World Grand Prix 2011 - Nights Three and Four

Firstly, I must apologise for the absence of write-ups for the last couple of days. An impromptu Theology Department curry prevented me from watching the 2nd night, whilst yesterday was spent at teacher training sessions (from Monday I shall have my very own group of students to teach - which is exciting and terrifying), thus preventing me from writing up the 3rd night. Letters of complaint for this shoddy service should be addressed to Durham University Theology Department :o)

Wes Newton, John Part, Raymond van Barneveld; 3 more big names fell to relative outsiders on Night Three - Big John Henderson, Brendan Dolan and Andy Smith respectively. This tournament has inflicted heavy casualties on the bigger names this year, which is good because it demonstrates how healthy the distribution of big-match-winning talent is amongst the PDC players, and also because it is simply good to see players who don't appear on TV very often doing well on the big stage.

Two big names also went head to head - James Wade and Vincent van der Voort - and the result was no less epic for the shorter format. VvdV started brilliantly, and took the first two sets, which in previous years might have got the better of the Machine, but Wade fought back with a cool, calm, professional persistence - effectively, a point blank refusal to go away - which, if he can keep it up, marks him out as someone with dazzling potential in years to come - he is, after all, only 28 (like me) and I'd be amazed if come retirement his name didn't appear at least once on the World Championship Trophy. You've got to feel a bit sorry for VvdV as well; he's played very well this tournament, and is always an entertaining player to watch.

And so to Night 4, which held out the glittering prospect of another Taylor-Nicholson grudge match. I'm glad these two have put much of the aggro behind them; competitve fighting talk should never degenerate into personal animosity, and it's always best when players have respect for each other. For all the hype, however, the match was something of an anticlimax. True, it was a masterful display from Taylor, who won in straight sets, lost only 3 legs, and pulled off 3 ton plus checkouts, most impressively a magnificent 147 that he made look ridiculously easy. But there in lay the problem; Nicholson wasn't throwing at his best - which is superb - and there wasn't really the roller-coaster atmosphere which previous matches between these two have generated. Still, it was a cracking match nonetheless, and Taylor rather threw down the gauntlet to anyone who stands between him and the trophy with a ruthless, professional display.

Taylor said in his post match interview that he'd like to see Nicholson in the Premier League, and that it would be the making or breaking of him. It's hard to disagree with that sentiment; Nicholson would be a great asset - I'm here all week; try the fish and tip your waiter :o) - to the Premier League, and I think it would be great for him too. The downside is that my lecherous girlfriend would have many extra weeks to coo over him, but then there's no such thing as a free lunch :o)

Simon Whitlock joined the honour roll of fallen big names in the evening's big upset, losing 3-1 to Mile High Mark Hylton. Hylton was 45 when he quit his job to turn professional, and it's great to see it working out for him - even if he does have a throwing action which is almost Stompe-esque in its awkwardness :o)

Hylton shot down Whitlock in flames in a scintillating match, with both players throwing terrific darts. It really was a classy display from Hylton, who goes on to face the resurgent Richie Burnett, himself fresh from cooling the Heat of Denis Ovens.

In other quarter finals, the Power takes on Webby, Wade faces Andy 'Pieman' Smith and Brendon Dolan toes the oche with Big John Henderson. A great evening's darts ahead, I think you'll agree, and great to see that as many as 5 of the 8 quarter finalists were considered relative outsiders at the start.

Happy darting :o)

World Grand Prix 2011 - Night One

The notoriously short format of this tournament's opening stages makes it difficult for commentators to make predictions; a player who seemed dead and buried can, within a short time, stage a remarkable recovery, and obituary-reading commentators are suddenly compelled to back peddle furiously, pace Wayne Mardle and Rod Harrington.

Now, to be fair to them we should put John Part's comeback against Adrian Lewis into its proper context. Imagine arriving at a post-funeral buffet and discovering that the corpse is ahead of you in the queue for the sausage rolls; that's how surprising John Part's comeback actually was.

The Jackpot must be kicking himself this morning; for the first 5 legs he was playing as if he'd floated up to the oche on a cloud, the match was looking like the most unequal contest since Mike Tyson v. Jedward (I'd have paid to watch that one), and the doorman was outside shouting "Taxi for Mr. Part". And then it all went wrong. Doubles were missed and darts were loose, opening gaps in the Lewis battle-line that Part charged into like Marshal Ney's cavalry. Full credit goes to John Part - a recovery like that showed real bottle, even from a 3-time world champion - but the fact is that Adrian Lewis should have put him to bed and put on the night-light, and the rapid change from nonchalant brilliance to baffled impotence will be worrying for the reigning world champ.

Wes Newton provided another highlight; Colin Lloyd took the first set, and Newton came back at him less like a conventional warrior than a blood-crazed berserker, racking up a 95 average and a 110 checkout in some of the finest throwing of the evening. Newton is said to be eyeing a Premier League Wildcard, and if he keeps playing like that I, for one, hope he gets it. "Jaws" looked like the oxygen cylinder had just gone off in his mouth, and Newton rampaged through by 2 sets to 1.

James Wade cruised past Steve Brown in a match which, truth be told, had few fireworks apart from a magnificent 142 checkout from the Machine; it was a workman-like performance from the defending Champion, but it did the job. Equally workman-like, but equally assured, was Raymond van Barneveld, securing his last 16 spot at the expense of Mervyn King. King has recovered from a raft of troubles lately, including elbow problems, and wasn't throwing badly, but clearly has some way to go to get back to his best.

Vincent van der Voort managed to break his four-year duck at the World Grand Prix, defeating Kevin Painter in straight sets to reach the last 16 for the first time ever, Big John Henderson took out an out-of-sorts looking Justin Pipe (of the two, Henderson looks way scarier, but Pipe used to be a cage-fighter), Brendan Dolan comfortably beat Wanderer Wayne Jones and Andy Smith defeated Irish challenger William O'Connor.

All in all, a great start to a great tournament and more first round matches to come, including Phil Taylor v. Peter "Snake Bite" Wright, Gary Anderson v. Andy Hamilton and Paul Nicholson v. Ronnie Baxter.

Until tomorrow folks... :o)

Beginning of the New "Season"

Boy, do I have some cobwebs to blow away from this blog - I feel like someone who has decided to take up gardening again after ten years, opening the shed door for the first time :o)

There are reasons for this lengthy absence. The more astute amongst the readers of this blog may have noticed that there were no write-ups of either the World Matchplay or the European Championship - this is because, much as I would have liked to do them, the month of July was too frantically busy to permit it.

I know darts doesn't really have seasons, but for a TV viewer such as myself there is a definite feeling that the European Championship, at the end of July, marks the end of the "season", as there is then a two month gap before televised darts kicks off again in October with the World Grand Prix. Thus in August and September there wasn't that much for me to write about, which in a way is fortunate since I was travelling much of the time in any case.

However, we are now approaching the beginning of October and the televised "season" is just over the horizon - with the added promise of a Phil Taylor fresh from two major televised victories :o)

With 4 televised tournaments coming up over the next 3 months, we'll soon be back to full throttle, and I shall be making a valiant effort to write up every throw - which, with my PhD to finish, a group of students to teach theol0ogy to and another group's welfare to look after, should be fun :o)

Why? Why? WHY?!!!?!

Why, on the rare occasions I throw two perfect darts, do I get a sudden rush of blood to the arm and throw a third dart which almost makes me a new skylight?

It's just not fair!!! :o(


The fact that it took my girlfriend five minutes to stop laughing didn't help either :o)

2011 UK Open - Super Sunday

Now that the dust has had time to settle, and those in different time zones are in no danger of having the result prematurely revealed... :o)

Ask a theologian about the symbolism of baptism, particularly full-immersion baptism, and he or she will probably say that in the ritual a person dies to their old self and rises to new life.

James Wade's performance on Sunday embodied exactly the same principle. In his quarter final against Nicholson and his semi final against Mark Webster, both class players at the top of their games, Wade seemed dead and buried, when suddenly a rare slip by his opponent followed up with a cracking check out by the Machine turned him into a born-again darting superstar. His posture and expression perceptibly changed, his throwing action suddenly seemed more confident, any doubt about where his darts were going to land simply disappeared; the transformation was remarkable.

To come back from 7-3 adrift against Mark Webster, who by any standards was throwing brilliantly and had himself managed a terrific resurgence when all hope seemed lost, was a demonstration of sheer sporting class, and also stamina. Nicholson also demonstrated these attributes, but taking down first Anderson and then Taylor is no easy task and against Wade he lacked the sparkling energy he had shown in his previous two matches. Not that he didn't play superbly; it just wasn't enough to hold off Wade.

It would have taken a heart of stone not to feel sorry for Mark Webster. Having played a brilliant tournament, on the back of a Premier League performance which made Eddie the Eagle's 1988 Winter Olympics look successful, he went from being on top of the world to looking utterly crushed in a matter of a few darts. Still, if he's proved anything in this tournament it's his ability to get back on his feet and throw like a darting genius again.

And what of Wes Newton? He too proved his quality throughout the tournament (and has earned himself a well-deserved place in the Grand Slam of Darts), but against a James Wade who by the time he got to the final was walking on darting water the result was rarely in doubt; his resurgence from 4-3 down to 6-4 ahead provided a glimmer of hope for the Newton camp (and a period of nail-biting and boyfriend's-arm-twisting for my girlfriend, who had spent all day on an emotional roller-coaster :o) ), but it was short-lived as Wade took the next 4 legs on the spin.

Newton himself had taken down Denis Ovens to reach the final; Ovens had first roasted Andy Smith and then done 'Mile High' Mark Hylton to a turn to earn his place in the semis for the second time in two years - proving, in my humble opinion, that the Heat is a top notch darter who deserves to be recognised as more than just a floor player - but against Newton the Heat was on the blink, missing too many trebles and doubles to stay in contention.

So, what does this cracking tournament mean for the future?

For me, there was only one slight niggle in this tournament; I wish we'd been able to see more of the matches apart from those on the main stage - Reece Robinson v. Andy Smith, for example. Perhaps those staging and broadcasting the tournament could bear that in mind for next year, as I bet I'm by no means the only one thinking that.

Much has and will be said about the fact that Taylor and Barney were conspicuous by their absence in the latter stages. Barney just doesn't look like he's enjoying playing darts at the moment, and that really is a worry. Love for the game, coupled with ambition, is what makes a professional sportsman - it enables them to practice hard and travel the world playing in every tournament going. In any job, people who don't enjoy what they're doing lose their edge, and if Barney can't get himself back to a point where he enjoys what he's doing he may be looking at hanging up his darts shirt, which would be a great shame but is a decision only Barney can make.

Taylor's a different matter; he clearly still loves playing darts and competing. He's had a poor (by his stratospheric standards) run of form lately, but that can happen to anyone; the question is, as he gets older, can he come back? Personally, I think Taylor will astonish us yet, even if he never regains the invincibility he once had. A large part of the reason for his reduced invincibility is not his declining, but the inexorably rising standards amongst younger players, who've had him as a role model, and that's great for the sport. We have to bear in mind that whilst Taylor didn't reach the finals, neither did Gary Anderson or Adrian Lewis, and no one's suggesting they're declining. The whole point of the UK Open is that these things can happen - look at Mervyn King.

There are more terrific players out there than ever before, and they have long careers ahead of them to prove their worth - if that doesn't promise a glittering future for darts, I don't know what does :o)

Congratulations and thanks to all the players for all the great entertainment they've given us. Next stop Blackpool and the World Matchplay :o)

2011 UK Open - Time for Super Sunday!

Well, the most gruelling weekend of professional darts is halfway through, and as if last night's drama wasn't enough there's the promise of plenty more today :o)

My girlfriend is rather nervous about the prospect of James Wade taking on Paul Nicholson, and after his superb performances against Gary Anderson and Phil Taylor yesterday she has every right to be. Nicholson played brilliantly in both games; holding his nerve against Taylor in an utter nail biter showed real bottle.

Not that Wade was in shrinking-violet form yesterday either - on the contrary, after his cracking defeats of Terry Jenkins and Richie Burnett he too is on the crest of a wave, mentally and physically. Pitting him against Nicholson feels a bit like firing two particles towards each other in the Large Hadron Collider - no one knows what's going to happen, but it's liable to be spectacular.

'Mile High' Mark Hylton takes on Denis Ovens, who's going to need all his experience and stamina to bring down this high-flyer. Hylton's on the form of his life, and this match too has great promise.

Dave Chisnall, who vanquished Ronnie Baxter and John Bowles, will have his work cut out against Wes 'Ave It' Newton, who demolished Raymond van Barneveld in a manner so cold and clinical it would have made Carlos the Jackal nervous.

Mark Webster, who in going from 6-0 no-hoper to 9-8 victor against Co Stompe made what must be one of the most impressive comebacks since Lazarus, will be hoping his luck holds against Robert Thornton, who looks impressively solid and workman-like.

Taylor departed, Barney following, Anderson fallen by the way side, Lewis a distant memory; so many toppled greats, and yet the remaining line up is as impressive as anyone could wish for, and crackling with sporting drama - remember those journalists who keep saying the future looks bleak for darts? :o)

Best of luck lads, and give us a Super Sunday to remember... :o)

PS - my girlfriend has just gently reminded me ("You Bugger!") that I have neglected to mention James Wade's superb 124 Checkout against Richie Burnett - I have now done so :o)

2011 UK Open - News Just In...

Following his tough match against Simon Whitlock, Co Stompe heads for the practice board...

*With thanks to Darts, Beers and Cheers for the original image - hope you don't mind me modifying it :o)