SCOTT Mitchell claimed Vizcaya International Open glory in Bilbao – and admitted victory had taken the edge off missing Bournemouth Air Festival.

Bransgore-based Scotty Dog crushed Wayne Warren 6-1 in the final having seen off Michael Unterbuchner 5-2 in the semis and Chris Landman 5-0 in the quarters.

The exploits of the farmer and landscape gardener earned him more than £2,250, which to some extent made up for missing the sun-kissed aerial displays back home.

Mitchell told the Daily Echo: “I was gutted because every year I seem to miss the air festival, no matter what weekend it’s on.

“When you farm on the flight line into Bournemouth Airport, you see everything fly in and out. You don’t live this close to the airport and not have an interest in planes.

“Winning in Spain was some kind of consolation. The air festival wouldn’t have paid the same money for me to attend!

“It was good to win. I’d missed a couple of tournaments in August for various reasons, mainly work.

“I went to Sweden, played okay and lost in the quarter-finals of one of those events. But this weekend I was right back on it, which was really pleasing.

“I had felt rusty in Sweden but was on it from the start this time. No one took a lot of legs off me all day.

“It was 12, 13 and 14-darters and the odd 11 – everything felt right.

“It was good for my ranking so that probably seals my place at the Grand Slam of Darts in November.”