Issue 18 (April 29, 2016)

Friday 29 April 2016

Darts Weekly

World Trophy is moved to Lakeside ◊ BDO breaches contract with Victoria Warehouse - Page 6 ◊ Alex Moss verdict - Page 8 ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Exclusive Hamilton vows to fight back Pages 4-5

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Friday 29 April 2016 Darts Weekly

Van Gerwen climbs to the top and qualifies after thrashing James Wade 1 Michael van Gerwen 7 Michael van Gerwen climbed to the top of the Betway Premier League table and booked his place in the play-offs after thrashing James Wade 7-1 last night.

The world number one made the most of Phil Taylor’s defeat to Peter Wright, as he averaged over 108 in a dominant performance at

the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham yesterday.

A 124 checkout on the bull saw van Gerwen race into a 4-0 lead, before Wade, who beat the Dutchman on the opening night of the tournament, got off the mark with double tops in leg five.

But MVG rattled off the next three legs in quick succession to extend his unbeaten run to 13 games and go top of the table.

Superb Wright cuts off the Power’s run Peter Wright 7 Phil Taylor 4 Peter Wright gave his hopes of qualifying for this year’s Premier League play-offs a major boost with a 7-4 win against Phil Taylor last night.

It was the first defeat the 16-time world champion has suffered in the tournament since the opening night, with Wright’s triumph also leading to the Power being knocked off top spot in the table.

Taylor landed an early break in the third leg, hitting double 12 to establish a 2-1 lead against the colourful Scot.

But Wright hit back immediately by finishing 121 on the bull to level the match at 2-2.

Another three figure checkout

followed for the recent Coral UK Open finalist in the next leg, with Wright checking out 104 on double 16 to hold his throw.

Taylor hit the same double in leg six to complete a 10 darter, but Wright then reeled off four of the next five legs to claim the victory.

After the Power missed tops to hold throw in leg eight, Snakebite checked out 71 to break and go two legs clear at 5-3.

A first 180 of the match for Wright helped him go 6-3 up, with another 71 checkout in the 11th leg seeing him over the line and continuing his unbeaten record over Taylor in the Premier League.

“To play the 16-time world champion and get the win was special, and I had to dig deep and work hard,” Wright said.

Jackpot closes in on play-off Adrian Lewis 7 Robert Thornton 2 Adrian Lewis remains on course to qualify for the Premier League play-offs after beating Robert Thornton 7-2 last night.

The two-time world champion

has not finished in the top four since 2011, but heads into the final two weeks of the regular season still in fourth spot and needing just one more win to secure his place at The O2 Arena on May 19.

Jackpot was quick out of the blocks against Thornton, winning

the first three legs to surge into a comfortable 3-0 lead.

The Thorn hit two 180s in the second leg but missed three darts at doubles to level at 1-1, and it was the only opening Lewis needed.

Thornton got off the mark in leg four, but Jackpot won the next

Darts Weekly Friday 29 April 2016

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Holder Anderson on verge of play-offs after beating Barney Raymond van Barneveld 5 Gary Anderson 7 Gary Anderson closed in on qualifying for this year’s Premier League play-offs after coming back from 5-4 down to beat Raymond van Barneveld 7-5 in Birmingham.

The defending champion is in third place and is four points clear of both James Wade and Peter Wright, and with only two games

of the regular season left to go, the Flying Scotsman needs just one more point to guarantee his place at The O2 Arena next month.

Barney finished off a 132 checkout on the bullseye to level the match up at 3-3 and looked on course to pick up points when he hit a 13 darter to go 5-4 up.

But five missed darts at doubles cost the Dutchman in the 11th leg and Anderson swooped in to win.

Taylor battles back to draw with MVG

spot with win over Thornton three legs to go 6-1 up. And despite a missed dart at tops in the next leg, Lewis got the two points wrapped up by hitting the target in the ninth leg.

“It was a massive game tonight,” Lewis said. “I had to beat Robert tonight and I got up there and did

the job. He’s been playing well recently so I had to be ready for him and I turned up well.

“I felt comfortable and I thought my finishing was great when it needed to be so I’m pretty happy with that. I took advantage and I was pretty clinical.”

In the final game of the night, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson shared the points in a 6-6 draw.

Snakebite came back from 5-3 down to draw level at 5-5 but crucially missed three darts at doubles to go 6-5 up. But he did take the final leg to claim a point.

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Friday 29 April 2016 Darts Weekly

Hamilton ready to prove the doubters wrong and return to previous heights in the PDC Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Andy Hamilton is ready to fight his way back to the top echelons of the PDC and silence the doubters who have written his career off.

The 49-year-old has endured a difficult two years on the PDC circuit, dropping out of the top 16 and is now in real danger of losing his place in the top 32 of the organisation’s order of merit.

Hamilton announced a new longterm sponsorship with Team XQMax Darts last week, the manufacturer who work with world number one Michael van Gerwen and fellow Dutch stars Benito van de Pas and Vincent van der Voort.

The partnership does not start until August, with the Hammer’s current contract with Unicorn still running for another few months, but Hamilton is hopeful this new deal can help him rise again into the top eight in the PDC. “I had an email from Unicorn in January saying they were going to drop me,” he explains. “Obviously they lost a bit of belief in me and felt it was the time for a change.

“I sent emails out to a lot of darts companies and there were a few interested, but XQMax are the ones who were the most favourable.

“They gave me the best deal and gave me the longest commitment, and it just shows what I’ve done in the past is the reason why someone still believes in me.

“They were so friendly. They appreciated who I was as a player and what I’ve done in life. That goes a long way and my respect for somebody as well.

“We met in Birmingham and it was a great meeting. We got on well. They’ve given me so many incentives to get back up there again and I’m sure it’s going to happen. I just feel privileged to be

a part of it. With Michael van Gerwen, the world number one, involved with them, I’m hoping something like that will give me more incentive to help me rise up the rankings again.”

Hamilton will become the first English player to join Team XQMax when their partnership starts on August 1 of this year.

Before then the Hammer will look to build up some form to take with him when work begins with his new sponsor in the next three months of his Unicorn contract.

The 2012 World Championship runner-up dropped out of the top 16 last year and went to Alexandra Palace in December, for the 2016 staging of the event, outside of the top 16 seeds for the first-time since 2006.

With less than £10,000 keeping him in the PDC’s top 32, Hamilton

“I’ve been number five in the world before and I know I can get back there” is currently in 29th place, the Hammer knows he needs to start picking up results in order to qualify automatically for the 2017 William Hill World Championship.

“My form is gradually turning around,” he said. “My form is getting better and better and this (new partnership) will make it turn around more and more.

“I think things in the future are looking rosy for me. I know where I’ve been in my darting career.

“I’ve been in the top eight, I’ve been number five in the world and I know can get back up there.

“It’s just turning the form around and obviously just trying to push on now. Not even to win tournaments, but digging in and showing the form I used to have.

“I’m sure I can rise up there in the not so distant future. It would be a massive achievement for me,

my family and my sponsors. The biggest achievement would be to shut up all the doubters who have written me off at the moment.

“I’ll have the last laugh and I’m sure I’ll get back up there with a bit of hard work and practising hard.

“I’m putting the time in on the board and I know I’ll get back up there eventually.”

Hamilton’s rise to prominence in darts has not taken a clear path which many of the young up and coming players will now take playing on the PDC tour.

In fact, the Stoke-born thrower had a spell of near enough 20 years where he did not play competitive darts in the PDC or the BDO. After playing county darts as a teenager for Cheshire, Hamilton then decided against pursuing a career as a professional.

But when he found the belief in his ability to give the PDC circuit a go in 2004, he made an immediate impact. In just his fourth event on the PDC tour, Hamilton reached the semi-finals of a Players Players

Darts Weekly Friday 29 April 2016

5 Fighting back: 2012 World Championship finalist Andy Hamilton is determined to get back in the top eight of the PDC in the next few years PICTURE: ZIMBIO

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 xx

2012, and then the World Series in 2013, and it is that past glory on the oche which makes him determined to rediscover those heights before he calls it a day.

“It’s like in any sport, when you have a bit of bad form it has a knock on effect,” Hamilton said.

“It’s hard when your form drops.

Your concentration levels are not as high and your intensity is different. It takes a lot of time to turn it round.

“My form is just starting to turn around and I know it’s not going to happen overnight, but I’m going to fight my hardest to get back up there and get my name recognised again.

“People don’t see a lot of things which happen in life and obviously I’ve had a few personal problems in the last two years.

“People don’t see that and its part of the reason as to why my form went down.

“Too many things were going on in my mind and it meant I wasn’t concentrating on darts as much.

“The personal problems have gone and I’ve moved on now. I’m having better runs in tournaments now than what I was 12 months ago, so there are signs my form is coming back.

“One event can turn your career around just like that, so I’m hoping one of the tournaments coming up will do that for me.

“I was with Unicorn for nine years and it disappointing for it to come to an end.

“I can’t say much about it. They wanted to part company, it’s as simple as that and as one door closes a bigger door has opened for me, so I’m looking forward to the future now and not the past.”

Hamilton’s highs and lows Andy Hamilton went into last year’s PDC World Championship outside of the top 16 seeds for the first time since 2006.

The Hammer had been a fixture in the PDC’s top 16 for the best part of 10 years, with his 14th seed berth for the 2007 World Championship starting a run of nine straight years where he went

to the Circus Tavern, and then in recent years the Alexandra Palace, as one of the top 16 seeds.

Hamilton’s run to the 2012 world final saw him start the tournament as the seventh seed, with the Hammer propelled up one place to sixth for the following year.

However, Hamilton’s dip in form resulted in him seeded 27th for the 2016 staging of the tournament.

xx x x x Championship event in Scotland.

Before that, in his first PDC tournament, he got the better of Kevin Painter in a UK Open North West Regional Qualifier, with the Artist having three months earlier lost to Phil Taylor in a deciding set in the 2004 World Championship final at the Circus Tavern.

It would not be long before Hamilton was making a name for himself on the Purfleet stage, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2005 event as a qualifier.

A first television final followed in 2007 when he lost to Taylor in the inaugural Grand Slam of Darts,

with two more major finals coming after that in the UK Open and the World Championship.

The Hammer’s success saw him selected for the Premier League in

“It would be a massive thing to say I got back into the PDC’s top eight”

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Friday 29 April 2016 Darts Weekly

Victoria Warehouse pulls out of hosting the World Trophy The BDO have announced this year’s World Trophy has changed venues and will now be held at the Lakeside Country Club.

The switch comes after the Victoria Warehouse removed itself as the location for the tournament, following a breach by the BDO in the contract they had with the Manchester-based event space.

A spokesperson from the Victoria Warehouse speaking to Darts Weekly said yesterday: “We had a contract with them and they breached the contract.

“As of Friday last week we released the space to another client. In regards to the ticket sales they were done by the BDO. “We got in touch with the website which was selling the tickets last week and asked them to remove Victoria Warehouse as the location for the event.”

Following rumours on social media and online darts forums last night, the BDO released a brief statement on their website this morning.

The statement, entitled ‘Change of Venue for BDO World Trophy Finals’, read: ‘The BDO World Trophy finals will now take place at Lakeside.

‘A new Entry Form for the Wolverhampton play-offs is available from the BDO Diary. No

Durrant out to end run of firsttime winners in Denmark Open Glen Durrant will be hoping to end the run of first-time winners in the Søgaard Denmark Open when he attempts to defend his title in Esbjerg tomorrow.

Duzza beat Pip Blackwell 6-1 in the final last year to become the 31st different winner of the tournament, and extend the run of

x

x

dates have changed.’ As we went to press this evening there has been no other information released by the BDO to the public.

With the tournament set to start on Saturday, May 28, the BDO have just four weeks to try and sell tickets for the three-day tournament at its new venue.

Geert de Vos is the defending champion after beating Jeffrey de Graaf, now with the PDC, in last

Previous hosts: The Victoria Warehouse in Manchester

first-time winners in the men’s event to 17 in the last 17 years.

The number one seed begins his title defence against Søren Christensen tomorrow (12.15pm local time), while the likes of Jamie Hughes, Wesley Harms and Scott Mitchell are among the other top seeds for the tournament.

If Durrant can successfully retain his title tomorrow, he will become only the third man to have won back-to-back Denmark Open titles.

Bill Geary won the first staging of the tournament back in 1974, but it was John Lowe who first achieved the feat of consecutive

titles when he beat Bobby George in the 1979 final to retain the trophy he won the previous year.

Rod Harrington was the second man to claim back-to-back Open titles when he won in 1991 and 1992, while Lowe has the most wins to his name with five victories from six final appearances.

There is guaranteed to be a new name on the Søgaard Denmark Masters trophy this weekend, with 2014 and 2015 champion Jeffrey de Graaf having moved over to the PDC earlier this year.

The Denmark Masters takes place on Sunday.

year’s final 10-9 at the Event City in Manchester.

Lisa Ashton won the women’s title after seeing off Anastasia Dobromyslova 7-5 in the final.

The qualifiers for the World Trophy will be held on Saturday, May 7 at the Wolverhampton Sports Centre.

Darts Weekly Friday 29 April 2016

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Database BDO BRITISH INTER-COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS Premier Division - Cheshire 23-13 Cambridgeshire, Cornwall 20-16 Hampshire, Devon 20-16 Warwickshire, Essex 21-15 Lincolnshire, Yorkshire 23-13 Lancashire.

Pos C 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

County Yorkshire Lancashire Essex Warwickshire Cheshire Cambridgeshire Devon Lincolnshire Hampshire Cornwall

Total points 240 207 203 170 165 164 159 154 148 144

Division One - Cleveland 15-21 Gwent, County Durham 16-20 Kent, Glamorgan 18-18 Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire 18-18 Dorset, Surrey 21-15 Derbyshire.

Pos C 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

County Glamorgan Nottinghamshire Gwent Dorset County Durham Oxfordshire Kent Cleveland Surrey Derbyshire

Total points 234 210 187 181 171 163 162 159 150 134

Division Two - Berkshire 16-20 Suffolk, Somerset 17-19 Cumbria, Sussex 17-19 Staffordshire, West Midlands 18-18 London, Worcestershire 19-17 Northamptonshire.

Pos C 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

County London West Midlands Berkshire Suffolk Northamptonshire Staffordshire Worcestershire Cumbria Sussex Somerset

Total points 206 202 188 181 181 179 168 152 149 145

Division Three - Buckinghamshire 20-16 Norfolk, Gwynedd 24-12 Leicestershire, Hertfordshire 16-20 Tyne and Wear, Humberside 19-17 Northumberland, Merseyside 21-15 Wiltshire.

Pos C 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

County Northumberland Gwynedd Hertfordshire Merseyside Tyne and Wear Leicestershire Humberside Buckinghamshire Norfolk Wiltshire

Total points 206 195 195 193 171 168 161 159 154 152

Division Four - Clwyd 23-13 Pembrokeshire, Isle of Wight 15-21 Bedfordshire, Middlesex 26-10 Shropshire, Montgomery and Radnor 23-13 Breconshire, West of England 17-19 Gloucestershire.

Pos C 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

County Total points Montgomery and Radnor 210 Gloucestershire 199 Middlesex 187 Bedfordshire 186 Clwyd 177 Shropshire 171 Breconshire 168 West of England 157 Pembrokeshire 153 Isle of Wight 142

Scotland North - Central 11-17 Fife, East Stirlingshire 13-15 Highland, Grampian 25-3 Clackmannanshire, Perthshire 11-17 Tay Valley.

Pos C 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

County Grampian Highland Angus Fife Tay Valley East Stirlingshire Perthshire Central Clackmannanshire

Total points 196 188 168 167 138 124 121 115 67

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

Pos C 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

County Greater Glasgow West Ayrshire Ayrshire Borders Lothian Renfrewshire Lanarkshire West Lothian

Total points 161 158 140 137 134 122 111 29

PDC GIBRALTAR DARTS TROPHY EUROPEAN QUALIFIER Final round - M Hopp 6-3 J Michael, J Wattimena 6-2 V Kamphuis, R-J Rodriguez 6-5 V van der Meer, M Rasztovits 6-5 Z Lerchbacher, C Reyes 6-0 M Kantele, D van Duijvenbode 6-5 J Dekker, C Kist 6-4 B Raman, A Alcinas 6-5 Y Meeuwisse.

PDC EUROPEAN MATCHPLAY EUROPEAN QUALIFIER Final round - M van der Horst 6-1 S Groen, M de Decker 6-3 R Huybrechts, V van der Voort 6-1 J Michael, R Meulenkamp 6-4 D van Duijvenbode, M Caris 6-5 J de Zwaan, R-J Rodriguez 6-5 J van de Ven, C Reyes 6-4 V Kamphuis, R van Eijden 6-2 C Kist.

PDC UNICORN DEVELOPMENT TOUR (Harbecke Sporthalle, Muelheim)

Event Five quarter finals - M Hopp 4-0 F Herz, R-J Rodriguez 4-0 J Faragher, D Lidgett 4-3 A Smith-Neale, S Lennon 4-0 M Schindler. Semi finals - M Hopp 4-3 R-J Rodriguez, S Lennon 4-1 D Lidgett, M Hopp 4-2 S Lennon.

Event Six quarter finals - D Reynolds 4-2 M Hopp, A Hunt 4-2 T Evetts, R Twell 4-2 D Van den Bergh, R-J Rodriguez 4-2 J Young. Semi finals - A Hunt 4-1 D Reynolds, R Twell 4-1 R-J Rodriguez.

Final - R Twell 4-2 A Hunt.

Event Seven quarter finals - K Neyens 4-1 D Reynolds, J Hendriks 4-2 M Hopp, J de Zwaan 4-2 D Van den Bergh, C Loose 4-1 A Fairweather. Semi finals - K Neyens 4-2 J Hendriks, C Loose 4-2 J de Zwaan. Final K Neyens 4-1 C Loose.

Event Eight quarter finals - K Parry 4-3 A Kirk, R-J Rodriguez 4-1 C Loose, B van Peer 4-1 S Lennon, D Reynolds 4-3 J de Zwaan. Semi finals - R-J Rodriguez 4-3 K Parry, D Reynolds 4-1 B van Peer. Final - D Reynolds 4-3 R-J Rodriguez.

PDC BETWAY PREMIER LEAGUE (legs) (Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham) Week 13 - P Wright (99.67) 7-4 P Taylor (106.48), R van Barneveld (99.64) 5-7 G Anderson (99.19), A Lewis (96.55) 7-2 R Thornton (94.55), J Wade (102.40) 1-7 M van Gerwen (108.33), P Wright (103.45) 6-6 G Anderson (101.51). ď Ž The funeral for Martin Fitzmaurice will take place at Colchester Crematorium on Wednesday, May 4 at 2pm. Martin was a master of ceremonies, caller, scorer and referee for the BDO from 1985 to 2013. On April 14 he passed away at the age of 75.

Family flowers only. Any donations will be collected by the funeral directors for a charity to be decided by the family. For those wishing to attend the address is: Colchester Crematorium, Mersea Road, Colchester, CO2 8RU.

For any advertising enquiries please contact Ben Chambers on 01903 899942 or email ben@chambers.media

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Friday 29 April 2016 Darts Weekly

ALEX MOSS CHIEF DARTS WRITER

Switch to the Lakeside has barely papered over the cracks ‘The BDO World Trophy finals will now take place at Lakeside.

A new Entry Form for the Wolverhampton play-offs is available from the BDO Diary.

No dates have changed.’

Amid growing speculation this week, the BDO confirmed this morning that they were switching venues for this year’s World Trophy, from the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester to the Lakeside Country Club at Frimley Green. 216 miles separates the two venues, and with the tournament set to take place in four weeks, it is another sorry chapter in what has been a difficult year for the BDO. Already this year the BDO has seen two events fall by the wayside.

The Players Championship and Festival of Darts tournaments were both cancelled, and after a press conference by the organisation was called off at the final hour earlier this month, many darts fans were fearing the worst for this year’s World Trophy.

Alarm bells were ringing even more when Eventim took down World Trophy tickets from their website yesterday.

Rumours circulated around social media and on darts forums that the World Trophy was set to change venues to the Lakeside.

And this morning those rumours were confirmed as the BDO announced the Surrey venue was now going to stage the event.

With the first day of play set for May 28, it is expected many of the players and fans would have already booked transport and hotels to attend the event at its

original location in Manchester.

Fans will have also purchased tickets on the Eventim website to watch the action inside the Victoria Warehouse, and as we went to press there has been no indication of if/when they can be refunded.

With the lack of information made available for the World Trophy so far, darts fans would have been wise to have approached attending this event with caution, seeing as the BDO have already

‘Many darts fans were fearing the worst for the World Trophy this year’ had two tournaments cancelled in the last few months.

And the fact that the BDO have barely been publicising tickets were on sale for the World Trophy indicates there was some doubt as to whether it would go ahead.

Ticket details for the change in venue had yet to be announced as we went to press this evening, but time is running out for them to shift the seats for the three days.

A half-empty Lakeside is not the rights for the Formula One, which attracted an average audience of

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.

Venue change: The Lakeside Country Club (top) will now host the World Trophy; the BDO tweet the news on Twitter this morning (above). image the BDO will want to have for one of their premier events, especially if the rumours are true and they have still secured UK television coverage.

The Darts Forum is reporting that Dave will be showing live coverage, which will no doubt be one of the brighter things to come out of a tournament that will always be remembered for the wrong reasons.

Darts fans will be pleased the event is still going ahead, but don’t expect an apology anytime soon.