Issue 35 (September 2, 2016)

Friday 2 September 2016

Darts Weekly

Kevin Painter aims to kick-start season this weekend P4-5 MVG WINS IN PERTH

NEW SEASON BEGINS

IT’S ALL CHANGING

Van Gerwen ends wait for first title in Australia Page 2

The 2016-17 BICC season gets underway tomorrow Pages 8-9

A look at how technology has changed the sport Page 12

LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

“It’s time to get going again!”

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Friday 2 September 2016 Darts Weekly

Van Gerwen tastes victory in Australia for the first time

EMMA MORLEY/DPA

Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Michael van Gerwen ended his wait for a first victory in Australia with a dominant 11-4 win over Dave Chisnall in the final of the TABtouch Perth Darts Masters on Saturday.

The world number one had previously lost out in two Sydney Darts Masters finals and in the final of the 2014 Perth Darts Masters, but went all the way this time as he also denied Chisnall a maiden TV title triumph.

Chisnall had followed up his excellent 10-7 quarter-final win over world champion Gary Anderson the previous day with an 11-8 victory against Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-finals.

But he once again saw his hopes shattered by van Gerwen, who bounced back from his final defeat to Taylor in Sydney in style, claiming a ninth straight win over the world number nine and his

14th tournament victory of the 2016 season.

“This is my first World Series win in Australia so it’s a great victory,” van Gerwen said.

“Dave’s such a good player and you have to produce your best game but I went into the final with

stores.ebay.co.uk/Mojo-DARTS

a lot of confidence because I had a fantastic record against him.

“I found it hard and didn’t play my best game, but think I did well to win this trophy and I’m glad I did.

“I think tonight I played well; against Peter Wright I didn’t give him any chances and against Dave I did the right thing at the right moments, and if you want to win the tournament you have to do that.”

The Dutchman had earlier swept aside Wright 11-5 in the semifinals, winning five legs on the spin early on to move into an advantage he would never lose.

And after taking a 4-1 lead in the final against Chisnall, he was always on course to claim the win.

Chisnall hit back to trail 5-3 before van Gerwen took three legs in a row, including an 11 darter, to edge towards victory.

And even though the St Helens thrower pulled a leg back, he was unable to continue his challenge as van Gerwen completed the triumph.

“I tried my hardest and it wasn’t good enough,” Chisnall said. “But I’ll work on it like I always do. I’ll take a lot of confidence from this.”

Darts Weekly Friday 2 September 2016

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JAMES WADE DARTS WRITER

The PDC and the invisible 90 per cent The PDC had a televised tournament last week. They had a televised tournament the week before. At the end of September, they will have another televised tournament, their inaugural BBC televised tournament no less.

Yet in these three tournaments combined, only 12 of their 128 tour card holders will be afforded the opportunity to participate.

Barry Hearn likes to present the PDC as the ultimate proving ground, where players will be afforded the opportunity to make a fortune, provided that they are good enough.

This mantra is definitely true in relation to the untelevised Pro Tour and the streamed European Tour, where even the lowliest tour card holder has dozens of opportunities each year to reel off a string of victories and pick up a decent cheque.

However, when the TV cameras go on it’s a different story. In 2016 the PDC have scheduled 18 televised events, 11 of which are non-ranking exhibitions with a limited field.

Surely there cannot be another sporting body which can lay claim to such a negative differential between televised exposure and actual relevance.

This is a problem in itself; however, the larger issue is that it seems to be the same limited field every time.

Michael van Gerwen is the best player in the world right now, Gary Anderson is the world champion and Phil Taylor is comfortably the most decorated and famous player of all time. When any of those

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players miss an event the tournament immediately loses an element of prestige.

However, the same considerations do not apply for the likes of Peter Wright or Dave Chisnall, both World Series everpresents this season in spite of failing to lift a single televised title.

Additionally, by dint of prioritising the World Series over the European Tour, in all

‘The PDC’s rigid protection of the status quo only leads to monotony’ likelihood neither Raymond van Barneveld nor Adrian Lewis will be participating at the European Championship, a tournament which will occur in a 20,000 seat arena with £100,000 available to the winner.

Given how meaningless the World Series is in comparison, this cannot be acceptable.

In a broader sense going with the same faces every time leads to inevitable over saturation. Van

EMMA MORLEY/DPA

Gerwen’s victory in last week’s Perth Masters is the perfect example of this. His opponents on the final day of the tournament were the aforementioned Wright and Chisnall, players who had failed to defeat the Green Machine on the box in their prior nine and 17 matches respectively.

No one could possibly believe that this occasion would be any different, much less Wright and Chisnall themselves who appeared to be beaten before a dart was thrown.

While undoubtedly the PDC should be praised for affording unprecedented opportunity for players to make a living from darts, their rigid protection of the status quo on television only leads to inevitable monotony.

Spreading around opportunities will not only lead to fresher matchups, but also drastically narrow the massive divide between the haves and have-nots in the game.

For an organisation which was founded due to players seeking new televised opportunities, this appears to be entirely reasonable.

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Friday 2 September 2016 Darts Weekly

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

“It’s going to be busy now for the rest of the year so it’s time for me to get started again”

Kevin Painter chats to Alex Moss ahead of his return to the European Tour this weekend

onight marks the return of Kevin Painter to the European Tour and what he hopes for him will be the start of a profitable final months of 2016.

After qualifying for the first four European Tour events this year, the 49-year-old managed to qualify for just two of the next six events, this weekend’s International Darts Open, and next month’s German Darts Championship.

Painter, by his own admission, has not had the best of years on the PDC tour, but is determined to rediscover his form now, just in time for the busiest, and most lucrative, part of the season.

“I’ve just come back from Vegas,” the 2011 Players Championship Finals winner said. “I’ve been out there for 10 days so I’ve had a decent rest.

“I didn’t throw any darts so I’m pretty much rested up. I’ve had a couple of practice sessions since I’ve been home.

“I’m looking forward to getting going again now. It’s going to be busy now for the rest of the year, so it’s time to get started again.

“There’s just so much darts and it’s not just the tournaments, you’re out practicing as well, it’s just non-stop. You’ve got to have a break somewhere along the line or it just gets too much.”

Now down to 35th on the PDC Order of Merit, and just over £15,000 adrift of Jamie Lewis in 32nd, Painter is looking at a high finish in the Pro Tour Order of Merit to qualify for the William Hill World Championship at the

“When you lose your form it doesn’t come back over night; it takes a bit of time”

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Alexandra Palace at the end of the year.

The former Premier League player has not missed a World Championship since moving over to the PDC, with last year his 15th consecutive appearance in the PDC’s premier event.

“Throughout the year you’re always thinking about qualifying for the TV events,” he said.

“Obviously people concentrate on qualifying now for the World Championship, so these next few Pro Tour and European Tour events are really important.

“It’s about getting a few results now and make sure you get in these TV events.

“I’m not in the top 32 now so it’s going to be through the Pro Tour, if they were going to pick it now I’d be in it.

“I’ve just got to hold my form and hopefully that’ll see me through. If they were to pick the players for the European Championship I’m in that, if they were to pick the Players Championship Finals I’m in that as well at the moment.

“But if you don’t play well you slip down so I’ve got to play well and make sure I hold onto those places and stay in those events.

“I want to be in everything, but failing to get in the World Championship would be a disaster.

“There’s other TV events before that so you just concentrate on getting results on the floor. If you get results on the Pro Tour you’re going to qualify for the Worlds anyway.”

Painter ends a near four-month

Darts Weekly Friday 2 September 2016

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hiatus from the European Tour when he takes on South Africa’s Devon Petersen in the first round of the International Darts Open this evening.

The winner takes on 15th seed Simon Whitlock, and Painter is relishing the chance to be back in front of the cameras, even if the Saschen Arena, in Riesa, is not the

“If you don’t play well you slip down so I’ve got to get the results now” easiest place to get to.

“There’s no main direct flight for this one so I’m having to fly to Berlin and get a train for two and a half hours to Riesa,” he explained.

“Not ideal. We very rarely get one that’s right near an airport, there’s one or two that’s about it.

“So there’s a lot of travelling to do but I’d rather do it than not do it.

“There’s decent money in these

PICTURE: LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC European Tours. It’s good to be in them, you don’t want to be sitting at home and all the other lads are there.

“I’ve qualified for six out of 10 of them which is a little bit disappointing after qualifying for the first four out of four.

“I only got through two out of the next six, but it’s virtually impossible to qualify for all 10, nobody has done it.”

With four ranking TV events taking place between now and the World Championship, now is the time for players to hit form, and Painter is no exception.

“I haven’t played too bad all year to be honest,” he said. “I’ve had a few dodgy moments, it’s just the last 18 months I’ve had a few personal problems which I’m sort of getting over them now.

“When you’ve lost your form it takes time, hopefully I can see out the rest of this year on form.”

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Twell leads the way going into penultimate weekend DEVELOPMENT TOUR The race to win one of two tour cards on offer in this year’s PDC Unicorn Development Tour reignites in Wigan tomorrow.

The penultimate weekend of the 2016 Development Tour sees events 13 through to 16 of the 19event tour take place at the Robin Park Tennis Centre over the next two days.

Sleaford’s Ross Twell leads the way at the top of the Order of Merit heading into this weekend, with his three tournament wins helping him pick up £6,850 on this year’s tour so far.

Occupying the second highest spot on the Order of Merit is Wales’ Dean Reynolds on £6,200, with the duo both set to be in action in Wigan this weekend.

The top two players on the Order of Merit following the 19th and final event of the tour, which takes place next month, will both earn two-year tour cards onto the main PDC circuit.

Speaking to Darts Weekly in May, Twell said: “You’ve got the best youth talent in the world at these events. The names speak for themselves.

“Rowby-John Rodriguez, Dean Reynolds, Kurt Parry, they all play at these events.

“They’re so difficult to win. The scoring you see there is just unreal at times.

“I’m 23 now so this is my last year on the Development Tour. If a tour card comes my way at the end of the year it would be brilliant, if not I’m definitely looking to go back to Q-School and getting back on the Pro Tour next year.”

Twell and Reynolds’ closest challengers on the Order of Merit are Adam Hunt (£4,500) and Callum Loose (£4,450), but with £2,000 on offer to the winner of each event, a lot of players will be eyeing a late push for the top two.

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Friday 2 September 2016 Darts Weekly

CHRISTOPHER KEMPF MATCH OF THE WEEK - COREY CADBY 2-10 PETER WRIGHT (PERTH DARTS MASTERS)

Expect Cadby to become a formidable player Having left a score of 24 after 12 darts, a confident Corey Cadby turned his head towards the cameras on stage right and nodded emphatically.

It seemed likely, even inevitable, that this unexpected giant-slayer could break Peter Wright’s throw in the very first leg of their quarter-final clash in the Perth Darts Masters last Friday, hold his composure through perhaps another dozen legs and dispatch Wright as unceremoniously as he did Phil Taylor the day before.

Cady was putting the world of darts on notice in grand style.

Until, that is, Wright stole the first leg back from the Aussie with a tidy, methodical 132 checkout.

25, treble 19, bull. No problem.

Game shot and the first leg, Peter Wright.

And after a few more legs of such punishment, Cadby was facing an enormous deficit against the world number five.

“Averages don’t win matches,” said Rod Harrington on Australian qualifier Cadby’s stunning victory over Taylor in the first round.

If only they did! After all, who could have imagined that Taylor would average 111 and lose 6-2?

Or that the Tasmania native would average nearly 110 in his next game and be thoroughly outplayed, falling 10-2?

Wright played the best TV match of his career, but he played it in a way that is belied by his final three-dart average of 109.83.

His three-dart average for the first nine darts thrown in a leg was an astronomical 124.56, equivalent to reaching a score of 127 after

three visits. And no opponent can win a best of 19 match in which he is allowed four darts at doubles, as Cadby was.

Cadby must have felt that his attempt at a nine darter in the eighth leg was all he could do to starve off Wright’s relentless assault.

His best darts seemed to have been wasted on Wright’s

‘Wright’s three-dart average for the first nine darts was an astronomical 124.56’ advantage of throwing first.

While working against the throw, Cadby set up one-dart finishes perfectly, time after time.

But afterwards he could only watch Wright’s checkout attempts find their mark and let referee George Noble inform him of which leg he had lost.

Of Wright’s 10 missed darts at

leg-winning doubles - all at either double 20 or double 16 - he missed to the inside only once.

This allowed the Scot to take full advantage of a marker left in the board for a more accurate dart to follow.

Had Wright allowed Cadby more darts at doubles, the latter’s average would certainly have declined Of the 149 darts he threw, 133 were aimed at either treble 20 or treble 19.

The Tasmanian darter’s average is clearly distorted upwards by a preponderance of 60s and 57s.

Impressive nonetheless, but credit is due to Wright for only allowing Cadby to play half of the match!

Based on the 20 legs he played in Perth, we have every reason to expect that Cadby could soon become a formidable player on the world stage.

However, he can expect that even when he plays at his best he will be given no quarter by the darting elite.

Darts Weekly Friday 2 September 2016

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RICHARD EDWARDS ASIAN DARTS CORRESPONDENT

Ono beats Krcmar in a classic final in Tokyo Keita Ono won an enthralling final in the premium stage of the World Soft Tip Darts Championships in Tokyo at the weekend.

With his opponent, Boris Krcmar from Croatia, sat on 60 to secure the title, Ono produced a sensational 144 checkout to send the local support wild.

It really was darts of the highest quality throughout the final, and a final that the fantastic event richly deserved.

Having personally been dumped out of the tournament in the group stages, I managed to spend the entire afternoon watching some breath-taking matches.

Admittedly this tournament was a new experience for such a novice journalist/soft tip player as myself, but wow!

I saw players fire in multiple nine marks in a leg and still lose, I saw MPRs in excess of six on many occasions and I got to see many stars who I had only seen on TV before.

The tournament started early and, despite only having three hours sleep on the hard Haneda Airport floor before hand, I arrived at the venue at 8am with a spring in my step.

I won’t bore you with the details but I think I played pretty well, but let myself down at key moments.

In a group of four, with two advancing, I placed third, on another day I could have qualified but I just didn’t hold my nerve.

After a bit of a sulk and a long lunch I returned to the venue to watch the spectacle unfold in front of me.

Before the Ono-Krcmar

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blockbuster I watched an impressive Mana Kawakami (Japan) beat Sayuri Nishiguchi (Japan) in the ladies final.

Kawakami checked out 70 (doing so in the hard way; treble 20, double five) to win 3-1.

Sunday was the second day of the Nippon Darts Festival and a chance for me to play with people who are more on my level!

It was a doubles tournament, my partner and I played appallingly

‘Paul Lim told me he estimated there were 2,500 players over the weekend’ and we lost all three group games.

I don’t understand; they were coming out beautifully in the pub just a few hours before!

Cue another sulk and a long lunch and I was back to watch more quality darts.

While the Festival unfolded there was also the Under-22s tournament to be in awe of.

Once again, I was thoroughly impressed; it was thoroughly enjoyable despite my fellow Korean being, Cho Kyoung Won,

getting beat in the final.

During the final I managed to talk to the one and only Paul Lim, who told me more about the tournament. He estimated there were 2,500 participants over the weekend.

He also went on to tell me more about the other Darts Live events that takes place throughout the world.

Paul was also good enough to answer a few questions, all of which will be in my column next week.

Next week I will also be reporting from the Korean Phoenix Darts Masters.

Completely shattered, it was finally time to take a break from darts.

I got some rest in at an outstanding spa before boarding my plane back to Korea, quick shower and then straight back to work.

The last two weeks have been a superb experience; I only wish I could have performed better myself.

It is time for a reality check, starting tonight with an away game versus Dillingers Bar and Grill in the Seoul International Darts League B Division!

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Friday 2 September 2016 Darts Weekly

New captain Dawson targets another title for Yorkshire on eve of the new season Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Brian Dawson is confident he can lead Yorkshire to another British Inter-County Championships title this season.

Yorkshire finished top of the Premier Division by 33 points last season, and heading into their 2016-17 season opener at home to Warwickshire tomorrow, new captain Dawson is targeting more success.

“We’re getting used to winning it now,” he said. “We want to win it again. To be honest we usually do win it, we seem to be the strongest team, but Lancashire and Cheshire give us a good fight.

“We always seem to come out on top and I think it’s down to the strength in depth we’ve got.

“There’s so much competition for everyone to beat everyone else.

We’ve got so many good players it’s unbelievable.”

Dawson takes over from Martin Atkins as captain for Yorkshire this season and could not be happier to be leading the team this season.

“I’ve been made captain this year which is fantastic for me,” he said.

“Martin Atkins was the captain last year but it’s done on averages with Yorkshire.

“I ended up just above Dave Copley so it’s mine for at least a season!

“I think it’s just Yorkshire, I don’t know of any other counties that do it that way.”

Yorkshire have boosted their squad ahead of the new campaign with the signing of England international Mark McGeeney, who has switched from Lancashire to join the champions.

“We’ve got Mark McGeeney joining us this season,” Dawson said. “He’s come from Lancashire which is going to cause a bit of a stir!

“I don’t think he’s originally from

Lancashire but he’s played for Lancashire last year.

“He said he’s always wanted to play for Yorkshire so he’s signed this year, which is great for us because he’s a great player.

“He’s been thinking about it for quite a few seasons. He said to me that he’s always wanted to play for Yorkshire.

“To be honest that was a bit strange to me because I wouldn’t dream of playing for another county but that’s up to him.

“Increasing the squad keeps us all on our toes. Everybody is fighting for their place and everybody wants to put that shirt on.”

Lancashire and Essex were the closest title challengers to Yorkshire last season, while this weekend’s opponents Warwickshire, who finished fourth

“We always seem to come out on top and it’s down to the strength in depth” last term, will also pose a tricky test for Dawson and his team.

“We don’t have many easy matches but we seem to get through them,” the Yorkshire skipper said.

“It’s going to be a tough one first up against Warwickshire but we’re expecting a victory.

“Last year was one of the closest, we needed nine points in the last match against Lancashire.

“It was the closest year since I’ve been playing county, which is the last four or five years and we’ve won it every single season I’ve been there.

“Last year was definitely the tightest but we don’t want to leave it that tight this year.

“We’re all looking forward to it and can’t wait for the new season to start. It’ll be heads on because we want to keep winning it.”

Darts Weekly Friday 2 September 2016

9 DAVID GILL

This weekend’s fixtures Premier Division Cambridgeshire v Lincolnshire Cheshire v Lancashire Essex v Glamorgan Nottinghamshire v Devon Yorkshire v Warwickshire Division One Cleveland v Cornwall County Durham v Oxfordshire Gwent v Dorset Hampshire v West Midlands London v Kent Division Two Berkshire v Cumbria Northamptonshire v Northumberland Surrey v Staffordshire Worcestershire v Suffolk Division Three Gwynedd v Somerset Merseyside v Buckinghamshire Tyne & Wear v Montgomery & Radnor Division Four Clwyd v Breconshire Isle of Wight v Middlesex Norfolk v Shropshire Pembrokeshire v Wiltshire West of England v Bedfordshire

Warwickshire’s Jamie Hughes finished top of the Men’s A averages table last season

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Friday 2 September 2016 Darts Weekly

EVERY MATCH. EVERY TABLE. EVERY STAT BRITISH DARTS ORGANISATION FRENCH OPEN

Men’s last 32 - P van Gasse 3-0 Y Belchun, P Marissen 0-3 W Mandigers, F Roosenbrand 0-3 C Whitehead, M Phillips 3-1 S Baker, G de Vos 3-2 M Kuivenhoven, B Kirk 3-0 K McDine, S Carroll 3-1 M Verberk, C van Cleef 3-0 G Court, T Junghans 3-0 B Bauden, F Schweyen 1-3 B Raman, D van Baelen 3-1 M van Duivenbode, K Smeets 0-3 M Baker, W Vaes 3-2 J Labre, N Lloyd 2-3 R Veugelers, N Kenny 3-1 R Minnebach, D van der Zande 3-0 C Waegemans. Last 16 - P van Gasse 3-2 W Mandigers, C Whitehead 3-2 M Phillips, G de SWEDISH Vos 3-2 B Kirk, S Carroll 1-3 C van OPEN Cleef, T Junghans 3-1 B Raman, D van Baelen 0-3 M Baker, W Vaes 3-1 R Veugelers, N Kenny 2-3 D van der Zande. Quarter finals P van Gasse 3-4 C Whitehead, G de Vos 4-1 C van Cleef, T Junghans 34 M Baker, W Vaes 4-2 D van der Zande. Semi finals - C Whitehead 2-5 G de Vos, M Baker 5-3 W Vaes. Final - G de Vos 5-2 M Baker.

Ladies last 16 - D Hedman 3-0 M Sutton, C Gallagher 3-1 J Desmedt, A Zijlstra 3-0 N Brasser, S Prins 3-0 E Verpoorten, F Sherrock 3-0 V Zuidema, M Noijens 3-1 D Lemaire, A Kuijten 3-1 F Pieters, A de Graaf 3-1 R Sara. Quarter finals - D Hedman 4-0 C Gallagher, A Zijlstra 1-4 S Prins, F Sherrock 4-0 M Noijens, A Kuijten 0-4 A de Graaf. Semi finals - D Hedman 4-1 S Prins, F Sherrock 4-3 A de Graaf. Final - D Hedman 4-3 F Sherrock.

Youth last 16 - W Blackwell 3-0 J van Hassel, C Keizer 0-3 R Mesters, G van Veen 0-3 M Flahauw, M Baes Jnr 2-3 D van Beers, W Nijman 3-0 T Peeters, P Wunsch 0-3 M van Velzen, L Frauenfelder 3-0 A Keizer, D Verhagen 2-3 R de Kock. Quarter

finals - W Blackwell 4-0 R Mesters, M Flahauw 3-4 D van Beers, W Nijman 1-4 M van Velzen, L Frauenfelder 4-2 R de Kock. Semi finals - W Blackwell 3-4 D van Beers, M van Velzen 4-0 L Frauenfelder. Final - D van Beers4-2 M van Velzen.

Men’s pairs final - K Neyens and T Junghans 4-3 S Deprez and G de Vos. Ladies pairs final - S Milano and A Tacail 1-4 D Hedman and M Sutton. Mixed pairs final - D Hedman and G Thompson 4-2 B Philtjens and R Janssen.

LDO LADIES CLASSIC Semi finals - L Ashton 4-1 P Burgess, R Brooks 4-1 A-M Potts.

Final - L Ashton (below) 5-3 R Brooks.

Pairs final - L Ashton and C Brookin 4-1 D Ashton and B Greaves.

FIXTURES TODAY Music City Classic (Tennessee, USA - finishes on Sunday) TOMORROW AND SUNDAY BICC matches (Fixtures on page 9)

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 Geert de Vos 225 pts 12 Brian Dawson 222 pts 13 Jim Williams 219 pts 14 Martin Phillips 205 pts 15 Mark McGeeney 200 pts 16 Tony O’Shea 193 pts 17 Richard Veenstra 181 pts 18 Ross Montgomery 174 pts 19 Wouter Vaes 172 pts 20 Martin C Atkins 166 pts 21 James Hurrell 163 pts 22 Jimmy Hendriks 162 pts 23 Madars Razma 160 pts 24 Conan Whitehead 152 pts = Gary Robson 152 pts = Pip Blackwell 152 pts 27 Shaun Carroll 148 pts = Sven Verdonck 148 pts 29 Ryan Joyce 144 pts 30 Bradley Kirk 140 pts 31 Dennis Harbour 139 pts 32 Jeff Smith 138 pts 33 Jeffrey Sparidaans 137 pts 34 Andy Fordham 132 pts 35 Dave Parletti 125 pts  Table above is correct as of August 30, 2016.

Darts Weekly Friday 2 September 2016

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EVERY STAT HERE. darts

firsts

PROFESSIONAL DARTS CORPORATION TABTOUCH PERTH DARTS MASTERS Quarter finals - G Anderson (97.50) 7-10 D Chisnall (95.95), A Lewis (101.64) 8-10 R van Barneveld (101.34), M van Gerwen (98.96) 10-8 J Wade (99.25), C Cadby (109.57) 2-10 P Wright (109.83). Semi finals - D Chisnall (104.81) 11-8 R van Barneveld (100.70), M van Gerwen (97.22) 11-5 P Wright (97.75). Final - D Chisnall (94.22) 4-11 M van Gerwen (99.63).

INTERNATIONAL DARTS OPEN QUALIFIERS European qualifier first round - W Vermeulen 6-0 Z Bolcs, J Michael 6-2 T West, J de Graaf 6-5 N Bezzeg, D van Dijk 6-5 B van Peer, J de Zwaan 6-5 C Godl, J Vesgo 6-2 A Alcinas, J Dekker 62 J Hendriks, K Ratajski 6-1 B Fasching, T Kanik 6-1 R Wildgrube, M Rasztovits 6-0 M Tafner, V Kamphuis 6-5 M de Decker, K Kciuk 6-1 N Mandl, M van der Horst 6-3 A Milna.

Second round - R Huybrechts 65 B de Hoog, J Michael 6-0 W Vermeulen,FIXTURES D van den Bergh 6-1 I Selachoglou, J de Graaf 6-3 D van Dijk, R Meulenkamp 6-5 C Reyes, J de Zwaan 6-1 Ro-Ja Rodriguez, J Wattimena 6-1 M Paul, J Vesgo 63 J Dekker, V van der Voort 6-2 M Zuydwijk, K Ratajski 6-2 T Junghans, D van Duijvenbode 6-1 H Kochanski, M Rasztovits 6-1 T Kanik, Ro-Jo Rodriguez 6-2 G Sorger, V Kamphuis 6-1 Z Lerchbacher, Y Meeuwisse 6-2 C Kist, M van der Horst 6-4 K Kciuk.

Final round - R Huybrechts 6-5 J Michael, J de Graaf 6-4 D van den Bergh, J de Zwaan 6-4 R Meulenkamp, J Wattimena 6-1 J Vesgo, K Ratajski 6-3 V van der Voort, M Rasztovits 6-2 D van Duijvenbode, V Kamphuis 6-4 RoJo Rodriguez, Y Meeuwisse 6-2 M van der Horst. ET10 QUALIFIER Host Nation qualifier - xxx

Host Nation Qualifier third round - M Langendorf 6-3 M Kessler, M Christansen 6-1 T Seibert, R Eidams 6-2 B Roith, T Plotz 6-3 M Esser, M Hopp 6-1 N Schlund, A Schnellhardt 6-0 T Thurmer, J Artut 6-4 M Puls, D Horvat 6-0 P Senf, T Seyler 6-0 M Hurtz, M Holz 6-2 M Schindler.

Final round - M Langendorf 6-3 M Christansen, R Eidams 6-4 T Plotz, M Hopp 6-2 A Schnellhardt, D Horvat 6-1 J Artut, M Holz 6-5 T Seyler.

FIXTURES PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP TODAY 13 HappyBet International Darts Open first round - R Green v J Richardson, A Hamilton v Jam Wilson, M Langendorf v J Walker, R Meikle v M Rasztovits, Y Meeuwisse v B Dolan, J de Zwaan v J Wattimena, M Barnard v M Holz, R Huybrechts v M Frost, A Boulton v J Caven, K Ratajski v C Dobey, K Anderson v V Kamphuis, D Horvat v FIXTURES Ricky Evans, J de Graaf v J Cullen, M Hopp v D Webster, K Painter v D Petersen, R Eidams v S West.

TOMORROW HappyBet International Darts Open (second round) SUNDAY HappyBet International Darts Open (third round, quarter finals, semi finals and final) THURSDAY HappyBet European Darts Trophy Host Nation Qualifier To find out more about advertising in our magazine please send an email to dartsweekly@gmail.com

The 2012 Welsh Masters finalist, Gary Stafford, talks us through his darts memories First darts memory?

My first memory is watching the World Championship at Lakeside at home and then trying to throw darts at a board at home. There were a few holes in the wall to start off with!

First darts hero?

I’ve got two: my dad and John Lowe.

First set of darts?

They were a set of 24g Eric Bristow darts. I still use a version of them now.

First darts team?

The first team I played for was for a team called the Plough in Durrington.

First game on TV? It was in the 2014 England National Championships. I played Dennis Harbour in the quarter-finals and lost 5-0. It was shown on Eurosport and I think Steve Carrett beat George Killington in the final.

First nine darter?

I’ve not hit a nine darter yet, but I’ve missed double 12 for it in three different matches.

First professional tournament win?

The closest I have come was in the 2012 Welsh Masters. I lost 5-2 to Alan Norris in the final. I had a really good run that day with wins over Gary Stone, Andy Roberts, Andy Boulton and Richie George to get to the final.

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

Tweet us at @darts_weekly with your suggested players!

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Friday 2 September 2016 Darts Weekly

DAVE McNALLY DARTS WRITER

A brief look at the changes in technology in darts The sport of darts has been around for quite a while now, with the first official ‘modern style’ numbering system going back to circa 1896.

Throughout its development, darts has seen many changes, only small but extremely significant.

The initial snapped arrows with feathers attached morphed into wooden carved barrels to the eventual construction of metal forged darts.

Brass was mainly used as it was considered much cheaper to manufacture.

Wood was also replaced with plastic polymers and titanium as technology advanced for the shafts and feathers or paper soon made way for differing plastics for flights.

The manufacture of tungsten was the next major scientific breakthrough and some would argue the biggest influence on how the sport is played today.

Tungsten allowed for a denser dart with a smaller thinner barrel, better precision weighing and a more consistent throw because of the possibilities of closer groupings.

The traditional dartboard has also had a facelift since the initial block of wood cut off at the end of a tree, with daubed primitive painting scoring areas for today’s modern sisal boards with razor thin wiring to reduce bounce outs and enhance scoring.

To say that darts technology has peaked would be churlish indeed, as even today, big name manufacturers are spending a healthy budget working alongside top players to get the perfect dart,

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manufacturing to a certain player’s style or throw, pouring millions into research and development.

Players used to have the same darts for years, with the odd repointing or emergency surgery needed.

Reasons varied from feeling comfortable, familiarity, being used to a certain style, grip or technique associated with their throw, through to psychological issues such as lucky darts or something as simple as tradition.

One significant technological advancement that cannot be questioned is that nowadays players are changing darts through developments with manufacturers.

Phil Taylor is known worldwide for his stacking of darts because of the way his darts land in the board and their trajectory when they leave his hand.

This technological development has certainly been a factor in Taylor’s approach to the game as this system and throw allows for the treble 20 to be more accessible, reducing the risk of blocked scoring areas, increasing the chances of accuracy and greater scoring possibilities.

If we move forward to today,

manufacturers are developing darts that optimise aerodynamics to help with scoring and fine tuning within the professional game.

Also, as technology moves on, some of what was considered ground-breaking at the time is becoming more unnecessary.

Take for example the reduction in bounce outs. This has reduced the need for moveable point darts as blade style boards normally allow the dart to deflect at an angle so the dart will enter the board.

So does technology play its part?

Or is it down to dedication, with more emphasis on darts professionalism as it becomes a full time highly paid rewarding job, with the massive influx of competitions available to hone skills and development? Or is it a mixture of both?

Whatever you believe, it would be interesting to see today’s top professionals playing with older darts and boards to see if any comparisons can be made.

While the technology debate goes on, one thing for sure is that research and development will continue to the tune of millions of pounds, and if in doubt, you can always blame your darts.