The West is awake with superb tournament at Leitrim's Landmark

THE beautiful Leitrim town of Carrick-On-Shannon played host to one of the big darts events of the year as up to 500 players descended on the Landmark Hotel for a hotly contested West Coast Challenge tournament over the weekend.

The event has become a major addition on the Irish darting calendar, as it gives counties rights across Ireland's west coast, and a little beyond, a chance to prepare for the upcoming INDO inter-county championships over the next few months.

The preparations for this year's tournament landed on the shoulders of Leitrim Darts chairman, Brian Kelly, and his crew.

They certainly didn't disappoint as they put on a superb West Coast Challenge for 2025 that ran seamlessly.

Speaking to Darts In Ireland, Brian said the friendly atmosphere in which the tournament was held was a particular highlight for him.

Brian said: "With darts, it's a family. Everyone knows each other and everyone looks out for each other. We will have up to 480 to 500 players here over the weekend and they will get on with it, look out for each other, and hopefully have a great time."

However, Brian stressed that the competitive nature to the tournament is what really attracts all the counties to come again each year.

He added: "It's been a great competitive tournament. Even when I was in the men's management meeting on Saturday morning, the toss of the coin to decide which teams had the darts was even competitive.

"There were lads cheering if they won the toss. It means that much to people as they are representing their county."

The tournament saw some of the best men's, women and youth players in the country turn up to play for the likes of Donegal, Mayo, Sligo, Galway, Cavan, Westmeath, Roscommon, Longford, Limerick, Clare and Brian's Leitrim teams.

Brian said: "Donegal, Mayo and Sligo are the three previous winners of the men's team event and have had strong teams here. Having said Leitrim are more than holding their own now, we had four teams in the quarter finals in the doubles competitions on Friday, so that shows how much we are coming on.

"We have a youths academy in Leitrim now and we have 28 to 30 players, which might not sound a lot, but it's a big achievement for us. We're growing it year on year and we are getting stronger."

Some of the big winners over the weekend included the Mayo Men's A team, as they reclaimed the West Coast Challenge trophy with a victory over the Donegal B team in a superb final.

The Cavan Ladies team won their second West Coast Challenge in a row with victory over Galway in their final, while Cavan player Paula Smith, who won the Ladies singles last year, was beaten in the final this year by Donegal's Denise Cassidy.

There was further success for Donegal in the Youth competitions, as the Donegal B team won the cup, while Donegal A were shield winners, while  Donegal Youth player Jackson Timoney completed the treble by winning the team, singles and doubles events.

The Donegal Ladies team also won the shield, while the Sligo B team were the Men's shield winners.