Issue 15 (April 8, 2016)

Friday 8 April 2016

Darts Weekly

BRITISH INTERNATIONALS

Eight in a row for England?

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New Era? BDO announce TV deal for World Trophy Page 8

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Friday 8 April 2016 Darts Weekly

Snakebite spurns five match darts as Lewis rescues a point Adrian Lewis 6 Peter Wright 6 Peter Wright missed five match darts to let Adrian Lewis snatch a point in Sheffield last night.

Snakebite looked on course to claim back-to-back wins in the Betway Premier League when he gained a crucial break in leg 11.

The match had gone with throw in the first 10 legs as neither player

could shake the other one off, in what was a surprisingly below-par contest at the Sheffield Arena.

Lewis missed two darts at double 12 to break the Wright throw in the eighth leg, before Snakebite wired the bullseye for a 167 checkout in the next leg to try and go in front.

A timely 180 in leg 11 handed Wright a break opportunity, which he took on double four, with Lewis salvaging a point in the final leg.

Taylor goes three points clear at top Phil Taylor 7 James Wade 4 Phil Taylor opened up a threepoint lead at the top of the Betway Premier League after beating both Gary Anderson and James Wade in Sheffield last night.

The Power stretched his unbeaten run in the Premier League to 10 games, as he made the most of playing twice by picking up four points to create a gap over the rest of the field.

Taylor won five legs in a row as he came from 3-2 down to beat Anderson 7-3 in his first game of the night, before edging past Wade 7-4 to bring the action to a close.

The clash with Anderson saw the opening five legs all go with throw, before the Flying Scotsman had an

opportunity to break the Taylor throw in leg six.

But the reigning world champion missed tops for a 64 checkout, with the Power finishing off 76 to level before running out a 7-3 winner.

A 121 checkout on the bull helped the 16-time world champion on his way to a 5-1 lead against Wade, before the Machine took out 101 to break throw and pull a leg back.

The next four legs all went with throw though, as the Power wrapped up the win with double 12, but only after Wade narrowly missed a 140 checkout.

“I’m over the moon and it’s another four points and a step closer to getting into the play-offs,” Taylor said. “I think another one or two wins will put me through and that’s what I’m after.”

Barney’s play-off hopes all but James Wade 7 Raymond van Barneveld 4 Raymond van Barneveld’s play-off hopes in this year’s Betway Premier League are slim after losing 7-4 to James Wade.

The 2014 winner is now six

points behind Gary Anderson, who occupies the final play-off spot in fourth place.

The opening game at the Sheffield Arena last night was finely poised at 4-4, with all eight legs having gone with throw.

But Wade then produced a three-

leg burst to win 7-4 and boost his own chances of finishing in the top four at the end of the season.

The Machine, who was unbeaten in his last four Premier League games going into last night, began with a confident 12 dart leg.

Wade missed a dart at tops for an

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Van Gerwen avoids a scare to beat plucky Thorn in Sheffield Robert Thornton 5 Michael van Gerwen 7 Michael van Gerwen got back to winning ways in the Betway Premier League with a hard-fought 7-5 win over Robert Thornton in Sheffield last night.

The world number one finished with an impressive average of 117.95, but still could have ended up sharing the points for a fourth

week running, as Thornton came back from 6-2 down to force a 12th leg with the Dutchman.

The Thorn finished with a 100+ average and kept his hopes alive with an 11 darter in leg nine, before capitalising on missed match darts to reduce the deficit to 6-5.

Van Gerwen then produced an 11 dart leg of his own to seal the win and the third highest individual televised average in history.

Taylor battles back to draw with MVG “I’m over the moon

and it’s another four points and a step closer to getting into the play-offs”

over as Machine wins opener early break and then held throw with a 101 checkout on double 12 to go 2-1 in front.

The pair continued to trade legs as the match reached 3-3, where van Barneveld then missed the bull for a 122 finish to break.

Double 16 ensured the 2009

Premier League winner held onto his throw, before Barney hit double five with his last dart to level up again at 4-4.

Then came the late surge from Wade, as after taking out 62 to go 5-4 up, the Machine pounced on three missed doubles from the

Dutchman and finished off a 13 dart leg to go 6-4 in front.

Wade secured the two points with double 10 in the final leg to edge closer to the top four.

“It’s a very important win,” he said. “I couldn’t believe some of the shots Ray gave me.”

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Friday 8 April 2016 Darts Weekly

Mitchell aiming to captain England to glory once again in the British Internationals Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Scott Mitchell resumes captaincy of the England team this weekend and insists playing for your country still ranks highly in what players can achieve in the sport.

The 37th British International Championships gets underway this evening, with the Glenrothes Recreation and Social Club in Fife, sold out for the three days.

Mitchell is hoping to lead the England men’s team to an eighth consecutive win in the tournament, while the ladies can make it seven victories on the bounce by triumphing this weekend.

“This is my second year as England captain and it’s always a very proud thing to do,” Mitchell said. “To follow on from the likes of Eric Bristow and Martin Adams is a huge honour for me and it’s so different to everything we do.

“I’m told there is no interest in the internationals anymore, but I’m told that the tickets sold out within an hour for this event. It’s great news for the BDO. “It will be quite a hostile atmosphere playing in Scotland, but at the same time that’s what you come to expect.

“The Welsh have got a few new faces who are playing absolutely fantastic on the circuit and in county, so I think probably this year it could be tighter than it’s been in previous years.

“Last year was very tight. We won it by four legs on a leg count, so the other two teams will go into it this year thinking ‘we’ve got more chance this year than we’ve had in the past.’

“We’re not a team of household names as we have been in the past.

The guys are being picked on their county form and hopefully we can do enough to bring it home again.”

The decision to pick the teams based on how the players perform

for their county always conjures up a debate. Last year former captain Martin Adams missed out on a place in the England team, while the glaring omission in 2016 is the omission of newly-crowned world champion Scott Waites.

“I know Scott with his injury last year didn’t play as many county games in 2015 as he had to,” Mitchell explains.

“It’s such a fine line as to who gets picked because of the talent that’s in England.

“I know it’s the same for Scotland and Wales. When you’re picking an international team there’s always opinions and there are other players who could be in.

“It happened to me at the start so I do understand how the players who missed out feel, and I know how the players who were picked feel. It’s a difficult job.”

Surrey’s Dave Parletti and

“Playing for your country is probably the biggest thing in darts I would say” Hampshire’s Gemma Hayter are the two debutants for England this weekend, and Mitchell admits being picked for your country remains one of the biggest achievements in darts.

“To be honest the hardest thing to do is to break into the England squad of all the international teams, because of the depth there is in this country,” he said.

“There’s some guys who missed out who maybe feel they should not have missed out, but every time we put a team out in an England shirt they always seem to perform.

“As I did in my first one the new caps will find it difficult initially, but you’ve got to relish the chance and want to test yourself against the best.

“It’s a big thing to play for

England. It’s for your family as well. They can say their son, daughter, brother, sister or cousin played for England.

“It’s not seen as a big thing because of the finances in darts now, but on a personal level and what it means to your family, it’s probably the biggest thing in darts I would say.”

England’s men’s team face a double header on Sunday in a bid to try and retain their title, as they play Wales (10.30am) and then Scotland (4.30pm) on the final day of the tournament.

“Some of my best international games I’ve played in have been in Scotland,” Mitchell said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

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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

BDO British International Championships 2016 Squads

Alan Soutar, Steve Taylor. Ladies: Lynn Cowan, Emily Davidson, Louise Hepburn, Lorraine Hyde, Frances Lawson, Kate Smith, Jenni Tully.

England - Men: Scott Mitchell (c), Martin Adams, Shaun Carroll, Brian Dawson, Glen Durrant, Dennis Harbour, Paul Hogan, Jamie Hughes, James Hurrell, Mark McGeeney, Dave Parletti, Darren Peetoom. Ladies: Deta Hedman, Lisa Ashton, Trina Gulliver, Gemma Hayter, Fallon Sherrock, Lorraine Winstanley.

Scotland - Men: Ross Montgomery (c), Craig Baxter, Jim Brown, Ryan Hogarth, Cameron Menzies, Steven Mitchell, Stevie Plank, Craig Quinn, Steve Ritchie, Scott Robertson, Steve Robertson,

Wales - Men: Martin Phillips (c), Steve Alker, Richard Edwards, Mike Gilet, Christopher Harris, Tim Jones, Nick Kenny, Mark Layton, David Arwyn Morris, Wayne Warren, Dafydd Williams, Jim Williams. Ladies: Katie Bellerby, Rhian Edwards, Julie Gore, Rhian Griffiths, Kimberley Lewis, Chris Savvery.

Watch the action unfold for £4 a day via the live stream available at www.247.tv/dartslive

‘Putting on the England shirt will be massive honour’ Parletti Dave Parletti has described his x impending England debut this weekend as a ‘massive honour.’ x

The recent Top of Waregem finalist, along with Hampshire’s Gemma Hayter, are set to represent their country for the first time when the 37th annual British International Championships gets underway this evening.

The duo come into an England side which has dominated the competition in recent years, with the Men’s and Ladies’ teams having both won the last six stagings of the tournament.

“It’s a massive honour to put the shirt on,” Parletti said. “It’s a dream of anyone in any sport to play for your country.

“All the greats have played for England. Phil Taylor, Bob Anderson, Keith Deller, Bobby George. These are all legends, and as a darts fan myself who grew up watching it to say I’m on that list with these players is another sign I’m going in the right direction.

“I just want to make my kids proud. They can say ‘my dad played for England’ and it’s the little things like that which mean the world to me.”

Parletti won all six of his games for Surrey to impress the England selectors, and despite losing on his last two county appearances to relinquish his unbeaten record, the Londoner heads to Scotland hoping for a change in fortunes.

“The last two months I’ve been unlucky really,” he said. “I lost 4-3 with a 32 average last month against Nick Kenny.

“As long as I’ve practised enough before and prepared well then the other person will have to play well to beat me.

“I’m playing really consistent at the moment, so as long as I do my bit and turn up, hopefully the other results will go our way and the other players play well, and we’ll come away with the trophy.”

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Friday 8 April 2016 Darts Weekly

Snakebite wins the darts Norwich Matchplay firsts Peter Wright won the first-ever Norwich Matchplay Championship at a packed out Epic TV Studios on Saturday night.

The world number five came from 3-2 down to beat Wayne Mardle 5-3 in the quarter-finals, before seeing off James Wade in an all-Premier League clash 5-2 to book his place in the final.

Snakebite then eased past Dave Chisnall 5-1 to lift the trophy, to the delight of his home crowd in Norwich.

The inaugural staging of the exhibition, organised by Lord Russell Baker of Little Moulton and sponsored by his company Amber Dew Events, saw eight players battle it out for the trophy.

The quarter-final draw kept the four Betway Premier League players apart, as Wright, Chisnall, Wade and Adrian Lewis were all separated before the last four.

Chisnall got the better of 1996 world champion and local favourite Steve Beaton in the first quarter-final of the night, with the trend continuing after Lewis defeated former world finalist Kevin Painter in the next game.

Wade

overcame former PDC world number one Colin Lloyd in the third quarter-final, while Wright completed the semi-final line-up with a comeback win in an entertaining clash against Mardle.

The semi-finals pitted the four players involved in this year’s Premier League, as Chisnall took on Lewis and Wade played Wright for places in the final.

Chisnall pulled through his semifinal with a 5-3 win against Lewis, in what was a tightly-fought encounter on the Norwich stage.

Wright then set up a rematch from last week’s Premier League leg in Cardiff, as he beat Wade 5-2 to advance to the final with Chizzy.

Buoyed by the backing of a local crowd, Wright peppered the treble 20 as he got the better of Chisnall again, winning 5-1 to get his hands on the trophy.

Lord Baker said: “Huge congratulations to Peter Wright for winning the championship. Peter is an amazing player and was hugely popular with the audience all night.”

Popular winner: Peter Wright is presented the trophy by Lord Russell Baker.

Picture: Julia Holland

PDC tour card holder, Darron Brown, talks us through his darts memories First darts memory?

It was watching the World Championship finals involving the likes of Eric Bristow, John Lowe and Jocky Wilson. I was hooked from the start.

First darts hero?

My first darts hero was John Lowe.

I loved the fact he was from my county Derbyshire and his throwing action is up there with the best.

First set of darts?

My first set were given to me by a local darts superstar Ray Mosley, bless him. I’m not sure of the make but they were like what Ted Hankey’s darts are now.

First darts team?

I first started playing in a local pub team when I was around 19 or 20.

The pub was called the Lord Byron and the team won everything in my first year there.

First game on TV? I’ve only ever appeared on TV once and that was only a few seconds at this year’s UK Open. I lost in the second round to Ryan Harrington, who then went and played Michael van Gerwen on the main stage.

First nine darter?

My first nine darter came when I was practising a few years back. I hit my first one in a game on 12/12/2012 in a singles league I set up in the Ripley area.

First professional tournament win?

I’ve not won a professional competition yet but I’ve won loads of ‘big girls’ competitions in the Derbyshire area!

Darts Weekly Friday 8 April 2016

Your Throw

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Database BDO INTER-COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP Premier Division - Cambridgeshire 1323 Yorkshire, Hampshire 19-17 Devon, Lancashire 24-12 Cornwall, Lincolnshire 18-18 Cheshire, Warwickshire 17-19 Essex.

Division One - Derbyshire 14-22 County Durham, Dorset 19-17 Cleveland, Gwent 14-22 Glamorgan, Kent 14-22 Oxfordshire, Nottinghamshire 28-8 Surrey.

Division Two - Cumbria 16-20 West Midlands, London 23-13 Worcestershire, Northamptonshire 20-16 Berkshire, Staffordshire 21-15 Somerset, Suffolk 23-13 Sussex.

Division Three - Leicestershire 17-19 Buckinghamshire, Norfolk 19-17 Merseyside, Northumberland 27-9 Gwynedd, Tyne and Wear 17-19 Humberside, Wiltshire 16-20 Hertfordshire.

Division Four - Bedfordshire 17-19 Clwyd, Breconshire 20-16 Middlesex, Gloucestershire 18-18 Montgomery and Radnor, Pembrokeshire 12-24 West of England, Shropshire 26-10 Isle of Wight.

Scotland North - Angus 13-15 Grampian,

Clackmannanshire 7-21 Central, Fife 21-7 Perthshire, Tay Valley 13-15 East Stirlingshire.

Scotland South - Ayrshire 15-13 Renfrewshire, Lothian 15-13 Borders, West Ayrshire 20-8 Lanarkshire, West Lothian 1-23 Greater Glasgow.

Cadby 6-0 C Bridge, D Platt 6-2 A Petty, H Kemp 6-2 S Kennedy. Semi finals - C Cadby 6-3 K Hillman, H Kemp 6-4 D Platt.

Final - C Cadby 6-5 H Kemp.

HARROWS AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (legs) (Warilla Bowls Club, NSW)

Event Three quarter finals - B Koltsov 6-1 P Levenkov, A Kolesov 6-3 A Oreshkin, A Shevel 6-4 A Pillpenko, R Obuhov 6-3 M Belov. Semi finals - A Kolesov 6-4 B Koltsov, R Obuhov 6-3 A Shevel. Final - A Kolesov 6-5 R Obuhov.

Event Four quarter finals - N Mikhalin 6-0 P Levenkov, M Belov 6-4 A Shevel, I Dzasohov 6-5 A Oreshkin, B Koltsov 6-1 S Smirnov. Semi finals - N Mikhalin 6-4 M Belov, B Koltsov 6-2 I Dzasohov. Final - B Koltsov 6-1 N Mikhalin.

Event Nine last 16 - D Platt 6-3 J Kitchin, D Whittington 6-3 B Aitken, C Cadby 6-1 G Major, A Petty 6-1 L Cameron, J Weber 6-1 K Anderson, L Ryder 6-2 R King, C Bridge 6-3 R Stewart, D Marland 6-3 T Hoefel. Quarter finals - D Platt 6-4 D Whittington, C Cadby 6-3 A Petty, J Weber 6-2 L Ryder, D Marland 6-2 C Bridge. Semi finals - D Platt 6-3 C Cadby, D Marland 6-5 J Weber. Final - D Marland 6-5 D Platt.

Event 10 last 16 - M Lean 6-5 J Weyman, K Hillman 6-2 L Ryder, C Bridge 6-1 G Major, C Cadby 6-5 J Kitchin, D Platt 6-1 D Marland, A Petty 6-5 D Gibbs, S Kennedy 6-2 M Francois, H Kemp 6-0 C Collins.

Quarter finals - K Hillman 6-5 M Lean, C

EADC PRO TOUR (legs) (Omega Plaza, Moscow)

PDC BETWAY PREMIER LEAGUE (legs) (Sheffield Arena, Sheffield) Week 10 - J Wade 7-4 R van Barneveld, G Anderson 3-7 P Taylor, R Thornton 5-7 M van Gerwen, A Lewis 6-6 P Wright, P Taylor 7-4 J Wade.

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Friday 8 April 2016 Darts Weekly

ALEX MOSS CHIEF DARTS WRITER

Is this really going to be the ‘New Era’ for the BDO? It was the announcement which they had been waiting for. The BDO revealed yesterday that they would be returning to the UK’s television screens this year with the three-day World Trophy event set to be shown on free to air TV at the end of next month.

The staunch supporters of the BDO have not had much hope to cling onto this year. The BBC ended their near 40-year relationship with the organisation by deciding against renewing its contract to broadcast their World Championship in February.

If that was not bad enough then the first two scheduled events organised by De:Luxe, the Players Championship and the Festival of Darts, were both cancelled.

All the talk of a ‘new era’ for the BDO looked to have evaporated, but that popular phrase was brought up again as the longawaited update on this year’s World Trophy was announced yesterday afternoon.

The statement on the BDO’s website read: ‘BDO to Usher in New Era with World Trophy Event in Manchester and £150K Prize Fund (sic)’ and included the news that the tournament had also attracted a broadcaster.

‘Additionally major free to air TV coverage has been secured for the event with a broadcaster that has recently enjoyed huge viewing figures for live sport.

‘This broadcaster and an exciting new partnership with a major event promoter who has secured this TV coverage will be announced at a press conference next week in London.’

So all eyes now turn to next week and the press conference where the broadcaster for the tournament, and you assume the ‘major event promoter’, will be revealed.

With the PDC heavily involved with ITV, and now the BBC, the options as to who this broadcaster could be are sparse.

The two standout channels you would think are Channel Four and Dave. The former has boosted its sport portfolio with the free to air

‘Losing the BBC was a big blow but this is a chance for a fresh start for the BDO’ rights for the Formula One, which attracted an average audience of 2.3 million (peak of 3.2 million) for their live coverage of the Bahrain Grand Prix last Sunday.

Channel Four are no strangers to broadcasting live sport, with horse racing and American football also having been shown on the channel.

Dave on the other hand are new to live sport. The channel screened the boxer David Haye’s comeback fight against Mark De Mori in

January of this year and pulled in an impressive peak of 3.02 million viewers for the bout.

After all of the false hope and disappointment so far in this ‘new era’ for the BDO, striking a deal with a new free to air broadcaster is a big coup and really could be the start of a new beginning for them.

Losing the BBC contract was a big blow but this is the chance for the BDO to make a fresh start with a new broadcaster.

Channel Four, Dave or whoever it might be, will no doubt have their own ideas as to how they want to present their coverage, and if they pull in the numbers they want then that will spell good news for getting the Lakeside on TV in 2017.

Getting their tournaments back on free to air television is a huge step forward for the BDO, but if this is to be a ‘new era’ then they must push on from this.

The presentation of the BDO product must be improved when the World Trophy is screened next month. There’s no point keeping it as it is because the viewers will stay away, the broadcasters will put out, and then the BDO are right back to square one again.