Friday 5 February 2016
Darts Weekly
VAN GERWEN 4-7 WADE
Machine turns it on in Leeds James Wade battles back from 3-0 down to beat MVG on the Premier League’s first night
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Friday 5 February 2016 Darts Weekly
Wade stuns van Gerwen on opening night of new season Michael van Gerwen 4 James Wade 7 James Wade produced an excellent performance to come from 3-0 behind to beat world number one Michael van Gerwen last night. MVG beat Wade 7-0 with a 116.90 average in last year’s Premier League, and it looked like a similar result was on the cards when the Dutchman took all of the
opening three legs, which included a 167 checkout in the second leg. But Wade had other ideas and reeled off five consecutive legs to surge into a 5-3 lead, with the highlight of those being a 116 checkout to draw level. Van Gerwen stopped the rot with a 70 checkout in leg nine, before Wade finished off 121 on double 14 to go 6-4 up. And an 81 checkout on the bull sealed the win.
Clinical Barney thrashes Taylor Phil Taylor 2 Raymond van Barneveld 7 It took Raymond van Barneveld 21 attempts to notch a win over Phil Taylor in the Premier League. Last night the five-time world champion secured his fourth consecutive win over the Power in the Premier League, as he cruised to a 7-2 victory at the First Direct Arena in Leeds. Since dazzling the Alexandra Palace crowd with his run to the semi-finals of the William Hill World Championship last month, Barney had before yesterday endured a difficult few weeks. After failing to qualify for the first two European Tour events, the Dutchman then suffered an early exit in the Unibet Masters
at the weekend, losing 10-7 to Michael Smith in the first round. But last night the 2014 Premier League champion put in a classy display, averaging 103.60 and hit seven out of nine attempts at the double to beat Taylor It was Taylor who took the first leg of their opening week clash, before van Barneveld won the next five to open up a 5-1 lead. Taylor, a six-time winner of the Premier League, showed signs of igniting a possible comeback when he took out 113 to win leg seven. But Barney had other ideas as he won the next leg and at that point was a perfect six out of six on the doubles. Two missed darts at double 16 ended his flawless finishing, but he finished the job on his next throw.
Nightmare start for Thornton Robert Thornton 0 Dave Chisnall 7 Dave Chisnall installed himself as the early leader in this year’s Premier League after thrashing Robert Thornton 7-0. The two had met only five days
earlier in the first round of the Unibet Masters, where Chizzy came from 8-0 down to beat the Scot 10-9. This time it was Chisnall who stormed into an early lead, however there would be no similar comeback as Thornton managed
just one shot at the double and averaged a miserable 75.68. The Thorn had a chance to avoid the dreaded whitewash at the end when he missed tops for a 117. Chisnall stepped in to complete only the sixth whitewash in Premier League history.
Darts Weekly Friday 5 February 2016
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Wright gets campaign off to a flyer with comfortable victory Peter Wright 7 Michael Smith 2 Peter Wright kicked off the new Premier League season with a straight-forward 7-2 victory over debutant Michael Smith. The world number five took out 121 on route to establishing a 3-0 lead, before the pair shared the next four legs to make it 5-2. Wright, who was relegated from
the tournament on Judgement Night last year, fired in a fifth 180 in the eighth leg as he broke the Smith throw with a 12 dart leg. It took Snakebite six weeks to get his first win on the board last season, but the 2014 World Championship finalist got his first two points of 2016 at the first attempt, with double 16 sealing him a comfortable 7-2 win over a nervous Smith.
Difficult first night for Smith Michael Smith 1 Adrian Lewis 7 Adrian Lewis eased to a 7-1 win against Michael Smith, as the Premier League debutant tasted two defeats on the opening night. Jackpot was due to play world
champion Gary Anderson in a repeat of their final at Alexandra Palace last month, but the Scot was forced to sit out through illness. Smith was back out for a second game after losing 7-2 to Peter Wright earlier in the night, and early on it looked as if he might
get something out of the game when he levelled at 1-1. However, Lewis then raced home to victory by winning the next six legs, completing a 7-1 win to go second in the table. Debutant Smith sits at the bottom after two defeats from two.
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Friday 5 February 2016 Darts Weekly
Van Gerwen survives Taylor scare to successfully retain Masters title at Arena: MK Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Michael van Gerwen bounced back from his early William Hill World Championship exit to successfully retain the Unibet Masters in Milton Keynes at the weekend. The world number one came out on top in the battle of the top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit, seeing off Dave Chisnall 11-6 in the final on Sunday night. MVG began his title defence in style with comfortable victories over both Stephen Bunting and Michael Smith, dropping just four legs across the two games. The Dutchman then avoided a scare in the semi finals against Phil Taylor, with the Power missing seven match darts before van Gerwen won the deciding leg in 12 darts to reach the final. Against Chisnall, MVG raced into a 5-0 lead and then went further ahead at 7-1 to move to within four legs of the title. Chizzy would need to produce a similar comeback to the one in his first round clash, which saw him fight back from 8-0 down to beat Robert Thornton 10-9. But after he cut the deficit to 8-4, van Gerwen took three of the next five legs to complete the defence of his Masters title. “I’m really happy to win this trophy,” van Gerwen told the PDC. “I really had to work hard for this and it was a hard day. “I had a bit of luck but you can’t ask for anything more than to be holding the trophy at the end. “Phil missed seven match darts, which he normally never does, and when someone gives you a chance like that you have to take it. “At 5-0 in the final I knew the game was over. I had a couple of good finishes afterwards, held my own throw and it was enough to win the game. “It was a tough day and I feel
fantastic. It means a lot to me and I’m really glad to win this Unibet Masters again. “I started last year exactly the same and now go onto the Premier League, so that’s my aim now.” For Chisnall, his fourth televised final was almost like a free hit after coming back from so far behind to beat Thornton in the tournament’s opening game on Saturday. Chizzy went on to beat Vincent van der Voort 10-4 in the quarter finals, before booking his place in the final with an 11-6 triumph over James Wade. The St Helens ace tasted defeat once again in the final, so his wait for a first televised title goes on. “After being 8-0 down in the first round I didn’t expect to get through that,” Chisnall said. “So it’s a great weekend to reach the final. “I’m not happy with how I played
"I had a bit of luck but you can’t ask for more than to be holding the trophy” in the final but there were a few tired darts. “I beat Michael in the World Grand Prix a couple of years ago and he’s punished me for it ever since! “You can’t give him a head start like I did but he was too good there and he showed why he’s the world number one. “I’m playing really well but it wasn’t meant to be and I’ll try again in the next tournament.” Chizzy beat van Gerwen 3-2 in the quarter finals of the Grand Prix back in 2013, and since then MVG has been victorious in 15 of their next 19 meetings. The duo had met in the quarter finals of the last two stagings of the Masters, with the Dutchman winning them 10-7 and 10-9, with Sunday’s final an easier affair.
and it was him. He asked me to become his manager and then there was Mike Gregory, Alan Warriner-Little and Jamie Harvey, I managed all of those.” Fast forward to 2010 and Cox was involved in putting together an offer for the PDC to buy the BDO, which was turned down. “We offered them over a million pounds to come and join us,” he said. “They didn’t answer for twoand-a-half weeks and then gave us three days. That’s how it fell down. “Things will eventually change and the BDO will be a part of the PDC, it has got to be. “The best situation, and I think it will happen, would be for the people at the BDO to turn the lights off on the hierarchy they’ve got there. “Bring in new people and become a feeder organisation. I’m sure the
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the PDC would help them. I don’t know what will happen with their television coverage for Lakeside. “I know there is a lot of talk that the BBC are going to drop sport, that’s not just the darts but the situation they’re in. It’s looking like it hasn’t got a big future. “But hopefully the two organisations will come together. There must be some people within the BDO system who can see this. “And as we get older there will be more and people round who didn’t live through the animosity. They will want to put it all to bed and become one organisation.” As well as helping launch the PDC, Cox was also their tournament director, and picks out his favourite event to run. “My favourite tournament has always been the World Matchplay in Blackpool,” he said. “We never
Hall of fame: Tommy Cox is inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame alongside fellow cofounder Dick Allix in 2010. PICTURE: Lawrence Lustig/PDC used to play darts in the summer. I was there with my wife having a break and she said ‘why don’t you have a darts tournament in the summer when there’s loads of people here?’ Blackpool was definitely my favourite. “The most difficult one to run was the UK Open, especially when it used to be played in four different pubs on the same day. “The winner from the four pubs would come and play on Sunday night. “That was the most difficult because there was a lot of players in that and it was spread all over the country.”
The Premier League new boy, Michael Smith, talks us through his darts memories First darts memory? It was watching my first-ever match in 2007 between Gary Anderson and Phil Taylor. When Anderson won it made me want to play, watching someone hit so many 180s and beat up the best player was amazing. First darts hero? Gary Anderson as my last answer will explain (laughs). First set of darts? They were a £10 set of 27 gram bombers (laughs). I couldn’t tell you what make they were though! First darts team? That was playing for my auntie’s pub. I used to struggle to play because I was awful and still am, but I get by now! They play me in local leagues unless I’m not playing dominoes (laughs). First game on TV? I think it was on Nuts TV for a programme called New Kids on the Oche. That was a long time ago. First nine darter? I can’t remember my first nine darter in practice but in a match it was at the St Anne’s Open. I think I was 17 or 18 and I got £90 for it, but then Chizzy (Dave Chisnall) hit one later on and took half of it! First professional tournament win? My first Pro Tour win, I couldn’t tell you what year it was, but I remember just coming back from two broken wrists. I managed to win my board after only dropping two legs and then in the last 16 I was 5-1 down to Robert Thornton and battled back. I beat Chizzy 6-5 in the final to win it.
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Friday 5 February 2016 Darts Weekly
Wolfie is delighted to win a record fourth Dutch Open Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Martin Adams made a successful defence of the Dutch Open title on Sunday and became the first man to win the event four times. Wolfie won 11 games in total over two days at Assen’s De Bonte Wever to retain the Men’s Singles title he won 12 months ago. The three-time world champion edged a close semi final against Kevin McDine, before beating Danny Noppert 3-1 in the final to lift the Dutch Open trophy for a record fourth time. “It felt very good,” Adams said. “I was also the defending champion, so to defend the title successfully is always something special. “I’m very pleased. It’s one of those things where it’s always easy when you win it (laughs). “I’m pleased to say I only had one tight game before the semi finals and final. “It was a really tight game but I managed to get through that ok. “Then you think you’re on a winner and you leave a double, and then the other bloke bangs in a 150 against you. Oh, hang on! “It’s never easy getting through, they’re always hard games and you have to have respect for your opponents. “Some are good and some are not so good. I only had one guy really who was just playing for fun and the experience, nothing else. “He had no ambitions of winning it at all. I think he was clapping his hands with joy because he’d won his first game (laughs).” Wolfie began his title defence on Saturday morning with whitewash 3-0 wins over Siegfried Grantner and Richard Immeker, before squeezing past Raymond Minkman 32 in the last 512. Adams then saw off Andre van der Veen 3-0 to come through his group, of which there were 128 as
come that thick and fast now that they need somebody to look after that side of it, otherwise they miss out. “Two or three players have missed out on the closing date and the PDC is consistent. Whether it’s Phil Taylor or Joe Bloggs, if you miss the date then you’re not in. “All managers now have to be checked as we’ve had players who have been ripped off. They’ve got to the airport and there’s no transfer for them. “We’ve got to keep that out of the game because it has got to be
more than 2,000 players competed in the Men’s Singles event. Another whitewash win, this time over Remko Landman, sealed Wolfie’s progression into the last 64, where the short format was extended to the best of seven legs. A 4-0 win over Sven Helvrich and a 4-2 triumph against Peter Sjöberg set up a last 16 clash with Men’s Pairs winner Jimmy Hendriks. Adams continued on the whitewash trail as he powered into the quarter finals, where he beat
"To defend the title successfully is always something special to achieve” Hendrik Tooren 5-2 to advance to the final four. Wolfie averaged 83.84 to win a nervy semi final clash against McDine in the final set, before an 89.73 average was enough to seal a 3-1 win in the final over Noppert to regain the title. With Adams seeing off a large field of players to defend his title, the now four-time Dutch Open champion revealed how he has not over practiced since Lakeside. “You’ve got to be careful not to
over practice,” he said. “You can over practice and then things start going wrong because you’re trying too hard. “Sometimes when they’re not going well I just walk away and go ‘I’ll come back again tomorrow’ (laughs). “The waiting time between games is normal with these big events. It’s nothing unusual. “I remember years ago with the British Open you’d play your first game and then have a three hour wait before the next one.” Wolfie’s win on Sunday moves him, ahead of Alan Warriner-Little and Raymond van Barneveld from three Dutch Open titles to four, and was the perfect response after his early exit in the BDO World Championship last month. Adams lost 3-0 to eventual finalist Jeff Smith in the first round, and it was the first time in 23 appearances at the Lakeside that he had been whitewashed. “Things didn’t go well at Lakeside,” he admitted. “I missed doubles and I gave Jeff too many chances. “That one has gone and I’ve forgot about it and moved on. It was good to win the Dutch Open and in a week I’ll be off to the Scottish Open.”
Darts Weekly Friday 5 February 2016
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Review: Target Distinction Capricorn Pixel 24g darts The darts have a slightly unique grip at the front, which is a kind of deep widely-spaced ring grip, writes Darren Watson. The back edge of the rings slope almost like a reverse shark grip, the pixels are slightly elongated because of that and it feels very grippy there. The middle section has flat wide bands and the rear is a more familiar flat-ringed pixel grip, with rings of varying widths, but less grippy than the front section. The front is just about high level grip and the rear a high medium. The length of the darts is 52.77mm with a width of 6.56mm and the weight of each barrel comes in at 24.16g, 24.17g and 24.2g. With nothing attached balance is slightly to the front, and with supplied set up it moves to centre. These darts felt heavier than I would have expected in my front grip, with the short stems on the balance feeling more to the front
Mason, before wins over Matt Dickinson (4-2) and Krzysztof Ratajski (5-1) helped him progress into the final. Elsewhere, Holland’s Fabian Roosenbrand was back in the winner’s enclosure after he toppled Scott Baker 6-3 to win the Romanian International Open on the same night. The 27-year-old, who famously beat Gary Anderson in the first round of the 2008 BDO World Championship, won a back and forth final to lift the trophy. even though it’s at the centre. The rear is drilled out just less than 10mm and the front has more tungsten cut out, so I found it a little strange. The darts also landed in the board much flatter than my usual set, but the darts worked well with my front grip. The points are short too at just 25mm, so when you add that to the short stems maybe it was just
helping the balance for me. It was not so great throwing from the centre though. The pixel grip on the front is very good. I had the odd dart feel a touch sticky, but suspect it’s more the newness of pixels holding a fraction too long to the skin. Mostly it was a good dart to release and will be one for the front and rear grippers I think. Darren’s rating: 8 out of 10
Database
- M McFall; Sheffield - C Turner; Twickenham - D Parletti; Aberdeen - J Hogg; Leicester - L Morris; London Victoria - D Day and S Marsh; Worcester - I McFarlane.
4-2 P Sjöberg, C Landman 2-4 J Hendriks, R Hayden 4-2 S Verdonck, P Morelissen 24 H Tooren, M Jongen 4-1 K Thoburn, K McDine 4-2 E van Rijswijk, D Brouwer 1-4 D Labanauskas, K de Vries 1-4 W Harms, D van Baelen 2-4 L Boeijink, M Atkins 3-4 B Dawson, R Veenstra 3-4 M Robbe, D Noppert 4-1 D de Wulf, L McGurn 1-4 T Greebe, J Hurrell 0-4 S Mitchell, M Paulsen 4-3 W Mandigers, S Lennon 3-4 M Gies. Last 16 - M Adams 4-0 J Hendriks, R Hayden 0-4 H Tooren, M Jongen 0-4 K McDine, D Labanauskas 4-2 W Harms, L Boeijink 4-3 B Dawson, M Robbe 0-4 D Noppert, T Greebe 4-2 S Mitchell, M Paulsen 1-4 M Gies. Quarter finals - M Adams 5-2 H Tooren, K McDine 5-4 D Labanauskas, L Boeijink 2-5 D Noppert, T Greebe 1-5 M Gies. Semi finals - M Adams 2-1 K McDine, D Noppert 2-0 M Gies. Final - M Adams 3-1 D Noppert. Ladies Singles quarter finals - L Ashton 4-0 R David, A Dobromyslova 4-2 A Zijlstra, A de Graaf 3-4 L Winstanley, T Gulliver 0-4 D Hedman. Semi finals - L Ashton 4-0 A Dobromyslova, L Winstanley 4-2 D Hedman. Final - L Ashton 5-4 L Winstanley. Men’s Pairs - J Hendriks and M McGeeney. Ladies Pairs - A de Graaf and S Prins.
PDC UNIBET MASTERS (legs) (Arena:MK, Milton Keynes) First round - M van Gerwen 10-1 S Bunting, M Smith 10-7 R van Barneveld, P Taylor 10-6 J Klaasen, P Wright 10-7 I White, G Anderson 7-10 V van der Voort, R Thornton 9-10 D Chisnall, A Lewis 4-10 K Huybrechts, J Wade 10-8 T Jenkins. Quarter finals - M van Gerwen 10-3 M Smith, P Taylor 10-9 P Wright, V van der Voort 4-10 D Chisnall, K Huybrechts 5-10 J Wade. Semi finals - M van Gerwen 11-10 P Taylor, D Chisnall 11-6 J Wade. Final - M van Gerwen 11-6 D Chisnall. PDC BETWAY PREMIER LEAGUE (legs) (First Direct Arena, Leeds) Week one - P Wright 7-2 M Smith, M van Gerwen 4-7 J Wade, P Taylor 2-7 R van Barneveld, R Thornton 0-7 D Chisnall, M Smith 1-7 A Lewis. PDC CORAL UK OPEN RILEYS AMATEUR QUALIFIERS Chorlton - P Whitworth; Coventry - C Jones; Liverpool - M Rice; Nottingham
BDO DUTCH OPEN (legs/sets) (De Bonte Wever, Assen) Men’s Singles last 64 - M Adams 4-0 S Helvrich, F Kevelam 3-4 P Sjöberg, R van Zuidam 3-4 C Landman, J Hendriks 4-3 R Janssen, M Baker 3-4 R Hayden, D Iedema 1-4 S Verdonck, P Morelissen 4-0 L Ries, H Dozeman 2-4 H Tooren, D Fitton 1-4 M Jongen, D Blom 1-4 K Thoburn, K McDine 4-3 M Blandford, L Pater 3-4 E van Rijswijk, N Kenny 1-4 D Brouwer, W Vaes 2-4 D Labanauskas, K de Vries 4-2 S Paassen, R Tims 2-4 W Harms, S Waites 0-4 D van Baelen, L Boeijink 4-1 A Ahmaddy, M Atkins 4-0 N van Houtum, C Jackson 0-4 B Dawson, R Veenstra 4-0 S Gerritsen, K den Hartog 1-4 M Robbe, D Noppert 4-3 B J Mulder, D de Wulf 4-3 J Williams, L McGuirn 4-3 K Smeets, T Greebe 4-1 J Sparidaans, J Hurrell 4-2 D Telnekes, T West 2-4 S Mitchell, M Paulsen 4-3 C Quinn, P Hogan 2-4 W Mandigers, M Mijnheer 1-4 S Lennon, R Palmen 2-4 M Gies. Last 32 - M Adams
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Friday 5 February 2016 Darts Weekly
ANDREW DEVONSHIRE DARTS WRITER
Who gets in my ultimate Premier League? So the new Betway Premier League is underway, and while I was watching the action it got me thinking: what if it was possible to have the best 10 players of all-time to make up the ultimate Premier League line-up? Many times we have seen lists and heard arguments as to who are the best players of all-time. Here are my thoughts on who would make the cut: 1. Phil Taylor The first player has to be Phil Taylor. We will never see his like again on the oche, and in my opinion his record of 16 world titles will never be bettered. 2. Eric Bristow The five-time world champion won every event that was on offer to him back in the day. The Crafty Cockney would have loved the glitz and razzmatazz of the Premier League, and not to mention he was always a showman. 3. John Lowe Old Stoneface is my third player to be selected. Lowe won three world titles and was the first man to hit the televised nine-dart leg. 4. Jocky Wilson Twice world champion, the late, great Scot dominated the British Professional Championship during the 1980s, collecting four titles. He was a huge character within the game and would add controversy and a bit of spice to the event. 5. Raymond van Barneveld Barney is a five-time world
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watch an evening of the Premier
watch an evening of the Premier
champion and has appeared in a total of eight world finals. The Dutchman would certainly have the crowds on his side, so he deserves his place in the line-up.
the business end of tournaments for it seems like forever. Only last week he lifted the Dutch Open trophy for the fourth time at the grand old age of 59.
6. Alan Evans Sixth spot goes to another player who his sadly no longer with us. Alan was one of the first men we ever saw throwing darts on a television screen, and his ability was never questioned He loved to play to the crowd and the Premier League atmosphere would have been right up his street.
9. Dennis Priestley The Menace won the World Championship on two occasions and also lifted the World Masters title along with numerous other times. Dennis dominated the game for a period of time, and that was no mean feat when you consider a certain Mr Taylor was around at the same time.
7. Bob Anderson The 1988 world champion and the first man to win the Winmau World Masters three times in a row, the Limestone Cowboy enjoyed success all over the world. Bob’s still hitting the 180s on the exhibition scene and must be in the line-up.
10. Michael van Gerwen The final player in my line-up goes to the current PDC world number one, Michael van Gerwen. Even though MVG only has one world title to his name, he won 18 titles on the tour in 2015, which says it all.
8. Martin Adams The eighth spot goes to the second man to have won a hat-trick of World Masters in consecutive years. Wolfie has also won three world titles and has been around
So that’s my ultimate Premier League line-up. I’m sure there are plenty of you who would have picked some different choices to mine, so let us know who would make your top 10. Send a tweet to @A_Devonshire180 and use the hashtag #UltimateLeague