Issue 39 (September 30, 2016)

Friday 30 September 2016

Inside Your 6-page World Grand Prix preview

Darts Weekly

LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

The Power is back!

Phil Taylor beats Michael van Gerwen twice in two days to win first staging of the Champions League of Darts P2-3 TOP NOTCH FROM BBC

ENGLAND TEAMS WIN

ALL FUN AND GAMES

Dave South reviews the BBC’s first PDC tournament Page 5

We round-up the 2016 WDF Europe Cup Pages 12-13

A look at how darts has got involved in gaming Page 16

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Friday 30 September 2016 Darts Weekly

Retirement talk heightens for Taylor but Champions League victory shows there is life yet Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER “Mike Gregory look at what you could have won,” was the final remark from Phil Taylor in his interview on stage moments after winning the inaugural staging of the Unibet Champions League of Darts, the newest tournament on the PDC calendar, and the first ever of a PDC dissuasion shown live on the BBC. Taylor eluded to his last title triumph on the BBC, the 1992 Embassy World Championship, when he beat Gregory 6-5 in a tiebreak, and who would believe that close to 25 years later he would be on the BBC holding aloft another trophy?

As talk continues to heighten around when Taylor, 56, will call time on his glistening career in the sport, his performances on his way to winning the Champions League of Darts at the weekend shows he still has plenty of big titles left in

him. A 17th world title? After the way he dismantled the best player on the planet right now, Michael van Gerwen, twice in two days, it is certainly a bigger possibility now than it has been for a long time.

“I want to go out with a bang, that’s what I want to do,” the 16time world champion said after beating van Gerwen 11-5 in Sunday’s final at Cardiff’s

“I want to go out with a bang - I’m over the moon to win this” Motorpoint Arena.

“It’s fantastic. I really appreciate the Cardiff crowd. They pushed me along. Some of them down the front really got behind me: ‘come on Phil, come on Phil’ they’re brilliant.

“I’m over the moon with this.

Just to get to the final was tough.

“This is a tournament for the top eight players in the world. This

stores.ebay.co.uk/Mojo-DARTS

ain’t no muppet show trust me.

“This is hard work and to play three games in one day for me was tough.

“I was worried about the final with my energy levels. I thought my energy levels were dropping down a little bit.

“But I just seemed to click at the right time and hit the right shots and put Michael under pressure.”

Van Gerwen went into the Champions League of Darts holding a 36 match unbeaten run, having followed up last month’s victory in the Perth Darts Masters with triumphs in two European Tour events and three Players Championship events.

And Taylor, who after being knocked out in the first round in Perth had a month break from competition, believes fatigue could have been a factor for van Gerwen’s performances over the weekend.

“I don’t think about Michael, Michael’s brilliant,” he said. “He’s been winning everything there is

Darts Weekly Friday 30 September 2016

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but I think he’s been playing too much and it showed a little bit during the final.

“Michael’s a better player than that. He’s just won three or four tournaments on the trot, week in week out, he’s probably played 12 days out of the last 14. It’s difficult.”

Taylor had beaten the Dutchman on the Saturday during the group

“I think Michael’s been playing too much and it showed a bit in the final” stage of the tournament, following up a 10-5 win against Peter Wright with a 10-4 triumph over the world number one to qualify for the semi-finals.

Van Gerwen edged past Wright 10-5 to take the final qualifying space in Group A, while in Group B, world champion Gary Anderson beat James Wade, Adrian Lewis and Michael Smith to top the

group with maximum points.

Wade, posted 103 averages to beat both Lewis and Smith to finish runner-up behind Anderson in Group B. In the semi-finals, Taylor and van Gerwen set up a rematch from the previous day, as Taylor swept past Wade 11-3 and van Gerwen got the better of Anderson 11-5.

A strong start saw Taylor take an early 4-1 lead in the final, before van Gerwen produced an 11 darter and a 110 finish to close the gap to 6-3.

Taylor then landed seven perfect darts in the 10th leg on his way to an 11 darter, and in the next leg punished misses from his opponent to pull six legs clear.

Van Gerwen hit back by finishing tops and 70, but the 15th leg proved crucial as the Dutchman hit a 180 and a 171 only to see Taylor check out 81 on the bull.

Taylor sealed the victory in style with a 114 checkout to complete an 11-5 win and scoop the £100,000 prize.

Taylor ordered to pay ex-wife over £830,000 in divorce deal Phil Taylor has been ordered to pay his ex-wife an £830,000 lump sum in their divorce deal.

The 16-time world champion split from Yvonne after 26 years of marriage in 2014 and this week it has reported he will pay the cash to his estranged wife following their marriage breakdown.

A judge sitting at Nottingham County Court also found Taylor will pay Yvonne £149,000 in pension costs, as well as hand over ownership of a holiday home in Tenerife and three other properties.

The court judgement states: “They met when they were very young and began to co-habit in 1982 in their very early 20s. They Lost out: Phil Taylor has had to pay £830,000 to his exwife Yvonne were married in 1988 and the marriage produced four children Lisa, Christopher, Kelly and Natalie.

“Their marriage continued for a very substantial period of time, although unfortunately it ran into difficulties, causing separation in 2011.

“They attempted reconciliation but unfortunately that too was unsuccessful, and their final separation occurred in the early part of 2014.”

It was estimated at the sitting that Taylor’s ex-wife Yvonne needs an estimated £50,000 a year to live on and will be travelling to Stoke on Trent to look after investment properties they already had in the area.

The court judgement concluded: “The wife needs security. She has no realistic opportunity to improve upon her position.

“In my judgement the starting point is obviously that each is entitled to an equal share.”

Darts Weekly Friday 30 September 2016

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DAVE SOUTH DARTS WRITER LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

Coverage of the new event was top notch from the BBC The BBC’s coverage of the inaugural Champions League of Darts began on Saturday afternoon and it immediately came across to me that viewers of the BBC’s BDO tournaments over the years may never have seen PDC tournaments before, and it looks like the BBC were not taking any chances.

We went to the drawing board with Paul Nicholson, Alan Warriner-Little, Mark Webster and Dan Dawson explaining the rules of the game in their respective segments.

In my opinion, the guys covered this well as it may have been assumed that viewers had little or no knowledge of the sport.

We even got a demonstration from Dawson and Caroline Barker regarding the walk on, with the former describing the emotions and feelings that go through a player’s mind at the walk on setting before their music hits.

My view on the above is that PDC and BBC creative handled this excellently, although experienced viewers may have questioned in their mind: I do not need to hear this!

How did the commentary team get on initially? Co-commentators Nicholson in the studio clearly taking the lead as the expert, with Webster chipping in with comments as the show kicked off.

Those that have heard the familiar voice of Warriner-Little on ITV were not disappointed with his great talking skills.

There are no issues that Dawson and the very experienced Warriner-Little could take the lead, with the inclusion of Vassos

Alexander. My only issue was that I felt Dawson and Warriner-Little were not utilised enough as the darting experts, with the BBC opting for Webster and Nicholson to assist Jason Mohammed in the studio for the majority of the event for analysis and post match cointerviewing with the players between games.

I enjoyed the aspect that players came into the studio, something we see at events on Sky Sports,

‘Did the interval music of ‘Hey Baby’ remind you of Tony O’Shea?’ particularly the World Championship.

Was the roving reporter Barker one too many staff for the event? I do not think so, as I felt Barker’s involvement broke up the coverage away from the oche to the studio and so forth.

I did think the BBC was over generous with their staffing allocation at the event but again at their debut event had this well planned.

I must admit, did you think the interval music of ‘Hey Baby’ by DJ Otzi reminded you too much of Tony O’Shea?

Those familiar to Sky are used to Planet Funk’s ‘Chase the Sun’, so expect any future BBC darts tournaments to adopt this song again as a safe choice.

Some may argue that a certain Chris Mason should have pocketed the gig of commentary, being vastly experienced in his punditry and expertise of the sport, and I agree Mace should have been given the nod on his commentary competence.

Although on balance I can argue Warriner-Little and Mason together on a BBC event may have again been dissected by BBC bosses as it sounding too much like ITV’s coverage?

Possible and probable! I do enjoy the coverage from Mason, who did an excellent job at the BDO World Trophy on Dave back in May. It might have been it was Alan or Chris, not both! Overall though, Nicholson, Webster, Dawson and Warriner-Little did an excellent job over the two day event, and in my view it was a good success overall.

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CHRISTOPHER KEMPF MATCH OF THE WEEK - PHIL TAYLOR 10-4 MICHAEL VAN GERWEN (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE) LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

A masterclass from Taylor in defeat of MVG Phil Taylor is not usually prone to on-stage behaviour similar to the “face pulling and fist pumping”, as he described it, of the world number one Michael van Gerwen.

Apart from a few confident smiles towards the Cardiff crowd, Taylor’s demeanour remained relatively placid as his lead over van Gerwen grew larger and larger in their Saturday evening match.

However, after closing out the 13th leg with seven consecutive perfect darts and a sumptuous 138 checkout, Taylor’s dominant bravado burst forth as he turned toward the cameras with fists pumping.

The idea that Taylor could win this match was never out of the question, but a 10-4 demolition of Mighty Mike seemed last week to be a fanciful proposition.

In one respect, Taylor’s dismantling of van Gerwen’s game was a methodical display of the skill needed to win a duel with the Dutch superstar.

A rare thing it is indeed when van Gerwen plays a 14 leg match and has his throw broken by his opponent all seven times.

Van Gerwen, a player equally capable of throwing nine perfect darts as of throwing nine darts without a treble, suffered from the inconsistent scoring that has plagued his matches with Taylor this year.

MVG was, on average, 0.79 darts slower to reach a finish in this match, leaving him the impossible task of catching up to Taylor as they raced towards a finish.

That would require checking out from 170 or the like in four darts in

every leg, since Taylor did so in 5.34 - his best such average of their 10 meetings so far this year.

Van Gerwen was right to identify this double trouble conundrum as a primary culprit in his loss.

Having secured three darts at double 20 in the 11th leg and two darts at double 18 in the 12th, all five missed their mark.

Van Gerwen’s look of disgust

‘During the match van Gerwen had his throw broken all seven times’ with himself intensified. Taylor, feeling disinclined to witness more of van Gerwen’s eye-rolling histrionics, cleaned up both legs with two darts and extended his lead to 8-4.

Had van Gerwen seized those two opportunities, levelling the match instead at 6-6, he may have been able to fight all the way to a last leg decider.

Before those pivotal legs, however, van Gerwen was hitting 67 per cent of his doubles and averaging a score of 104 with each three darts. Van Gerwen’s loss truly had less to do with his own failures than with the extreme pressure piled onto him by the Power.

Taylor averaged an incredible 117 on van Gerwen’s throw, hitting four 12 darters - and a 167 checkout - in doing so.

This match also had a personal aspect unlike any other seen on television this year.

Taylor, irritated with van Gerwen’s behaviour and aware of the incredible length of his winning streak, identified an opportunity in this match to exact brutal revenge for his defeats to the Dutchman in earlier tournaments this year, and inflicted upon MVG an unexpectedly severe defeat before a huge BBC audience.

This man continues to amaze us thirty years into his darts career.

What more can the master teach his pupils?

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Friday 30 September 2016 Darts Weekly

Huybrechts is my outside tip in a tournament which has had plenty of surprise before Chris Mason 3-TIME GRAND PRIX QUARTER-FINALIST The World Grand Prix has thrown up so many surprises in the past, it’s a tough tournament to pick a winner from.

It’s probably one of the most unpredictable tournaments. The game has changed, years ago when I was playing it was Phil Taylor who was dominant.

He’s been replaced by Michael van Gerwen, but you’ve got people like Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis, Jelle Klaasen, Barney, Mervyn King, they’re all great players and on their day could easily beat each other.

It makes great TV. It’s a different format with the double start and it’s what the game is lacking. At the moment it’s very generic so it’s nice to see a big, deep field and a great, levelling format.

It’s very hard to see past Michael to win the tournament but then again we all said that last week before the Champions League of Darts.

I don’t think he’ll even look at a dartboard until he plays in the Players Championship event today.

I think Michael suffered a little bit of burnout at the weekend in Cardiff and he had no answer for Phil in the final.

The signs were there. He had an awful game against Robert Thornton, who is defending the Grand Prix title this year.

He just didn’t look right in that one. He did find his feet on the final day, but I think he’s done so much in the last few weeks that it just caught up to him.

All credit to Phil, he produced a bit of a vintage masterclass and kept Michael under pressure the whole way through.

Michael just didn’t have that kick, that answer, usually he’ll find a little burst of three, four, five legs where they’re sort of around the

four visit mark, but that wasn’t there this time and a lot of that was to do with how Phil played.

I think Phil’s going to fancy it in Dublin. He’s been handed Steve West in the first round who has been playing some really good darts of late.

It’s not like years ago where you used to get someone with none or very little experience, Steve’s been around the block and the double start opens it up for him a bit.

I think Phil’s got confidence. He had a rest before the tournament he just won, so that seemed to work for him.

He’s not entered into either of the Players Championship events taking place today and tomorrow, so he’ll have another little break before he plays Steve in the first round on Monday.

In the bottom section of the draw you’ve got Gary Anderson as the

“The Grand Prix makes great TV and is unpredictable every year” second seed.

The Grand Prix has not been a great hunting ground for Gary over the years and he’s been given a first round game against Jamie Caven.

Jamie’s a player who just needs to get on a run but unfortunately he’s just not getting drawn against the players around himself ranking wise to go on a run in a TV tournament.

Also in that bottom half you’ve got Benito van de Pas against Gerwyn Price, Adrian Lewis playing Jelle Klaasen and Mervyn King playing Raymond van Barneveld.

Most of these matches you’d be quite happy to see in a quarterfinal or a semi-final.

Robert Thornton is the defending champion and it looks like he’s

totally changed his darts. He’s gone four grams down in weight.

One thing we did see in his game against Michael in the Champions League of Darts was he hit loads of 180s.

He’s got a tough game with Stephen Bunting in the first round.

Bunting’s just finding some form again I think, but that bottom half is an absolute minefield.

I think you could look at someone like Kim Huybrechts who has been flying, but again he’s been handed a toughie in the first round in Ian White, which is another 50-50 game for me.

I think from the second round onwards it will open up a little bit because there’s so many potential first round games which could really go either way.

It’s a bit like in the World Matchplay, I fancied Daryl Gurney to have a run but he just couldn’t get over the first round.

I think this one is exactly that type of tournament, whoever gets over the first round nerves could

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THE DRAW Michael van Gerwen (1) v Steve Beaton x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x

go on a run. It’s a dodgy format the double start and it’s thrown up so many surprises in the past.

Phil’s lost in the first round in the Grand Prix four times before I think.

Andy Callaby was one, that was a bit of a shock and Adrian Gray beat him in the first round as well.

My best run in the Grand Prix was to the quarter-finals. It didn’t

“The new players don’t play double start so might find it daunting to start” really bother me the double start.

A lot of league darts I played in growing up was double start and in the North American Open that was double start.

Most of the old guard are fairly used to it. The new players don’t play any double start so they might find it a bit daunting to start with, especially in a short race, the best of three sets in the first round. It

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James Wilson v Mick McGowan

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Gary Anderson (2) v Jamie Caven

could quite easily be all over before it has started.

It’s a tough tournament to pick a winner, but maybe Taylor, who’s the fourth seed and the second favourite, could do it.

You don’t want to pick Michael because he’s such a short price. I think 11/10 is the best price I’ve seen for him so far.

I’m going to look at someone like Huybrechts, who is around 50/1, as an outsider.

I’ve tipped Gerwyn Price many times before, and Benito many times before, the two of them have been drawn against each other in the first round.

Whoever comes out of that one they are in that little section which is a lovely section be in, it’s not the strongest quarter in the draw.

It’s a great opportunity for any one of those lads to have a good run, but for me Huybrechts is showing great form of late and I think he could get on a run and have a good week. I’ve definitely put the curse on him now!

Michael Smith (8) v Alan Norris Joe Cullen v Simon Whitlock Peter Wright (5) v Brendan Dolan Dave Chisnall v Robbie Green Phil Taylor (4) v Steve West Mensur Suljovic v Daryl Gurney

Kyle Anderson v Cristo Reyes Robert Thornton (7) v Stephen Bunting Ian White v Kim Huybrechts James Wade (6) v Terry Jenkins Benito van de Pas v Gerwyn Price Adrian Lewis (3) v Jelle Klaasen Raymond van Barneveld v Mervyn King Format First round - best of 3 sets Second round - best of 5 sets Quarter-finals - best of 5 sets Semi-finals - best of 7 sets Final - best of 9 sets  All sets are the best of five legs.

All legs must begin with a double, so a player can only begin scoring in a leg once he’s hit a double.

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Friday 30 September 2016 Darts Weekly

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

“I’ve got nothing to lose. If I go up there and lose everyone expects it, but if I win its made my career”

Steve West chats to Alex Moss ahead of taking on Phil Taylor in his World Grand Prix debut

teve West made the now familiar trip to the Barnsley Metrodome last week armed with a new set of darts, and during most of the Players Championship triple header it looked like it was going to take some time for him to get to grips with his new equipment.

Exits in the last 128 and last 32 on the first two days left the Essex thrower needing to reach his first PDC final on the next day to stand a chance of qualifying for the Unibet World Grand Prix.

West and his sponsors joked about the permutations of qualifying for the major tournament, which gets underway in Dublin this weekend, but just hours later were toasting an outcome which they could only dream about before.

“We sort of had a little joke with my sponsor really,” the 41-year-old explains.

“I had a new set of darts that came on Monday and then obviously I played on Tuesday with them for the first time.

“On the evening after the second day my sponsors said ‘you only need to get to a final and two results go your

“The last two years I’ve been playing probably the best darts now in my life”

S

way to get into the Grand Prix.’ I was like yeah whatever because I never look at the rankings.

“I never look at the draw. I never look at any tables or anything like that, so I’m really oblivious to everything that’s going on.”

With one event left to play before the cut off for the Grand Prix, a host of players were still in the running to snatch one of the spots available on the Pro Tour Order of Merit, and their hopes were strengthened following the early exits of Justin Pipe, Josh Payne and Vincent van der Voort in Players Championship 16.

And it was West who seized the chance, reeling off wins against Mike Zuydwijk, William O’Connor, Jeffrey de Zwaan, Simon Whitlock, Cristo Reyes and Ricky Evans to reach his first final in the PDC. A 6-5 defeat to world number one Michael van Gerwen saw the two-time Denmark Open winner miss out on his first PDC title, but he won’t have to wait long to renew his rivalry with the sport’s elite.

The draw for the World Grand Prix has handed West a first round tie nmark

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against 16-time world champion Phil Taylor, who looked in imperious form at the weekend when winning the inaugural Champions League of Darts.

“Like a silly boy I watched it!”

West said. “He played well. He’s had a good break.

“Sometimes a break is good. I don’t practice so I know how good a break is for you.

“I pick up my darts on a Monday night and then pick them up at the weekend. I don’t pick them up in between.

“I’ve pretty much done that for the last 10 years and it works for me. It’s not a bad thing.”

West switched over to the PDC from the BDO at the start of 2012, earning himself a tour card, along with his older brother Tony, at Qualifying School.

Major hip surgery in October of that year meant West had to change his action, and after finishing outside of the top 64 at the end of 2013 he had to return to Qualifying School.

West has been successful three

times at Qualifying School, the last of those in 2015, but now ranked 55th on the PDC Order of Merit it is becoming more and more likely that he won’t have to go back there next January.

“I played in the BDO and I was number one in the BDO for a month or two,” he said. “I won a few tournaments over there, but I just wanted to earn money out of it because I knew I was good enough.

“I don’t go anywhere to lose but you’ve got to be realistic in your targets” “The last couple of years I’ve been really steady and have been playing probably the best darts now in my life, but the last year it has started to show in patches.

“Obviously I want to win stuff. To win a Pro Tour would be enough for me, that would be a goal complete.

“I don’t go anywhere to lose but you’ve got to be realistic in your

targets and once I’ve won a Pro Tour I’ll set another challenge, and once I’ve done that I’ll set another challenge.

“My first challenge was to go over there and get a tour card, then it was to keep the tour card.

“I didn’t do that and I had to go back to Q-School, but I’ve done that three times and won it three times on the day, no one else has ever done that.”

West is currently on course to qualify for three more televised tournaments before the year is up in the shape of the European Championship, Players Championship Finals and World Championship, but first his attention turns to a Players Championship double header starting in Dublin today, and then facing the sport’s best ever player in his World Grand Prix debut.

Taylor has been knocked out in the first round of the double start tournament four times before, could West become the fifth man to cause an early power cut on the Emerald Isle?

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Friday 30 September 2016 Darts Weekly

Being quick off the blocks will be key to leaving Dublin with the Grand Prix crown Christopher Kempf DARTS WRITER Being the only tournament on the PDC calendar in which players must start the leg, as well as end it, on a double, the World Grand Prix is among the most compelling events in the world of darts.

Along with the short format in sets, the raucous Dublin crowd, and the prospect of a bullseye finish nine dart leg, the Grand Prix rewards those players who can fight for every leg from the first dart to the last.

Though the double start criterion does not eliminate the advantage of throwing first, it allows the skilful player working against the throw to negate that advantage and the player attempting to hold his throw to extend it.

Based on starting doubles data from the 2015 Grand Prix, we can estimate that a player who scores a starting double with his first dart wins the leg about 60 per cent of the time, regardless of his opponent’s performance and of whether or not he threw first in a leg.

Each additional dart missed lowers his winning chances in the leg by about eight per cent.

After about two unsuccessful starting visits, the effect of additional missed darts on a player’s likelihood of winning the leg becomes smaller.

Nine missed starting doubles is, after all, nearly as catastrophic as 19.

This is why a starting double average is not a good indicator of a player’s accuracy on his preferred doubles - an anomaly, such as 15 missed darts to start a leg massively inflates the average out of proportion to the effect that the dismal leg had on the rest of the match.

A better indicator is the percentage of starting doubles

Fast starter: Mensur Suljovic hit the starting double in 87.5 per cent of his first visits at last year’s World Grand Prix achieved in the first visit. Players who leave the oche with the starting double behind them not only avoid the ignominy of watching their opponent race ahead in the leg, but also win the leg, on average, 55 per cent of the time.

All of the top 16 players slated to participate in this year’s Grand Prix participated in last year’s event, and the most proficient players on starting doubles include some unexpected names.

More than half of the legs contested by semi-finalist Mensur Suljovic, the eccentric proponent of double 14, began with a perfect dart.

The starting double criterion may chance the strategic calculus of the players, but a perfect dart still does

‘The ability to endure such sudden reversals of fortune will decide the title’ not excuse weak scoring or errant darts at doubles at the other end of the leg. Ask Michael van Gerwen, who needed six fewer darts at the opening double 20 than did Robert Thornton in the fourth leg of the fifth set of last year’s final.

Though massively favoured to win the leg after nine darts thrown, van Gerwen botched the checkout after 21, busting his score with a dart at double one.

Thornton won the leg and the set, taking a 3-2 lead en route to a stunning defeat of the world number one.

The ability to endure such sudden reversals of fortune within each set and leg will truly distinguish the 2016 World Grand Prix champion from his rivals.

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number one. The ability to endure such sudden reversals of fortune within each se and leg will truly distinguish the 2016 World Grand Prix champion from his rivals.

Stephen Bunting Peter Wright Gary Anderson Dave Chisnall Mensur Suljovic Kim Huybrechts Ian White Michael van Gerwen James Wade Jelle Klaasen Phil Taylor Robert Thornton Michael Smith Adrian Lewis Terry Jenkins Raymond van Barneveld

Preferred 20 16 20 20 14 16 20 20 20 18 20 20 20 20 16 16

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LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

YOUR GUIDE TO ROUND ONE GAME OF THE ROUND

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Adrian Lewis v Jelle Klaasen Blink and you might miss this one.

Even with the cutthroat best of three sets format in the first round, this match could be over very quickly.

Both players play at a fast pace and when they find their rhythm can be unstoppable.

After a mostly forgettable campaign in the Champions League of Darts last weekend, Adrian Lewis will be hoping to find some form in a tournament which he reached the final in back in 2010.

His first round opponent Jelle Klaasen has posted some frightening averages on the European Tour this year and will pose a tricky test for Lewis.

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Robert Thornton v Stephen Bunting It has been a tough year so far for the reigning World Grand Prix champion, and Stephen Bunting looks to be back in form again.

ORDER OF PLAY Seeds in bold

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double

SEED IN DANGER

% of starting doubles hit in first visit 100.00% 92.86% 92.31% 88.89% 87.50% 85.71% 83.67% 82.29% 81.82% 81.13% 80.00% 76.19% 74.29% 73.68% 73.08% 71.43%

Sunday October 2 (7pm): Kyle Anderson (Aus) v Cristo Reyes (Spa); Ian White (Eng) v Kim Huybrechts (Bel); (6) James Wade (Eng) v Terry Jenkins (Eng); Gerwyn Price (Wal) v Benito van de Pas (Net); (3) Adrian Lewis (Eng) v Jelle Klaasen (Net); (7) Robert Thornton (Sco) v Stephen Bunting (Eng); (2) Gary Anderson (Sco) v Jamie Caven (Eng); Mervyn King (Eng) v Raymond van Barneveld (Net).

Monday October 3 (7pm): Dave Chisnall (Eng) v Robbie Green (Eng); Mick McGowan (Ire) v James Wilson (Eng); Mensur Suljovic (Aut) v Daryl Gurney (Nir); (8) Michael Smith (Eng) v Alan Norris (Eng); Joe Cullen (Eng) v Simon Whitlock (Aus); (4) Phil Taylor (Eng) v Steve West (Eng); (1) Michael van Gerwen

(Net) v Steve Beaton (Eng); (5) Peter Wright (Sco) v Brendan Dolan (Nir).

Tuesday October 4 (7pm): 4x second round games Wednesday October 5 (7pm): 4x second round games Thursday October 6 (7pm): Quarter-finals Friday October 7 (7pm): Semifinals Saturday October 8 (8.30pm); Final

ORDER OFMatchplay preceded by the Irish final (approx 7.45pm) Mick McGowan v Radek Szaganski PLAY The World Grand Prix final will be

Best of 11 legs

All sessions will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports

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Friday 30 September 2016 Darts Weekly

Double triumph for England in team events but the overall honours go to the Netherlands Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER England won both team events at the 2016 WDF Europe Cup on Saturday, but it was the host nation, the Netherlands, who were the overall winners.

The England men’s team went into the final day of the bi-annual tournament with just the team event to play for, as Glen Durrant, Scott Mitchell, Jamie Hughes and James Hurrell endured disappointing singles and pairs campaigns.

Durrant, Mitchell and Hughes were all knocked out in the first round of the men’s singles, while Hurrell departed in the last 32.

While in the men’s pairs, Durrant and Hughes lost out in the last 16 and Mitchell and Hurrell fared one round better in getting to the quarter-finals.

It was a completely different story for them in the men’s team event though, as they dropped just five legs in the group stage to qualify for the last 16.

Victories over the Czech Republic (9-1), Romania (9-2) and Italy (92) saw them top Group Eight, setting up a last 16 clash with Serbia.

England continued their dominance in the team event, beating Serbia (9-4), Finland (9-2) and Northern Ireland (9-1) to reach the final, where they took on hosts the Netherlands.

It proved to be their toughest test so far as they edged out the Dutch quartet of Wesley Harms, Richard Veenstra, Jeffrey Sparidaans and Gino Vos by nine legs to six to lift the title.

England’s win denied the Netherlands a clean sweep in the three men’s events, after they had earlier won both the men’s singles and pairs events.

Malta’s Norbert Attard stole the headlines on Thursday by reaching

the semi-finals of the men’s singles and winning his country their first Europe Cup medal.

Veenstra ended his run with a 6-1 thrashing in the semi-finals to set up a final with Jim Williams, of Wales, who was aiming to hold both the World Cup and Europe Cup men’s singles titles at the same time.

But Veenstra prevailed in a closely fought final 7-5 to take the title, just hours after partnering Harms to men’s pairs glory.

The Dutch duo beat Scotland’s Ross Montgomery and Alan Soutar 6-2 in the final.

In the ladies competition, England reached all three finals but were only able to come away with one title on Saturday.

Deta Hedman and Lorraine Winstanley were pipped to the pairs title 6-5 by the Welsh pairing of Rhian Edwards and Rhian Griffiths, while Fallon Sherrock lost out 7-3 to Sharon Prins, of the Netherlands, in the singles final.

But they ended the tournament on a high, as reigning world champion Trina Gulliver joined up with them to beat the Netherlands 9-3 in the team event final.

20th WDF Europe Cup Roll of Honour Men’s team - England Men’s singles - Richard Veenstra (Netherlands) Men’s pairs - Wesley Harms and Richard Veenstra (Netherlands) Ladies team - England Ladies singles - Sharon Prins (Netherlands) Ladies pairs - Rhian Edwards and Rhian Griffiths (Wales) Men’s points table - Netherlands (125 points), England (87 pts), Sweden (72 pts) Ladies points table - England (148 points), Netherlands (113 pts), Wales (83 pts) Overall winners - Netherlands

Attard helps Malta to best ever Europe Cup result Malta claimed their best ever result at a Europe Cup after finishing in 10th place overall in the 2016 WDF Europe Cup last weekend.

Last week 32 countries battled it out over four days of competition in Egmond Aan Zee, in the Netherlands, with the Maltese quartet of Norbert Attard, Albert Scerri, Gordon Stanmore and Vincent Busutill enjoying a dream start to the men’s team event.

The foursome topped their group with maximum points after recording wins against Luxembourg (9-6), Iceland (9-4) and Germany (9-4).

In the last 16 the Maltese team were beaten 9-4 by one of the pre-

Darts Weekly Friday 30 September 2016

15 EVERT ZOMER / BAS VAN DEN BERK

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tournament favourites Scotland.

Buoyed by qualifying from the group stage at either the Europe Cup or World Cup for the first time, the Maltese quartet then took part in the men’s singles, with Attard claiming the first ever medal for Malta at a Europe Cup. Attard pulled off a shock 4-3 win against 2015 BDO world champion Scott Mitchell in the first round,

Bronze medal: Norbert Attard

before seeing off Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas 4-1.

Attard eventually lost out in the semi-finals to eventual winner, Richard Veenstra, of the Netherlands, who had also eliminated another Maltese player Scerri in the last 32.

Following day two of the competition Malta had found themselves occupying fourth place in the men’s overall standings.

But after both the Maltese pairings lost in the early rounds of the men’s pairs the next day, it meant that Malta finished the tournament in a still highlyrespectable 10th place in the men’s overall standings.

Andre Zammit, public relations officer of the Malta Darts Association, said: “On behalf of the Malta Darts Association, we would like to thank and congratulate the team for these positive results which will certainly aid the sport in continuing the re-branding project we are currently undergoing.”

Three-time world champ Adams reveals cancer battle Martin Adams has revealed he is battling prostate cancer and has been undergoing treatment this summer.

The three-time BDO world champion, who turned 60 earlier this year, said in an interview with the Peterborough Telegraph this week that he has been battling the disease.

“I’ve finished my radiotherapy, I’m still on the hormones and I’m going back to see a consultant in November,” he said.

“I have not had any side effects from the radiotherapy and generally I feel fine in myself.

“I’ve got something I didn’t want and I’m trying to get it fixed.

“Hopefully it’s been fixed. I’m Cancer battle: Three time BDO world champion Martin Adams staying positive, that’s all I can do.

“I’m still playing darts and loving every minute of it, and, touch wood, I have not had to miss a tournament yet.”

The former England captain, who won the BDO’s World Championship in 2007, 2010 and 2011, is set to make his second appearance in the Grand Slam of Darts in November after qualifying by virtue of being one of the four highest ranked players in the BDO not to have already qualified for the cross-code tournament.

Adams won the British Pentathlon for a record 11th time in July and is hoping his form will be there for the Grand Slam.

“I haven’t been able to practice as much as I would like,” he said, “and I have to hope my form is there when I go out and play in my next big tournament.”

Since being diagnosed Adams has been helping raise awareness for prostate cancer by working for the Prostate Cancer UK charity.

16

Friday 30 September 2016 Darts Weekly

EVERY MATCH. EVERY TABLE. EVERY STAT PROFESSIONAL DARTS CORPORATION UNIBET CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OF DARTS

Group A - P Taylor (102.66) 10-5 P Wright (97.70), M van Gerwen (97.30) 10-5 R Thornton (91.10), M van Gerwen (104.13) 4-10 P Taylor (107.49), P Wright (94.30) 10-6 R Thornton (90.80), P Taylor (108.31) 10-2 R Thornton (100.62), M van Gerwen (100.27) 10-5 P Wright (94.85).

P 1 P Taylor 3 2 M van Gerwen 3 3 P Wright 3 4 R Thornton 3

LD +19 +4 -6 -17

Pts 6 4 2 0

SWEDISH Group B - G Anderson (96.86) 10-5 M Smith OPEN (87.65), A Lewis (97.48) 3-10 J Wade (103.49), A Lewis (95.85) 10-8 M Smith (87.28), G Anderson (94.62) 10-8 J Wade (90.66), J Wade (103.03) 10-5 M Smith (95.30), G Anderson (91.18) 10-5 A Lewis (92.01).

1 G Anderson 2 J Wade 3 A Lewis 4 M Smith

P 3 3 3 3

LD Pts +12 6 +10 4 -10 2 -12 0

WORLD DARTS FEDERATION

Semi finals - P Taylor (98.38) 113 J Wade (94.66), G Anderson (96.22) 5-11 M van Gerwen (105.67). Final - P Taylor (98.97) 11-5 M van Gerwen (100.92).

FIXTURES TODAY Players Championship 17 BRITISH OPEN TOMORROW Players Championship 18 SUNDAY Unibet World Grand Prix (8x first round matches) MONDAY Unibet World Grand Prix (8x first round matches) FIXTURES TUESDAY Unibet World Grand Prix (4x second round matches) WEDNESDAY Unibet World Grand Prix (4x second round matches) THURSDAY Unibet World Grand Prix (QFs)

WINMAU WOLVERHAMPTON OPEN

EUROPE CUP

Men’s pairs last 64 - Mitchell/ Hurrell 4-1 Jirkal/Milo, Stipins/ Glegu 1-4 Yavez/Uygunsozlu, Zygla/Schindler 4-1 Harrison/ Nelson, Fedrico/Francis 3-4 Quinn /Ritchie, Wolynka/Gontarewicz 42 Vlassis/Selachoglou, Labanauskas/Barauskas 4-0 Sivertsen/Dekker, Soteriou/ Economou 1-4 Lemmer/Becker, Jensen/Helsingho 3-4 Harms/ Veenstra, Ceder/Niskala 4-3 Takacs/Meszaros, Kadar/Pascaru 3-4 Ferenc/Patrik, Wens/van Egdom 2- O’Connor/Flood, Arimany/Invernon 3-4 Stanmore/ SWEDISH Busuttil, Sergi/Catallo 4-3 Charrua OPEN 4-2 Labre/ /Eglisson, Rey/Fonseca Belchun, Speak/Williams 0-4 Williams/Kenny, Larsson/ Alanentalo 4-3 Duff/McKinstry, Samouchos/Krontiris 4-3 Attard/ Scerri, Chmielewski/Dzialkowski 3-4 Smejda/Ondo, Strelis/Razma 3-4 Babic/Kovacevic, Kelly/Fields 2-4 Janssen/Verdonck, Harrysson /Lukasiak 4-0 Haliwell/Ross, Shaw/Gilliland 0-4 Puls/Ziegler, Kantele/Pehkonen 4-2 Frim/ Negot, Phillips/Warren 4-3 Christensen/Meyn, Meaney/ Lennon 4-1 Miles/Burquel, Ingimarsson/Gudmondsson 1-4 Szekely/Kovacs, Sparidaans/Vos 14 Svardal/Elvevoll, Ruckstuhl/ Hirzel 3-4 Tomassetti/Vigato, Blot /Tricole 0-4 Durrant/Hughes, Jankunas/Ksanys 4-2 Vilerio/Broton, Turgut/Pismis 0-4 Arola/Velasco, Eusebini/ Quemard 0-4 Montgomery/ Soutar. Last 32 - Mitchell/Hurrell 4-2 Yavez/Uygunsozlu, Zygla/ Schindler 4-3 Quinn/Ritchie, Wolynka/Gontarewicz 3-4 Labanauskas/Barauskas, Lemmer/ Becker 1-4 Harms/Veenstra, Ceder /Niskala 4-2 Ferenc/Patrik, O’Connor/Flood 4-0 Stanmore/ Busuttil, Sergi/Catallo 4-3 Rey/ Fonseca, Williams/Kenny 3-4 Larsson/Alanentalo, Samouchos/

Darts Weekly Friday 30 September 2016

17

EVERY STAT HERE. darts Krontiris 4-3 Smejda/Ondo, Babic /Kovacevic 4-2 Janssen/ Verdonck, Harrysson/Lukasiak 40 Puls/Ziegler, Kantele/ Pehkonen 4-1 Phillips/Warren, Meaney/Lennon 4-2 Szekely/ Kovacs, Svardal/Elvevoll 2-4 Tomassetti/Vigato, Durrant/ Hughes 4-0 Jankunas/Ksanys, Arola/Velasco 2-4 Montgomery/ Soutar. Last 16 - Mitchell/Hurrell 4-1 Zygla/Schindler, Labanauskas/ Barauskas 1-4 Harms/Veenstra, Ceder/Niskala 3-4 O’Connor/ Flood, Sergi/Catallo 3-4 Larsson/ Alanentalo, Samouchos/Krontiris 4-1 Babic/Kovacevic, Harrysson/ Lukasiak 4-2 Kantele/Pehkonen, Meaney/Lennon 4-0 Tomassetti/ Vigato, Durrant/Hughes 1-4 Montgomery/Soutar. Quarter finals - Mitchell/Hurrell 2-4 Harms/Veenstra, O’Connor/Flood 4-2 Larsson/Alanentalo, Samouchos/Krontiris 2-4 Harrysson/Lukasiak, Meaney/ Lennon 3-4 Montgomery/Soutar.

Semi finals - Harms/Veenstra 52 O’Connor/Flood, Harrysson/ Lukasiak 1-5 Montgomery/Soutar.

Final - Harms/Veenstra 6-2 Montgomery/Soutar.

Ladies singles last 32 - S Prins 4-0 M Jansson, D Miscevic 4-0 O Birsan, D Komorova 1-4 I Hauen, K Smith 4-3 K Bellerby, R David 43 P Soderstrom, R Griffiths 1-4 T Gulliver, C Dessein 4-3 S Nikula, L Cowan 0-4 A Zijlstra, S Zwitkowitsch 4-3 L Harte, E Valentin 0-4 A-M Potts, L Winstanley 4-0 G Marani, V Kiss 3-4 A Kuijten, V Pruim 0-4 F Sherrock, R Byrne 2-4 L Silvan, R Eriksen 1-4 A de Graaf, K Podgorska 0-4 N Fekete. Last 16 S Prins 4-2 D Miscevic, I Hauen 24 K Smith, R David 0-4 T Gulliver, C Dessein 4-3 A Zijlstra, S Zwitkowitsch 4-0 A-M Potts, L Winstanley 4-0 A Kuijten, F Sherrock 4-1 L Silvan, A de Graaf 4-1 N Fekete. Quarter finals - S Prins 5-3 K Smith, T Gulliver 5-2 C

Dessein, S Zwitkowitsch 1-5 L Winstanley, F Sherrock 5-2 A de Graaf. Semi finals - S Prins 6-2 T Gulliver, L Winstanley 5-6 F Sherrock. Final - S Prins 7-3 F Sherrock.

Men’s team quarter finals Poland 7-9 Scotland, Sweden 4-9 Netherlands, Northern Ireland 9-6 FIXTURES Denmark, Finland 2-9 England.

Semi finals - Scotland 6-9 Netherlands, Northern Ireland 1-9 England. Final - Netherlands 6-9 England.

Ladies pairs final - Edwards/ Griffiths 6-5 Hedman/Winstanley.

Men’s singles final - J Williams 5-7 R Veenstra.

Ladies team final - England 9-3 Netherlands.

FIXTURES PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP TOMORROW 13 AND SUNDAY BICC Premier Division - Devon v Essex, Glamorgan v Cheshire, Lancashire v Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire v Yorkshire, Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire.

Division One - Cornwall v Gwent, Dorset v County Durham, Kent v Hampshire, Oxfordshire v London, West Midlands v Cleveland.

Division Two - Cumbria v Derbyshire,FIXTURES Hertfordshire v Surrey, Northumberland v Berkshire, Staffordshire v Worcestershire, Suffolk v Northamptonshire. Division Three - Buckinghamshire v Gwynedd, Leicestershire v Merseyside, Montgomery and Radnor v Gloucestershire, Sussex v Tyne and Wear.

To find out more about advertising in our magazine please send an email to dartsweekly@gmail.com

firsts Former World Masters finalist, Robbie Green, talks us through his darts memories First darts memory?

Watching Lakeside and Bullseye when I was a kid. My dad played darts so when it was on TV we would watch it.

First darts hero?

Eric Bristow and John Lowe. Eric for his cockiness and the way he would get into players’ heads. John I would say has the most perfect stance. I swear all these dart trophies you see with the man on top was modelled on John.

First set of darts?

25g Unicorn darts with a black swirl down the barrel from JJB (laughs). I remember my dad taking me for them like it was yesterday.

First darts team?

My first team was the Lord Nelson in Wallasey. My dad was the skipper.

First game on TV? I don’t really count the UK Open as you only got glimpses of me so I’d say the World Matchplay in Blackpool back in 2004. I played Bob Anderson and lost 10-7.

First nine darter?

My first nine darter was in practice when I was 21.

First professional tournament win?

I’m not 100 per cent sure but I think it might have been the Clwyd Open. I can’t remember the exact year as I’ve won it a few times.

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

Tweet us at @darts_weekly with your suggested players!

18

Friday 30 September 2016 Darts Weekly

DAVE McNALLY DARTS WRITER

How darts has featured in the world of gaming With all the bedlam surrounding this week’s release of FIFA17, it shows how sports games have become big business around the globe. What about darts?

How have gaming developers brought darts in to our homes and created a different darting experience, via our TV screens?

Cast your mind back to 1986 and Mastertronic launched ‘180’ on the ZX Spectrum with reviews labelling it “the best darts game ever,” which was slightly tongue in cheek as there was little else around at the time.

‘180’ was riddled with time honoured clichés as you toed the oche with giants of the game such as Beer Belly Bill. ‘180’ was simplistic in gameplay as you moved the hand and launched the dart when you hovered over the target with a touch of the keyboard of fire button.

Ameridarts followed but this time tried to capture darts fans in the arcades.

Armed with a cumbersome roller ball controller making precision aiming virtually impossible, it offered a variety of games but only offered a 301 option, maybe as its main aim was to guzzle people’s money.

A dual screenshot was the new trend as ‘Indoor Sports’ was launched by Designstar for the Commodore 64.

An initial screen of selecting your power distance and aim, then flicks to a behind the thrower view of the dart travelling towards the board, normally ending up in the wall.

As consoles took over from

x

computers in the homes of gamers, darts games moved with the times.

The Nintendo Entertainment System tapped into the darts market. With the board being the main focus on the screen and another complicated control set up making it another awkward release.

Add in the rather churlish competitors such as a chimpanzee and a ninja and it didn’t really add much.

A huge advancement was on the

‘There is a current plethora of darts games for all types of phone systems’ horizon as Playstation/Xbox and the Wii battled it out in the console market.

‘PDC World Championship Darts’ became an officially licenced game and it made use of movement sensors and even speech.

Full commentary of games with Sid Waddell and John Gwynne musing over the throws, that you completed by aiming at your TV

screen with the controller as if you were throwing a dart.

Also incorporated were features like the TV camera style split screen as you throw and a chance to play as certain professionals at any of the PDC televised events.

As with all good franchises, this was bled to death with advances made every year, such as adding walk ons, different lines of commentary and slight changes in throwing precision.

‘Top Darts’ aimed to rival this, with features such as different locations and allowing players to upload their own faces using the Playstation Eye. Although pretty similar in gameplay it had a few novel ideas such as strange shaped boards and off centre trebles to add some differentiation.

Mobile devices have not been ignored, and there is a current plethora of darts games for all types of phones and android systems.

With the introduction of newer virtual reality systems is it just a matter of time before we are wired up and throwing at an imaginary dartboard against a person on the other side of the world?