Mosgiel men Vern Rizzi and Graeme Ryder have won a rare national darts title for the south.
The duo won the pairs title at the New Zealand chartered national championships in Invercargill over the last week.
In winning, the duo beat 109 other pairs from right round the country.
Rizzi (45) and Ryder (48) won the competition in a nine-leg final in an emphatic fashion, winning 5-0 in the final over a highly touted pair from the North Island.
Pairs darts has alternate throws from each player, having to start and end with a double, starting from a 501 score.
Having made it through section play, the Mosgiel duo made every post a winner in the knock-out sections, putting all contenders to the sword.
Rizzi said it was a ruthless competition but the pair threw some good darts and never went behind in any of the contests.
He said the win was still sinking in.
It was the first win of its kind at a national darts tournament for a Dunedin pair for at least 25 years, Rizzi said.
The success of the pair was all the better because Rizzi did not stay in Invercargill for the bulk of the tournament and travelled from his home in Mosgiel every day to get to the championships.
He said icy roads made the trip somewhat difficult but it was worthwhile when bagging the win.
The competition was white-hot due to the popularity of the sport, which has taken off with a world circuit in the past few years.
