She has won more tournaments this year than all the other top Ladies darts stars in the world, but Irina Armstrong still has work to do to qualify for the World Championship.
The Russian has won another big event – the Swedish Open – but although she is No.4 in the BDO rankings, she isn’t yet guaranteed a spot at the Lakeside in January.
But a big run at the World Masters at the start of September could see the Unicorn ace achieve her dream of World Championship qualification.
And her Unicorn stablemate Anastasia Dobromyslova is hoping to follow suit, with success at the Masters, followed by a return to the Lakeside, where of course, she won her prized World Championship title back in 2008.
Anastasia has enjoyed a terrific year on her return to the BDO and she will be the No.6 seed for the World Masters, with Irina seeded 4th for the tournament in Hull, which runs from September 2 – 4.
Irina beat current World No.1 Deta Hedman to win the Swedish Open at the weekend and incredibly, she now holds SIX European titles!
She has won in Switzerland, Hungary, Luxembourg, France, Denmark and now Sweden…..Irina gained revenge for her defeat by Hedman in the final of last year’s Swedish Open.
She won a thriller 5-4 and would you believe, all nine legs in the final were won against the throw!
Irina secured impressive 4-0 wins in the quarter-finals and semi-finals against Lea Bokdalen and Jessica Patterson, before her nail-biting victory over Hedman in the final.
But a big few weeks on the cards for both Unicorn Ladies stars as they battle to secure that all important qualification for the World Championship at the Lakeside in the New Year……
By STUART PYKE (twitter @stuartpykesport)