Darren Kennish got his 2023 season off to a winning start with victory in the Abergavenny Wheelchair Darts Open competition last weekend.

On Saturday he contested the Abergavenny Wheelchair Darts Classic event where he chalked up three 2-0 wins in his group against Steve Plimley, Ian Lewis and Nathan Butler.

This booked him a place in the semi-finals, only to lose 0-3 to Gavin Hibbert from England who then went on to win the competition.

The Abergavenny Open took place on Sunday and Kennish found himself in a tough group. But he got off to a good start with a revenge win over Hibbert, who had knocked him out of the Classic the day before.

He enjoyed another 2-0 win over Ian Lewis (England) and a 2-1 success over Kevin Stringer (also England).

This set up a semi-final match against England’s Amar Dehar, which Kennish won 3-0 to book a place in the final against his pairs partner, Mark Couchman of Northern Ireland.

At the end of what was a close contest, he ended up winning 3-1 to become Abergavenny Wheelchair Open Champion to land his first title of the year.

The Manxman conveys his congratulations to Mike Callaghan on doing the double in the standing section of the Abergavenny event, winning both Classic and Open titles.

Kennish is now looking forward to the Isle of Man Festival of Darts in March at the Villa Marina, which will have BDDA and World ParaDarts points up for grabs.

He wishes to thank his wife Janice and family for all their support, along with sponsors Horizon Darts/Laserdarts for fantastic equipment and shirts, Mike and Lorraine Callaghan for all their help getting him to Wales and safely back, John West for all his support and advice, and The Cookshack.

Also a massive thank you to Sarah Smale and the BDDA for another fantastic competition.

Darren is still looking for sponsors for the coming year of national and international competition. He can be contacted via email on the following address [email protected]

l The early BDDA Wheelchair Darts rankings for the 2023 season: 1, Mark Couchman (Northern Ireland) 345 points; 2, Darren Kennish (Isle of Man) 260; 3, Gavin Hibbert (England) 190; 4, Phil Lees (England) 136; 5, Amar Dehar (England) 124.