THORPE Willoughby's Stuart Limbert reached the 2017 final of the Streamline Taxis York Open Darts Championships before succumbing 7-2 to Mike Atkinson, of Howden.

Atkinson was one of three new champions at the event, which is staged in association with Red Dragon Darts and York Print and is now in its seventh year at Huntington WMC.

After Atkinson (20-20-16) strolled into a 3-0 lead, Limbert (20) pulled a leg back.

Another 20-dart effort saw Atkinson restore his three-leg advantage, before Limbert closed in 18.

Three legs on the bounce, though, sealed it for Atkinson in 19-20 and 17 darts.

Atkinson's average was 26.90 with Limbert's being 24.99 and both players hitting a maximum during the final.

Both the semi-finals had earlier gone the full distance with Atkinson (14-17-16-18-18 and 18) coming back from 2-0 down against the 2017 Order of Merit Winner Mark Lawrence (21-17-15-24 plus 107 finish for 18 darts) to win 6-5 with both players adding a 180 score.

Limbert progressed to the final after a 6-5 win over Stephen Silver (22-22-20-20-21) thanks to winning legs of 12-18-16-18-23 and 27 and two 180s in his average of 23.59.

In response, Silver threw one maximum as part of his 24.00 average.

The quarter-final results were: Limbert (117 finish and a 180 score) 5, Ian Atkin 3; Atkinson (15-15-11-12 and 14) 5, David Copley 1; Silver (16-16 plus a 180) 5, Bill Haugue 0; Lawrence (13-14-19-20 and 21) 5, Mark Hartley 0.

There were a total of 19 180s recorded and 92 legs of 21 darts or less.

Hartley won the prize for the highest checkout with a 152 finish followed by Copley (126), Limbert (117, 114) and Lawrence (107).

In the ladies event, it was Gill Vine (13.77 average) who came out on top defeating Cheryl Corner (13.24), playing in her first darts event, 3-1 in the final.

Vine beat Linda Staveley 3-1 in the semi-finals, while Corner edged a 3-2 win over Jo Hodges - the latter claiming a 21-dart leg.

The quarter-final results were: Hodges 3, Val Wilson 2; Staveley 3, Sherry Stockdale 2; Corner 3, Nikki Johnson 0; Vine 3, Becky Thompson 0.

In the youth under-18 final, Tom Dawson (24.24 average) threw legs of 19-22 and 21 to defeat last year's youth champion Leighton Bennett (22.02) 3-0 in the final.

Dawson (17) overcame Ryan Lea 3-1 in the semi-finals, with Bennett beating Adam Pearce by the same margin.

The winners of the Streamline Taxis York Open Darts Championship Order of Merit were Lawrence, Hodges (highest-ranked female) and Dawson (highest-ranked youth).

Ashes Associates LLP, Synergy Cleaning, Viking Building & Joinery Contractors Ltd and Out and About Dog Walking York were the board sponsors for the tournament.

The next event on the York Darts Promotions' calendar is The Holy Moly's Darts Masters, which has a guaranteed first prize of £1,000 and takes place on Saturday, October 28.

A limit of 128 entries will be accepted and places can be booked by contacting Neil Hart on 07921 128063 or via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/neil.hart.9