Who is the greatest darts player of all time? Who would form the top ten? It’s a debate that rages throughout forums and social media on a regular basis, but following on from my Fantasy World Championship, I’ve compiled my list of the ten greatest darts players of all time.
Continue reading “OPINION: The ten greatest darts players of all time”
Three-time world champion John Part has revealed that he will compete at Qualifying School next week in a bid to regain his place on the PDC circuit.
Continue reading “John Part reveals Qualifying School return!”
Jamie Hughes and Harry Ward were the first two players to secure automatic PDC Tour Cards on a dramatic opening day at 2019 PDC Qualifying School on Thursday afternoon. Continue reading “2019 UK Qualifying School – Day One Report!”
Reigning BDO world champion Glen Durrant will be among the 397 players bidding to win a PDC Tour Card in Wigan from January 17-20, after the entries for 2019 PDC UK Qualifying School were confirmed on Tuesday afternoon. Continue reading “2019 PDC UK Qualifying School – Entries Confirmed!”
Two-time world champion Gary Anderson clinched his maiden UK Open title with a brilliant 11-7 victory over Australian sensation Corey Cadby on a dramatic day of action at Butlin’s Minehead on Sunday evening. Continue reading “UK Open 2018: Finals Day Report!”
The two tournament favourites Gary Anderson and Rob Cross will clash in the UK Open quarter-finals, as three-time world champion John Part reached his first major TV quarter-final since 2012 on another dramatic day of action at Butlin’s Minehead on Saturday. Continue reading “UK Open 2018: Day Two Report!”
2017 UK Open finalist Gerwyn Price will take on former BDO number one James Wilson in the opening afternoon of this year’s event next month, which will also see five-time world champion and two-time UK Open winner Raymond van Barneveld in action. Continue reading “2018 UK Open Draw!”
Gary Anderson defied his injury woes to secure his place in next month’s UK Open with victory in qualifier four on Friday, defeating Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-2 in the final at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan. Continue reading “UK Open Qualifier Four Report!”
Three-time world champion John Part and former Premier League stars Andy Hamilton and Wes Newton head the list of entrants for next Monday’s PDPA World Championship qualifier at the Arena MK in Milton Keynes. Continue reading “PDPA World Championship Qualifier: Entries Confirmed!”
Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld recorded the second highest pairs average in World Cup history to kick off their campaign in stunning style, as reigning champions England battled through on another eventful night of darts in Frankfurt on Friday evening. Continue reading “2017 World Cup of Darts: Day Two Report!”
The entries for this weekend’s Players Championship double-header have been confirmed, as the Arena MK in Milton Keynes prepares to host Players Championships Five and Six on April 1st-2nd. There is £150,000 in prize money on offer throughout the weekend, for a field comprised of PDC Tour-Card holders and PDPA Associate Members. Continue reading “Players Championship Five & Six Entries!”
Three-time world champion John Part has returned to Team Unicorn after a seven-year hiatus, as the Canadian re-joins the biggest name in darts as a player, ambassador and mentor. Continue reading “Unicorn announce the return of a darting legend!”
Former world champions John Part and Richie Burnett joined Steve Lennon and Scott Taylor in securing PDC Tour Cards on day three at the 2017 Qualifying School at the Robin Park Tennis Centre on Saturday afternoon.
Three-time world champion John Part marked his return to the PDC Pro Tour after rolling back the years in Wigan on Saturday afternoon. ‘Darth Maple’ had suffered consecutive second-round exits on the previous two days of competition, but he produced a series of vintage displays to secure a coveted tour card.
Part secured his place in round-four by virtue of three successive deciding-leg victories against Lennart Efraimsson, Duvaan Ata and Richard Calvert. The Canadian then defeated Ian Withers 5-2 in his board final to reach the last 32.
In round-five, the three-time world champion faced Barry Lynn, who famously defeated Gary Anderson in last year’s UK Open. Part recorded a hard-fought 5-3 victory over the Essex ace, before defeating talented youngster Adam Hunt 5-2 to reach the last eight stage. Continue reading “2017 PDC Q-School: Day Three Report!”
Prakash Jiwa, Lee Bryant, Stephen Burton and Jim Brown all secured PDC Tour Cards on the opening day of the 2017 PDC Qualifying School at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan on Thursday afternoon, on a day which saw a record field of 434 players battling it out for the right to compete on the PDC Pro Tour over the next two years.
Prakash Jiwa enjoyed the honour of being the first man to secure a tour card at this year’s Q-School. The man nicknamed ‘The Apache’ has come through Q-School on two separate occasions and performed superbly to make it an illustrious treble, becoming only the fifth player to achieve this feat.
Jiwa received a bye in the opening round before storming into the last 128 with a whitewash victory over James Young. He then recorded successive 5-3 victories over Davyd Venken and Jim Walker respectively to reach the last 32.
The Rugby-based star then edged through last-leg deciders against both Richard North and Steve Douglas to set up a decisive last eight showdown with Ireland’s Steve Lennon who won a PDC Development Tour title last year. Nevertheless, Jiwa’s experience paid dividends as he prevailed 5-2 to regain his PDC Tour Card. Continue reading “2017 PDC Q-School: Day One Report!”
Three-time world champion John Part and former Players Championship Finals winner Paul Nicholson will be among the field of nearly 450 players competing in the 2017 PDC Qualifying School which begins this Thursday, with 28 PDC Tour cards on offer across four days of action at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan.
The PDC Qualifying School gives any aspiring darts player aged 16 or over the opportunity to win a Tour Card in order to compete as a professional on the PDC ProTour; four players will win Tour Cards on each of the four days of competition in Wigan.
Ranking points will be allocated to other players based on their finishing position; this sees a further 12 Tour Cards allocated from the Q School Order of Merit following the culmination of the Qualifying School on Sunday. Two of the high-profile stars in action include John Part and Paul Nicholson.
Part, who won his third world title back in 2008, has endured a disappointing run of form over the last couple of years which has seen him slip outside the world’s top 64. ‘Darth Maple’ is now an ever-present member of Sky Sports’ commentary and punditry team, but the Canadian still harbours ambitions of returning to the circuit full-time. Continue reading “2017 PDC Qualifying School Entries!”
Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld kept their World Cup dreams alive as they defeated Australia’s pairing of Simon Whitlock and Kyle Anderson in arguably the best match in the tournament’s history, in Frankfurt on Sunday afternoon.
Van Gerwen defeated Simon Whitlock 4-1 to give Netherlands a 1-0 advantage. Whitlock won the opening leg on D10, but MvG responded with a spectacular 132 finish, which included two bullseyes, followed by D16. Van Gerwen then broke Whitlock’s throw with a clinical 100 finish, before completing the victory with a 98.49 average.
However, Kyle Anderson showed tremendous character as he defeated Raymond van Barneveld 4-3 in a pulsating encounter. Anderson led 3-1, but Van Barneveld stayed alive with a fine 116 checkout. Barney then broke Kyle’s throw with a fabulous 11-darter, but Anderson stole victory after RvB missed five match darts in the decider.
However, the Dutch began the decisive doubles-decider superbly. Van Gerwen opened up with a maximum, and Barney posted a 140, before hitting D16 for a 12-dart break of throw. Nevertheless, Australia responded emphatically, with Whitlock completing a 13-darter after Anderson registered his first maximum of the contest.
Continue reading “World Cup of Darts- Quarter-Finals Report”
England, Scotland and Netherlands all eased through to the quarter-finals of the 2016 Betway World Cup of Darts, whilst Canada caused the shock of the tournament thus far, dumping out fifth seeds Wales in the second-round in Frankfurt on Saturday.
Defending champions England breezed through to the last eight without dropping a single leg, as Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis defeated Yuanjun Liu and Wenge Xie 4-0 respectively. Taylor averaged just 81 in his singles match, whilst Lewis averaged a modest 89. However, this contest will be remembered more for the exuberant antics of the Wenge Xie!
Elsewhere, second seeds Scotland progressed to the quarter-finals, after Gary Anderson and Robert Thornton won their respective singles contests against Norway. World champion Anderson survived a major scare against the impressive Cor Dekker, coming through in a pulsating last-leg decider.
Dekker left himself on 52 as he neared in on a historic win, but Anderson showed his class, snatching victory with a majestic 160 finish. Meanwhile, Robert Thornton’s progress was more serene, as the World Grand-Prix champion averaged 85 in defeating the experienced Robert Wagner 5-1.
Daryl Gurney, Kevin Painter, Alan Norris, John Henderson, Joe Cullen and Joe Murnan enjoyed double-qualification success by sealing their spots in the Gibraltar Darts Trophy and European Darts Matchplay on Friday evening, whilst Phil Taylor only managed to seal his spot in Hamburg, after failing to secure a place in Gibraltar.
This qualification double-header took place at the Barnsley Metrodome ahead of this weekend’s opening Players Championship events. There were a host of big names vying to seal their spots in Gibraltar and Hamburg, and Taylor will be competing in his first European Tour event for 18 months having qualified for the European Darts Matchplay.
However, Taylor, a former Gibraltar Darts Trophy winner back in 2013, will not be able to repeat the feat this year, after he was defeated 6-4 in the final game of the opening night’s qualifier by Ross Smith.
Nevertheless, the 16-time world champion exacted revenge in the night’s second European Tour qualifier, edging out Smith 6-5 before whitewashing Lee Palfreyman 6-0 to seal his place in Germany.
Continue reading “European Tours 3-4: UK Qualifiers Report & Results”
1. Phil Taylor will drop out of the World’s Top 2
This would be unprecedented in PDC folk law! Since the current ranking system was implemented, Taylor has never been ranked lower than 2nd. However, I cannot envisage Taylor retaining his number two spot, with Gary Anderson trailing him by just a meagre £12,000. Now I am certainly not forecasting a Taylor decline; he is still performing at the peak of his powers, illustrated by his 116 average against Raymond van Barneveld, albeit in defeat, last week.
Yet unfortunately for Taylor, there are so many top players performing to their maximum, and with the Power having to defend the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix titles, along with a Players Championship final appearance on the rolling two-year order of merit, he will have to enjoy a dominant year to stave off the threat of a resurgent Anderson, who is defending very little after having a particularly ordinary 2013. I think Taylor will win at least one major title this year, although it’s unlikely to be sufficient to preserve his current ranking.
Raymond van Barneveld recorded a comprehensive 9-3 victory over defending UK Open Champion Adrian Lewis on day one in Minehead, whilst World Champion Gary Anderson, Michael Smith, Terry Jenkins and Simon Whitlock were also early casualties.