Issue 57 (February 3, 2017)

Friday 3 February 2017

Darts Weekly

PREMIER LEAGUE

Ando halts van Gerwen’s winning run World’s top two share the points on opening night of season P4-5

Taylor reveals plans to retire at end of the 2017-18 season Pages 2-3

Visser targets more titles after breakthrough win in Romania Page 10

2

Friday 3 February 2017 Darts Weekly

“At the end of the year, that’s me done” Taylor reveals his plan to retire in 12 months Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER

End of an era: Phil Taylor plans to retire at the end of the 2017-18 season

It is a career which has spanned four decades and provided an immeasurable amount of success, but it will all come to an end at the conclusion of this darting season.

This time next year Phil Taylor will no longer be a professional darts player. The 16-time world champion, the most successful player in the history of the sport, has announced his intention to retire following the 2018 William Hill World Darts Championship.

The 56-year-old has enjoyed a glittering career on the oche, winning hundreds and hundreds of titles, setting record after record and breaking them too, but in the past year he has begun to scale down his commitments on the PDC circuit.

Taylor has slowed down his appearances on the tour away from the TV cameras in recent years, and had suggested he would review

his retirement plans at the end of the 2017-18 season.

But in an interview with ITV last Friday, Taylor revealed he is now planning the next PDC World Championship as the final tournament of his career.

“It’s hard to be dedicated week-in and week-out, it’s taken its toll on me” “At the end of the year, that’s me done,” he said. “The World Championship will be my last one.

“I can enjoy it more, I think I’m more excited now and I’ve got butterflies, whereas I didn’t have that before. Perhaps that will do me good.

“I’m looking forward to the next 10 months. It’s harder for me to get motivated and keep the

stores.ebay.co.uk/Mojo-DARTS

practicing up like I’ve done for 30 years.

“It’s hard to be dedicated week-in and week-out and that’s what’s taken its toll on me.

“The body can’t take four or five hours in the practice room, and that’s what you’ve got to do to compete against these youngsters.”

Taylor, who got his new Betway Premier League campaign underway in Newcastle last night, has admitted PDC chairman Barry Hearn has asked him to consider playing in the Premier League and the World Series in 2018.

While the Premier League and World Series are both non-ranking events, and would still mean Taylor has retired from playing in ranking event darts, playing in both requires a lot of commitment.

The Premier League is played over 16 consecutive Thursdays from February through to May, while the World Series takes in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Dubai and China.

“The Premier League and World

Darts Weekly Friday 3 February 2017

3 LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

Masters hat-trick for unstoppable van Gerwen

Series tour is what Barry has asked me to consider, so let’s see what happens in January.

“That’s six, seven or eight months out of the year so it wouldn’t be retiring really.”

Speaking to the PDC after his 106 win against Michael Smith in the first round of the Unibet Masters at the weekend, Taylor said he believes current world number one Michael van Gerwen can fill the role as the new ambassador for darts once he leaves.

“I’m okay about it, I’ll always be involved in darts anyway,” he said.

“I’ve had 30 years of being top of the tree. You’ve got Michael van Gerwen who’s going to take over, and embrace him and let him be the new ambassador.”

Taylor has not entered the first triple header of qualifiers for the Coral UK Open this weekend, but with another three qualifiers taking place a week later, it could mean he may leave it to the final weekend to qualify for the event he has hit four nine darters in.

Taylor’s career in numbers

16

World Championship titles (2x BDO, 14x PDC)

11

televised nine darters (19 in competitive play)

2

nine darters in the same match (vs James Wade in the 2010 Premier League)

won, including 83 216 titles major titles

£1 2

first player to win more m than £1 million in prize money

place in the BBC Sports nd Personality of the Year award in 2010 inducted into the PDC

2011 Hall of Fame

year he won first of 16

1990 World Championships

Michael van Gerwen stretched his incredible winning streak to 32 matches as he claimed a third successive Unibet Masters title on Sunday evening.

The world number one defeated Gary Anderson, in a repeat of the recent PDC World Championship final, 11-7 in the final to win the invitational tournament for a third year on the spin.

The Dutchman scooped the £60,000 first prize with wins over Simon Whitlock, Mensur Suljovic, Adrian Lewis and then Anderson in the decider.

“I feel great, it means a lot to me and every title is special,” said van Gerwen, who averaged 109.42 in the final against Anderson.

“I love winning and I love what I do but it’s worth it.

“I had to perform this well because you know what Gary can do - if you give him a finger he takes a whole hand.

“Every time I thought I had him he came back and he always fights to the end.

“Gary is a fantastic player and we always have great games. You have to throw 105-110 averages now to win and I’ve done that.

“It’s been a phenomenal weekend for me and everyone played well, it’s been a fantastic tournament.

“All the pressure is still on me and I want to prove that I can do it tournament after tournament, so I’m glad I’ve won again.”

Anderson had been in fine form throughout the weekend in beating Benito van de Pas, Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor to progress to his first Masters final in Milton Keynes.

But the Scot was to pay for missed doubles in the 18th leg, which could have put the match back on throw at 9-8 in van Gerwen’s favour.

“Michael was 9-7 up and I should have had the leg for 9-8,” he said, “and if it goes to nine-all then anything could happen.”

4

Friday 3 February 2017 Darts Weekly

Taylor starts his final Premier League season with a victory Phil Taylor 7 Dave Chisnall 3 Six-time Premier League champion Phil Taylor began his final season in the Premier League with a 7-3 defeat of Dave Chisnall.

Chizzy never recovered from a slow start which saw him trail 4-1, hitting checkouts of 160 and 134 before Taylor, who had earlier took out 121 on the bull, checked out 118

and 75 in successive legs to seal victory.

“It was a bit scrappy but it’s good to get the win and the two points on the board,” Taylor said.

“We both hit some great finishes, the 121 was lovely and the 118 was great too.

“It’s massive for me because every point will be crucial this year. It’s my last Premier League and I’m determined to enjoy it.”

Anderson and MVG share the points Gary Anderson 6 Michael van Gerwen 6 Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson played out a thrilling draw on the opening night of the new Premier League season in Newcastle last night.

The top two players on the PDC Order of Merit collided for the second time in five days, in a repeat of Sunday’s Unibet Masters final, as well as the final of the William Hill World Championship last month.

World number one van Gerwen was the victor on both of those occasions, and the Dutchman went into last night’s season opener holding a 32-match winning run.

But checkouts of 130 and 114 helped Anderson take a 6-5 lead to

halt van Gerwen’s winning streak, with the Dutchman then checking out 68 in the final leg to at least remain unbeaten in now 33 games.

“I’m happy with a point and it was probably the right result,” said Anderson, who averaged 103 to his rival’s 107.94.

“He broke me at the beginning but he started to miss and I hit a couple of good checkouts.

“It’s a long time since I got nerves on stage but when I got in front my heart was pounding!

“This is the first night though and a lot can happen in the next 16 weeks, but we’re all here to win it.”

Van Gerwen, whose last defeat came in October last year, said: “Of course I’m disappointed with the draw, but I think I was the better player.”

Wade and Wright secure wins Kim Huybrechts 5 James Wade 7 James Wade made a winning start to the new Premier League season after beating Kim Huybrechts 7-5.

Huybrechts, returning for his second Premier League campaign

after missing last year’s event, hit back from being 2-0 and 3-1 down to level up at 3-3.

But after missing chances to go 4-3 in front, the Belgian was punished and, despite a 134 finish, lost out in a deciding leg.

“It was steady but I got the job

done,” Wade said. “I tend to be active on my legs but lazy when my opponent has the throw, but I was strong on Kim’s throw tonight.

“It’s brilliant to get back on the Premier League stage and the crowd were fantastic.”

World number three Peter

Darts Weekly Friday 3 February 2017

5

Barney fights back to sneak win against struggling Lewis Raymond van Barneveld 7 Adrian Lewis 5 Raymond van Barneveld came from 4-1 down to defeat Adrian Lewis 7-5 in a deciding leg.

Lewis capitalised on eight missed doubles from the 2014 Premier League champion to go 2-0 up, before extending his lead to 4-1.

But the two-time world champion spurned chances in the

next two legs, and Barney hit back to lead 5-4.

The match went into a final leg with Lewis throwing to save the match, but after missing darts at doubles he handed van Barneveld the chance for victory.

“When you’re 4-1 down you’d take a draw but Adrian missed those darts at the end and let me in” said van Barneveld, who averaged almost 100.

k

x

on opening night in Newcastle Wright was the night’s other winner as he edged out Jelle Klaasen 7-4.

For Klaasen it was his first Premier League game since 2009, and the Dutchman recovered from trailing early to lead 3-2.

A 120 finish had given Wright an

early 2-1 cushion, before Klaasen hit back with finishes of 76 and 68.

With the match then finely poised at 4-4, Wright capitalised on missed doubles from the former BDO world champion in two of the final three legs to pull clear.

“I missed too many doubles and

didn’t score like I want to, but I got the win and that’s all that counts,” Wright said. “Jelle has really improved in the last two years and deserves to be back in the Premier League, but it was a game of missed doubles tonight and we’ll both be better for this.”

6

Friday 3 February 2017 Darts Weekly

CHRISTOPHER KEMPF MATCH OF THE WEEK - GARY ANDERSON 11-9 PHIL TAYLOR (UNIBET MASTERS)

Ando surges in final legs to beat a fading Taylor In 2016, a year in which Phil Taylor slipped from third to sixth on the PDC Order of Merit, The Power nonetheless threw spectacular darts against the world number two, Gary Anderson.

Taylor triumphed in five of their six meetings, including an authoritative 17-9 victory at the World Matchplay and a spectacular 10-2 rout in Sydney, winning 58 of the 93 legs the two men played.

Against the greatest player of them all, Anderson repeatedly struggled to score and hit the big finishes he routinely posted against Michael van Gerwen.

Strangely enough, Anderson and Taylor had not played each other in over five months before they met on Sunday.

In the Masters semi-final contest concluding the action in the bottom half of the draw, moreover, the prize at stake seemed to be the runners-up trophy and possible Grand Slam qualification for Taylor, rather than the increasingly impossible prospect of beating van Gerwen, the defending back-to-back Masters champion.

Neither player had any obvious motivation to win this match and this tournament more than any other.

Neither multiple world champion had anything to prove by winning a glorified exhibition in Milton Keynes.

Through the first 10 legs, however, with the score tied at five legs apiece, the two players were playing nearly identical games, matching each other’s scores in every respect.

Anderson had thrown 137 darts to win five legs; Taylor had thrown 138 to win another five.

Taylor had thrown a 131 finish to win a leg under no serious pressure; Anderson had responded immediately with a 110 finish before his opponent could attempt the same.

It was a glimpse of two seasoned professionals at work, playing a serviceable if unremarkable game that had kept them in good stead for many a year.

As the final leg neared, Anderson and Taylor became more aggressive, challenging each other’s throw more frequently.

In the eleventh leg, Anderson threw six perfect darts on Taylor’s throw and set up a 10darter but still lost as he circled the board with his errant darts at doubles.

Then, responding to a maximum from the Scottish player, Taylor hit a spectacular 152 finish against the throw to pull two legs in front.

Not to be outdone, Ando broke throw with a 13-darter and levelled the match with a bullseye 126 finish.

In the next two legs, The Flying Scotsman only found nine trebles with 27 darts.

This did not put him far off his rival’s pace, but Taylor seemed to repeatedly hit the extra T20 or T19 to pull ahead and win the leg.

The Power, having left 32 after 13 darts in the 17th leg, earned two darts to put the match away with a 10-7 lead and prolong Anderson’s struggles against him.

But one flew wide left, the other wide right of the D16 bed.

Having sensed that he had missed an important chance, LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

Taylor could only shake his head in frustration as Anderson’s 97 checkout saved the match.

In each subsequent leg, Taylor’s energy diminished and his irritation mounted as Anderson skilfully completed a series of combination finishes to race from a 7-9 deficit to an impressive 11-9 victory.

A defeat like this one would have crushed Taylor a year ago. Now, with impending retirement on his mind, he seems to take the good and bad legs with surprising equanimity.

The bravado that once characterised his game seems to be slowly fading away.

Darts Weekly Friday 3 February 2017

7

BDO should listen to people’s ideas so they can then flourish DAVID GILL

Chris Mason TWO-TIME LAKESIDE SEMI-FINALIST The BDO World Championship last month was a success in terms of numbers, which was the feedback from both the broadcasters at the event.

I know Channel 4 and BT Sport were over the moon with the viewing figures, and the players absolutely loved they were getting some coverage and getting the respect they deserve.

But I always think back now to that offer PDC chairman Barry Hearn made to buy the BDO for £1 million in 2009.

In my opinion, I think rather than go away and look at what Barry wanted, they wouldn’t even listen to his proposals.

I’m sad about that. The BDO will always have a place in my heart, a lot of my mates still play in that system.

Obviously I cover the BDO on TV, whether it be on Dave or BT Sport. I want them to do well and I’ve always said I’d love to sit down with them and brainstorm.

I’ve got loads of ideas. 99 of them might be a waste of space, but one might be something that could work and give them the boost they need.

It’s great to see that the game is still attracting the youngsters.

Steve Brown’s got the JDC, he’s been over in Australia promoting the game.

That’s something what we need the BDO for. That’s the old route, I remember playing in the under-21s and the youths, but unfortunately they’ve just sort of lost their way a little bit.

I don’t know what’s going on.

County in my opinion needs a complete restructure.

The PDC are more or less covering everything now. They’re involved heavily in Steve Brown’s concept, then they’ve got the

Challenge Tour, the Development Tour, and I think the BDO needs to go away and listen to other people and come up with some innovative ideas to attract youth players.

We’ve got to look after the game.

We can’t just sit back and think new players are just going to come off the conveyer belt.

What we have at the moment is down to the van Barneveld and Taylor eras really, in terms of the

‘The BDO need to come up with some innovative ideas to attract players’ Dutch kids and the European players.

The next generation before that were looking at people like Bristow, Lowe and Jocky.

We’ve got to make sure we’ve got something there to continue it, and I’ve got nothing against what the BDO have done over the years.

Without them we wouldn’t have what we have now. I really want them to flourish and come up with

something, maybe sit down and listen to other people’s ideas.

The BDO have players coming through like Jim Williams, Dean Reynolds, Nick Kenny and the new youth champion Justin van Tergouw.

Justin is darts mad. He is driven and dedicated. All I ever did was see him practicing at Lakeside, you can’t fault the young man.

Ultimately, everybody who ends up in the PDC have gone through the BDO, so they must be doing something right.

What they need to do is to somehow stop everybody jumping ship, which is why I was really pleased that Glen Durrant decided to stay put and defend the title at Lakeside next year.

I think it would have devalued it somewhat if he’d have just won it and walked away.

I’m really pleased for Glen and I’m really pleased not only for the BDO fans but for the BDO itself.

It’s important to have your champion on parade and take the trophy around and in less than 12 months’ time to come back and defend it. It deserves that honour.

8

Friday 3 February 2017 Darts Weekly

Baetens and Visser triumph while Romania comes so close to seeing a perfect leg Andy Baetens and Silko Visser were the two men’s winners from the Romanian Darts Festival in Bucharest in a weekend which almost produced a nine darter.

England’s Alex Topper came narrowly close to achieving perfection, as he went eight darts into a nine-dart leg, before agonisingly missing the double 12 with his ninth dart.

Topper went on to hit double six for a 10 darter, but it was little consolation as he ended up losing the game to Turkey’s Umit Uygunsozlu in the last 256 of the Romanian Classic.

Saturday saw the first of two tournaments take place, with the Romanian Classic being played down to the final stages, and there were shocks aplenty.

Former Winmau World Masters champion Martin Phillips, the highest ranked player to make the trip to Bucharest, was knocked out

by Andrew Cummins as early as in the last 128.

Gary Robson, Sven Wens, Krzysztof Ratajski, Wouter Vaes and Sven Verdonck were among the seeded players to bow out before the last 32.

Adrian Claudiu Frim went the furthest of the Romanian players in the Classic, reaching the last 16, before bowing out to Dutchman Yoeri Duijster 4-2.

The quarter-final line-up was made up of English, Dutch and Belgian players, with Scott Baker, Jeffrey Sparidaans, Willem Mandigers and Baetens all making it through to the final four.

Baetens was pushed all the way in his semi-final with Sparidaans, as the Belgian squeezed through a 5-4 winner, while England’s Baker booked his place in his third BDO final by beating Mandigers 5-2.

Baker had lost out 12 months ago to Fabian Roosenbrand in the final of the Romanian Open, with a run to the decider of the England Classic following in September last

year, where he had beaten Wesley Harms and Nick Kenny, before losing to Dean Reynolds in the decider.

It would prove to be more final heartache for Baker, as Baetens clinched a 6-3 victory to pick up his second BDO title of the season, adding to the Czech Open crown he won last November.

The Romanian Open then took place on the Sunday, and Baetens’ hopes of pulling off a weekend double came to an end in the last 16, after losing a decider to recent Lakeside debutant Conan Whitehead.

Top seed Phillips was to be denied a deep run in Bucharest, as he lost out to eventual champion Visser 4-2 in the last 32, while the final two Romanians in the draw, Cristian Cimpoca and Dragos Andrei Melita also bowed out of the tournament at this stage.

Robson, Baker and Whitehead were joined by Martin Atkins and James Hurrell in an Englishdominated quarter-final line-up for the Open.

Visser knocked out Robson 4-2, Baker saw off fellow countryman Whitehead 4-1, Atkins beat Luxembourg’s Tom Burquel 4-2 and Hurrell whitewashed Poland’s Ratajski 4-0.

In the semi-finals, Visser continued his dream run by beating Hurrell 5-2, while Atkins impressed in a 5-1 thrashing of Baker to also reach his first final.

With a new BDO ranking event winner guaranteed, the final went down to a deciding leg, which Dutchman Visser took to scoop the €2,000 prize.

Over in the women’s events, England’s Maria O’Brien won her first BDO ranking title after beating Paula Jacklin 5-3 in the final of the Romanian Classic.

There was also a first time winner in the Romanian Open, as Poland’s Karolina Podgorska edged Anca Zijlstra in the final 5-3.

x

Darts Weekly Friday 3 February 2017

9 DRAGOS VERIGA

x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x

x

x

“x x x x” x

10

Friday 3 February 2017 Darts Weekly

Visser targets more titles after breakthrough win in Romania Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Silko Visser is hoping his maiden victory in the Romanian Open on Sunday will be the first of many tournament successes in 2017.

The 25-year-old enjoyed his breakthrough win on the BDO tour last weekend when he beat Martin Atkins 6-5 in the final of the Romanian Open, in Bucharest.

And now the Dutchman, who lives in the city of Enkhuizen, is targeting more triumphs during the year to further establish himself on the darting map.

“I knew I can play little darts,” Visser said. “But when I won the tournament, that’s an amazing feeling.

“It was the next day when I realised what a super performance it was.

“I am playing well at the Dutch ranking for the last couple of months and I knew if I could hit my game I had a chance.

“I am busy trying to sort a deal out with a sponsor and if he will do it, then I will take a shot at playing more tournaments this year.

“I want to win some more titles (laughs).”

Before last weekend’s trip to Romania, Visser’s previous best performance in a BDO ranking event had been a run to the last 32 of the HAL Masters last year, where he lost out 4-0 to fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert.

Last November, he came within two wins of qualifying for the PDC World Championship, narrowly losing out to eventual winner Jerry Hendriks 6-4 in the Central European Qualifier.

On Saturday, Visser set a new personal best in the BDO with a run to the last 16 of the Romanian Classic, but was to go much further the following day as he picked up victories over Gary Robson and James Hurrell on his way to

reaching the final of the Romanian Open, where he edged past Atkins in a decider to scoop the €2,000 top prize.

“Last year I beat Richard Veenstra and Jeffrey Sparidaans in Dutch ranking events,” Visser said.

“I also played the PDC qualifier and I lost the semi-final against Jerry Hendriks.

“That gives you a lot of confidence of course. But I have to say, on the floor I was way better than I was on the stage.”

Visser will return to action this weekend for the legendary Bauhaus Dutch Open, a tournament which will see thousands and thousands of

players doing battle at the De Bonte Wever, in Assen.

Three-time world champion Martin Adams has won the gruelling tournament for the last two years, and while lifting the trophy in this event may seem unlikely for previously unknown Visser, he is hopeful of making it to the final day on Sunday.

“I’m playing the Dutch Open and maybe the Scottish Open too,” he said. “I hope I can make it to the last 64 so I make it till the Sunday.

“Last year I played in the Dutch Open and I lost the sheet final against Richard Veenstra.”

Watch live coverage of the Dutch Open online on Winmau TV

In brief EDO secure television deal with free-to-air channel Front Runner will be screening live coverage of the Isle of Man Festival and the British Internationals this year after a deal was struck with the English Darts Organisation (EDO) earlier this week.

The channel is the UK’s only free-to-air sports channel and is available in approximately 19

million homes across the UK and Northern Ireland.

Tommy Thompson, chairman of the EDO, said: “We are delighted to have signed this deal with Front Runner and to get live television exposure for two of our flagship events and more so on a dedicated free-to-air sports channel. It is really exciting for all of us and we know the players will be thrilled.”

Darts Weekly Friday 3 February 2017

11 GWYNEDD SUPERLEAGUE

x

x

‘x x x x

‘x x x x

x

x

Mick Haynes defeated Derek Williams 5-4 in the final of the Gwynedd Open at the weekend. The Cheshire thrower finished with a three-dart average of 78.69 as he edged a closely-fought final in a deciding leg. The tournament was held at the Wellmans Sports and Social Club in Llangefni, Wales on Sunday.

Database PDC UNIBET MASTERS (Milton Keynes) First round - M van Gerwen (105.42) bt S Whitlock (99.43) 10-6; M Suljovic (100.40) bt J Klaasen (92.98) 10-4; A Lewis (102.16) bt K Huybrechts (93.77) 10-6; R Thornton (92.91) bt J Wade (91.57) 10-9; G Anderson (109.74) bt B van de Pas (93.89) 10-3; R van Barneveld (99.48) bt D Chisnall (96.59) 10-5; P Wright (96.56) bt I White (95.65) 10-5; P Taylor (104.80) bt M Smith (100.42) 10-6.

Quarter-finals - M van Gerwen (107.75) bt M Suljovic (103.34) 10-4; A Lewis (104.77) bt R Thornton (95.49) 10-6; G Anderson (106.50) bt R van Barneveld (100.21) 10-6; P Taylor (100.14) bt P Wright (94.68) 10-5.

Semi-finals - M van Gerwen (101.69) bt A Lewis (89.23) 11-5; G Anderson (102.12) bt P Taylor (98.03) 11-9. Final - M van Gerwen (109.42) bt G Anderson (103.58) 11-7.

CORAL UK OPEN RILEY’S AMATEUR QUALIFIERS - Coventry (Ben Green); Greenock (Wayne Morris); Harlow (Alex Roy); Liverpool (James Carroll); Norwich (Kevin Edwards); Nottingham (Nicky Bell); Leicester (Brandon Walsh); South Benfleet (Paul Hogan).

BETWAY PREMIER LEAGUE (Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle) Week One - J Wade (96.07) bt K Huybrechts (100.62) 7-5; R van Barneveld (99.33) bt A Lewis (98.96) 7-5; P Taylor (96.23) bt D Chisnall (96.84) 73; G Anderson (103.19) drew with M van Gerwen (107.94) 6-6; P Wright (93.93) bt J Klaasen (95.94) 7-4. Highest checkout: D Chisnall 160. Most 180s: D Chisnall 5.

WDF ROMANIAN CLASSIC (Bucharest) Men’s last 32 - A Cummins bt D Day 4-0; S Stainton bt C van Cleef 4-2; J Sparidaans bt J van Egdom 4-3; P van Gasse bt J Imrie 4-2; Y Dujster bt K Pantelidis 4-1; A Claudiu Frim bt U Uygunsozlu 4-3; A Baetens bt C Dennel 4-

3; J Hurrell bt H Schug 4-1; C Whitehead bt T Gregory 4-1; M Baker bt B Claydon 4-2; S Baker bt I Din 4-2; S Visser bt B Kirk 4-2; W Mandigers bt M Verberk 4-1; A Turner bt G Carus 4-0; R Radsma bt G Vos 4-2; C Beaumont bt M Frantisek 4-2. Last 16 - A Cummins bt S Stainton 4-3; J Sparidaans bt P van Gasse 4-3; Y Duijster bt A Claudiu Frim 4-2; A Baetens bt J Hurrell 4-2; C Whitehead bt M Baker 4-2; S Baker bt S Visser 4-3; W Mandigers bt A Turner 4-0; R Radsma bt C Beaumont 4-3. Quarter-finals - J Sparidaans bt A Cummins 4-2; A Baetens bt Y Duijster 4-0; S Baker bt C Whitehead 40; W Mandigers bt R Radsma 4-2. Semifinals - A Baetens (90.57) bt J Sparidaans (87.60) 5-4; S Baker (77.97) bt W Mandigers (80.94) 5-2. Final - A Baetens (85.65) bt S Baker 85.56) 6-3. Women’s last 16 - A Zijlstra bt O Cimpoca 4-0; M O’Brien bt A Abbott 4-0; S Cusick bt A Pentagioti 4-0; M Sutton bt L Topper 4-0; M Noijens bt J Rolls 4-0; A Hlavova bt O Tapu 4-3; L Turner bt J Thompson 4-0; P Jacklin bt D Ijpelaar 4-0.

Quarter-finals - M O’Brien bt A Zijlstra 43; S Cusick bt M Sutton 4-1; M Noijens bt A Hlavova 4-0; P Jacklin bt L Turner 4-0.

Semi-finals - M O’Brien bt S Cusick 4-0; P Jacklin bt M Noijens 4-0. Final - M O’Brien (64.32) bt P Jacklin (55.65) 5-3.

ROMANIAN OPEN (Bucharest) Men’s last 32 - S Visser bt M Phillips 4-2; S Stainton bt P Burgoyne 4-0; J Imrie bt W Harwood 4-0; G Robson bt D Andrei Melita 4-1; B Kirk bt W Halliwell 4-0; K Ratajski bt C Dennel 4-0; G Thompson bt Y Duijster 4-3; J Hurrell bt J O’Shea 4-0; C Whitehead bt T Gregory 4-0; A Baetens bt C Cimpoca 4-0; S Baker bt U Uygunsozlu 4-0; N Duff bt W Mandigers 4-0; M Atkins bt B Hazel 4-0; S Verdonck bt B Raman 4-0; C van Cleef bt S Wens 4-0; T Burquel bt P van Gasse 4-0.

Last 16 - S Visser bt S Stainton 4-3; G Robson bt J Imrie 4-1; K Ratajski bt B Kirk 4-2; J Hurrell bt G Thompson 4-2; C

Whitehead bt A Baetens 4-3; S Baker bt N Duff 4-2; M Atkins bt S Verdonck 4-2; T Burquel bt C van Cleef 4-3. Quarter-finals - S Visser bt G Robson 4-2; J Hurrell bt K Ratajski 4-0; S Baker bt C Whitehead 4-1; M Atkins bt T Burquel 4-2. Semi-finals - S Visser (78.96) bt J Hurrell (82.26) 5-3; M Atkins (92.46) bt S Baker (84.84) 5-1. Final - S Visser (83.88) bt M Atkins (90.90) 6-5.

Women’s last 16 - A Zijlstra bt J Findley 40; M O’Brien bt A Abbott 4-0; K Matthews bt E Dursun 4-0; G Crane bt L Topper 4-0; M Noijens bt A Brad 4-0; A Lord bt M Liiri 4-0; K Podgorska bt J Thompson 4-0; P Jacklin bt J Kanovska 4-0. Quarter-finals - A Zijlstra bt M O’Brien 4-0; G Crane bt K Matthews 43; A Lord bt M Noijens 4-3; K Podgorska bt P Jacklin 4-2. Semi-finals - A Zijlstra bt G Crane 4-0; K Podgorska bt A Lord 4-0.

Final - K Podgorska (65.97) bt A Zijlstra (60.03) 5-3.

BDO GWYNEDD OPEN (Llangefni) Quarterfinals - K Ducklin bt C Williams 4-1; M Haynes bt B Tym 4-2; Da Williams bt J Downs 4-3; De Williams bt D Edwards 4-3.

Semi-finals - M Haynes (90.81) bt K Ducklin (80.19) 4-2; De Williams (80.22) bt Da Williams (82.38) 4-1. Final - M Haynes (78.69) bt De Williams (80.10) 5-4.

FIXTURES TODAY CORAL UK OPEN RILEY’S AMATEUR QUALIFIERS (Aberdeen) TODAY - SUNDAY CORAL UK OPEN QUALIFIERS 1-3 (Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan) DUTCH OPEN (De Bonte Wever, Assen) TOMORROW CORAL UK OPEN RILEY’S AMATEUR QUALIFIERS (Chester, Chorlton, Norwich, Sheffield, Wolverhampton) SUNDAY CORAL UK OPEN RILEY’S AMATEUR QUALIFIERS (Coventry, London Victoria, South Benfleet, Worcester) CANTERBURY CLASSIC (New Zealand) THURSDAY BETWAY PREMIER LEAGUE WEEK TWO (Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham) DARTS WEEKLY DOZEN (01/02/2017) Data compiled by Christopher Kempf Change LLE Player 0.124 15.105 M van Gerwen -0.315 16.686 P Taylor -0.187 16.811 R van Barneveld 0.090 17.302 M Suljovic N/C 17.696 D Gurney -0.080 17.724 S Whitlock -0.252 17.835 J Klaasen -0.080 17.966 B van de Pas N/C 18.216 S Beaton N/C 18.232 A Norris N/C 18.728 M King N/C 18.844 J Cullen ◊ The Darts Weekly Dozen estimates and compares the length of the average leg over players’ last 180 televised and streamed legs. ◊ Another tournament win for MVG sees his leg length estimate climb to the highest level 0.301 yet recorded. ◊ Improvement in finishing from -0.222 Taylor (to -0.081 2.426 doubles per finish from 2.515) in spite of weaker scoring and setup form.-0.824 0.029 ◊ Disappointing outing from Klaasen as he falls from 7th from 5th in the DW12.

12

Friday 3 February Darts Weekly

DAVE McNALLY DARTS WRITER RILEYS

Liverpool qualifier could be one to watch This past week I made the trip to Riley’s Snooker Club in Liverpool to watch the qualifying event for the UK Open.

The darkness of the club was made to feel even darker as the big screen TV showed Liverpool FC crashing out of the FA Cup at the hands of Wolves.

Just around the corner towards the centre of the hall was a buzz and glow of six match dartboards, and a hive like activity of players warming up to battle for the solitary place available at the UK Open next month.

After an all-day session on the board, 22-year-old Liverpudlian Jay Carroll managed to win through past 60+ entrants.

I managed to get a word with Jay after the event. Jay, who plays for Prescot Manor and St. Annes held his nerve in the last leg to conquer the field.

“The doubles felt tiny after looking massive all day,” he admitted after beating Sam Cromwell in the final.

“I had to switch off and just focus on the job in hand, I do panic, don’t get me wrong, but I know what I can do and I’ve got that self belief.”

So, has Jay been on the circuit for long? “About 10 years ago I started getting into darts,” he said.

“I was watching it on the telly and asked my Dad if he would get me a board.”

His Dad was reluctant at first suggesting it would be another flash in the pan sport that he’d soon lose interest in.

“Luckily, he got me one and from then onwards all I’ve ever wanted

to do was become a professional darts player.

“I’m only just back from a threeyear break because of the birth of my child. Now I’m ready to get into it again.”

Painter and decorator by trade, Jay admitted it’s hard keeping up with the efforts required for darts when holding down a full-time job.

“I’d love to get one of the big names like van Gerwen on the main stage” “I’m going to go on the PDC Unicorn Development Tour and then try my hand at Q-School, that’s what I’m working towards,” he said.

So, what are the plans for the UK Open? Any different preparations?

“I’m going to practice with Stephen Bunting as I’m good

friends with him and hopefully he’ll be at the UK Open too,” he said.

“As for the actual event, I’m not going to make up the numbers as I feel that I can go far if I play to the best of my ability.

“I’d love to get one of the big names like (Michael) van Gerwen on the main stage, or even Stephen Bunting (laughs).”

Jay is not one to be overawed by such company. “I already play in the local leagues with Bunting, Michael Smith and Eddie Dootson,” he said.

Jay isn’t a household name yet but he won’t be going to Minehead without his support.

“Loads have said they are going to come down and watch, so we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.

Whatever the outcome at Minehead in a few weeks’ time, Jay Carroll could well be a name to look out for in the future. Watch this space.