Andy Aspinall 6-3 in the final.

Bennett showed little signs of nerves on the big occasion, defeating 2018 winner, and PDC player Johnny Haines 5-0 in the semi-final.

Aspinall, who had reached the final with a win over Kevin Painter, came back from 3-0 down to level the score at 3-3 but the youngster did not buckle.

Bennett showed incredible maturity and confidence to step up a gear to take the title 6-3, in front of a large crowd of spectators who were amazed at the talent of the youngster.

The ladies singles had 51 entries and Dorset’s Sam Kirton reached the semi-finals beating Dorset’s Sarah Chick and Devon’s Marie Martin in the knock-out stage.

Kirton lost against eventual winner Sue Gulliver from Devon.

Gulliver ended up taking the winning prize of £500 after an excellent final saw her beat Kate Drake from Buckinghamshire, who was defeated in her first final.

Drake has supported the competition every year and was on-form having knocked out two-time winner Suzie Trickett.

The mixed pairs saw all-Dorset semi-finals, as Carl Beattie and Sally Old made their first final appearance against Nigel Lamb and Cathy Campbell with both pairs being experienced county players.

It was a one sided game with Lamb and Campbell keeping up a fantastic record, winning their third mixed pairs title to take the £300 prize.

Sunday saw 224 players enter the Open Singles and contestants travelled from Dorset, Hampshire, Devon, Avon and Somerset, Cornwall, Berkshire, Wiltshire and Lincolnshire.

The competition attracts big names who play are well known in the darts world, and Painter made his first appearance at the George Albert, among many other well known players who play on the Professional Darts Challenge Tour.

The main organisers Cathy Campbell, Dean Daniels, Andy Masters and the George Albert would like to thank everyone who attended, the event raised £326 donated to Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance.