Isle of Man darts player Darren Kennish represented the Celtic Nations at the World Paradart Trophy in Belgium over the weekend.

Darren - known as ‘Manx Magic’ Kennish - competed alongside Ricky ‘The Trickster’ Chilton, Mark ‘Ironside’ Couchman and Mick ‘The Missile’ Jones in the event.

Kennish teamed up with Northern Ireland’s Couchman on the opening night and topped their qualifying group to progress to the quarter-finals where they beat the New Zealand pair Rob Gillan and Patrick Morrison 3-1.

In the semi-finals they faced England’s Amar Dehar and Phil Lees and won 3-0 to book their place in the final where they went up against Vincent D’hondt and Serge Van Belle of the host nation.

Kennish and Couchman raced into an early 2-0 lead but then found themselves 3-2 down and, despite forcing a last-leg decider, it was the home players that edged the contest 4-3.

It was a brilliant final in which both sides played at an amazing level, giving the crowd a real showcase final.

On Saturday, Kennish competed under the Celtic Nations flag and helped his team see off Belgium B 9-1 followed by a 9-5 defeat to the Netherlands before going on to beat Denmark B 9-3 to book their place in the quarter-finals.

There they played Belgium A in what was described as an exhibition of darts, with the Celtic Nations going 2-0 ahead before the darts really got flowing with plenty of 13-dart legs in a nail-biting match.

In the end, the Belgians won 9-6 then followed this up with a 9-1 demolition of Hungary and a 9-1 demolition of Frame in the final to clinch the World Trophy for the hosts.

On Sunday, Kennish and Couchman found themselves in the same group but the Manxman recorded a 2-0 win over his team-mate followed by further wins to top the group, with Couchman also qualifying.

Kennish then defeated Wilco Wassink 2-0 to book his place in the last eight where he beat another Belgian 3-0 but his run was ended by D’hondt 3-1 in the semi-finals who went on to win the trophy.

l Darren would like to thank his wife and granddaughter and the Celtic Nations team-mates for all of their support, plus both England teams.

Thanks also go to John West for all his help and advice and World ParaDarts for putting on an excellent competition that showcased the best of disability darts.