Portsmouth local makes the grand final in national amateur darts tournament

Following a nationwide tournament in which amateur darts players from across the nation attempted to complete a timed ‘around the clock’ challenge, 11 finalists competed in the Grand Final on Friday, March 28, with Danny ‘The Pearl’ Seale from Portsmouth representing the region as a finalist out of thousands of entrants. Nile ‘Hotshot’ Gott from Darlington took home the title, cup, and £5,000 cash prize.

Marston’s teamed up with Darts World No. 1 ‘Cool Hand Luke’ Humphries on the Cool Hand Cup which saw locals from 700 pubs across the UK step up to oche to secure their place on the leaderboard, and at the Grand Final.

Hosted at Marston’s pub The White Hart in Ashby, 2 finalists from the North East, North West, West Midlands, East, South and 1 from Wales competed in a series of quarter-final and play-off matches to determine who took home the cup and had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to play 2024 World Matchplay Champion and the reigning Players Championship Final Champion, Luke Humphries.

The four finalists who achieved the fastest times after completing the challenge in their local pubs automatically proceeded to the quarter-finals.

Danny ‘The Pearl’ Searle battled it out against the remaining finalists in a series of play-off matches.

In the final, Nile ‘Hotshot’ Gott won the Cool Hand Cup after securing a time of 1:40.55. Matt ‘Rocket’ Stevenson came in second place and James ‘Jambo’ Walton placed third, after successfully making it to the play-offs.

Danny ‘The Pearl’ Searle, Cool Hand Cup finalist said: “Meeting Luke was one of the highlights of the day and getting to see him play live was unreal. The atmosphere has been great. The team at Marston’s pub and other players have been so welcoming- I couldn’t have asked for a better day.”

Nile ‘Hotshot’ Gott was crowned the overall winner, taking home £5,000 in cash, £180 Marston’s Love My Local gift card, a set of Luke Humphries Red Dragon darts and of course, the Cool Hand Cup trophy. He also had the opportunity to play Luke Humphries in the best of five legs in traditional 501 darts in the final game of the night.

None of the finalists went home empty-handed, as 2nd place Matt ‘Rocket’ Stevenson, from Belper, received a £150 Marston’s gift card, 3rd place, James ‘Jambo’ Walton from Hull, received a £100 Marston’s gift card, and all finalists received a set of Luke Humphries Red Dragon darts.

Neil Campbell, Chief Operating Officer at Marston’s, said: “We’ve loved watching punters up and down the country get involved in the Cool Hand Cup and it was a pleasure to host the 11 finalists in Ashby for the Grand Final. The atmosphere was fantastic, with a very exciting final match to finish off proceedings. On behalf of Marston’s, I’d like to offer huge congratulations to all our finalists and of course to Nile ‘Hotshot’ Gott.”