Issue 34 (August 26, 2016)

Friday 26 August 2016

Darts Weekly

Cadby stuns Taylor in first round of Perth Darts Masters P2-3 MORE DARTS IN 2017

DUZZA IN TOP FORM

DARTS LOST IN PUBS

PDC unveils 2017 calendar with more events Pages 4-5

Durrant is crowned Swedish Open champion Pages 6-7

Are the days of darts being a pub sport numbered? Page 12

DARTPLAYERS AUSTRALIA

A star is born!

2

Friday 26 August 2016 Darts Weekly

Cadby ends Taylor’s winning record in Australia with 6-2 first round victory in Perth Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER “The best moment of my darts career.” Those were the words said

by Corey Cadby during his unlikely victory speech on the opening day of the TABtouch Perth Darts Masters yesterday.

The 21-year-old, who since moving from Tasmania to Melbourne, has won seven tournaments on the DPA Australian Grand Prix circuit this year, but few could have predicted his latest win, beating 16-time world champion Phil Taylor in the first round of this year’s Perth Darts Masters.

The two had only met seven days ago on the World Series stage, with Taylor winning 6-3 in his first match on route to retaining the Ladbrokes Sydney Darts Masters.

Since the World Series came to Australia back in 2013, Taylor has been the man lifting the trophy at the end of the tournament, but this

Saturday we are guaranteed a new winner down under.

Cadby made his television debut in the 6-3 defeat to Taylor in Sydney last week, where he averaged a respectable 92.24.

It is clear to see the young man learns very quickly. Early checkouts of 100 and 110 helped give Cadby 1-0 and 2-1 leads, before a 72 checkout saw him hold

“He’s the greatest player ever and I’m glad I stopped his record in Australia” throw again to go 3-2 up.

The next leg saw the pair trade 180s and then Cadby took out a brilliant 122 checkout to break Taylor’s throw for a 4-2 lead.

More maximums in the next two legs showed that the home favourite did not have any plans to let the defending champion off the hook, as he made it four legs on the spin to seal a memorable win.

stores.ebay.co.uk/Mojo-DARTS

“I don’t know what to say, it’s an amazing moment,” Cadby reflected. “I’m buzzing, it’s a proud moment and the best moment of my darts career.

“I felt confident last week, for my first TV game I did well and I knew where I went wrong.

“I fixed them this week and it’s paid off. It was revenge, it’s great.

“I knew what I had to throw to beat Phil. He’s the greatest player ever. I’m glad someone stopped his record in Australia.”

This was not an off day for Taylor though, who himself averaged 111.65 over the eight leg contest, and despite his winning record in Australia being over, he will take a lot more positives than negatives from his time in Sydney and Perth.

With Taylor out of the running, last week’s Sydney Darts Masters runner-up Michael van Gerwen is hot favourite to end his search for a first title in Australia.

The world number one avoided a potential banana skin in squeezing past Kyle Anderson 6-4 in the first

Darts Weekly Friday 26 August 2016

3 DARTPLAYERS AUSTRALIA

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 xx x x x

round yesterday. Van Gerwen’s reward is a clash with James Wade in the quarter-finals today.

Wade got over his shock defeat to Rhys Mathewson in Sydney last week with a 6-0 whitewash win against Rob Szabo.

World champion Gary Anderson was one of Taylor’s victims last week, losing 10-2 to him in the quarter-finals, but he will fancy his chances even more now of adding to his collection of World Series titles this weekend.

The Scot has picked up the trophy in Dubai, Auckland and Tokyo during this year’s World Series tour, and he got his bid for a fourth title underway yesterday with a 6-3 victory against qualifier Kim Lewis.

Anderson wrapped up the win with two 11 darters in the last two legs and is certainly one to keep an eye out for over the next two days.

Dave Chisnall is next up for Anderson today, with Chizzy also looking in good form after he comfortably dispatched New

Zealand-born Koha Kokiri 6-1 in the first round yesterday.

Adrian Lewis and Raymond van Barneveld will meet in the quarterfinals today after both came through their first round ties, beating David Platt 6-3 and Simon Whitlock 6-2 respectively.

Cadby was the star of the show yesterday and he will return today hoping to continue his run when he takes on Peter Wright in the quarter-finals.

Wright, who changed his darts midway through his hard fought 64 win against Adam Rowe in the first round, is not ruling out more alterations with his darts during the next two days.

“It wasn’t great so I’m happy just to get over the line,” he said.

“I’m looking for that extra one or two per cent and the best time to try a different set is under that pressure.

“It would have been my fault if I lost but I took that chance. The darts I used in the first half of the game were a bit up and down.”

Taylor’s delight after toppling van Gerwen in Sydney final Phil Taylor made it four titles out of four in the Ladbrokes Sydney Darts Masters after edging out Michael van Gerwen 11-9 in a close final on Saturday.

The 16-time world champion had won the previous three stagings of the World Series event, but faced a tough task in keeping his perfect record in tact when he took on the world number one in this year’s final.

Taylor averaged 105.13 and van Gerwen posted an average of 104.32, as the two produced a fine climax to the latest World Series of Darts event.

“This is brilliant and I’m so happy,” Taylor said. “I thought it was a cracking final. I thought I had him and then he came back.

“I always get in front of him and he seems to come back at me, but I thought ‘you’re not going to get me this time.’

“That’s the only way to beat Michael, by fighting and being aggressive. I’m going to pat myself on the back because it was a fantastic game.

“Sydney’s been great this week.

It’s been fantastic at The Star and it’s been perfect for me.

“I got my preparation right and I’ve got my darts right. I’d love to play here every week!”

Taylor averaged a stunning 112.41 in his 10-2 demolition of Gary Anderson in the quarterfinals, before a 102.47 helped him to an 11-4 triumph over Dave Chisnall in the semi-finals.

4

Friday 26 August 2016 Darts Weekly

PDC close to 150 days of darts on screen with 2017 calendar Dave South DARTS WRITER The Professional Darts Corporation unveiled its calendar for 2017 earlier this month, where it released the majority of its plans for the forthcoming year.

A lot of the events remain at a similar time of the year, but some of the venues have changed, as well as the expansion of the hosted events.

Now the purpose of this article is to discuss whether 2017 will see enough darts screened for the PDC? With their assurances of more money in the prize fund, this is really like sticking a carrot out and asking players: if you want it, here it is!

In addition, with the new calendar comes crammed full of TV/streamed content, which will enable armchair viewers to watch even more darts than ever before.

So dissecting the TV/stream events, bar the World Series, which is still to be confirmed apart from Las Vegas in July next year, we will have 16 nights for the Premier League and 11 European Tour events, which equates to 49 days of darts.

With the Masters (two days), UK Open (three days), World Cup of Darts (four days), World Matchplay (nine days) bringing us up to 67 days, with the autumn season then including the Champions League of Darts (two days), World Grand Prix (seven days), European Championship (three days) and the World Series Finals (two days).

That brings us up to 81 days, before in quick succession we have the Grand Slam (nine days) and Players Championship Finals (three days) which takes the tally to 93 days of darts.

Assuming the World Series remains similar to 2016, with

Dubai (two days), Auckland (three days), Shanghai (two days), Tokyo (two days), that adds another nine to the total.

With the US Masters confirmed for three days, and the return to Australia adding another six days in August, this tallies up to 111 days of darts in 2017.

If that does not make you think wow, then the plans to stream the Players Championship events will add another 22 days on to the total, making it 133 days of darts.

Adding the World Championship makes the number fall just short of 150 days of televised/streamed darts in 2017, but the question is: is this potentially overkill?

Living in a world today, where it is possible to capture darts away from mainstream television makes it possible and a sign that the PDC want to try and crack America

‘With the congested calendar the way it is the top players will miss events’ again.

So by having so much darting coverage, will this keep people interested?

With the right methods of creating awareness, this will attempt to entice emerging markets to the sport, alongside the core fans from the UK and Europe.

It must be stressed that the number of weekends available for potential promoters to host exhibitions are likely to suffer the most from this!

The reason being that the unveiling of the calendar would have interested promoting parties to facilitate potential events in 2017 on the rare weekends when the top stars are not competing.

This of course could benefit some of the lower ranked players, as almost certainly the top eight will be heavily scheduled out of making

additional appearances. 2017 will be an exciting year, and with the qualification criteria for some events, for example the European Championship and Players Championship Finals, it will depend on players competing in these events if they want a chance of making the cut.

This year we have noticed the likes of Raymond van Barneveld and Adrian Lewis make the decision, in particular Barney, to not play in the European Tour and miss out on the European Championship later this year, a tournament which Lewis is a former winner of.

With the congested calendar the way it is, in particular the players selected for the World Series are likely to miss more events, such as Pro Tour weekends to rest up.

This will give the chance for emerging players to pocket Pro Tour titles.

I really like the development of the PDC moving forward, especially with the expanded presence on TV and streams for 2017, but will we get tired of this?

I would like to think not, but the other considerations are that one of the PDC’s main sponsors of events - bookmakers - who will have the potential to unveil more opportunities for punters to take on.

A coincidence do you think?

The world of live/streamed sport is dominated around gambling, so why should the PDC not try and take a bigger slice of the action for this?

I know one thing for sure though, the dreary weather of the opening months of 2017 will be a blessing at the weekends if we are able to get involved with the expanding PDC streaming of the Pro Tour, especially if in a cost effective manner.

Well played with the 2017 calendar Barry Hearn and the entire PDC.

Darts Weekly Friday 26 August 2016

5

2017 Calendar DATE Jan 19-22 Jan 28-29 Feb 2 Feb 3 Feb 4 Feb 5 Feb 9 Feb 10 Feb 11 Feb 12 Feb 16 Feb 18 Feb 19 Feb 23 Feb 25 Feb 26 Mar 2 Mar 3-5 Mar 9 Mar 10 Mar 11 Mar 12 Mar 16 Mar 18 Mar 19 Mar 23

TOURNAMENT Qualifying School The Masters Premier League Wk 1 UK Open Qualifier 1 UK Open Qualifier 2 UK Open Qualifier 3 Premier League Wk 2 UK Open Qualifier 4 UK Open Qualifier 5 UK Open Qualifier 6 Premier League Wk 3 Development Tr 1, 2 Development Tr 3, 4 Premier League Wk 4 Players Ch’ship 1 Players Ch’ship 2 Premier League Wk 5 UK Open Premier League Wk 6 ET1 UK Qualifier Players Ch’ship 3 Players Ch’ship 4 Premier League Wk 7 Challenge Tr 1, 2 Challenge Tr 3, 4 Premier League Wk 8 ET1 and 2 Euro Qs Mar 24-26 ET1 Mar 25 Challenge Tr 5, 6 Mar 26 Challenge Tr 7, 8 Mar 30 Premier League Wk 9 Mar 31 ET2 UK Qualifier Apr 1 Players Ch’ship 5 Apr 2 Players Ch’ship 6 Apr 6 Premier League Wk 10 Apr 7 ET3 and 4 UK Q Apr 8 Players Ch’ship 7 Apr 9 Players Ch’ship 8 Apr 13 Premier League Wk 11 Apr 14 ET2 HN Qualifier Apr 15-17 ET2 Apr 15 Development Tr 5, 6 Apr 16 Development Tr 7, 8 Apr 20 Premier League Wk 12 ET3 Euro and HN Q Apr 21-23 ET3 Apr 27 Premier League Wk 13 Apr 28 ET5 UK Qualifier Apr 29 Players Ch’ship 9 Apr 30 Players Ch’ship 10 May 4 Premier League Wk 14 ET4 and ET5 Q May 5-7 ET4

DATE May 11

TOURNAMENT Premier League Wk 15 ET5 HN Q May 12-14 ET5 May 13 Challenge Tr 9, 10 May 14 Challenge Tr 11, 12 May 18 Premier League Finals May 19 ET6 UK Qualifier May 20 Players Ch’ship 11 May 21 Players Ch’ship 12 May 27 Development Tr 9, 10 May 28 Development Tr 11, 12 May 31 ET6 and 7 Euro Q

DATE TOURNAMENT Jun 1-4 World Cup Jun 8 ET6 HN Q Jun 9-11 ET6 Jun 10 Challenge Tr 13, 14 Jun 11 Challenge Tr 15, 16 Jun 16 ET7 UK Qualifier Jun 17 Players Ch’ship 13 Jun 18 Players Ch’ship 14 Jun 29 ET7 HN Q Jun 30ET7 Jul 2 Jul 7 ET8 and 9 UK Q Jul 8 Players Ch’ship 15 Jul 9 Players Ch’ship 16 Jul 22-30 World Matchplay Aug 4 ET10 UK Qualifier Aug 5 Players Ch’ship 17 Aug 6 Players Ch’ship 18 Aug 31 ET8 and 9 Euro Q Sep 1-3 ET8 Sep 2 Development Tr 13, 14 Sep 3 Development Tr 15, 16 Sep 7 ET9 HN Q Sep 8-10 ET9 Sep 9 Challenge Tr 17, 18 Sep 10 Challenge Tr 19, 20 Sep 14 ET10 and 11 Euro Q Sep 15-17 ET10 Sep 23-24 Champions League Sep 28 ET11 UK Qualifier Sep 29 Players Ch’ship 19 Sep 30 Players Ch’ship 20 Oct 1-7 World Grand Prix Oct 12 ET11 HN Q Oct 13-15 ET11 Oct 14 Development Tr 17, 18 Oct 15 Development Tr 19, 20 Oct 16 World Youth - L64 Oct 20 Players Ch’ship 21 Oct 21 Players Ch’ship 22 Oct 22 Grand Slam and World Series Q Oct 27-29 European Ch’ship Nov 4-5 World Series Finals Nov 11-19 Grand Slam Nov 24-26 Players Ch’ship Finals Nov 26 World Youth Final Nov 27 World Ch’ship Q TBC World Ch’ship

x Gary Anderson won the PDC World Championship in 2016

◊ World Series of Darts events will be announced once further details are finalised.

6

Friday 26 August 2016 Darts Weekly

Durrant on course to surpass last year’s trophy haul after winning Swedish Open title Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Glen Durrant continued his recent good run of form as he picked up his fifth ranking title of 2016 with victory in the Swedish Open on Saturday.

The BDO number one whitewashed his fellow England teammate and defending champion Jamie Hughes 6-0 in the final, and with the best part of four months left of the current season to go, Duzza could well eclipse last year’s haul of eight titles.

Durrant has won the Denmark Masters, England Open, BDO Gold Cup, European Darts Open, and now the Swedish Open, this year to be on five tournament wins so far in 2016.

At this stage last year, the Middlesbrough thrower had won three of the eight titles he picked up in 2015, so who would back against him surpassing eight titles this year and maybe even reaching double figures?

“It’s a Scandinavia double for me following my win in Denmark earlier in the season,” the 45-yearold reflected.

“It was a fantastic double with Middlesbrough beating Sunderland in the football.

“The plan is on track to be in peak form for the Grand Slam, World Masters, Finders Darts Masters, and the World Championship next year.

“I feel great with my game at the moment but I’ll continue to practice every night and look for improvements.”

Of the five tournaments Durrant has won on the BDO circuit this year, they are all the first time he has lifted those particular trophies.

In 2015, Duzza’s three victories before August were in the Isle of Man Classic, Denmark Open and Welsh Open, with his attempts to defend those titles this year just

falling short, most notably in the Welsh Open where he lost 6-5 to former world champion Scott Mitchell in the final.

Durrant’s bid for glory in Sweden on Saturday began with wins over Tommy Frisk, Mickey Baker and Mogens Christensen in the early rounds, before a 4-1 triumph against Klaus Rejnhold put him into the last eight.

The reigning Winmau World Masters champion then got revenge on Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas in the quarter-finals, beating his World Trophy conqueror 5-4 in a close game.

A 5-2 win over recent Belgium Open winner Ross Montgomery saw Durrant progress to the final, where he eased to a 6-0 victory against Hughes to lift the trophy.

Away from the final, and Gary Robson, Jimmy Hendriks and James Hurrell did their hopes of

“I feel great but I’ll continue to practice every night to look for improvements” qualifying for the 2017 World Championship no harm with good runs at the weekend.

Robson and Hendriks both reached the last 16 in Sweden, while Hurrell went two steps further, losing out to Hughes 5-3 in the semi-finals. ◊ Lisa Ashton claimed her eighth tournament win of the year after whitewashing Deta Hedman 5-0 in the Swedish Open ladies final.

Ashton, who won the Antwerp Open the previous weekend, knocked out third seed Aileen de Graaf in the semi-finals, while Hedman beat Anastasia Dobromyslova to get to the final. ◊ Tickets for the 2017 BDO Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships will go on sale tomorrow and are available only at www.lakesideworlddarts.co.uk

Darts Weekly Friday 26 August 2016

7 MAGNUS KARLSSON

Snook secures debut at World Championship in December Ross Snook will make his debut in the William Hill World Darts Championship later this year after beating Darin Young in the final of the North American Qualifier on Sunday.

Ottawa’s Snook came through Saturday’s qualifiers to compete in the 32-player finals, where after edging past Shaun Burt 3-1 in the first round, he knocked out threetime world champion John Part in straight sets.

A 3-1 victory over Gary Mawson put Snook into the semi-finals, where he came through a deciding fifth set to get the better of Jerry van Loan to reach the final.

Snook dropped only one leg in the final as he defeated Young in straight sets to book his place at the Alexandra Palace at the end of the year.

Hogan retains Open crown to qualify for the World Masters Paul Hogan beat Adam SmithNeale 5-1 to retain the Winmau Wolverhampton Open at the weekend.

The recent BDO Gold Cup runner-up successfully defended the title he won 12 months ago and has qualified for this year’s Winmau World Masters.

Hogan started his title defence with comfortable wins against Cliff Price (4-1) and Alan Carter (4-0), before he was pushed close by Martin Biggs (4-2) in the last 32.

Another whitewash win came in the last 16 for Hogan, beating Matthew Green 4-0, while a 4-2 victory over Ian Jones saw him advance into the semi-finals.

After getting the better of Eddie Dootson 4-2, Hogan beat SmithNeale 5-1 in the final.

Darts Weekly Friday 26 August 2016

9

RICHARD EDWARDS ASIAN DARTS CORRESPONDENT x

Fun weekend had playing in the Hong Kong Open On Friday I took the ferry to Macau to meet Hong Kong darts star Alex Hon. Alex is an absolute gentleman and looked after me and the rest of my travelling party in true Hong Kong style.

After some sightseeing it was finally time to pull out the tungsten and get throwing. We went to Alex’s shop and got practicing for the weekend ahead.

If you are ever in Macau, look up his shop, it’s called ‘A Darts’ and is in the Taipa area of Macau.

Onto the Saturday and it was the big day, the team event. A quick change into my slacks and smart shoes in the gents and we were set.

I was a little disheartened to find out it was perfectly fine to be wearing trainers, as I was donning some awfully tight dress shoes, but spirits were still high.

Some steady darts from all of ‘Four Nation Unity’ saw us progress to the knockout stages, where we received a bye.

Unfortunately, we then met our match against a solid team called ‘Bulldogs’ and the dream was over.

I was getting the impression from those around me that Sunday was more important anyway.

It was the Hong Kong Open and after receiving a bye in the first round it was time for me to play.

I played Kittiphum Kigniyom from Thailand in a best of five legs, and unfortunately for me it was the second week in a row where my doubling let me down.

I missed half a dozen doubles in the first leg which I lost. I then recovered to win the second leg, missed a couple more doubles in the third which I lost. In the fourth

leg my opponent took me to pieces to win 3-1.

It was a poor performance from myself but I was determined to look at the positives. It was all a great experience and I was still in a room with some great darters, and there was a lot of darts to be watched still.

Very pleasing was the fact that my comrades from Korea had greater success, and although they didn’t make it to the latter stages. they did manage to play against some familiar(ish) names.

Yong Thanawat of Thailand and

‘Nebrida’s classy finishing won him the next two legs to claim the title’ Paulo Nebrida of the Philippines prevailed in the men’s semi-finals.

After a short break, which gave me an opportunity to hit the practice board, it was time for the ladies final.

Japan’s Inoue Sayaka edged past Arcy Tang of Hong Kong in a final leg decider to win the title.

After a slow start from both ladies, it was hard to split the pair, but in the fourth leg, trailing 2-1, Sayaka started to find some rhythm and demonstrated some

exceptional power scoring. She checked aces with her 16th dart after four 100+ scores in the leg.

Another rampant display in the next leg saw Sayaka finish in 15 darts and suddenly she was throwing for the match.

Tang showed nerves of steel to check out 60 in two darts and take it to a decider, and in a nervy final leg it was Sayaka’s turn to show great composure, checking out 63 to win 4-3.

Next up was the men’s final, which was unfortunately a more one-sided affair.

Playing the best of nine legs, Thanawat was not at his clinical best with his doubles and Nebrida raced into a 3-0 lead.

Despite winning the fourth leg, Thanawat did not recover from the slow start and Nebrida’s classy finishing won him the next two legs, claiming a 5-1 victory to take home the Hong Kong Open title.

The pair actually finished with similar averages, but ultimately it was the quality finishing that won it for Nebrida.

It’s more of the same for me as I rub shoulders with the elite of soft tip darts in the Premium Stage of the World Soft Tip Darts Championships in Tokyo this weekend. It’s going to be a long week!

10

Friday 26 August 2016 Darts Weekly

EVERY MATCH. EVERY TABLE. EVERY STAT BRITISH DARTS ORGANISATION LDO SWEDISH CLASSIC

Last 16 - D Hedman 4-1 S Hägvall, S Cusick 0-4 S Prins, L Winstanley 4-0 E Lindell, M Jansson 1-4 A Dobromyslova, A de Graaf 4-1 T Schuur, A-L Peters 1-4 C Brookin, T Gulliver 4-1 T Wright, H Honoré 3-4 L Ashton. Quarter finals - D Hedman 4-3 S Prins, L Winstanley 2-4 A Dobromyslova, A de Graaf 4-1 C Brookin, T Gulliver 2-4 L Ashton. Semi finals - D Hedman 3-5 A Dobromyslova, A de Graaf 5-4 L Ashton. Final - A Dobromyslova 3-5 L Winstanley.

SWEDISH OPEN Men’s last 16 - G Durrant 4-1 K Rejnhold, G Robson 1-4 D Labanauskas, M McGeeney 1-4 R Montgomery, A Fordham 3-4 R Wagner, J Hughes 4-2 J Hendriks, W Mandigers 2-4 A Jensen, J Williams 3-4 D Nilsson, J Hurrell 4-3 T Alanentalo. Quarter finals - G Durrant 5-4 D Labanauskas, R Montgomery 5-2 R Wagner, J Hughes bt A Jensen, D Nilsson 3-5 J Hurrell. Semi finals - G Durrant 5-2 R Montgomery, J Hughes 5-3 J Hurrell. Final - G Durrant 6-0 J Hughes.

Ladies last 16 - D Hedman 4-1 K Rekinen, L Oden 0-4 S Prins, V Pruim 4-3 C Brookin, T Schuur 3-4 A Dobromyslova, A de Graaf bt S Jahn Hadberg, A Forsmark 1-4 F Sherrock, K Bomander 4-3 C Ekberg, H Sundelin 2-4 L Ashton.

Quarter finals - D Hedman 4-1 S Prins, V Pruim 0-4 A Dobromyslova, A de Graaf 4-1 F Sherrock, K Bomander 1-4 L Ashton. Semi finals - D Hedman 5-2 A Dobromyslova, A de Graaf 25 L Ashton. Final - D Hedman 0-5 L Ashton.

Men’s pairs final - D Reynolds

and G Durrant 4-0 D Labanauskas and M Razma. Ladies pairs final - A Dobromyslova and L Winstanley 4-1 C Brookin and F Sherrock.

VAN DIEMEN CLASSIC GRAND PRIX Men’s last 16 - Ma Pearce 3-1 J Riley, M King 1-3 J Pearce, S Fitzpatrick 3-1 K Heard, M Clegg 1-3 A Cadby, N Seabourne 3-0 J Suckling, S Hall 3-2 C Riley, Mi Pearce 3-0 J Wilson, B Hoskinson 1-3 D Anderson. Quarter finals Ma Pearce 4-3 J Pearce, S Fitzpatrick 4-1 A Cadby, N Seabourne 4-3 S Hall, Mi Pearce 40 D Anderson. Semi finals - Ma Pearce 5-0 S Fitzpatrick, N Seabourne 4-5 Mi Pearce. Final Ma Pearce 3-6 Mi Pearce.

Ladies last 16 - C Hammond 2-3 S Smith, R Miller 1-3 T Morris, N Williams 3-2 K Miller, T Harback 3-1 B Grubb, L Wilson 3-0 M Gillam, L-A Faulkner 3-0 H Johnston, E Watkins bt T Kewish, K Johnson 3-0 C Hall. Quarter finals - S Smith 4-0 T Morris, N Williams 0-4 T Harback, L Wilson 4-3 L-A Faulkner, E Watkins 4-1 K Johnson. Semi finals - S Smith 5-0 T Harback, L Wilson 5-3 E Watkins. Final - S Smith 4-6 L Wilson.

WINMAU WOLVERHAMPTON OPEN Last 16 - E Dootson 4-1 J Singh, C Dale 4-3 J Carroll, K Merchant 2-4 I Jones, P Hogan 4-0 M Green, O Maiden 4-1 D Birks, J Weldon 0-4 A Smith-Neale, J Roberts 4-0 P Brown, G Whitles 1-4 F Hill.

Quarter finals - E Dootson 4-3 C Dale, I Jones 2-4 P Hogan, O Maiden 2-4 A Smith-Neale, J Roberts 4-3 F Hill. Semi finals E Dootson 2-4 P Hogan, A SmithNeale 4-3 J Roberts. Final - P Hogan 5-1 A Smith-Neale.

MEN’S INVITATIONAL TABLE (SEASONAL)

1 Glen Durrant 394 pts 2 Scott Mitchell 325 pts 3 Danny Noppert 315 pts 4 Martin Adams 289 pts 5 Jamie Hughes 287 pts 6 Scott Waites 258 pts 7 Darius Labanauskas 255 pts 8 Wesley Harms 246 pts 9 Darryl Fitton 245 pts 10 Dean Reynolds 234 pts 11 Brian Dawson 222 pts 12 Jim Williams 219 pts 13 Geert de Vos 215 pts 14 Martin Phillips 202 pts 15 Mark McGeeney 200 pts 16 Tony O’Shea 193 pts 17 Richard Veenstra 181 pts 18 Ross Montgomery 174 pts 19 Martin C Atkins 166 pts 20 James Hurrell 163 pts = Wouter Vaes 163 pts 22 Jimmy Hendriks 162 pts 23 Madars Razma 160 pts 24 Gary Robson 152 pts = Pip Blackwell 152 pts 26 Shaun Carroll 148 pts = Sven Verdonck 148 pts 28 Ryan Joyce 144 pts 29 Dennis Harbour 139 pts 30 Jeff Smith 138 pts 31 Jeffrey Sparidaans 137 pts 32 Bradley Kirk 136 pts = Conan Whitehead 136 pts 34 Andy Fordham 132 pts 35 Dave Parletti 125 pts  Table above is correct as of August 23, 2016.

FIXTURES TODAY French Open (Warm-Up tournament) TOMORROW French Open (Singles) LDO Ladies Classic SUNDAY French Open (Pairs) Cleveland Open

Darts Weekly Friday 26 August 2016

11

EVERY STAT HERE. darts

firsts

PROFESSIONAL DARTS CORPORATION LADBROKES SYDNEY DARTS MASTERS Quarter finals - G Anderson (98.09) 2-10 P Taylor (112.41), A Lewis (91.15) 5-10 D Chisnall (96.56), M van Gerwen (104.07) 10-6 K Anderson (97.43), R Mathewson (91.17) 4-10 P Wright (95.60). Semi finals - P Taylor (102.47) 11-4 D Chisnall (91.81), M van Gerwen (105.92) 11-6 P Wright (99.82). Final - P Taylor (105.13) 11- 9 M van Gerwen (104.32).

TABTOUCH PERTH DARTS MASTERS First round - G Anderson (97.40) 6-3 K Lewis (79.64), D Chisnall (95.64) 6-1 K Kokiri (86.71), A Lewis (91.49) 6-3 D Platt (88.30), R van Barneveld (92.43) 6-2 S Whitlock (89.35), M van Gerwen (94.78) 6-4 K Anderson (91.35), J Wade (95.94) 6-0 R Szabo (86.93), P Taylor

(111.65) 2-6 C Cadby (103.58), P Wright (90.94) 6-4 A Rowe (87.12).

FIXTURES TODAY TABtouch Perth Darts Masters quarter finals - G Anderson v D Chisnall, A Lewis v R van Barneveld, M van Gerwen v J Wade, C Cadby v P Wright.

TOMORROW TABtouch Perth Darts Masters semi finals and final THURSDAY ET7 and ET8CHAMPIONSHIP European PLAYERS Qualifier and 13 ET7 HNQ To find out more about advertising in our magazine please send an email to dartsweekly@gmail.com

FIXTURES FIXTURES

2014 World Cup of Darts semi finalist, Mickey Mansell, talks us through his darts memories First darts memory?

My first darting memory is winning the second tournament that I entered. I was only 12-years-old and I beat Jackie Scullion in the final, who was Northern Ireland’s number one lady.

First darts hero?

My first darts hero was John Lowe.

First set of darts?

They were a set of 24g darts which I bought from a supermarket in Northern Ireland called Wellworths.

First darts team?

I played for Gervins Bar, which was a snooker and social club. It’s famous because that’s where Dennis Taylor started off his snooker career.

First game on TV? It was in the 2010 PDC World Championship at Alexandra Palace.

I played in the preliminary round against Preston Ridd and lost 4-0.

First nine darter?

My first nine dart leg came while I was practicing, around 2008 I think.

The BDDA held their final qualifying event for the 2016 Winmau WDDA World Masters at the weekend.

Rob Williams of Wales (left) beat England’s Ricky Chilton ET10 (right) 3-2QUALIFIER in the BDDA

Wolverhampton Open final.

Chilton finished top of the rankings and will be joined by Williams, Paul Gelder, Paul Hampton, Graham Mitchell, Phil Lees, Tony Pass and Richard Green at Lakeside.

First professional tournament win?

I’m still practicing for my first professional win. On the PDC tour I did win the Tom Kirby Memorial Trophy back in 2010. I remember I beat Stephen Byrne something like 6-3 or 6-4 in the final to win the tournament.

Who would you like to see reveal their Darts Firsts next?

Tweet us at @darts_weekly with your suggested players!

12

Friday 26 August 2016 Darts Weekly

DAVE McNALLY DARTS WRITER

Will darts soon be lost forever in UK pubs?

With the decline and closure of pubs and traditional working men’s clubs in and around the UK, are we heading for darts as a pub sport to soon become totally obsolete?

With the deliberate buying of pubs by large companies and keeping them shut, to the general rise of pubs that are becoming more child friendly or specialising in food, there is not only a worrying decline in the number of boards visible in pubs but also the lack of teams playing at a competitive level.

Research has suggested that landlords are reluctant to have boards put up as they command too much space, and they would rather utilise the space for more profitable ventures such as fruit machines or added tables for food revenue.

Although the need to make a living is not in question, it shines down poorly in the development of the game at its grassroots.

My dad had darts, as did all of his mates. Not all of them played for teams but they always took their darts to the pub, as they’d play when they got amongst themselves as part of the night out.

This was the norm. How many groups of people do you see playing darts in a pub these days on a regular basis in the average local?

Have people migrated to wanting something different on a night out these days?

With the popularity of the game on television and in other parts of the media, plus ‘rent a celebs’ getting involved with the darts at a

x

drop of a hat, it is even more bewildering that dartboards are not commonly seen on a random night out. Why aren’t participation levels a true reflection of the interest levels in the UK? It has been argued that the actual ‘interest’ for darts is artificially high as many events are seen as nothing more than a stag or hen party opportunity, with no or little interest in what is happening on

‘Research suggests landlords are now reluctant to have boards put up’ the stage.

But what of the huge viewing figures on the television? It could be facetiously argued that these are the ‘old school’ fans who have distanced themselves from these events or simply been priced out. It is certainly one topic that is open for discussion.

Of course this isn’t always the case as certain pubs in rural areas, Glossop for example, where landlords have embraced darts as it is a nice revenue stream during

their quieter times during the week.

Landlords claim that they wouldn’t bother opening if it wasn’t for the darts.

Maybe this could be adopted more on a national level as a chance for more pubs to get involved once more with the sport, as Glossop league secretary Dave Flavel stating that he has “seen a steady increase in teams and participation levels over the last few seasons.”

Revenue may not be the only problem that the landlords face.

Changes in lifestyles can be argued has added to the decline of darts in pubs.

Home consoles for gaming, endless TV streaming and channels may have all added to how people have changed their habits.

Add to the fact that alcoholic beverage consumption for the take home market has increased as prices have dropped, the opposite applies in pubs as the price of a pint increases and ‘regulars’ are not as abundant.

Whatever the reasons for the decline, it makes for an interesting debate and an issue that needs addressing if we want to maintain the world’s greatest sport.