Issue 3 (January 15, 2016)

Friday 15 January 2016

Darts Weekly

Waites wins Lakeside for a second time â—ŠScotty 2 Hotty sees off Jeff Smith 7-1 to regain BDO's top prize Pages 2-3

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Friday 15 January 2016 Darts Weekly

Waites thrashes Smith 7-1 at Lakeside to win second BDO World Championship title Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Scott Waites won the BDO World Championship for the second time after beating Canada's Jeff Smith 7-1 in the final at Lakeside.

The 38-year-old, who first won the title back in 2013, raced into a 5-0 lead to move to within two sets of lifting the trophy again.

Smith gave himself hope of a comeback with a stunning 161 checkout to win the sixth set, before then charging into a 2-0 lead in the next set.

However Waites reeled off three legs in a row to steal the seventh set, and then fired in a 156 checkout in set eight to move to within a leg of victory.

And the number nine seed, who won the Grand Slam in 2010, hit double 16 in the next leg to seal his second world title in the space of four years.

Waites had suffered early exits at the Lakeside in the two years which followed his first world title win, yet has fought back from those set backs, as well as recent shoulder surgery, to stand on top of the BDO once again.

Scotty 2 Hotty told the BBC immediately after the victory: "It's absolutely brilliant. To win my second world title, I can't believe it. I don't know what to say.

"It seemed a million miles away when I had shoulder surgery. I had six weeks without throwing a dart.

"That's painful in itself. Now I'm taking the world title back home.

"I'm speechless at the minute. I put my heart and soul into trying to win this.

"Today, I took my chances before Jeff took his. That was the difference."

Waites showed signs early on at the Lakeside this year that he was getting back to his best.

A 96.06 average saw him beat Willem Mandigers 3-0 in the first

round, and it ended up being the highest average recorded during the entire tournament.

Waites then produced a remarkable comeback in the last 16, coming from 3-0 down to beat Belgium's Geert de Vos 4-3.

And the comebacks were not done there, as Waites battled back from 3-1 and 4-2 behind to beat number one seed Glen Durrant 5-4 in a pulsating quarter-final last Friday afternoon.

A 6-1 thrashing over Jamie Hughes in the semi-finals saw him advance to his second Lakeside final, where an 87.54 average was enough to see him beat Smith 7-1, and become only the eighth player to win the Lakeside men's title on more than one occasion.

The other men to have won the Lakeside multiple times...

Eric Bristow 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986 John Lowe 1979, 1987, 1993 Jocky Wilson 1982, 1989 Phil Taylor 1990, 1992 Raymond van Barneveld 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005 Ted Hankey 2000, 2009 Martin Adams 2007, 2010, 2011

Darts Weekly Friday 15 January 2016

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Friday 15 January 2016 Darts Weekly

"I didn't think I'd ever win it again" admits Gulliver after winning her 10th world title Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Trina Gulliver MBE broke her own record by winning the Women's World Championship for a 10th time on Saturday afternoon, and could hardly contain her delight after ending a five-year gap between Lakeside triumphs.

It took a deciding set in all four of her games to lift the biggest trophy in ladies darts again, with victories over Dee Bateman, defending champion Lisa Ashton, Aileen de Graaf and then Deta Hedman in the final going the distance.

Trailing 2-1 in sets to Hedman in the final, the Golden Girl reeled off six of the next seven legs to claim a record-breaking 10th world title.

Gulliver said: "I jumped up and down and then cried! It was an amazing feeling, to get your 10th and go into double figures, it was brilliant.

"I had a tough side of the draw all the way through, playing against some great players. They're all great players don't get me wrong.

"They wouldn't be there otherwise, but I did tend to have the more difficult side of the draw.

"After beating Lisa in the quarter-finals I just enjoyed the moment there, and then I was thinking 'I've got Aileen next and she's been playing really well.'

"So I really needed to be on the ball in all of my games. I didn't play my best game in any of them, I wasn't on my top form, but I showed bottle all the way through."

Away from the oche, Gulliver has faced some challenging moments in the years which followed her ninth world title win back in 2011.

The passing of her mother Muriel two days before the start of the 2012 BDO World Championships brought with it a tough time for the 46-year-old, who then bravely took part in the tournament at the request of her mother before she

died, and managed to reach the semi-finals before being defeated by eventual winner Anastasia Dobromyslova.

"The five years in-between have been quite personally challenging," Gulliver said. "It hasn't been an easy year for us and the family.

"I did think at one point it was never going to happen again, so to go up there and win it is great.

"Not only for the fact that it has given me belief, but for the other people who have believed in me as well. It hasn't been my best five years but I've had sponsors stay with me and other sponsors come on board at the same time.

"It's their belief in me that has given me belief in myself again, and it's the encouragement and fight every sportsperson needs."

Gulliver took on Hedman in her 12th World Championship final aiming for her 10th title, while her opponent was looking to lift the

"I think the ladies game is at the best it has ever been" trophy for the first time in what was her third final appearance.

The Dark Destroyer had lost in a deciding set to Ashton in the final two years ago, and the same scenario would play out in 2016.

"It's such a short format," Gulliver said. "You have to be straight off. If you're not you have to dig deep and hope that you can pull it off.

"Deta's been in the final three times now and that stage seems to elude her.

"It was quite tense because she was looking for her first and I was looking for my 10th. It's quite a different scenario for us both.

"But that stage hasn't been very kind to Deta, so that gave me a little bit of encouragement.

"I still went two sets to one down so I had to bring that back to 2-2, and then in the final set I turned

the screw and it was 3-0."

The BDO launched the Women's World Championship back in 2001, with the Golden Girl winning the first seven editions before bagging back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011. It was Gulliver's vast experience on the big stage which she then drew on to fight back to win the deciding set.

"Subconsciously I suppose you do," she said. "It's not something you do deliberately, it's just something that kind of comes naturally. I think experience counts for a lot, and it must have

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been in the back of Deta's mind, the fact that she's been in the final three times and not yet won it."

With the BBC yet to renew their contract to screen the BDO World Championships, Gulliver's success on Saturday could be the last ladies final on terrestrial television.

"I know the BBC are cutting back on sport but I don't know whether that's going to be the last one they show of the BDO," she said.

"I think BT Sport will have enjoyed their time there, so perhaps there's an option.

"I'm not sure what's happening,

but let's hope they stay with us. It would be a blow for darts and in the ladies game I think it's the best it's ever been.

"That's showing in the TV coverage we're getting as well. I think people are realising how entertaining the ladies game is to watch, and that can only be a positive thing for ladies darts."

Regardless of whether the BDO can secure television coverage for their showpiece event, recordbreaking champion Gulliver is likely to be busier than ever in preparation for title no. 11!

The PDC world number 53, 'Rapid' Ricky Evans, talks us through his darts memories First darts memory?

Watching my dad play a county darts match around 1995 or 1996.

First darts hero?

Again it has to be my dad. He's my hero, full stop. And is still awesome now!

First set of darts?

They were a little cheap set from Red Dragon. I bought them in Great Yarmouth when I was 12.

First darts team?

My first darts team was the Burton Bulldogs.

First game on TV? Unfortunately my first game on TV was the 6-1 pasting against Michael Smith in the PDC World Youth Championship final in 2013.

Although I have played before that at youth level on Dutch TV. First nine darter?

I've only ever hit three in practice and the first one of those was approximately five years ago.

First professional tournament win?

I've won hundreds of tournaments locally and nationally.

I've won on the PDC Youth Tour and Challenge Tour and recently I won the PDPA World Championship Qualifier.

Before that I qualified for the PDC tour at Q-School on the first day in 2013.

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Friday 15 January 2016 Darts Weekly

Williams ready to test himself the PDC's best after claiming Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER On Wednesday afternoon the most gruelling four days on the darting calendar got underway, as the PDC's Qualifying School hosted 375 players all aiming for one of four tour cards up for grabs.

Portsmouth's Ricky Williams was among the elite quartet to win a two-year tour card on the PDC circuit, and is hoping this could be the start of big things for his career in the sport.

"My plan is to treat this as much as a job as I can," the 26-year-old self-employed decorator said.

"Darts isn't what it used to be.

Now you have to treat this as a job, so it means doing everything properly. My lifestyle has changed over the last year, and now I need to do more of the right things and be practicing with the right people.

"There's so many youngsters coming through now. I'm 26 and I don't feel like I'm a youngster anymore.

"Go back to 10 years ago, at 26 you were considered a youngster in the game. Now you've got so many young English players, Dutch players and German players.

"They've got no fear in them so that's why you have to keep practicing. I'm still young enough, so I can definitely do something in this game if I put my mind to it."

Williams, along with Andy Parsons and Simon Stevenson, won seven straight games at Wigan's Robin Park Tennis Centre on Wednesday to earn PDC tour card status for the first time.

After beating close friend Lee Evans 5-2 in the first round, wins over Jeffrey Beckema and Peter Martin sent Williams through to the last 64, and then within four victories of a tour card.

The 2013 Malta Open winner edged past Rhys Griffin in a deciding leg to set up a last 32

of set six, before Anderson reeled off three straight legs to level the match once again.

Jackpot's jittery finishing in the seventh set proved costly as the defending champion moved into a 4-3 lead, and another whitewash set then gave Anderson a two-set cushion for the first time.

Lewis fought back in set nine, with a 121 checkout securing him the set in consecutive legs.

But Anderson then returned the favour in the 10th set to move to within one set of victory.

Jackpot would not give up and responded by taking the 11th set 3-0 to close the gap back to one set. And he looked on course to force a decider when back-to-back 180s helped him gain an early break in set 12.

However Anderson immediately broke back to level the set, and then fired in a superb 170 checkout to go 2-1 up.

It would be the shot that finally broke Jackpot's resistance, as Anderson hit double 12 in the next leg to successfully defend his world title, in a final which included a

Vincent van der Voort on Tuesday night, and has set up an intriguing quarter-final clash with James Wade this afternoon.

The Machine has also only lost one set so far in the competition, despite having yet to show his best darts in wins over John Michael, Wes Newton and Jamie Caven.

With Wade yet to get over the semi-final hurdle at the World Championship, and with either Norris or Klaasen awaiting the winner tomorrow night, you feel that this is a big game for him.

Although Anderson has the far superior record against Wade, with 24 wins out of their 35 meetings, perhaps vitally it is the Machine who holds the better record when they've faced off in major events.

Wade has got the better of the Scot in their two clashes in the World Matchplay in 2009 and 2013, and also came out on top 4-3

clash with Mark Dudbridge. A 5-2 triumph over the former World Championship finalist kept his hopes alive, before successive 5-4 wins over Marvin Wehder and Rhys Hayden sealed his place on the PDC tour for 2016 and 2017.

"It felt absolutely brilliant," Williams said. "It was quite a hard

through! Rhys was probably the better player in the game, but I did the right things at the right time.

"On my throw I was doing 15 darters and less and he couldn't break me, which was quite pleasing and then I had a nice 96 finish to win it."

Since making his PDC debut in a UK Open Regional Qualifier back in early 2007, Williams floated in and out of the circuit and even had a spell playing in the BDO. This time last year Williams turned up for the last day of QSchool, so he could then enter the qualifiers for the two European Tour events the next day.

After making it through three rounds of qualifying, 'Tricky' had earned himself a spot in the German Darts Championship, and

"I've knuckled down and I know this is just the start of it" struggle. A couple of games went all the way but I'm very pleased.

"I had a very hard first game against Lee Evans. I know him very well and I thought once I won that game, take it one game at a time and then before I knew it, I was playing in the last game to get

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"That was superb," Williams said.

"It was strange playing in the German Championship because I'd only really started playing for a couple of months.

"It was a great experience. I felt at home as soon as I got on the big stage. What I'm looking forward to again is seeing how I play against them top players.

"It means a lot to get a tour card.

I've had the opportunity to play on the tour in the past and I didn't do what I'm capable of.

"In the last year or two I've really knuckled down to this point. I know this is just the start.

"There's a lot of hard work in front. Hopefully I can get some good results on the tour."

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BDO WORLD PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (sets) (Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green) Men's Quarter finals - G Durrant (95.04) 4-5 S Waites (95.37), W Harms (91.29) 1-5 J Hughes (94.11), J Smith (89.76) 5-2 D Harbour (94.77), S Mitchell (90.21) 3-5 R Veenstra.

Semi finals - S Waites (92.10) 6-1 J Hughes (82.35), J Smith (91.50) 6-5 R Veenstra (89.37). Final - S Waites (87.54) 7-1 J Smith (84.99).

Women's Semi finals - T Gulliver (80.01) 2-1 A de Graaf (74.94), A-L Peters (69.92) 0-2 D Hedman (77.74). Final - T Gulliver (72.93) 3-2 D Hedman (75.51).

PDC QUALIFYING SCHOOL (legs) (Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan) Day 1 of 4 - Last 64 - J Bowles 5-2 C Fowler, H Robinson 5-1 R Marijanovic, R Sudale 5-4 B Roith, D van Dijk 5-1 N Lamb, M Oosterhuis 5-3 P Rowley, B Woods 5-2 I Withers, Z Lerchbacher 5-2 P Bettany, S Hine 5-1 M Thorne, M Walsh 5-3 P Dyos, B Claydon 5-3 J Jukes, S Stevenson 5-4 G Stone, T Evetts 5-2 J Marriott, I Moss 5-2 M Todd, L Shewan 54 K Shepherd, R Owen 5-1 S Groen, A Candlish 5-0 R Campbell, P Hudson 5-3 K Simm, R Smith 5-2 M Beal, A Parsons 5-2 C Littlecott, J Palfreyman 5-3 J Kelling, M Barilli 5-3 K Thomas, M Power 5-0 P Boyle, C Hartrey 5-4 R Rickwood, S Smith 5-2 B Williams, Y Eguchi 5-1 S Gallimore, R Hayden 5-3 M Burgoine, R Edhouse 5-4 Y Yamada, M Turner 5-3 T Temple, M Dudbridge 5-2 S Limer, R Williams 5-4 R Griffin, D Honey 5-4 T Randell, M Wehder 5-4 S Gow. Last 32 - J Bowles 5-1 H Robinson, D van Dijk 5-4 R Sudale, B Woods 5-4 M Oosterhuis, S Hine 5-2 Z Lerchbacher, B Claydon 5-3 M Walsh, S Stevenson 5-1, T Evetts, I Moss 5-1 L Shewan, R Owen 5-1 A Candlish, R Smith 5-1 P Hudson, A Parsons 5-2 J Palfreyman, M Barilli 5-4 M Power, S Smith 5-4 C Hartrey, R Hayden 5-1 Y Eguchi, R Edhouse 5-2 M Turner, R Williams 5-2 M Dudbridge, M Wehder 5-3 D Honey. Last 16 - J Bowles 5-3 D van Dijk, B Woods 5-1 S Hine, S Stevenson 5-1 B Claydon, R Owen 5-1 I Moss, A Parsons 5-3 R Smith, M Barilli 5-1 S Smith, R Hayden 5-0 R Edhouse, R Williams 5-4 M Wehder. Last 8 - J Bowles 5-2 B Woods, S Stevenson 5-4 R Owen, A Parsons 5-4 M Barilli, R Williams 5-4 R Hayden.

Day 2 of 4 - Last 64 - R Marijanovic 5-2 M Power, J Worsley 5-1 T Newell, B Woods 5-4 L Watts, M Dewsbury 5-4 J Palfreyman, R de Vreede 5-3 S Johnson, P Hudson 5-2 D van Dijk, M Dennant 5-3 N Daniels, N Lamb 5-4 I Walters, C Quantock 5-0 P Boyle, Y Meeuwisse 5-2 V Kamphuis, A Kirk 5-4 C Fowler, T Temple 5-2 N Fullwell, S Brown 5-4 M Clark, A Huckvale 5-3 M Lawrence, L Woodhouse 5-3 K Dowling, J Richardson 5-3 R Smith, P Bettany 5-2 R Hosey, D Brown 5-1 M McGowan, J Michael 5-0 M Wilson, D

Ladley 5-2 S Lovett, B Bates 5-4 M Thomas, M Barilli 5-4 D Parody, T Evetts 5-3 J Ellam, M Kantele 5-2 R Palmer, L Evans 5-4 R North, S Taylor 5-3 Y Yamada, D Smith 5-3 M Symes, M Dawson 5-4 M Oosterhuis, J Marriott 5-2 A Holgate, K Thomas 5-2 J Foreman, K Shepherd 5-3 T Gaweenuntawong, R Meikle 5-3 C Lewis.

Last 32 - J Worsley 5-2 R Marijanovic, B Woods 5-3 M Dewsbury, P Hudson 5-0 R de Vreede, M Dennant 5-4 N Lamb, Y Meeuwisse 5-4 C Quantock, A Kirk 5-4 T Temple, S Brown 5-0 A Huckvale, J Richardson 5-4 L Woodhouse, D Brown 53 P Bettany, J Michael 5-0 D Ladley, B Bates 5-1 M Barilli, T Evetts 5-4 M Kantele, L Evans 5-3 S Taylor, D Smith 5-3 M Dawson, J Marriott 5-4 K Thomas, R Meikle 5-4 K Shepherd. Last 16 - J Worsley 5-4 B Woods, M Dennant 5-4 P Hudson, Y Meeuwisse 5-4 A Kirk, J Richardson 5-4 S Brown, D Brown 5-4 J Michael, T Evetts 5-4 Bates, D Smith 5-4 L Evans, R Meikle 5-3 J Marriott. Last 8 - J Worsley 5-4 M Dennant, J Richardson 5-2 Y Meeuwisse, T Evetts 5-4 D Brown, R Meikle 5-4 D Smith.

QUALIFYING SCHOOL ORDER OF MERIT (after Day 2 of 4) 1. Brian Woods 2. Mark Barilli 3. Dennis Smith 4. Darron Brown = Matthew Dennant = Yordi Meeuwisse = Rhys Hayden = Robert Owen 9. Peter Hudson 10. Jason Marriott = Dick van Dijk = Ross Smith 13. Steve Brown = Brett Claydon = Steven Smith 16. Barrie Bates = Lee Evans = Aden Kirk = John Michael = Paul Bettany = Nigel Lamb = Robert Marijanovic = Kirk Shepherd = Terry Temple = Kevin Thomas = Mark Oosterhuis = Joey Palfreyman = Michael Power = Ritchie Edhouse = Steve Hine = Ian Moss = Marvin Wehder 33. Michael Dawson = Adam Huckvale = Marko Kantele = Dave Ladley = Ryan de Vreede = Paul Boyle = Colin Fowler = Yuki Yamada = Yuji Eguchi = Dave Honey = Zoran Lerchbacher = Harry Robinson = Mark Walsh

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Friday 15 January 2016 Darts Weekly

ANDREW DEVONSHIRE DARTS WRITER

Is the major debate really a 'major' issue in the PDC? The dilemma continues as to which darts tournaments should be considered as 'majors.'

The PDC has a full calendar of events, with many of them covered on Sky Sports and ITV4 in the UK. We all know the World Championship, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, UK Open and Grand Slam are all major television events.

But where does the Premier League fall in among those? It is after all an invitation event which is played each week for three months and also broadcast live on Sky Sports for the duration.

In my opinion the Premier League cannot be classed as a 'major' darts tournament. How can it be when there are only 10 players competing in it?

There are no ranking points at stake. There is something seriously wrong if a glorified exhibition-style event is included in that category.

The same can be said of the recently introduced World Series events, which last year included its own Finals tournament for the first time to culminate the series.

Again this is a big no no as regards to them being 'major' events on the PDC calendar.

They are all invitational events and very often include players from the country in which that particular event is taking place in.

And in some of those cases they include players which even the most knowledgeable darts fan may never have heard of.

So, would you class the end of year Players Championship Finals at Minehead as a major?

It does include the top 32 in the

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watch an evening of the Premier

pressure to the players to perform throughout the year if they want to

PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit, and from this year onwards has been changed to the top 64.

All 128 players on the tour have the opportunity compete in the various Pro Tour events to qualify for the finals, and so I would personally include it as a 'major.'

We must realise though that just because a tournament has television coverage, it does not automatically make it a major event on the calendar.

I think the hierarchy in the PDC

Not a major trophy? Michael van Gerwen lifts the first-ever World Series of Darts Finals trophy at the end of last year

There is something seriously wrong if a glorified exhibition is classed as a major

PDC's televised events in 2015

have to address this issue. Too many times we are seeing player stats shown up on our television screens ahead of a game, which shows the number of 'majors' they have won. And the total figure is most of the time incorrect.

Golf only has four majors and I think the players are doing pretty well within the PDC to be throwing for six majors a year.

There is no need to be adding to

this number with these invitational events like the Premier League and the World Series, or tournaments like the World Cup. It is unfair on players who are not invited to certain events, and I'm sure most players will agree with me that there are six 'majors' in the PDC.

The Masters Premier League UK Open Dubai Darts Masters World Cup of Darts Japan Darts Masters World Matchplay Perth Darts Masters Sydney Darts Masters Auckland Darts Masters World Grand Prix European Championship Grand Slam of Darts World Series of Darts Finals Players Championship Finals World Championship