Issue 1 (January 1, 2016)

Friday 1 January 2016

Darts Weekly ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Scott Mitchell It has been a real fun year as world champion Pages 4-5

Glen Durrant If I win the Lakeside I'll honour the trophy Page 6

Three wins to conquer the world

◊Eight players left to battle it out for the sport's biggest prize Pages 2-3

2

Friday 1 January 2016 Darts Weekly

Taylor and van Gerwen third round exits leaves the race to be crowned 2016 William Hill World Champion completely wide open Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER The 2016 PDC William Hill World Championship concludes this weekend, with eight players still in with a shot at taking home the biggest winner's cheque in the sport's history.

One of Raymond van Barneveld, Michael Smith, Adrian Lewis, Peter Wright, Gary Anderson, James Wade, Alan Norris or Jelle Klaasen will scoop a staggering ÂŁ300,000 on Sunday night. But to do so they must win three games in consecutive days on the Alexandra Palace stage, and see off a field of players who all believe they have a genuine chance of getting their hands on the Sid Waddell Trophy.

The early departures of world number one Michael van Gerwen and 16-time world champion Phil Taylor has left this year's PDC x x x x x x x x x x x x xx xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

World Championship wide open heading into the final weekend.

Defending champion Gary Anderson, like Scott Mitchell in the BDO, is hoping to become only the third first-time world champion to retain their title the following year.

The Flying Scotsman has got through to the quarter-finals relatively unscathed, having only dropped one set so far. That came

This is a big game for Wade's hopes of getting to a final against Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney, who after taking the first set crucially then spurned a dart to go 2-0 up in sets.

Anderson capitalised and reeled off four straight sets to move into the last 16. The Scot posted a 101.58 average and dropped just one leg to comfortably despatch x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x

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

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

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

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

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

x x x x x x x x x x x xx xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Darts Weekly Friday 1 January 2016

3

WANT TO WRITE FOR US? SEND AN E-MAIL TO dartsweekly@gmail.com x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x xx

x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x xx

xx x x x x x x x x x x x

xx x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x XXXXx x x x x x x x x x xx x x x x x

x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x

in their World Grand Prix semifinal last year.

Whoever wins that one will no doubt fancy their chances against Norris or Klaasen in the last four, with both potential opponents lacking the big stage experience of the PDC major events.

The top half of the draw is where it gets more difficult to establish a clear winner. Van Barneveld's shock victory over van Gerwen this week has given him the belief that he can go all the way and claim a sixth world title.

But even three days after beating his compatriot, how much has that taken out of the 48-year-old? The big thing in his favour for tonight is he is up against a player who is in unchartered territory.

Michael Smith's 4-0 thrashing of Benito van de Pas on Monday afternoon saw him advance to a World Championship quarter-final for the first time in his career.

Now up to a career high ranking of number eight on the PDC Order of Merit, Bully Boy will also be thinking of a potential place in this year's Premier League.

Smith has staked his claim for a spot with his run to the semi-finals of the Grand Slam in November, and getting to the quarter-finals of the biggest event of all will have done his chances no harm.

The last quarter-final tonight could well be the best of the lot, as world number four Peter Wright takes on world number five Adrian Lewis in what is set to be a mouthwatering encounter on the Alexandra Palace stage.

Lewis saves his best darts for the World Championship and it has been no different this time round, with the two-time world champion yet to drop a set after wins over Jan Dekker, Andrew Gilding and Mensur Suljovic.

Wright is looking for his major title and has came close on a number of occasions this year.

Could this be Snakebite's time?

4

Friday 1 January 2016 Darts Weekly

Mitchell ready to embrace return to Lakeside as the defending world champion Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Scott Mitchell will be loading up the car today for his return to the Lakeside Country Club as the defending BDO World Champion, and it is only now that his heroics 12 months ago are sinking in.

The 45-year-old farmer from Bournemouth went into last year's World Championship as the fourth seed, but with a record which showed no progression beyond the second round stage, few were tipping him to go all the way.

However after seeing off Tony O'Shea, Geert de Vos, Brian Dawson and Jeff Smith to reach the final, Scotty Dog then took three-time Lakeside champion Martin Adams to a final set.

A stunning 158 checkout in the first leg of the 13th set saw Mitchell break the Adams throw, and three legs later a first world title was secured for Scotty Dog. "If I'm totally fair it's only been sinking in for me in the last week," he said. "You're so busy for the year you really don't have time to let it sink in.

"Particularly for me it's been very busy. I've taken the trophy around everywhere I can and now the thought of it going back is the first thought I've had that I've actually been a world champion.

"It's been a real fun year and I look back on it now and I don't have a regret. I'm sure in 10 years time I won't have regret.

"If I never win another one I'll look back on the year that I did it and I can say I did it right. I gave the BDO and the trophy the best I could give it for a year."

It has been without question the busiest year of Mitchell's career on the professional circuit. The opportunity to parade the trophy on the pitch of his beloved AFC Bournemouth and an invite to attend the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony last

month were among the highlights for Mitchell, who looks back with great fondness at the year he had away from the oche.

"The most surreal thing was going to Sports Personality of the Year," he said. "It was an amazing evening. To be a part of that and to be sat so close to the front as the world champion was pretty cool.

"Every time I now go down to AFC Bournemouth, their chairman says 'if you don't come up and see me in the boardroom when you're down, you're in trouble and I'll come and find you!'

"They took me out on the pitch with the trophy at the start of the year, which was pretty amazing.

"And just the amount of people that I've met and who have had pictures with the trophy. There has been so many surreal things and they've all been very special for all different reasons."

Mitchell's form dipped in the months which immediately followed his Lakeside triumph, but just as he did 12 months ago, he will be heading into the World Championship off the back of his best results of the season.

After winning the England Masters in September, Mitchell then helped England claim success in the WDF World Cup Team

"Hitting the 158 convinced me that I could go and win it" competition before then picking up the Jersey Open in November.

It was a similar story at the end of 2014, with Scotty Dog winning three titles in September, before adding successes in the Tops of Ghent and Jersey Open over the next two months before Lakeside.

"I've got to be honest, when we were loading the car to go to leave for Lakeside last year, I remember saying to my wife: 'If I don't win it this year I'll probably never win it,'" Mitchell said. "I felt that I'd

xxx x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x xx xx x x x x had such a good year. I'd won six or seven competitions. I'd done well on my run in, but then I had a terrible Zuiderduin Masters.

"I failed to win a game and I didn't get out of my group, so that gave me three or four weeks where I jumped on the practice board.

"It kicked me up the backside because everything was going well until then. I was overconfident.

"That gave me a reality check. I then played a local tournament which I won, so I went into Lakeside quite confident, but at the same time I wasn't looking past Tony O'Shea in the first round."

Mitchell and O'Shea served up a first round cracker which went all the way to sudden death in the fifth set, with double eight securing the former's place in the last 16.

"It went all the way to a decider and I never lead that game at all until I hit the winning double," Scotty Dog recalls. "I was chasing and trailing the whole game.

"Of all the days to lose the bull up, but then I did that all week x

Darts Weekly Friday 1 January 2016

5

Yozza quietly confident of big progress x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x xx

x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x xx

xx x x x

xx x x x x defence against either New Zealand's Craig Caldwell or Scotland's Alan Soutar on Sunday.

The England international is aiming to become only the third first-time winner to successfully retain the World Championship, with Eric Bristow (1981) and then Raymond van Barneveld (1999) the two to have achieved the feat.

"I can't wait to get back to the Lakeside," Mitchell said. "I'm not ever going to back too many times as a world champion am I? "So I'm going to try and make sure I savour it, rather than be in fear of it if I can."

except for the semi-final against Jeff Smith. That's the only bull up I won and that's probably the only game I needed to be one set up, because if Jeff gets in front of you he flies, which you'll see this year.

"It was a bad bull up to lose, the Tony one, but I was so pleased that I hung in there. It gives you a lift, but there's people who have then got to play you.

"To win it in such a way I think showed people that I do have bottle at Lakeside, whereas before I hadn't showed it and my mind wasn't in the right place.

"You could be the best player at any time, but you can go to Lakeside, as we've seen with people like Gary Anderson in the past, and it just doesn't happen for them there. To know my name is on the trophy, that's a pretty cool thing to have."

Mitchell is the sixth seed at the Lakeside this year and could well face Adams in a rematch of last year's final in the semi-finals. But before then he starts his title

Tom Beresford & Alex Powell www.tungstenstories.com

2016 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship Men's Draw Glen Durrant (1) v Dean Reynolds Ryan de Vreede (16) v Larry Butler/James Hurrell Scott Waites (9) v Willem Mandigers Geert de Vos (8) v Kostas Pantelidis/Darren Peetoom Wesley Harms (5) v Seigo Asada/Darius Labanauskas Jim Williams (12) v Tony O'Shea Jamie Hughes (4) v Ross Montgomery Gary Robson (13) v Madars Razma Martin Adams (2) v Matthew Medhurst/Jeff Smith Brian Dawson (15) v Rob Modra/John Walton Darryl Fitton (7) v Dennis Harbour Martin Phillips (10) v David Cameron/Ted Hankey Scott Mitchell (6) v Craig Caldwell/Alan Soutar Mark McGeeney (11) v Peter Sajwani/Sam Hewson Jeffrey de Graaf (3) v Richard Veenstra Pip Blackwell (14) v Martin Atkins

Jamie Hughes is quietly confident of enjoying a successful second appearance in the BDO World Championship next week.

The number four seed has enjoyed his best year on the oche, with victories in the Romanian Classic, British Pentathlon, Swedish Open and Jersey Classic.

Hughes also helped England lift the WDF World Cup in October, and rightly heads to the Lakeside as one of the favourites to lift the trophy a week on Sunday.

"I'm quietly confident if I turn up and play my A game I have as much chance as anyone else," the Tipton-based thrower said."I have relaxed a lot more this year.

"I put a lot of practise in last year before the World Championship and didn't think it helped me the way it should have.

"I have just done a couple of hours here and there this time, and now I just want to improve my overall game and become a better player than I was in 2015."

The 29-year-old made his World Championship debut 12 months ago as the 10th seed, and after beating Michel van der Horst 3-1 in the first round, lost 4-1 to close friend Glen Durrant in the last 16.

Durrant is the bookies favourite to triumph at the Lakeside this year, and the England teammates could meet in the semi-finals next Saturday if they can avoid early exits from the tournament.

Hughes has been dealt a tricky opener against experienced Scot Ross Montgomery, who will be making his ninth appearance at the Lakeside when the two meet on Monday night.

Experience could play a factor in the first round clash as last year Montgomery enjoyed his best ever run to reach the quarter-finals, but if it goes to form then Hughes will be quietly confident of progressing.

x

xx

6

Friday 1 January 2016 Darts Weekly

Favourite Duzza will honour the trophy and turn down the PDC if he wins Lakeside Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Glen Durrant heads into his third BDO World Championship as the number one seed and the hot favourite to lift the title at Lakeside next weekend, yet his future plans for after the tournament finishes are still to be decided.

The 45-year-old Middlesbrough thrower lost a nail-biting semifinal 6-5 to Martin Adams at the Lakeside last year, and just days after the defeat admitted he had started to consider a switch to the PDC in 2016.

Durrant heads into what could possibly be his last Lakeside in red-hot form, having won both the Winmau World Masters and the Finder Darts Masters in the final months of 2015.

But Duzza admits his attention right now is fixed on getting his name on the World Championship trophy and completing a historic treble of major trophies in the space of three months.

"The only thing on my mind now is getting some practice in," he said. "I don't want to think about negotiating contracts and talking about what I'm doing next.

"I'm not trying to hide anything from anyone. I've already told my managers, my sponsors and my family that I'll make the decision when Lakeside finishes for me.

"There's options to go into the PDC, which is easy enough saying, but you've got to get through Q School. That's 500 people battling on the floor for tour cards.

"There's an offer on the table to stay in the BDO as well. With the new guys coming into the BDO there's an attractive proposition there. I genuinely change my mind each day, but it's the last thing on my mind at the moment.

"I can pretty much tell you now if I lose first round I'll be going over to the PDC. If I win Lakeside I'll honour the trophy and stay with

the BDO. That's pretty much the only definites I can give people."

Durrant begins his latest bid for a first world title tomorrow night, when he takes on Welsh debutant Dean Reynolds in front of the BT Sport cameras.

Currently ranked number 19 in the BDO rankings, Reynolds has had success on the BDO circuit, as well as the PDC's Development Tour in 2015.

A deciding leg victory over Ryan de Vreede saw him claim his first BDO title, the French Open, in August, with the Welshman also reaching the finals of the Belgium Open and England Masters.

Reynolds edged past Durrant 5-3 on his way to getting to the final of the England Masters, but Duzza gained revenge with a 4-1 victory when the two met in the quarterfinals of the British Classic.

"He was one of the players that nobody wanted in the last 32," Durrant admitted. "He joined the circuit late and I think he's ended up qualifying 18th in the rankings, so it just goes to show you how good of a player he is.

"The thing I've got over Dean is that he's not played on that stage yet. The way to explain that stage at the Lakeside is: you can be fantastic on the floor and it's like playing in my local club at the Riverside, and then trying to go and play at Wembley.

"It's a different game and when I first played at the Lakeside after two sets I went off and asked my friend: 'what's the score? Am I winning?' That's what the Lakeside stage can do to you.

"He seems a very relaxed young lad and it might not faze him. It could be the making of him or he could do what I did and just think 'what the hell has just happened?'

"I understand I'm the favourite and that people see it as being in my hands. But I realise I've got a very difficult first match and that's all I'm concentrating on."

xxx x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x xx xx x x x x x x x x x x x x

Ashton aims for another world title Lisa Ashton begins her quest for a third consecutive BDO Women's World Championship against Paula Jacklin tomorrow.

The 2014 and 2015 winner heads into this year's tournament after arguably having the best year of her career so far.

After beating Fallon Sherrock to defend her world title last January, the 45-year-old has since claimed an unprecedented seven titles.

Ashton narrowly edged past x

Darts Weekly Friday 1 January 2016

7

darts firsts x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x xx

x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x xx

xx x x x x x x x x x x x

xx x x x x x x x x x x x

x Russia's Anastasia Dobromyslova 7-5 to win the World Trophy in March, and then followed that up with a last leg victory over Lorraine Winstanley in the final of the Welsh Open two months later.

Wins in the England Masters and England Classic in September was then followed up by a deciding set defeat to Aileen de Graaf in the World Masters final.

But the two-time world champion bounced back by picking up the winner's trophy in the WDF World Cup, Jersey Open and Jersey Classic to go into this year's World Championship as the number one seed.

Some bookmakers have placed last year's beaten finalist Sherrock

x as joint-favourite with Ashton, and the 21-year-old will be hopeful of going one step further this time round after winning the Finder Darts Masters in early December.

Ashton was a noticeable absentee from the tournament, formerly known as the Zuiderduin Masters, but Sherrock still impressed to beat nine-time world champion Trina Gulliver, de Graaf and Dobromyslova to lift the title at the Zuiderduin Hotel last month.

x

2016 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship Women's Draw Lisa Ashton (1) v Paula Jacklin Trina Gulliver (8) v Dee Bateman Aileen de Graaf (4) v Casey Gallagher Anastasia Dobromyslova (5) v Anca Zijlstra Fallon Sherrock (2) v Ann-Louise Peters Zoe Jones (7) v Tina Osborne Deta Hedman (3) v Corrine Hammond Lorraine Winstanley (6) v Rachel Brooks

2004 World Championship finalist Kevin Painter talks us through his darts memories First darts memory?

It would have been winning a trip to Spain when I was 17-years-old.

The team I was in won a four-man team event called the Greene King Fours, and it was the first proper darts event I'd played in.

First darts hero?

That was the legend Eric Bristow. I loved his cheeky arrogance on the oche, and I have to admit he's still my darts hero today!

First set of darts?

My first proper set of darts were a Torpedo Barrel 24 gram tungsten set. I bought them from a local sport shop when I was 16-years-old for a fiver. I used them for about 10 years then I changed to a slimmer set to score heavier.

First darts team?

That would be a team called the Anchor Press SSC. We were all young lads that practised every day and won the league every year in the Colchester area.

First game on TV? That would have been an England International at the Lakeside back in around 1993 or 1994. I think I lost my first game on the Saturday, but I won on the Sunday.

First nine darter?

I can't remember my first nine darter. I've had several and missed even more, but I'm still waiting on a televised one!

First professional tournament win?

That was the BDO England Open at Camber Sands in 1995. It was the first year that the tournament was being held and I beat Ronnie Baxter in the final to win it.

8

Friday 1 January 2016 Darts Weekly

Game shot Crowds take centre stage Andrew Devonshire DARTS WRITER As we approach the business end of the 2016 PDC William Hill World Championship at the Alexandra Palace, once again it seems that it's not only the quality of darts that's being talked about, but also the huge crowds who follow these PDC events of late.

When the players are up on the oche in battle with one another, very often they are being watched

by Batman and Robin, Spiderman, a host of Father Christmases and the list could go on!

While it's entertaining to some extent to see the fans adopt codes of fancy dress, their behaviour towards the match itself, and in some cases the players, sometimes leaves a lot to be desired.

Very often a match is taking place, and a good one at that, but the large crowds seem more interested in which sections can chant the loudest.

Gone it seems are the days where you could hear a pin drop when an important match winning double was being aimed for. Darts is pure Database PDC WILLIAM HILL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (sets) (Alexandra Palace, London)

Preliminary round - A Boulton (83.03) 2-1 P Laursen (79.27), S Qiang (64.73) 0-2 M McGowan (74.19), T Gaweenuntawong (63.64) 0-2 R Eidams (69.25), K Viljanen (87.69) 2-1 S Groen (84.11), K Ono (91.79) 2-0 A Tagarao (77.40), M Rasztovitz (78.83) 0-2 R Szabo (78.34), A Oreshkin (89.33) 2-1 P Lim (88.26), W Scheffer (77.12) 0-2 J Michael (88.01).

First round - M van Gerwen (99.03) 3-2 R Eidams (90.48), J Henderson (81.06) 13 D Webster (87.83), R van Barneveld (91.34) 3-0 D van Duijvenbode (79.77), S Bunting (86.72) 3-0 J Artut (81.08), M Smith (95.31) 3-2 J de Zwaan (96.20), S Beaton (95.87) 3-0 K Kokiri (93.22), I White (92.43) 1-3 D van den Bergh (95.22), B van de Pas (87.98) 3-1 M Hopp (89.49), A Lewis (99.53) 3-0 J Dekker (89.68), A Gilding (90.91) 3-0 G Price (83.86), K Huybrechts (92.66) 2-3 D Pallett (91.43), M Suljovic (99.44) 3-1 J Wattimena (87.10), P Wright (95.91) 3-0 K

x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x

xxx x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x

theatre and there's nothing more exciting than seeing two players, both at the top of their game, aiming for their target to collect the winner's trophy. We need to

keep this element of theatre firmly within the game.

Yes, big crowds bring in more revenue and ultimately more prize money for the players, but there needs to be more order given to

those guys up on the stage.

The BDO's World Championship returns this weekend and while their Lakeside venue is smaller than Ally Pally, there seems to be a different type of crowd there.

They know their darts and they appreciate players need to be able to concentrate.

One thing is for certain, the crowds must not take over from the darts itself.

So let's continue to support this wonderful sport, but remember to respect the players and what they are trying to achieve.

Brown (83.61), D Winstanley (89.00) 2-3 R Huybrechts (91.15), D Chisnall (99.37) 3-0 R-J Rodriguez (89.37), J Pipe (75.55) 0-3 C Kist (93.95), G Anderson (99.55) 3-0 A Boulton (85.30), J Lewis (90.34) 1-3 D Gurney (94.12), V van der Voort (95.70) 3-0 L Ryder (81.37), B Dolan (87.19) 0-3 K Anderson (90.64), J Wade (95.77) 3-0 J Michael (84.26), W Newton (77.80) 3-1 C Reyes (87.05), S Whitlock (92.85) 2-3 R Evans (93.48), J Caven (96.55) 3-0 R Szabo (86.50), R Thornton (88.66) 0-3 A Norris (96.88), A Hamilton (86.75) 2-3 J Murnan (86.88), T Jenkins (89.56) 3-1 D Young (83.49), M Webster (89.58) 3-0 M McGowan (85.88), P Taylor (98.39) 3-0 K Ono (83.49), K Painter (93.43) 3-0 K Viljanen (80.63), M King (97.84) 3-2 A Oreshkin (86.14), J Klaasen (102.54) 3-0 J Cullen (93.86).

Second round - M van Gerwen (109.23) 4-0 D Webster (94.90), R van Barneveld (94.63) 4-3 S Bunting (98.18), M Smith (100.30) 4-2 S Beaton (91.96), D van den Bergh (92.51) 2-4 B van de Pas (95.17), A Lewis (103.52) 4-0 A Gilding (82.70), D Pallett (92.21) 3-4 M Suljovic (91.04), P

Wright (99.09) 4-0 R Huybrechts (92.07), D Chisnall (102.85) 4-1 C Kist (95.92), G Anderson (99.44) 4-1 D Gurney (96.04), V van der Voort (95.12) 4-2 K Anderson (92.23), J Wade (92.84) 4-0 W Newton (84.89), R Evans (82.95) 0-4 J Caven (91.81), A Norris (94.80) 4-1 J Murnan (89.76), T Jenkins (92.15) 0-4 M Webster (93.37), P Taylor (92.91) 4-1 K Painter (92.19), M King (88.71) 2-4 J Klaasen (93.56).

Third round - M van Gerwen (105.78) 3-4 R van Barneveld (100.44), M Smith (101.56) 4-0 B van de Pas (83.14), A Lewis (98.69) 4-0 M Suljovic (93.92), P Wright (103.69) 4-3 D Chisnall (102.26), G Anderson (101.58) 4-0 V van der Voort (95.13), J Wade (93.89) 4-1 J Caven (88.31), A Norris (95.43) 4-1 M Webster (96.06), P Taylor (100.03) 3-4 J Klaasen (102.52).

Quarter finals (Today, 1pm) R van Barneveld v M Smith A Lewis v P Wright G Anderson v J Wade A Norris v J Klaasen Semi finals (Tomorrow, 8pm) Final (Sunday, 7pm)

Crowds are more interested in who chants the loudest