European Championship - Day Two

Just time to dash off a few lines before heading down the Toon for the day - for those of you not from round here, that means going into Newcastle :o)

Highlight of the evening had to be the 6-5 thriller between Barneveld and Andy Hamilton. Both men threw some brilliant darts; Hamilton looked like he was running away with it at one stage but Barney fought back from 4-2 down to take the match in a final leg shoout out.

Lloyd v. Wade was another great match; Lloyd had obviously recovered from his catastrophic 8-2 ahead to 11-9 defeat at the hands of Kevin Painter, and pushed the World no. 3 from the start. Wade was not going anywhere though, and a gritty performance, including a superb 11 dart leg in the 5th, brought him to 4-4. Lloyd held out though, and some superb throwing in the last 2 legs took him to a deserved 6-4 victory.

German Bernd Roith put Dennis Ovens out in a surprising turn of events, whilst fellow German Tomas Seyler gave Michael van Gerwen a scare before succumbing 6-4.

Up and Coming Wes Newton defeated Colin Osborne 6-4 in a roller coaster match that saw Newton lead 3-0, trail 4-3 and finally win 6-4.

Ronnie Baxter v. Alan Tabern was a superb match, with the two players racking up 34 ton plus scores between them (Baxter 18, Tabern 16). Baxter took the match in the 11th with a cracking 126 Bullseye finish.

TV scoreboard was much more efficient last night, though they did still have the bingo caller refereeing a couple of legs. And why, oh, why did Dave Gorman have to do the "Hello Seyler" joke when discussing Tomas Seyler? We all knew the pun was there, but the rest of us managed to restrain ourselves.

Happy darting :o)

European Championship - Day One

A couple of procedural issues arising from last night's play...

Firstly, there has been a long accepted convention as to how darts referees should sound: darts referees are supposed to sound like Russ Bray - authoritative, masculine, like they got through a pack of unfiltered Navy Cut on their way to school each day. They are not supposed to sound like a cross between Julian Clary and the caller from Mecca Bingo, Clacton on Sea.

Whoever thought the guy that referreed Klaasen v. van der Voort and another match - I forget which - was a good bet ought to bear that simple little rule in mind.

Also, what was going on with the electronic scoreboard on the TV screen? It was taking ages to catch up with the actual scores. Not keeping up with Klaasen v. van der Voort, which was a bit like watching a movie on fast forward, I could understand, but not keeping up with Dennis Priestly? Babbage's Difference Engine could figure out the score in the time it takes Dennis Priestly to throw 3 darts.

Anyhoo, over to the darts...

And a great night of entertainment it was too. Klaasen v. van der Voort was a cracker, Klaasen racing back from 3-1 down to 6-1 winner in fine style. Co Stompe v. Phil Taylor was shaping up to be a classic, until Stompe missed 3 darts to level at 3-3. Taylor pounced on the mistake like a Cheetah onto a stumbling Zebra; Stompe's game went downhill from there under relentless pressure and he went out 6-2.

Andy "Pieman" Smith capitalised on Geordie Aussie Paul Nicholson's missed doubles to take the opening match of the evening 6-3; Spanish newbie Antonio Alcinas (I kept wondering what films he'd been in, but that was Antonio Banderas) threw some great darts to give veteran Mark Walsh a scare, but Walshie pulled through to win 6-3. The crowd's vocal support for local hero Andree Welge looked like it was rattling Terry Jenkins, but Jenkins turned the heckling to his advantage, took it squarely on the chin and slammed in some clinical darts to clinch the game 6-4.

Simon Whitlock overhauled veteran Dennis Priestly in fairly comprehensive style; Priestly rallied at 5-1 one down and clawed his way back to 5-3, before Whitlock took the 9th leg and victory 6-3.

Whatever Barrie Bates was on in the first 5 legs of his match with Mervyn King, I want some. Bates went through King like a Panzer division through France, racing to a 5-0 lead. King, playing for dignity, fought back to 5-3 but Bates was unstoppable and won 6-3.

Great darts, and more to come tonight. Bring it on :o)

World Matchplay Finals and European Championship

Nuts.

It's always my intention to do a post a day during televised tournaments, but travel for work and family engagements have rendered that ambition unrealisable for the World Matchplay this time, I'm sorry to say. Apologies.

Well, another trophy heads for the Taylor cabinet. I dare say the usual questions will be asked about whether it's good for a sport to be so dominated by one person for so long, but I say fair play to him. Darts is considerably more popular now than it was when he started, so he can't be putting that many people off, and the whole point of a professional sport is to play as well as you possibly can.

When Phil Taylor finally does retire, I think the world of darts will miss him an awful lot.

European Darts Championship on Bravo tomorrow - last year's Championship wasn't televised, so it's great to see it back on TV. For one thing, for those of us who are financially challenged it's always good to have more darts on TV. Also, it's good to see new TV channels and new viewers becoming interested in showing and watching darts.

I shall do my best to do a post-match write-up each day. Phil Taylor will be in action tomorrow against Co stompe, which should be fun. Whitlock v. Priestly and Klaasen v. van der Voort should be fun too.

Happy watching :o)

World Matchplay - Day Five

I greatly enjoyed watching Co Stompe v. Mark Webster; not just because it was an exciting match with some great darts and great guts displayed by both players, but also because it meant hearing Sid Waddell say the word "Co". Stompe took the match 13-9, fighting off an impressive rally by Wesbster who had looked down and out earlier on, and will go on to play Barney in an all-Dutch quarter final.

Speaking of whom, Barney was in great form again for his match against Alan Tabern. The scoreline - 13-5 - would suggest that Barney went through Tabern like a dose of salts with a vindaloo chaser, but once again the match stats tell a different story. Tabern was scoring like it was going out of fashion, but Barney was clinical on his finishing whilst Tabern, though finishing very impressively early on and slamming in a 156 and a 121, lacked the consistency in that area and paid for it.

Wolverhapmton's finest Wayne Jones overcame "Rocket" Ronnie Baxter 13-9 to book his place in the quarters for the first time, managing some biblical scoring on the way - 42 ton plus scores, 14 140s and 6 maximums. Nothing against Ronnie Baxter, but it's always nice to see people come though for the first time; well done to Jones.

Tensest of the 4 matches, and highlight of the evening for me - and my girlfriend, who has this thing about James Wade :o) - was Wade v. van der Voort. The rapid fire Dutchman looked like he was going down, despite some impressive throwing, as he missed crucial doubles and slumped to 9-4 adrift. An impressive comeback from Vincent seemed to leave Wade temporarily rattled, but he pulled himself together and rallied to take the match 13-10, setting up a quarter final meeting with Wayne Jones.

Finally, my girfriend has asked me to point out that actress Sherrie Hewson is, apparently, a Darts fan. Now, I have not got the faintest clue who Sherrie Hewson is or what she's ever done, and I suspect that even if I did I wouldn't care. However, if anyone in the darting blogosphere does know who she is, feel free to enlighten me.

World Matchplay - Day Four

Imagine Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet clinging to the stern of the almost vertical Titanic. Now imagine that at the last moment, Leo works out how to plug the leak with bubblegum and refloat the ship.

That's how unlikely Kevin Painter's comeback against Colin "Jaws" Lloyd was. 8-2 down, and looking for all the world like he was going out with all the red-blooded defiance of a frightened lamb, Painter came hurtling back from absolutely nowhere to win the match 11-9 with Lloyd missing a dart for the match on the way. Painter deserves credit for a classy comeback that took real bottle, but Lloyd must be kicking himself for not closing out the match.

The battle of the Marks - Dudbridge v. Walsh - was another match which went a little more than all the way, Walsh producing a stonking 160 check out and closing out a very tight match 12-10.

Barrie Bates gave Phil Taylor a bit of a shock, taking the lead at 5-4, before Taylor engaged that extra gear he just seems to have stashed away somewhere and won 5 legs on the trot. Bates pulled one back, but Taylor was unstoppable and took the match 10-6.

In the evening's final clash, Steve Beaton convincingly defeated 2010 Player's Champion Paul Nicholson. I was expectinng more from the Geordie Aussie, but it was not to be and he succumbed 10-3.

A mixed bag on the final day of the first round. Let's see what the last 16 has in store for us :o)

World Matchplay - Day Three

"What a difference a day made..." sang Dinah Washington back in 1959. 41 years later in Blackpool, and boy, was she on the money with that one.

If Sunday's matches were like the First World War - long, drawn out, difficult, neck and neck for most of the way with a winner coming through at the last minute - then yesterday's matches were more like the 6 Day War: fast, one sided and over before you could get back from the khazi.

First up was Terry Jenkins v. Blackpool debutant Steve Brown. Brown began his Blackpool career with a dream start: a 127 Bullseye check out to break Jenkins' throw. 9-4 down at one stage, Jenkins managed to reel Brown back to 9-6 before Brown sealed his victory; in doing so Jenkins became the only loser that evening to win more than half the number of legs that the winner did. It was Brown's impressive finishing that clinched it for him; the scoring stats for both men are almost identical (Jenkins: 21 ton +, 10 140 +, 3 180s, av. 88.57. Brown: 22, 10, 2, 87.45) but Brown made 3 ton-plus finishes to Jenkins' highest effort of 96.

Next to put toe to oche were the Wizard of Oz Simon Whitlock, also making his first appearance at Blackpool's Winter Garden, and Tony "The Viper" Eccles. Unfortunately the Viper had lost his venom, and made about as much impact on Whitlock's game as a Smart Car ramming a tank. Eccles took the eigth leg to avoid a complete whitewash but Whitlock just rolled straight over it like a speed bump, leaving Eccles' shattered wreckage in his wake. Great darts from Whitlock: 10-1 the final score.

Trousering. For those not familiar with the concept, trousering is a standard rule which states that anyone who gets whitewashed - in table footy, pool or any other bar sport - is obliged to lower their trousers to the ground and run the whole way through the bar as a punishment for their sporting ineptitude.

The PDC does not, as far as I am aware, enforce this rule on a regular basis and one man in particular has cause to be very grateful for that. No one knew exactly what would happen when Robert Thornton took on fellow Scot Gary Anderson, but I'll bet no-one was expecting what did happen. Anderson, possibly still smarting from his collapse against Taylor at the UK Open in June, came out like a goaded tiger suddenly released from a cage; with Anderson unusually clinical on his finishing (he'd been practicing after the UK Open final, where his finishing really let him down) Thornton was soon staring defeat in the face and eventually succumbed 10-0.

As is often the case the match stats paint a more balanced picture of the first whitewash at the Winter Garden in 6 years, but there's no denying that Anderson gave Thornton a thorough drubbing.

Last up was Mervyn King v. Jelle Klaasen. By the end of the 6th leg it was 4-2 to King; then Klaasen decided he'd had enough. 8 defeats on the trot later, a shell-shocked King was picking up his darts case and walking away from a 10-4 defeat. Hats off to Klaasen for a - no, I can't bring myself to do the 'classy' pun - stirling performance.

Last of the First Round matches tonight; I'm looking forward to Paul Nicholson v. Steve Beaton and, of course, Phil Taylor takes to the oche against Barrie Bates.

World Matchplay - Day Two

Professional darts can be a cruel mistress, and day two of the World Matchplay threw up two heart-breakers.

Andy "Pieman" Smith, who has never progressed beyond the first round at Blackpool, played a great match against James Wade, the world no. 2, and at times looked set for victory. But in a sign of the massive pressure on both men, they were missing doubles left right and centre with Wade missing 6 darts at his usually favourite double 10. Smith had the chance to go 9-7 in front, a scoreline which would have practically assured him of victory but missed 9 darts at the double. Wade recovered from his earlier nerves and showed real bottle to take the next 3 legs and clinch the match 10-8.

I felt so sorry for Andy Smith, one of the most likeable players on the pro circuit - big man, big personality, big heart. He threw some brilliant darts in a tense and nervy encounter, including a 151 check out and throughout the match looked the likely winner, but the missed doubles cost him a great victory and he sadly fell at the final hurdle.

The second heart-ache of the evening was for local hero Wes Newton, who like the Pieman has never been beyond the first round and was looking for a big performance in front of his home crowd. Sadly, it just wasn't to be; despite fighting his way back from 6-1 down against fellow Lancastrian Alan Tabern, Newton finally succumbed 12-10, going out in the first round at Blackpool for the 4th time.

As if that wasn't enough tragedy and drama for one evening, the second match of the evening saw Jackpot Adrian Lewis, the Phil Taylor protege with talent oozing from every pore who has never yet managed a big televised win, go out 11-9 to Mark Webster in a match which could have been an allegory for his career so far - flashes of brilliance, including a very awkward double 10 finish that Annie Oakley would have been proud of, were interspersed with moments of drifting concentration and wandering darts.

Webster, the Welshman born in the same year as yours truly (1983) and not, some would say, without a certain resemblance (people say that about me and James Wade sometimes too), was too strong and too consistent in the end, and deserves full credit for his win.

The evening's other piece of drama came in the first match, with Co Stompe battling against Andy Hamilton to win by a nose at 12-10. The Dutchman, with a throwing action so weird Stephen Hawking gave up trying to figure it out years ago, really had to fight against the Hammer, and the tense match set the scene for the dramas that were to follow.

All in all a superb night of theatre, with oodles of triumph and tragedy. Can't wait for this evening :o)

World Matchplay - Day One

Doo doo doo di doo doo di doo doo doo - oi, oi, oi!

Boy, was I keen to hear that chant again :o)

The Tropicana World Series being irritatingly untelevised - why, I kept wondering, would an orange juice company want to sponsor a darts match? Don't they usually do things like cycling and running? Then I figured it out... - I was starting to get twitchy with the lack of darts.

The last couple of weeks have also been incredibly hectic; I was just about to leave for Outer Mongolia to live in a tent with a camel when, finally, along comes some top class darts to remind that if I do, I should at least take a laptop with me to watch darts on.

That said, in all fairness, Wayne Jones v. Colin Osborne would have had me throwing my bowl of rice at the camel and storming out of the tent. Well ok, it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't a game that will go down in history alongside the Battle of Actium and D-Day, let's put it that way. Wayne Jones flung himself gasping across the finish line at 10-8, having missed multiple doubles for the match. That match may not have been a classic, but it's good to see Wayne Jones winning on TV for the first time in a while.

Before that, we were treated to veteran Dennis Priestly, who celebrated his 60th Birthday on Friday, against Dutch machine gunner Vincent van der Voort.

A fixture between Dennis, who plays with the sheer undaulterated speed of a slightly lazy glacier, and Vincent, who practically has all 3 darts in the air at once, was always going to be interesting, and this one didn't disappoint. Unfortunately for Dennis the Menace, in the 14th leg Vincent took out his slipper and gave him six of the best; the Flying Dutchman slammed in a 157 check out to go 8-5 in front and never really looked back, taking the match 10-6.

Next up was the match that always looked like the highlight of the evening, and certainly didn't disappoint: Raymond van Barneveld v. Dennis Ovens.

Ovens took the second leg, making the score 1-1; Barney seems to have taken this personally, and reacted like the man in a club who breaks a pint glass over your head for catching his eye on the way to the gents. 9 victorious legs - and a 9 dart finish so perfect and seemingly effortless that you half expected Barney to tear his shirt off and reveal a blue lycra suit and red cape underneath - later it was all over at 10-1.

Barney was in great form, and it was brilliant to see. I'm still not sure if Dennis Ovens actually did that much wrong, or whether he just wasn't given the chance. A match like that from Barney must be a statement of intent...

Once Sid Waddell had been sedated and the commentary box put back together, the final fixture - Ronnie Baxter v. Jamie Caven - got under way. This was an out-and-out, toe-to-toe scrap at first, with the first four legs going against the throw and hardly a cigarette paper between the two players. Baxter finally held his throw to go 3-2 up, but it wasn't until 4-4 that Baxter found little bit extra, and won 3 legs on the trot to go 7-4 up. Caven kept battling, but it was only a matter of time before Baxter took the match, 10-7.

A great evening of darts; congratulations to Barney for that great 9 darter. Looking forward to more great darts tonight :o)

Oh, The Humiliation!

My girlfriend, my best mate and I had a lovely day at the seaside yesterday.

Here's me and my buddy in the tea room on the pier:

On the pier, there was a darts stall. Four darts: put them all into numbers higher than 10, doubles and trebles lose. It sounded simple enough. Feeling confident I stepped up to the mark to win a soft toy of some description.

Did I manage it? Er, no. Double 11, treble 14, a bounce out and a 9. Knackers!

Fortunately the Hook a Duck stall came to my rescue and we won a soft toy, but the damage had been done.

Here's a picture of my girlfriend and mate watching me console myself in the pub by the pier afterwards: