On June 19, 1987 at the Fishing Boat Inn in Northumberland, shooter Tab Hunter (no, not the movie star!) recorded a brilliant 23 dart 1001 leg: 100-180-140-125-140-100-140-76. He averaged a fine 43.5 points per dart, ending the final 76 in two.

Open singles darts champion of Spain  

TAB HUNTER successfully retained his Open Singles Title Champion of Spain, when he played in the Spanish National Championships Darts in Zaragoza the last weekend of April.

A change of playing format this year saw the competition change from best of three at the last eighth-stage, to best of five, which proved to work for Tab, who won 3-1 in the last eight and 3-0 in the semi finals, and int the final.

Finals day arrived and it was neck and neck with Tab taking the first leg and the third, his Madrid opponent taking the second and the fourth.

Not at his best, Tab drew clear in the fifth and final leg to hit double ten with his second dart to become Open Singles Champion for the second year in a row.

The pairs final saw another close game, also going to five legs. Antonio Gonzalez having one dart at double 16 to take the title. It was not to be as the Alicante pair finished in their next throw.

Both Tab and Antonio were in the Malaga select team which won the Spanish Selection Team Championship.

Tab will not be able to defend his title next year as he will be playing in the Electronic Darts World Championships in Las Vegas at that time. His good form was previously on show at the first Coin Electronic Singles Championship on April 20 when he won first prize. Tab battled through six hours of dart throwing against players from all over Spain to win the final 2-1, before claiming his prize of 1,000 euros and a trophy, which were presented to him by the mayor of Coin.

Darts champion Tab Hunter becomes Spain’s first professional player

Torremolinos dart player Tab Hunter is to become Spain’s first professional darts player. Having played in the UK for over 25 years in three different County squads (Northumberland, Co Durham and Tyne & Wear), and being one of the first players to be paid by the British Darts Organisation for the hitting the perfect nine dart game, he is steadily making his mark here in Spain.

Tab has been living on the Costa del Sol for over two years and plays in the local Spanish and English leagues as well as entering competitions all over Spain. He is currently Spanish Singles Champion and in 2005 was Gibraltar Open Singles Champion. He has been Andalusian Champion for two years running and has triumphed in competitions as far away as Madrid, Huelva and Alicante.

Tab has recently taken up the electronic darts game and has already gained two national pairs titles. Three weeks ago he won the Seville Open Electronic Championship, winning through a strong field from all over Spain. Tab is sponsored by Union Jack Easy Storage removals and Bar Los Geranios in Torremolinos but is always on the lookout for further sponsorship. He aims to organise darts exhibitions at venues along the coast and further afield. Any bar or hotel interested in staging an exhibition with Tab should contact him.

(Taken from the Euro Weekly News)