Darts - Primary school teacher who plays for Nairn club is crowned Inverness Singles Champion for the first time in her career
MORVEN Sandison was on target for success as she was crowned Inverness Singles Darts Champion for the first time in her career.
The primary school teacher from Alness, who plays for Nairn club Seaforth B in the Inverness Darts League, took the title when she defeated Sarah Stephen from Innes X in the final 2-1.
It is an incredible achievement for the 27-year-old as she has only been playing competitive darts for around 12 months.
Making her debut at the Inverness Singles Championship, Sandison was thrilled to land the biggest title of her darts career so far.
She said: “I had played in a singles competition previously for players who were in the Inverness C League where I managed to get to the quarter finals.
“But I hadn’t played in a women’s singles event before. It was a close final where either of us could have won as the score was level at 1-1.
“We were playing for the last leg, I stuck in and managed to get the job done which was great.”
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Originally from Tongue in North Sutherland, Sandison first took up the game while working in a hotel when she was a university student.
She only played darts casually until she was encouraged to play competitively and joined the Seaforth B team based in Nairn.
She is enjoying playing in competitions and the success that she has achieved so far in her career.
She said: “I play darts at home with my boyfriend and it was his sister’s fiance who started the Seaforth B darts team at Nairn.
“He invited me to come and join the team and I have really enjoyed it and everyone has been so encouraging in me playing for the team.
“I started to take darts more seriously as I have been wanting to improve my game and the captain has been really encouraging and pushed me to do things. They believe in me that I can do quite well in the women’s game.
“Through that, others have encouraged me to go and play in the Highland Super League. That is where I met other girls who were really helpful in getting me into different competitions and encouraging me to go through different things.”
Sandison says since playing the sport competitively, she says taking part in events has made her a better darts player.
She said: “You develop your ability quicker when you play in league competitions, when I was just throwing at home, I didn’t feel that I was getting better and taking it seriously enough.
“But in the last year I feel I have improved my consistency and I am practicing more than before. I am happy with the progress I have made in such a short amount of time.
“I have only played competitively a year, I played last summer in the C League and this winter in the C League with my team.
“I have also been playing in the Highland Super League as well. I have really enjoyed it and getting through to the next stages and all the people who are involved in the league are really nice.”
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Sandison was part of the Seaforth B team which won promotion from the Inverness C League during the winter season and will also be playing for them in the Inverness Summer League which starts this week.
Buoyed by her success, she is looking forward to competing in other competitions this year and being in contention to winning more titles.
“I want to try different competitions, the Courtney McBain Shield in Elgin takes place in a few weeks and I will compete in the mixed doubles and singles competitions.
“It is still quite new to me so I am still trying to figure out how it all works.
“I will look to make the Highland Counties team through that. Hopefully I also do well with Seaforth B in the summer league and winter league.”
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