Irina Armstrong
Irina Armstrong (Russian: Ирина Армстронг; born Irina Loginova on December 6, 1970) is a Russian-born German darts player, nicknamed "Ice Baby".
| Irina Armstrong | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Nickname | "Ice Baby" |
| Born | 6 December 1970 Vologda, Russia |
| Home town | Gangelt, Germany |
| Darts information | |
| Playing darts since | 2001 |
| Darts | 23g Unicorn |
| Laterality | Right |
| Walk-on music | "Sex on Fire" by Kings of Leon |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |
| BDO | 2001–2020 |
| WDF | 2001- |
| BDO majors – best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Semi Final: 2011 |
| World Masters | Quarter Final: 2008, 2013 |
| World Darts Trophy | Last 16: 2015 |
| Finder Masters | Semi Final: 2009 |
| Other tournament wins | |
| Tournament | Years |
| Brabant Open Chris de Roo Starlight Open Belgium Open Roermond Open World Cup Ladies' Pairs Finland Open German Gold Cup Dortmumd Open Zercom Open Open Holland French Open Primus Masters Flanders Open England Open Czech Open Swiss Open Denmark Open Swedish Open Hungarian Open Luxembourg Open | 2002 2004 2004, 2005 2006 2006 2007 (with Anastasia Dobromyslova) 2007 2008, 2009 2008 2008 2008 2008, 2010, 2011 2008 2008, 2009 2009 2009 2010, 2011 2011, 2012 2011 2011 2011 |
Career
Armstrong started out playing ten-pin bowling until she was pregnant and decided to pick up darts. From then, she has quickly risen to be one of the top women players in the world. She picked up wins in the singles and pairs events in the Belgium Open and Finland Open, and followed it up with a win in the German Open pairs with Carina Ekberg of Sweden.[1] Armstrong's greatest achievement to date came at the 2007 WDF World Cup in Rosmalen, Netherlands, where she won the women' pairs title with Anastasia Dobromyslova.
Armstrong's performances in 2008 included wins in the French Open, Dortmund Open, German Gold Cup, Open Holland, and the Primus Masters. She was also the runner-up of the England Open, Swiss Open, and the Danish Open, and moved to as high as third in the world rankings.
Despite her successes during 2008, Armstrong was surprisingly overlooked for a place in the Zuiderduin Masters, a BDO major held in the Netherlands. Having missed out initially on an automatic place for the tournament by just one place, a spot was made available after Anastasia Dobromyslova was forced to withdraw from the competition, but it was given to Lisa Ashton instead, who would go on to win the tournament. Still hoping for a wild card, the card was handed to German player Monique Lessmeister, who at the time was ranked 66 places below Armstrong in the world rankings.
Armstrong continued her good form into 2009 and secured qualification for the Lakeside World Championship by winning the England Open. She also made up for last year's disappointment by ensuring qualification for the Zuiderduin.
2010 saw Armstrong at Lakeside for the first time, losing the quarter finals to Deta Hedman. During the course of the year, Armstrong had the following results:
- 2010 Lakeside debut
- 2010 German Open, runner up
- 2010 Open North Holland, Champion
- 2010 Mariflex Open, runner up
- 2010 Antwerp Open, semi finalist
- 2010 Swiss Open, champion
- 2010 Belgium Open, semi finalist
- 2010 Sweden Open, runner up
- 2010 Welsh Masters, semi finalist
- 2010 British Open, semi finals
Armstrong once again qualified for Lakeside, 2011, and lost in the semi finals. Other results went well this year and were as follows:
- Czech open 2nd
- Sweden 1st
- French open 1st
- Luxembourg 2nd
- Centreparcs pairs 2nd singles 2nd
- Top of ghent 2nd
- GCO mixed 3rd, ladies pairs 1st, singles 2nd
- German Masters 1st
- German Open Ladies pairs ( with Lorraine Farlam ): Runners Up
- Hungarian Open Ladies singles: Champion
- Hungarian Open Ladies pairs ( with Liza Pugina ): Champions
- Swiss Open Ladies singles: Champion
- Swiss Open Ladies pairs ( with Karina Känzig ): Champions
- Denmark 1st
- DDV ranking, Marl champion
- Scottish Open 2nd
- Dutch Open semis singles, pairs runner up
- Lakeside 3rd
2012 came and Armstrong again qualified for Lakeside ( 2013 ). Overall results for the year were as follows:
- German gold cup 2nd
- Scottish open 3rd
- Ddv ranking Karlsruhe 1st
- Mariflex 2nd
- Denmark 1st
- German Masters Champ
- English Open 3rd
- GCO 2nd
- Antwerp 3rd
- French Open 1st
- Top of ghent 1st
- Estonia Open 1st
WDF World Ranking
Ever since breaking into the top 10 of the WDF world rankings in 2007 (5th), Armstrong has been ever present in the Top 3.
5th 2007
2nd 2008
2nd 2009
3rd 2010
2nd 2011
2nd 2012
3rd 2013
International appearances
Armstrong started her international career with her native Russia where she won a gold medal in the Ladies Pairs with Anastasia Dobromyslova. Armstrong always felt though that it was not right playing for Russia as she never played in any Russian ranking events in order to qualify for the team. Having lived in Germany for many years, and with the German organisation asking her on several occasions, Armstrong took time out from international appearances in order to be eligible for the German team. In 2013, she made her debut at the WDF World Cup singles for Germany in Canada where she finished runner up to England's Deta Hedman. This was not her debut for Germany though she had previously played in the Lorna Croft Friendship Cup, helping Germany to win it for the first time in its history. She also played for Germany in the WDF Europe Cup.
Personal life
Armstrong is married to Englishman John Armstrong, with two children, son Christian and daughter Ksenia. She currently resides in Gangelt, Germany and previously lived in the Netherlands. She is fluent in German and English.
Her main hobby outside of darts is making jewellery, which, whilst it started as a hobby, has now become a quickly grown business.