Europe Cup 2009

Zoe wins Europe Cup Youth Singles and Doubles Titles 2009

Last weekend Zoe made her 2nd International appearance for the England Youth Darts team. The 20th Europe Youth Cup took place in Veldhoven last weekend and was hosted by the Netherlands Dart Bond.Sixteen Teams made up of four under 18 boys and 2 under 18 girls represented their countries from all over Europe.

We arrived Thursday morning and Zoe first game was to be at 8pm that evening for the start of the round robin pairs KO with her England team mate Lauren Hitchens. With several hours practice under her belt Zoe and Lauren breezed through their opening games beating, Sweden 3-1, Wales 3-0, and Finland 3-0, the evening came to a close and they would resume the rest of their group games the following morning.
On Friday the started slowly losing 3-0 to Russia but soon got back to winning ways beating Turkey 3-0, and Germany 3-0. When all the points were added up England had come out as group winners and had reached the semi Final stages were they would face Hungary on Finals day.

With all the doubles matches completed it was the start of the singles Round robin matches. Zoë was in group 2 of 4,
Zoe first game was against Kimberley Lewis (Wales) the 2007 Champion and 2007 World Masters Champion, but this didn’t faze Zoe as she won 3-0 with a 15, 18, and 17 dart legs. Zoe next game was against Adrien Vegso (Hungary) and continuing in the same form as her previous game Zoe won 3-0. Game 3 was against Thea Kaaijk (Netherlands) this was Zoe only blip of the day losing 3-2 scoring well but just couldn’t find the finishing double. Zoë was soon back to winning ways though beating Kristtin-Elise Schou (Norway) 3-0 and Anna Maria Schulze of Germany 3-0.Again all the points were added up and Zoe had again emerged as group winner and went through to the knock out stages and the final 16 players.

Zoe first game in the knock out stages was against Gemma Bowen (Wales) again Zoe made light work of the game and won 3-0.Now with only one more game to go to reach the stage semi finals Zoe would have to play the reigning Winmau World Champion and 2008 Europe cup runner up Linda Odén (Sweden) again Zoe was off to a flying start winning the first two legs in 15 and 16 darts, Linda then won the third leg in 21 darts only for Zoe to win the forth leg and the match 3-1 and go through to her second semi final of the day to be played on Saturday.

Finals day Zoe was on the practice board at 8am preparing play her England Team mate Lauren Hitchens in the first stage semi finals at 10am.With a nerves start by both girls, Zoe lost first leg but soon levelled the score to 1-1, Zoe then started to find her range and took the third leg in 15 darts with a 130 game shot, now only one leg away from the final Zoe continued to find the scores and took the forth leg to win the match 3-1 to book her place in the final with a 22.84 average,

With only a Ten minute break Zoe had to return to the stage for her pair’s semi final against Hungary in a hard fought match Zoe and Lauren ran out 3-2 winners, Zoe making to her second final of the day.

Zoe was to play against Finland’s Aliisa Koskivirta in the Girls Singles Final. Zoe won the toss and started the first leg scoring well and only needed one dart at double top to secure the first leg. Aliisa started the second leg strong but Zoe played excellent with 2 x100 scores and a 137 to leave double top which she finished in 2 darts. The third leg was as close as can be with Aliisa having 57 point left and Zoe 31. Again Zoe was the coolest and finished 31 in 2 darts. Single 15 double 8, with the championship already in mind Zoe rushed through the last leg and
finished 59 again in 2 darts while Aliisa was at 174.Zoe winning 4-0 recording a 24.89 average and an overall championship average of 22.74 the highest ever recorded in the 20 years history of the completion.

When the winning double went in Zoe went down on her knees and let all
the emotion and tension of the last days out. A very emotional moment from
the deserved winner of the Girls Singles Finale.

After winning the Girls Single Final Zoe Jones could not go out and party,
she had another final to play together with her mate Lauren Hitchens
against neighbours Wales. Kimberley Lewis and Gemma Bowen. In the first leg Zoe continued to show the great form she was in and hit double top to go 1 leg up, the second leg Wales had the opportunity to get back in the game. Unfortunately for the Welsh, the double were missed and that gave Zoe the chance to also win the second leg and that chance wasn’t missed and made it 2-0. The third leg was not as close as the second. Zoe and Lauren started to hit the numbers
they wanted and ended the third leg quickly. In the fourth leg the pressure was on Zoe and Lauren but the Welsh girls could not take advantage of the situation and the leg ended in a very tight battle for the double, Zoe and Lauren getting their first for a 4-0 victory and Zoe second gold medal of the day.

Zoe has only been playing darts for just under two years now .She plays for Warwickshire Youth Team and the Worcestershire Senior .At Youth level since January of this year Zoe has won many tournaments. She is the current Scottish Open Youth champion, Eastbourne England Classic champion where Zoe was the only girl to enter and beat off the other 53 under 18 boys , England Open Youth champion, Walton Youth champion, German Open Youth champion and now the European Youth Champion 2009.In seven months Zoe has gained 6 converted Winmau places which she will play in the Winmau World Youth Masters in Bridlington in September. At senior level Zoe has been making a name for her herself on the BDO International circuit where she picks up valuable Ranking points. Zoë is currently ranked 13th in the World at senior level. In Germany this year Zoe knocked out the Welsh International player Julie Gore to go into the last 8.

In the Welsh Classic Zoe went one better and reached the semi final of the senior ladies event. Zoë also won the Northants Ladies Open this year beating Deta Headman in the quarter finals .Zoe also won the Sportsdale Ladies Open in Long Eaton earlier this year. She has also had success as a pairs. In the mixed pairs Zoe plays with Ross Montgomery Scottish International and last year they reached the final of the Welsh Open Pairs. This year in the Isle of Man Zoe made the final of the ladies pairs with her partner Stephanie Smee.Zoe has also started to do exhibitions and held a very successful one at Redditch Trades and Labour Zoe played 22 legs that night and won 19.Zoe could like to take this opportunity of thanking the committee and all the members of Redditch Trades and Labour who have again Sponsored her for £3000.Without this continued support none of the above would have been possible. The club is an excellent darts venue with a fantastic stage that the club have built for Zoe to practice at the club with her practice partner Graham Evans who has given up valuable time to practice with Zoe.This weekend Zoe was told that she has been selected to go to America in September to play in the World Cup which will be attended by 36 Countries. Each senior dart team take one youth boy and one youth girl. Zoë will be joined by Shaun Griffiths Lisa Ashton, Trina Gulliver, and Martin Adams. Tony O’Shea, Darryl Fitton and Scott Waites.Zoe thoroughly deserves to be in the squad and is looking forward to going to America to represent her Country .We now only have a small amount of time to raise funds for Zoe to be able to live this dream. If anyone would like to contribute towards Zoë’s trip please contact her on her website zoejones.co.uk or on 01527 61183.Most days Zoe can also be found at Redditch Trades and Labour practicing.

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