Issue 40 (October 7, 2016)

Friday 7 October 2016

Sorry Benito apologises for ‘cheating’ incident

Darts Weekly

Ando into the semis!

MAGIC FROM WIZARD

LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

World champion comes from a set behind to remain on course for a World Grand Prix final against MVG P2-3 ROYDEN REVEALS ALL COULDN’T SCRIPT IT!

Simon Whitlock ends two year Exclusive interview with Hong trophy drought in Dublin Page 7 Kong’s Royden Lam Page 9

A look at how darts has been scripted into the soaps Page 14

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Friday 7 October 2016 Darts Weekly

World’s top two on course to meet in Grand Prix final as they progress into the semis Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson remain on a collision course to meet in tomorrow’s Unibet World Grand Prix final, after both players progressed through to the semi-finals in Dublin last night.

The PDC’s top two ranked players are in opposite sides of the draw, and are both one win away from setting up a mouth-watering finale at the Citywest Hotel.

Van Gerwen, a two-time Grand Prix champion, laid down the gauntlet to Anderson and the rest of his title rivals with a ruthless performance in beating an in-form Simon Whitlock 3-1 in the quarterfinals yesterday.

The world number one posted the highest average of the tournament so far, 103.09, to get the better of the Australian, who only five days earlier had beaten van Gerwen on his way to winning

Players Championship 18 - his first title in more than two years.

Whitlock gave as good as he got in sharing the opening two sets, and checked out 100 and 130 in successive legs to send the third set into a deciding leg.

But van Gerwen crucially landed double 16 to move 2-1 up in sets, before sealing victory in the next set to move into the semi-finals.

“Simon played fantastic and I think it was a great game for the crowd” “Simon played fantastic and I think it was a great game for the crowd and everyone watching on TV,” van Gerwen said.

He played phenomenal and in the second set he didn’t miss anything, but I played a good game tonight.

“I think if I keep playing like this no-one will beat me, but that was just tonight and tomorrow will be a

stores.ebay.co.uk/Mojo-DARTS

totally different game.”

Van Gerwen will now meet 2013 Grand Prix runner-up Dave Chisnall in the semi-finals, the Englishman coming through a 3-1 winner against Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney in the quarter-finals last night.

After edging the opening set in a deciding leg, Chisnall won the second set without reply before Gurney hit back to claim the third.

But the world number 10 recovered to claim the fourth set and book his place in the last four.

“It feels good and I’m really pleased with that,” Chisnall said.

“Daryl played well but missed a few doubles and let me in, and I capitalised.

“My performances have been pretty consistent all week but I still think there’s room for improvement.

“I’ve said it’s my aim to still be here on Saturday and that’s still on. It will be tough in the semis and I’ll be giving it my best shot.”

World champion Anderson

Darts Weekly Friday 7 October 2016

3 LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

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equalled his best-ever run at the Grand Prix, as he came from a set behind to beat Kim Huybrechts 3-1 to reach the semi-finals.

After losing the opening set without having a dart at a finishing double, Anderson took out 141 and 124 on his way to levelling the match in the second set.

The world number two then won six of the next eight legs to see off

“I was rubbish tonight but that’s given me a kick up the backside” the Belgian and advance to his second Grand Prix semi-final.

“I thought it was going to be a cracker and it didn’t turn out that way tonight, but I got the job done” the Scot said.

“My scoring was gone and I couldn’t get started on tops, but I took some good finishes out.

“I was rubbish tonight but tomorrow’s a different day because

I’ve been playing well and that’s given me a kick up the backside.”

Anderson will take on five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld in the last four in Dublin, after the Dutchman dropped just one leg in a straight sets win over his compatriot Benito van de Pas yesterday.

Van Barneveld won the opening two sets without reply, before a 147 finish put van de Pas ahead early on in the third set.

But the two-time Grand Prix runner-up, van Barneveld, took out 142 on his way to claiming the next three legs to complete a comfortable 3-0 win.

“There was a lot of pressure from Holland for the game against Benito and I was a little bit more nervous than my first two games but I’m so happy to be through,” van Barneveld said.

“He had a marvellous shot with the 147 but I think my shot on 142 was amazing when he was waiting on a double, and that gave me the game at the end.”

Apology issued by van de Pas for double six which never was Benito van de Pas has apologised for his part in the controversial incident during last week’s Players Championship events which saw him win a leg with the wrong double.

The incident took place in Players Championship 17 last Friday when van de Pas took on Kevin Painter in the first round.

With Painter leading the best of 11 leg match 5-4, van de Pas stepped up to the board on 81 to try and force a deciding leg.

After hitting treble 19 and single 12 with his first two darts, to leave 12, van de Pas hit double 13 to bust his score.

However, the caller incorrectly called “game shot” and the match Apologised: Benito van de Pas has said sorry for the double six that never was went into a final leg, which Painter won to win the match 6-5.

With the match having been selected as one of the streamed matches by the PDC, clips have emerged on YouTube of the incident, and sparked an outcry on social media.

Five-time world champion Eric Bristow posted on Twitter: “Lots of questions being asked to me regarding the @OfficialKP180 cheating incident in his game against him.

“I do not approve of any cheats in sport, in any way shape or form, either play your sport fairly and honestly, or don’t play it at all.”

Van de Pas also took to Twitter, to issue an apology to Painter: “I have had a lot of messages about my game with @OfficialKP180 on Friday. I thought D6 was in. I’ve seen the picture since and it wasn’t.

“I’m sorry to @OfficialKP180 and the marker, Kevin deserved to win the game.”

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Friday 7 October 2016 Darts Weekly

High quality line-up for the semi-finals as final four battle to be crowned king in Dublin Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER The Unibet World Grand Prix is gearing up for an exciting conclusion with four of the world’s top four players set to do battle over the next two nights to be crowned champion in Dublin.

Despite all of the shocks during the first two days, which saw no fewer than five of the eight seeds knocked out of the double-start tournament at the first hurdle, there are four familiar faces lined up for the semi-finals tonight.

World number one Michael van Gerwen has rarely looked troubled so far this week, dropping only two sets on his way to a fourth Grand Prix semi-final in five years.

It was here at the Citywest Hotel four years ago when van Gerwen made his big breakthrough in the PDC, beating Mervyn King 6-4 in the final to win his first major televised title in the organisation.

Four years on and the Dutchman is the man to beat, and based on his performances this week he will take some stopping.

Steve Beaton gave van Gerwen a wobble in the first round, taking the first set 3-1, before the top seed ran riot in the next two sets, winning six legs in a row to get through with a 97.39 average.

Van Gerwen posted another 97 average on Wednesday night as he whitewashed James Wilson 3-0, while last night he clocked the highest three dart average of the tournament so far, 103.09, to beat Simon Whitlock 3-1.

In van Gerwen’s way from a third consecutive Grand Prix final is world number 10 Dave Chisnall, who, because of the multitude of seeds dropping out early on, has been able to quietly go about his business so far in Dublin.

A potential second round clash with fifth seed Peter Wright did not come to fruition, Brendan

The final four…

Dolan knocking out the Scot in straight sets, while fourth seed Phil Taylor, who would have been Chisnall’s quarter-final opponent, was knocked out by debutant Steve West in the first round.

Instead, after coming from a set behind to beat Robbie Green 2-1 in the first round, Chisnall has ended home hopes in successive rounds by seeing off Northern Irish duo Dolan and Daryl Gurney, both 3-1.

Chisnall reached the final of the Grand Prix three years ago, and has since appeared in the final of the Grand Slam of Darts and The Masters, but his search for a first televised title has still not been fulfilled.

The Englishman’s recent record against van Gerwen is not a good one, losing his last nine meetings with the world number one, but he can take solace from their one

‘Van Gerwen has won 16 of his last 17 games with Chisnall on TV’ previous encounter in the Grand Prix.

Three years ago, Chisnall produced one of the performances of his career, averaging 96.08 to beat van Gerwen 3-2 in the quarter-finals of the double-start tournament.

Since then van Gerwen has won a staggering 16 of their next 17 meetings on TV, with a 6-6 draw in the Premier League last year the only time Chisnall has not tasted defeat during that run.

It is imperative that Chisnall gets off to a good start tonight. Even though the format increases to the best of seven sets for the semifinals, if van Gerwen rattles off two sets to go 2-0 up, the match could be over quickly.

In their Grand Prix clash in 2013, Chisnall was quick out of the blocks, hitting 180s in each leg of

the first set and dropped just one leg to establish a 2-0 lead in sets.

Van Gerwen came back to win both of the next two sets 3-2, but Chisnall held his nerve in the decider to claim his first and, to date, only TV triumph over the Dutchman.

The other semi-final tonight pits reigning world champion Gary Anderson against five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld.

For van Barneveld, some will see his appearance in the last four as a surprise, seeing as his 2016 season has been a largely quiet affair so far, having suffered early exits in both the UK Open and the World Matchplay.

Dublin has not been a happy hunting ground for the Dutchman in recent years either, with his two final appearances in 2008 and 2009 followed by first or second round exits in the last five years.

Barney heads into the semi-finals tonight as the only player yet to drop a set in the tournament.

Darts Weekly Friday 7 October 2016

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LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

x Lost out: Phil Taylor has had to pay £830,000 to his exwife Yvonne x

xx x x x A 2-0 win against Mervyn King on Sunday night was followed by 3-0 triumphs over third seed Adrian Lewis and his compatriot Benito van de Pas. Like Chisnall, van Barneveld has a poor recent record against his semi-final opponent.

The Dutchman has lost his last eight games against Anderson, with all but one of them having

‘Barney heads into the semis as the only player yet to drop a set in the event’ taken place in front of the cameras.

But based on the two’s performances last night in the quarter-finals, van Barneveld will fancy his chances of knocking out the world champion and setting up a potential all-Dutch final with van Gerwen.

Ranked 13th before the start of the tournament, van Barneveld knows he needs a good run in a TV

major over the next few months to boost his chances of retaining his place in the Premier League next year.

“You cannot believe how happy I am,” he said last night. “It’s good for ranking points.

“That is what you are always aiming for. You want to do well in the ranking tournaments like here in Ireland, or next month in the Grand Slam, or the World Championship.

“You want to go back to the top four, top six in the world which gives you lots of opportunities for the Premier League and the World Series.

“I feel good and if Raymond van Barneveld feels good he can achieve everything.”

Anderson is through to the last four in Dublin for only the second time in his career, the previous one in 2013, and the prospect of a final against van Gerwen - the world number one versus the world number two - is getting closer.

The top two seeds both have

to get past their semi-final opponents tonight, and for Anderson he will be hoping to return to the form he showed in the first two rounds.

The Flying Scotsman posted averages of 96.92 and 96.88 to beat Jamie Caven, 2-0, and Kyle Anderson, 3-1, but last night his form dipped against Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts.

After losing the first set, two big checkouts in set two helped Anderson recover and eventually grind out a 3-1 win, but at the end he admitted he would need to improve if he was to reach a first Grand Prix final.

“I was rubbish tonight but tomorrow’s a different day,” he said. “Raymond’s playing well and has been really good in the last couple of games.”

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Darts Weekly Friday 7 October 2016

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CHRISTOPHER KEMPF MATCH OF THE WEEK - SIMON WHITLOCK 6-5 RONNY HUYBRECHTS (PLAYERS CHAMP’SHIP)

Whitlock conjures up a long-awaited title in Dublin The PDC’s decision to stream Players Championship events gave those of us who have never played in, or seen, a floor tournament an uncanny glimpse at the unglamorous day-to-day life of a professional darts player.

The scene is a cordoned-off section of a hotel ballroom.

Austere blue partitions separate players and ongoing matches from one another.

There is no singing, chanting fans; no operatic calls of maximum scores from the referee; no lights, and until recently, no cameras.

There are just two men, a dartboard, and 93.25 inches of space separating them.

In the final of the 18th Players Championship of 2016, those men were two middle-aged professionals successful enough to be earning thousands of pounds each year from playing darts, yet not enough so as to be satisfied with their performances of late.

Simon Whitlock, on the descent from the highest echelons of darts stardom attained a few years ago to his current world ranking of 20, suffered a devastating defeat to Ricky Evans in the World Championship and had not won a PDC title since June of 2014.

Ronny Huybrechts, meanwhile, has long struggled to emerge from within the shadow of his eminently successful younger brother Kim, having only one previous final appearance to his credit.

The two men, both surprise finalists in Dublin hungry for a rare triumph, knew that they may have few opportunities in the future to reassert themselves as

top players. Whitlock, experiencing severe trouble on checkout attempts throughout the match, needed an average of 4.5 darts to win legs in one-dart finish situations.

While squandering eight darts at a double in the third leg, falling 30 and two breaks of throw behind Huybrechts, Whitlock appeared despondent, walking well behind his throwing opponent and raising his arms to his head in an attempt to restrain the panic sweeping over him.

Recovering his composure, the Wizard broke Huybrechts’ throw in 15 darts and capitalised on his opponent’s weak fifth leg to narrow the deficit to one leg.

Suddenly Whitlock unleashed a fearsome tungsten

‘Ronny kept missing trebles, to let the Wizard come back’ x

broadside, throwing seven perfect darts in the sixth leg and missing double 18 for a nine dart leg in the seventh.

The Rebel responded with one of his own, stealing the sixth leg in 11 brilliant darts and holding throw in the eighth for a 5-3 lead.

But Huybrechts continued to miss trebles. His first nine darts average was over 10 points lower than Whitlock’s, allowing the Aussie many opportunities to overcome his early mistakes.

After winning his fifth leg, Huybrechts averaged 81, scoring only 12 trebles with 48 darts aimed thereto.

The Belgian missed two darts for the match in the 10th leg, giving Whitlock his needed break of throw. Then, by reaching a score of only 52 after 18 darts, Huybrechts presented little opposition to the Wizard’s 20 dart hold of throw in the deciding leg.

Both men are capable of playing darts at a higher

standard than the one displayed in the Dublin final.

But they had no thousands of onlooking fans to disappoint, and no reporters eagerly awaiting explanations afterward. Only a cordial embrace between the two, sporting in defeat and victory, concluded the unceremonious final, each with seven matches to reflect on and an unknown future to contemplate.

LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

Darts Weekly Friday 7 October 2016

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Lam has ambitions to be soft and steel tip world champion Richard Edwards ASIAN DARTS CORRESPONDENT It has been a quiet couple of weeks for darts here in Asia. On a personal note, all my focus is now on practicing for the Asia Pacific Cup later this month.

I will have the great honour of representing Korea. I hope (and need) to bring my game up a notch before I toe the oche on October 20.

Korean darts is going places, and it is going to be even harder to qualify for future tournaments, so I am determined to do myself proud at this one.

That’s enough of me. Over the past couple of weeks, I was able to speak to Hong Kong’s Royden Lam, who kindly agreed to an interview when we next met.

True to his word, after his partner and him gave my partner and I an absolute drubbing in the Korean Open pairs, I managed to speak to him.

“I’ve been in back-to-back competitions throughout the year,” Lam said. “So it’s rare that I’ll have a few days off for vacation with my wife.

“That’s why we are spending a few days in Japan for vacation. I’ve almost been travelling once per two weeks for tournaments.

“They will be mostly located in Asia, the US, England and France, but will also depend where DARTSLIVE - The World hosts its tournaments.”

The 41-year-old, who reached the first round of the 2014 PDC World Championship, shared with me how he first started playing darts.

“It was 16 years ago,” he said. “I was having a gathering with my friends in a bar.

“At that time, there were a few people playing steel tip darts. I was thinking if I was able to play.

“The next day, right away I bought a set of darts for myself and

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gave it a try after work. While I started playing, I found out it was quite a challenge as it involved techniques, focus and self-control.

“As time goes by, I did research and adjustment on my form.

“After a month of practicing, I began to grab the control of playing darts.

“At this moment, my ambition as a professional darts player is to be a world champion for both steel tip

“Darts has become more popular in Hong Kong since DARTSLIVE” and soft tip tournaments.”

Lam has been a regular for Hong Kong in the PDC World Cup of Darts over the last three years, and explains the differences he has found between playing in the PDC and playing on the DARTSLIVE circuit.

“The differences between playing PDC events and soft tip events, being a DARTSLIVE official player, I would like to take the challenge to achieve a world

ranking through this PDC tournament,” he said.

“The difference between playing PDC and soft tip tournaments is that in PDC tournaments the atmosphere is lively and the audience are more open and passionate.

“I need to focus on the treble 20 on the board, and try my best to finish the 501 game with nine darts.

“Whereas in soft tip tournaments, the audience will be more excited as there is a cricket game involved in the tournament, and I need to use more strategy in playing the cricket game as there are many variables.”

Lam, who plays with 17g soft tip darts and 21g steel tip darts, both of which are designed by himself, believes darts in Hong Kong has become more popular since the introduction of DARTSLIVE. “Ever since DARTSLIVE was imported, playing darts has become a more popular sport in Hong Kong,” he said.

“More people will spend effort to understand what darts is and a lot of people have started to play too.”

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Friday 7 October 2016 Darts Weekly

Yorkshire continue winning start to Premier title defence Dawson all enjoyed wins later in the day as Yorkshire closed out a 26-10 win to go four points clear at the top of the table.

Elsewhere, Lancashire also made it two wins from two after beating Cambridgeshire 24-12 at the St Thomas Sports and Social Club on Sunday.

After establishing a 13-5 lead on the first day, Lancashire were pegged back to 15-9 after the Women’s A matches, but wins for Lee Shewan, Andy Johnson and Carl Sneyd put them on the brink of victory at 18-9.

Former world champion Martin Adams (pictured) kept the match alive for Cambridgeshire with a man of the match performance in beating Ian Lever 4-1.

Stuart Ward edged a decider against Chris O’Connor to pull another game back, but Paul Taylor got the hosts over the line with six games to spare.

Lancashire then took five of the last six games to pull away again.

Cheshire climbed up to third in

the Premier Division after beating newly promoted Glamorgan 2115 at Penydarren Social Club.

After the first day finished level at 9-9, the visitors Cheshire came out firing on the final day, winning 12 of the 18 games to pick up their first win of the season.

Devon also tasted success for the first time in 2016-17 after edging a closely fought contest with Essex 19-17.

There was also a first win of the season for Warwickshire, who, like Cheshire, dominated the final day of their home clash against Nottinghamshire, claiming 12 of the day’s 18 games to run out 21-15 winners.

In Division One, Hampshire top the pile after two games as they cruised past Kent 24-12 to continue their winning start to the new season.

Northamptonshire moved 11 points clear at the top of Division Two after thrashing Suffolk 25-11, while Merseyside are in pole position in Division Three.

British Inter-County Championship Premier Division

Division One

Devon (10) 19 M Dickinson 30.36 M Dennis 23.86

Essex (8) 17 D Day 32.85 S Ellis 20.33

Cornwall (7) 17 N Meneer 29.50 N Furse 21.92

Gwent (11) 19 C Harris 28.23 J Robbins 20.88

Glamorgan (9) 15 R Edwards 30.62 H Mowat 23.60

Cheshire (9) 21 P Lynskey 29.47 G O’Shea 21.79

Dorset (11) 20 S Mitchell 26.51 S Chick 20.35

Co Durham (7) 16 P Lenagh 28.73 L Ithurralde 21.99

DIVISION TWO Cumbria 24 Derbyshire 12 Hertfordshire 15 Surrey 21 Northumberland 18 Berkshire 18 Staffordshire 22 Worcestershire 14 Suffolk 11 Northamptonshire 25

Lancashire (13) 24 Camb’shire (5) 12 D Airey 28.23 M Adams 32.32 S Cusick 21.91 J Findley 21.78

Kent (7) 12 P Davies 28.17 J Holman 23.34

Hampshire (11) 24 C Barstow 33.70 T Power-Gillet 27.33

Lincolnshire (2) 10 Yorkshire (16) 26 S Stainton 29.51 G Thompson 29.00 P Jacklin 22.77 R Brooks 25.06

Oxfordshire (9) 19 London (9) 17 M Kearns 27.66 G Rackstraw 28.63 D Hedman 22.25 S Stutley 18.85

Warw’shire (9) 21 T Evetts 31.31 T Gulliver 22.43

W Midlands (11) 24 Cleveland (7) 12 N Fullwell 30.94 G Stephens 26.64 S Roberts 23.48 n/a

Yorkshire cruised to a 26-10 victory away at Lincolnshire to keep up their winning start to the new British Inter County Championship season.

Last year’s Premier Division champions, who got the better of Warwickshire 23-13 in their first game of the new campaign, made it two wins from two at the weekend.

Most of the work was done on the first day, with Yorkshire dropping just two games across the Women’s and Men’s B fixtures, which gave them a 16-2 lead going into Sunday’s A games.

Hosts Lincolnshire did not throw in the towel though, claiming the Women’s A fixtures with a 4-2 win to close to 18-6 behind.

It did mean they went into the Men’s A fixtures needing to win all 12 games, an unlikely scenario which was ended quickly when Brian Hallas secured the overall victory for Yorkshire with a 4-2 win against Mark Blackwell.

Mark McGeeney, Garry Thompson and captain Brian Database

Yorkshire Lancashire Cheshire Devon Nott’shire

P 2 2 2 2 2

Nott’shire (9) 15 P McConville 29.91 S Brent 20.88 W 2 2 1 1 1

D 0 0 0 0 0

L 0 0 1 1 1

+/53 58 -6 -13 9

Pts 55 51 39 39 37

1234567891234567891234567891234567891

Hampshire W Midlands Dorset Gwent Co Durham

P 2 2 2 2 2

W 2 1 1 1 1

D 0 0 1 1 0

L 0 1 0 0 1

+/34 17 11 3 -11

Pts 50 43 42 41 39

DIVISION THREE Buckinghamshire 15 Gwynedd 21 Leicestershire 10 Merseyside 26 Montgomery & Radnor 17 Gloucestershire 19 Sussex 23 Tyne and Wear 13 DIVISION FOUR Middlesex 17 Norfolk 19 Shropshire 13 West of England 23 Wiltshire 22 Clwyd 14 SCOTLAND NORTH Angus 8 Grampian 20 Central 14 Perthshire 14 Fife 10 Highland 18 Tay Valley 13 East Stirlingshire 15 SCOTLAND SOUTH Ayrshire 21 Clackmannanshire 7 Borders 27 West Lothian 1 Lothian 18 Lanarkshire 10

Darts Weekly Friday 7 October 2016

11 DAVID GILL

Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER

Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER

Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Women’s A Averages (no 66% rule) Dave 27.74 1 Jane Monaghan 26.39 2 Cheryl Roper 25.92 3 Tricia Wright 25.86 4 Sarah Roberts 25.76 5 Rhian Edwards 25.69 6 Tara Power-Gillet 25.53 7 Rebecca Rose 25.49 8 Fallon Sherrock 25.23 9 Janice Wilson 25.06 10 Deta Hedman 24.78 11 Merryl Dennis 24.60 12 Heather Mowat 24.34 13 Jackie Holman 24.33 14 Juliet Findley 24.23 15 Apylee Jones 24.20 16 Kerry Killick 23.93 17 Rachel Brooks 23.76 18 Wendy Reinstadtler 23.66 19 Susan Davies 23.58 20 Laura Turner 23.41 21 Sue Gulliver 23.40 22 Rhian Griffiths 23.14 23 Karen Littler 23.10 24 Sarah Brent 23.04 25 Dee Bateman 23.02 26 Jackie Sweet 23.01 27 Nikki Furse

FIXTURES

Men’s A Averages (no 66% rule) 1 Craig Quinn 2 Martin Adams 3 Nigel Heydon 4 Ritchie Edhouse 5 Jamie Clark 6 Chas Barstow 7 Daniel Day 8 Nigel Daniels 9 Ted Evetts 10 Noel Grant 11 David Arwyn Morris 12 Nick Fullwell 13 Gary Stone 14 Mark Blandford 15 Martin Wheawall 16 Mark Dudbridge 17 Lester Thompson 18 Mark McGeeney 19 Alan Soutar 20 Steve Johnson 21 Ryan Joyce 22 Jamie Hughes 23 Jason Heaver 24 Ian Jolly 25 Paul Croucher 26 Andy Beardmore 27 Paul Phillips

Dave 34.31 33.43 33.32 33.24 32.81 32.78 32.77 32.31 32.31 32.30 31.98 31.94 31.83 31.79 31.55 31.55 31.52 31.49 31.33 31.30 31.10 30.99 30.95 30.91 30.91 30.88 30.68

OCTOBER 8-9 DIVISION FOUR - Breconshire v Isle of Wight.

OCTOBER 15-16 DIVISION ONE - London v Kent.

DIVISION THREE - Gloucestershire v Leicestershire.

OCTOBER 29-30 PREMIER DIVISION - Cambridgeshire v Glamorgan, Cheshire v Warwickshire, Essex v Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire v Lancashire, Yorkshire v Devon.

DIVISION ONE - Cleveland v Kent, Dorset v Cornwall, Gwent v West Midlands, Hampshire v Oxfordshire, London v Co Durham.

DIVISION TWO - Berkshire v Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire v Staffordshire, Northumberland v Suffolk, Surrey v Derbyshire, Worcestershire v Cumbria.

DIVISION THREE - Gloucestershire v Somerset, Gwynedd v Merseyside, Humberside v Buckinghamshire, Montgomery and Radnor v Sussex.

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Friday 7 October 2016 Darts Weekly

EVERY MATCH. EVERY TABLE. EVERY STAT PROFESSIONAL DARTS CORPORATION PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP 17

PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP 18

PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP ORDER OF MERIT

Second round - M van Gerwen 6-1 R Owen, R Thornton 5-6 M McGowan, S Whitlock 6-4 R Meulenkamp, M de Decker 4-6 B van Peer, J Wade 6-1 R Campbell, S West 6-1 T Newell, G Price 2-6 R Evans, J Caven 2-6 S Stevenson, A Boulton 6-5 M Dennant, D Smith 4-6 J Clayton, M Smith 2-6 D Webster, N Heydon 6-4 Jas Wilson, J Henderson 6-2 S Brown, J Payne 3-6 J de Graaf, V Kamphuis 6-2 J Richardson, S Beaton 6-0 J Marriott, P Wright 65 Y Meeuwisse, J Pipe 6-4 J Murnan, R-J Rodriguez 1-6 M Edgar, D Gurney 5-6 A Gilding, D SWEDISH Chisnall 6-4 R Palmer, R Corner 5OPEN 6 C Dobey, C Kist 6-5 P Jiwa, K Anderson 6-4 S Kellett, B van de Pas 5-6 K Painter, R Green 1-6 A Smith, S Bunting 6-3 J Walker, M King 3-6 J Robinson, M Suljovic 61 J Dekker, K Brown 6-2 J Worsley, J Klaasen 5-6 M Mansell, D van Duijvenbode 6-5 B Dolan.

Third round - M van Gerwen 6-3 M McGowan, S Whitlock 4-6 B van Peer, J Wade 6-5 S West, R Evans 2-6 S Stevenson, A Boulton 1-6 J Clayton, D Webster 6-4 N Heydon, J Henderson 6-5 J de Graaf, V Kamphuis 4-6 S Beaton, P Wright 3-6 J Pipe, M Edgar 6-5 A Gilding, D Chisnall 6-3 C Dobey, C Kist 6-3 K Anderson, K Painter 6-4 A Smith, S Bunting 6-2 J Robinson, M Suljovic 6-3 K Brown, M Mansell 6-5 D van Duijvenbode.

Fourth round - M van Gerwen 61 B van Peer, J Wade 6-5 S Stevenson, J Clayton 5-6 D Webster, J Henderson 4-6 S Beaton, J Pipe 6-3 M Edgar, D Chisnall 4-6 C Kist, K Painter 2-6 S Bunting, M Suljovic 6-0 M Mansell. Quarter finals - M van Gerwen 6-3 J Wade, D Webster 65 S Beaton, J Pipe 1-6 C Kist, S Bunting 2-6 M Suljovic. Semi finals - M van Gerwen 6-0 D Webster, C Kist 6-5 M Suljovic.

Final - M van Gerwen 6-1 C Kist.

Second round - M van Gerwen 6-1 W O’Connor, V van der Voort 2-6 D van den Bergh, S Whitlock 6-5 Y Meeuwisse, M Walsh 3-6 B Dolan, J Wade 5-6 A Jenkins, J Pipe 6-5 R Meikle, G Price 6-2 S Hine, J Caven 2-6 R Baxter, B van de Pas 6-1 R Owen, S West 6-2 A Smith, D Ladley 6-4 W Newton, Jam Wilson 2-6 D Pallett, A Tabern 6-3 M Zuydwijk, J Wattimena 6-4 D Webster, J Bowles 2-6 K Brown, A Lewis 6-4 S Stevenson, P Wright 6-1 M Mansell, M Webster 6-4 M Clark, J Cullen 6-5 J Richardson, D Gurney 6-2 A Hamilton, I White 6-4 J SWEDISH Haines, R Green 6-5 R van OPEN Barneveld, M de Decker 6-1 N Heydon, M King 6-1 B van Peer, S Kellett 3-6 R Huybrechts. C Reyes 6-4 J Payne, G Anderson 6-5 V Kamphuis, K Anderson 6-1 B Claydon, M Suljovic 6-4 C Dobey, R Thornton 6-4 J de Graaf, J Klaasen 6-5 P Hudson, S Beaton 46 J Murnan. Third round - M van Gerwen 6-3 D van den Bergh, S Whitlock 6-4 B Dolan, A Jenkins 5-6 J Pipe, G Price 4-6 R Baxter, B van de Pas 4-6 S West, D Ladley 06 D Pallett, A Tabern 3-6 J Wattimena, K Brown 2-6 A Lewis, P Wright 4-6 M Webster, J Cullen 5-6 D Gurney, I White 6-4 R Green, M de Decker 6-3 M King, R Huybrechts 6-4 C Reyes, G Anderson 4-6 K Anderson, M Suljovic 6-5 R Thornton, J Klaasen 6-3 J Murnan. Fourth round - M van Gerwen 3-6 S Whitlock, J Pipe 6-2 R Baxter, S West 6-3 D Pallett, J Wattimena 5-6 A Lewis, M Webster 5-6 D Gurney, I White 6-4 M de Decker, R Huybrechts 6-4 K Anderson, M Suljovic 5-6 J Klaasen. Quarter finals - S Whitlock 6-1 J Pipe, S West 6-3 A Lewis, D Gurney 6-3 I White, R Huybrechts 6-2 J Klaasen. Semi finals - S Whitlock 6-1 S West, D Gurney 5-6 R Huybrechts. Final S Whitlock 6-5 R Huybrechts.

1 M van Gerwen £71,750 2 B van de Pas £43,250 3 I White £41,750 4 G Price £37,250 5 P Wright £32,750 6 M Suljovic £31,750 7 D Chisnall £30,000 8 S Whitlock £28,500 9 J Cullen £28,250 10 S Bunting £23,250 11 Jam Wilson £21,250 12 S Beaton £20,500 13 S West £20,000 14 K Huybrechts £19,750 15 C Reyes £18,750 = J Payne £18,750 17 K Anderson £18,250 SWEDISH 18 G Anderson £18,000 19 A Norris OPEN £17,750 20 J Klaasen £17,250 21 R Green £16,750 22 J Caven £16,000 23 R Huybrechts £15,750 = C Dobey £15,750 25 J Pipe £15,500 = D Gurney £15,500 27 J Wade £14,750 28 J Wattimena £14,500 29 R Evans £14,250 = J Murnan £14,250 = A Gilding £14,250 32 D Webster £14,000 33 M Webster £13,500 = T Jenkins £13,500 35 C Kist £13,250 = V van der Voort £13,250 = J Clayton £13,250 38 A Lewis £12,250 39 M Smith £11,750 = M King £11,750 41 S Stevenson £11,250 42 D Petersen £11,000 43 R Thornton £10,750 44 J Henderson £10,500 45 B van Peer £10,250 = R-J Rodriguez £10,250 = A Jenkins £10,250 48 M Mansell £10,000 = R Baxter £10,000 = M McGowan £10,000  Order of Merit following Players Championship 18 (two events remaining)

Darts Weekly Friday 7 October 2016

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EVERY STAT HERE. darts UNIBET WORLD GRAND PRIX First round - M van Gerwen (97.39) 2-1 S Beaton (80.98), M McGowan (82.51) 1-2 J Wilson (90.12), M Smith (80.01) 1-2 A Norris (77.83), J Cullen (80.28) 12 S Whitlock (82.36), P Wright (87.00) 0-2 B Dolan (92.16), D Chisnall (84.20) 2-1 R Green (84.88), P Taylor (91.48) 1-2 S West (83.24), M Suljovic (80.55) 1-2 D Gurney (75.66), G Anderson (96.92) 2-0 J Caven (85.71), K Anderson (81.69) 2-1 C Reyes (78.59), R Thornton (85.19) 1-2 S Bunting (90.18), I White (77.72) 12 K Huybrechts (80.90), J Wade (87.79) 1-2 TSWEDISH Jenkins (91.36), G Price (72.00) 0-2 B van de Pas OPEN (77.33), A Lewis (91.60) 2-1 J

Klaasen (89.42), M King (88.94) 0-2 R van Barneveld (84.24).

Second round - M van Gerwen (97.17) 3-0 J Wilson (84.02), A Norris (88.47) 2-3 S Whitlock (89.44), B Dolan (87.06) 1-3 D Chisnall (94.33), S West (86.97) 03 D Gurney (86.12), G Anderson

(96.88) 3-1 K Anderson (84.88), S Bunting (87.30) 0-3 K Huybrechts (98.47), T Jenkins (86.25) 1-3 B van de Pas (84.76), A Lewis (85.30) 0-3 R van Barneveld (97.90). Quarter finals - M van Gerwen (103.09) 3-1 S Whitlock (92.69), D Chisnall (90.54) 3-1 D Gurney (86.52), G Anderson (83.03) 3-1FIXTURES K Huybrechts (85.71), B van de Pas (88.02) 0-3 R van Barneveld (93.36).

FIXTURES TODAY Unibet World Grand Prix semi finals - M van Gerwen v D Chisnall, G Anderson v R van Barneveld (7pm) TOMORROW Irish Matchplay final - M McGowan v R Szaganski (7.45pm) Unibet World Grand Prix final - (8.30pm) THURSDAY PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP German Darts Championship Host Nation Qualifier 13

FIXTURES

FIXTURES

firsts European Tour quarterfinalist, Chris Dobey, talks us through his darts memories First darts memory?

It would have to be watching my dad win the Bobby Bourn title at Blackpool when I was just a little boy.

First darts hero?

My first darts hero was Steve Beaton.

First set of darts?

The first set of darts I had were a set of 20g Andy Fordham darts.

First darts team?

It was for a pub team called Ridge Farm.

First game on TV? It was against Alan Norris in the last 32 of the 2014 Winmau World Masters over in the BDO. I then made by debut in a PDC televised tournament at the end of last year in the World Series of Darts Finals.

It was live on ITV4 and I played Terry Jenkins in the first round and lost in a deciding leg 6-5.

First nine darter?

I’ve hit quite a few in practice against people but I’ve never actually hit one in a competitive game.

The first one I hit while I was just throwing in the house with my dad.

First professional tournament win?

I’m yet to win a professional tournament but I can feel it coming if I keep playing the way I am at the moment.

Congratulations to Belfast’s Carter Guiney who won the Mountainview Open last week, beating John Hall 4-2 in the final. Guiney won the match with a 104 checkout in the last leg 4 5

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 7 October 2016 Darts Weekly

DAVE McNALLY DARTS WRITER

Darts has been given a bad script in soap operas

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‘Darts in soap operas, oh, so wrong, oh, so wrong, No-one’s scoring and there’s too much chat between each throw, Worse than this though is when cheers are raised for the bull, Granted, bull’s a double and an out, but I know that they don’t know, Therefore, I propose, No Soap Darts’ Sang Wirral’s finest ‘Half Man, Half Biscuit’ in their ‘Surging out of Convalescence’ song.

And you know what? I think they were right.

Soap opera scripts have always given the sport of darts the short shrift when it comes to making any sort of decent storyline.

Littered with totally improbable scenarios and ridiculous outcomes, the sport of darts has been sadly let down.

The Australian soap Neighbours had Daphne’s husband Des as a bit of a dab hand when it came to darts, even having a trophy on display when the continuity editor remembered to have it on show.

But the real story here was another phase of Mike versus Scott in their persistent battle to see who was ‘the best at everything’.

As Half Man, Half Biscuit pointed out, no one was scoring but with the score going to the wire and in true time honoured artistic fashion, a bull finish was pulled out of the bag with possibly the worst throw and stance ever seen on TV to seal the decider.

Newton & Ridley, famous for old fashioned pubs in the true sense, equipped The Rovers Return in

Coronation Street with a dartboard clearly visible in the background.

Every night there was always a couple of extras having a great match, again with no scorer and passing the darts to each other.

Even more amazingly, Phil Taylor appeared in the soap playing Disco Dave from The Flying Horse ale house.

They were up against Steve McDonald’s Rovers team, who had

‘Pat Butcher pinged the centre of the bullseye to kick start the celebrations’ Ashley and Kirk also toeing the oche.

Taylor again let down by the scriptwriters, required 76, threw the first dart and then typically nails the bull finish to win the leg.

Who knows what he got with the first dart, but it is unlikely a pub player would go double 13 to leave the bull.

Eastenders has had a stab at darts on a couple of occasions.

Pauline Fowler got a team going

with Kathy and Dot Cotton amongst their players.

Complete with The Queen Victoria “Flights of Fancy” darts tshirts, they travelled to The Robin Hood, seeing them off with Pauline composing herself after a bounce out to nail double 13 and send the travelling ladies into raptures.

On another occasion, in a perfectly scripted last game of the season winner takes all scenario against their fiercest rivals, The Queen Vic had to cope with their star players not turning up and Pat Butcher having to deputise despite her protestations at not being able to play darts.

True to form the pub went deadly silent, all eyes focused on Pat, amazingly she needed 50 to win and yes, you guessed it, Walford’s finest pinged the centre of the bullseye to kick start the celebrations.

So what’s next? Alf Stewart taking on a returning Donald Fisher in Home and Away for the Summer Bay crown?

Or how about Bea Smith showing she’s top dog on the oche in an episode of Prisoner: Cell Block H? We shall see!