Issue Two *FREE*

Lo ve The Darts ISSUE TWO

Editor’s Letter Alex Moss

W

elcome to issue two of the LoveTheDarts magazine, a little later to be with you than we had expected, but we hope it will have been worth the wait!

It has been eight weeks since we hit the publish button on our launch issue, and myself and the team here have been delighted with the response we’ve had from the darts community so far.

Plenty of you got in touch with us to let us know your thoughts on the magazine, which was great to see and does help us to improve the magazine in future issues.

So, what have we got for you in our second issue? A few of you correctly guessed that Michael Smith was the player on our teaser front cover we put out on Twitter, and I had the pleasure of interviewing the man himself for our main feature in this edition of the magazine.

Smith is undoubtedly one of the most talented players in world darts, but it has not been an easy journey to get to where he is now, as you can read in the pages of LoveTheDarts in our new issue.

From one player still with many

years of playing ahead of him, to one who has been there and done it already.

We had lots of questions come in for the latest offering of our Up For The Bull feature, which this time saw two-time World Matchplay champion Rod Harrington kindly answer some of your questions.

Elsewhere in this issue, our excellent contributors Dave McNally and Christopher Kempf chatted to Lorraine Winstanley and the Russian PDC World Cup team, Richard Edwards returns with the next instalment of his darts diary, and Dave South discusses whether Stephen Bunting can rediscover his best form on the PDC circuit.

As well as all of that, we’ve got loads more to keep you entertained over the next 50-odd pages, so please flick over the page and delve into our new issue and let us know what you think.

Finally, a quick plug for our website, at lovethedartsmag.com where you can find the latest news, reports and rankings in the world of darts.

Alex Moss Editor

LoveTheDarts EDITORIAL Email lovethedartsmag@gmail.com Twitter @lovethedartsmag Editor Alex Moss Staff Writers Richard Edwards, Christopher Kempf, Dave McNally, Dave South Contributors Burton DeWitt, Chris Mason Thanks to Dave Allen, Lewis Wood-Thompson (PDC), Rod Harrington, Michael Smith, Lorraine Winstanley, David Gill, Lawrence Lustig, PDC Europe (photos)

“IT’S EIGHT WEEKS SINCE WE HIT THE PUBLISH BUTTON ON OUR LAUNCH ISSUE, AND WE HAVE BEEN DELIGHTED WITH THE RESPONSE WE’VE HAD SO FAR” lovethedarts 3

Contents 6 THE BIG PICTURE 8 UP FOR THE BULL Two-time World Matchplay champion Rod Harrington answers your questions GAME ON! 14 THE TOP 10 AUSTRALIAN DARTERS 16 DARTS HISTORY 18 CONFESSIONS OF AN AMATEUR DARTS PLAYER 21 BURTON DEWITT’S 180% DARTS QUIZ 22 MATCH OF THE MONTH

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FEATURES 24 FEATURE INTERVIEW An exclusive chat with PDC star Michael Smith about his career so far and his hopes for the future 32 CAN THE BULLET BOUNCE BACK? Dave South discusses the recent fortunes of Stephen Bunting 36 FIX THE WORLD TROPHY? We look at what the future may hold for the BDO World Trophy 40 LORRAINE WINSTANLEY Dave McNally chats to Lorraine Winstanley, one of the in-form players on the ladies circuit DARTS AROUND THE WORLD 45 PREMIER LEAGUE ROUND-UP 46 PDC FLOOR TOURNAMENTS REVIEW 48 INTERVIEW Russia’s World Cup duo Boris Koltsov and Aleksandr Oreshkin relive their memorable weekend in Frankfurt 51 BDO WORLD TROPHY ROUND-UP Peter Machin and Aileen de Graaf claim glory in Wales 53 FORM RANKINGS 54 THE FINAL LEG: CHRIS MASON

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The Big Picture

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AN HEROIC COMEBACK When Peter Wright scored 469 points with the first three visits in the 20th leg of this pulsating contest, it looked like the 47-year-old was finally about to end the reign of Michael van Gerwen as Betway Premier League champion. Six missed match darts and less than five minutes later (three minutes and 34 seconds to be exact) and this was the scene on the stage at London’s O2 Arena on finals night. Van Gerwen, who had once trailed 7-2 in the final against Wright, had completed a quite astonishing comeback to win nine of the next 12 legs and somehow retain the title.

Photography by LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

MAY 18, 2017 BETWAY PREMIER LEAGUE O2 ARENA, LONDON lovethedarts 7

UP FOR THE BULL What was his most memorable match? Which countries will the PDC expand into next? Will his ‘My Throw’ videos make a return? And why has the standard in darts gone so high?!

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY…

Rod Harrington What achievements in darts are you most proud of in your playing career and non-playing career?

Kevin Powell, via email I suppose playing career in the early stages was winning the World Masters and winning the Gold Cup, which were two of the biggest tournaments in the world at the time.

PDC wise, obviously the two World Matchplays, winning it back-to-back, I was the first person to win the Matchplay back-to-back, and I won three Gold Harvests, which was the biggest paying tournament in the world at the time. I won that three years on the trot, beating Phil Taylor all three years, so those were the major highlights of my career. I won over 50 ranking tournaments worldwide, but those were the ones that stand out.

And non-playing was really having a big say in moving away from the BDO, representing the players and then when the court case was over, and Barry Hearn when he come on board 8 lovethedartsmag.com

and employed me to improve the game, playing wise. So, all the tour events, they were down to me. And now the Challenge Tour, Q-School, Development Tour, they were all down to my ideas, taking them to Barry Hearn and the board of directors, and having a board of directors that accept my expertise in certain areas is as good as it gets I

FACT FILE Name Rod Harrington Date of birth 30/12/1957 Place of birth Boreham, Essex Nickname The Prince of Style Playing career 1987-1993 BDO; 1993-2007 PDC (founding member) Honours World Matchplay 1998, 1999; World Masters 1991; PDC World Championship runner-up 1995; PDC World Number One Apr 1995-Aug 1996 and Aug 1998-Aug 2000. Golden Harvest North American Cup 1997, 1998, 1999.

think. So, they totally backed me 100 per cent, and that’s why the playing side of the game I think is as good as what it is.

What is the most memorable match you have been involved in?

Michael Marks, via Twitter I think I’ve got to go with the first Matchplay I won, against Ronnie Baxter. He’d just beaten Phil Taylor, and we’re playing in Blackpool, which is his hometown, and there was a lot of people throwing some abuse at me! As I was walking down to the stage I always remember Dick Allix, who was helping us run the PDC at the time, just looking at me and saying ‘please win!’ because Ronnie Baxter was a BDO player at the time and it would have hurt us.

Everyone said ‘oh, he’s beat Phil Taylor, he’s going to go and win it now’, but I was actually the world number one at the time. So, he was taking on the best player performing at the time. I beat him and to be fair

“I ALWAYS REMEMBER DICK ALLIX LOOKING AT ME AND SAYING ‘PLEASE WIN!’ BECAUSE RONNIE WAS A BDO PLAYER AT THE TIME AND IT WOULD HAVE HURT US”

Up For The Bull to him he played absolutely brilliant, I only just beat him. I think that was probably the game that will always stand out to me.

Any chance you’ll be making any more of those outstanding ‘My Throw’ videos? With so many young stars on the rise, I’d like to see you make several dozen more. I changed and improved my grip because of the one you made with Ian White.

Berlin180, via Reddit The funny thing about that, yeah it did get a lot of hits and comments, but we’ve had some new people in at the office and they’re using Paul Nicholson to do things now, so at the moment, no. I’ve actually just built an extension on the side of my house, specifically for my son to play darts in, which is great, and I’ve offered players to come down for a couple of days, practice with Ryan, we’ll have a look at your throw, have a little chat and see if we can improve you, and to this day not one person has taken me up. The funny thing about it is three of the players I offered it to, before they dropped out of the rankings and now are not on the tour.

It’s no skin off my nose, because I wouldn’t have charged them. I would have done it because I want to get as many people playing brilliant in the game as we can, because it improves the game and it helps us to sell it.

Whether I do it privately, I have been asked by a company if I would be interested in doing videos, but they’ve got to be short and sweet.

People get bored, especially youngsters, watching too much, but at the moment, no it’s not on the cards PDC wise.

There’s certain players I see at the moment who have got flaws in their game and they come up to you and talk to you, and I go ‘well, you know what, you’ve got to change this’ and their manager says ‘I don’t think he needs to’. Well, they haven’t won anything! If you’re not going to change, you’re never going to win anything. But if you were a golfer, even amateur golfers, if they’ve got a problem with their swing they go and see a professional.

The same with football, cricket, every sport. Dart players, most of 10 lovethedartsmag.com

however, it would not prove necessary against “Mighty Mike”.

“Jackpot” secured holds of throw in the second, fourth and sixth legs to keep himself at level pegging, the latter coming thanks to a clutch 12

M

first nine darts, to secure an 11-dart break of throw and overthrow the Dutch darting tyrant.

Had this match taken place on stage, it would have thrown any of the capacity crowds for which Lewis

“GERMANY IS THE BIGGEST GROWTH IN DARTS AT THE MOMENT. WE’RE SELLING OUT ARENAS IN GERMANY OVERNIGHT NOW” them won’t.

Do you feel the eight spots the BDO have in the Grand Slam should go to the top eight next ranked PDC players? Can you see that happening in the future?

Nathan Stoneman, via email No. The reason that tournament goes on is because of the BDO. It got sold to Sky because of the interest of having PDC v BDO, that’s why we insisted to the BDO that we have their eight best players.

That won’t ever change, it’s what the tournament is all about. By changing it, it becomes another tournament without a separate identity. We do rank it now, which I don’t agree with, but that’s just the way it is. So those eight players will stay there for a quite a while I would say.

There’s been a bit of talk on social media about Lisa Ashton missing out on the Grand Slam. Do you think she should have got a spot?

Danny Baker, via email It’s actually a good call. We’ve had women in the event before, obviously with Anastasia (Dobromyslova). Do you know what, it’s actually not a bad call, but the guy whose number eight in the world rankings has got knocked off his pedestal, he’s wanted to get a nice payday at the

Grand Slam, because the Grand Slam is one of the biggest paydays that they get on their BDO year, if not the biggest for most of them.

If the number eight is being overtaken by a women, I’m not taking anything away from Lisa, because she’s a great player, but it’s kind of down to the BDO to deal with.

We can’t dictate to them too much.

Only that we want your top eight players, otherwise what’s going on?

It’s not a bad call, I’ll give you that, and perhaps it’s something to look at in the future. If Lisa goes and wins the World Championship next year, maybe it will be something that’s thrown in the mix.

What countries do you see the PDC expanding into next? in the gravy, via The Darts Forum Well obviously Germany. Germany is the biggest growth at the moment.

We’ve been selling out crowds overnight, we need Max Hopp and Martin Schindler and a few of the others now to start stepping up and making inroads in the PDC, so it then blends on.

We want to spread it throughout Europe. We don’t just want all these European events in Germany, we want it all across Europe.

Within the next two years the financial gains hopefully in the PDC will increase, so we’ll have more

Up For The Bull money to do that. You can lose money on some tournaments, but you can’t lose money on every tournament. Now we’re starting to break even on the European events, and then we can start putting it somewhere where we lose money and it’s irrelevant because it grows the sport.

The World Series is a different matter. I think with the Brazilians in the World Cup and doing well, I’ve been speaking to Diogo (Portela) quite a bit and who’s to say in 10 years’ time, my idea of the professional circuit would be like what they call the Sunshine Tour in golf, where every country has its own tournament.

What other new places would you like the World Series to visit? foggs3355, via TSOD.tv Well, certainly I’d love to see it in Brazil. Argentina are starting to play darts. The Far East is a huge market, but we need, whatever territory or region you’re going to, you have to work with the people in that area, because business is done different in these sort of countries.

That’s the hardest thing, getting the right people. We did one in Singapore and got totally the wrong people involved. It didn’t work, so we need to get that done, but certainly Brazil, Argentina.

It’s great down in Australia and New Zealand, but they’re dart playing nations. All across Asia is huge if we can tap into that market. I just think at the moment darts has got a magnificent future.

Where next for the supporting tours, are there plans for further expansion?

Andrew Mayhew, via email We had the first Development Tour recently in Germany and we intend to push those throughout Europe.

The Challenge Tour, to be quite honest, I’m not overly worried about making that any more than what it is, perhaps a few more tournaments.

But certainly the Development Tour, we need to bring more and more youngsters into the game.

The Challenge Tour is a mixture of people that are on the way up and 12 lovethedartsmag.com

however, it would not prove necessary against “Mighty Mike”.

“Jackpot” secured holds of throw in the second, fourth and sixth legs to keep himself at level pegging, the latter coming thanks to a clutch 12

M

first nine darts, to secure an 11-dart break of throw and overthrow the Dutch darting tyrant.

Had this match taken place on stage, it would have thrown any of the capacity crowds for which Lewis

“THE STANDARD IN DEPTH IS WHAT’S IMPROVING THE STANDARD AT THE TOP, BUT THE MONEY IS MAKING MORE PEOPLE PLAY THE GAME” half of them are people on the way down. The people on the way down weren’t good enough to keep their tour card anyway, so being cutthroat, perhaps we’re not really interested in those. We need the new breed to come in, and that’s why the Development Tour is there and that’s why it was pushed up to 23 (age limit), because they can play on the Development Tour and perhaps earn enough money to sponsor themselves for the next year for the Pro Tour, if they get their tour card.

The Challenge Tour is what it is, it’s the next string of players, most of them that are going to be on the Pro Tour. There are players in there that totally admit to me ‘we’re just here to nick money and it’s a game of darts, we love playing darts’.

We can’t stop that, that’s fair enough, everybody would do that, but we want the young talent to come through the Development Tour, the Challenge Tour and then on the Pro Tour, because then once they get on the Pro Tour like a Chris Dobey, they’re experienced enough to then handle themselves on the Pro Tour.

Why do you think the standard of

darts has increased recently?

Tom Parker, via Twitter Money. Money makes people do things more seriously. It brings in more people to play the game, which means people practice and take it more professionally, they take it more serious and with the practice comes more consistency.

The standard has grown in depth.

In my era, the depth weren’t there, but the actual standard was nearly there. We could throw three 12 darters on the trot, but we had a couple of rubbish legs which brings our averages down to say mid 90s.

But with all this extra money now and the way it is, people have got really professional and they’re practicing an awful lot. Take Peter Wright, he still practices four or five hours every day.

With that extra practice comes extra consistency which is making people throw better averages, and if you’re not going to do it you’re going to get beaten.

So, the standard in depth is what’s improving the standard at the top, but it’s also the money which is making a lot more people play the game.

GAME

TOP 10 AUSTRALIAN THE

DARTERS

From former world champions to major finalists, we pick out the 10 best ever Australian players Simon Whitlock One of the most successful players to come out of Australia, Simon Whitlock has enjoyed a glittering career at the oche. The Wizard is among a select group of darters to have graced the finals of both the PDC and BDO World Championships.

Two years after narrowly losing out to Mark Webster in the 2008 Lakeside final, Whitlock made it all the way to the final at Alexandra Palace in the 2010 PDC World Championship, where he lost to Phil Taylor 7-3.

A successful plea for sponsors to come on board during his run to a second world final saw him move over to the UK to compete on the PDC Pro Tour, and a wildcard into the prestigious Premier League followed.

Whitlock played in five successive

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seasons of the Premier League, the highlight of which saw him hit a ninedarter in the 2012 semi-finals. A first major televised title came a few months later with victory in the European Championship, and after a slump in form in 2015, the Wizard rediscovered his magic touch at the back end of last year with back-toback Players Championship titles.

Tony David This Queensland thrower became the first, and still the only, Australian to win a world title when he shocked the darting universe to capture the 2002 BDO World Championship. Tony David was a 66/1 outsider to lift the title at Lakeside, but wins over Ritchie Davies, Marko Pusa, Bob Taylor and Martin Adams put him player 3

through to the final, where he edged past Mervyn King 6-4 to be crowned world champion.

The Deadly Boomerang went on to win the World Darts Trophy and Zuiderduin Masters that year, but sadly long-term health problems dented his hopes of more major success in the BDO. Graham Hunt Perth-born Graham Hunt is to date the only Australian to win the men’s version of the Winmau World Masters, his triumph coming 20 years ago in 1997 when he defeated Ronnie Baxter 3-2 in the final at the Paragon Hotel, in London.

Aside from a victory back at home in the Australian Masters a year later, Hunt was never able to recapture

ON!

STEPPING UP TO THE OCHE

to lift the trophy. Injury problems over the last few years derailed his progress in the PDC, but he won back his tour card at Q-School in January and is making steady inroads up the Order of Merit.

Do you think you can win another major? How much are you practicing these days?

Liam Grant, via Twitter the glory from his World Masters success, and he stopped playing outside of Australia in 2005.

Paul Nicholson His Geordie accent may not be much of a giveaway, but Paul Nicholson is one of Australia’s best darting assets (see what we did there?) Nicholson won an unprecedented 15 titles on the Australian Grand Prix circuit in 2008, a feat which earned him a spot in the Grand Slam of Darts that year.

Nicholson would become a pantomime villain on the big stage over the next few years, with his major triumph coming in the 2010 Players Championship Finals.

The Asset knocked out Phil Taylor in the semi-finals and then saw off the challenge of Mervyn King in the final player 5

Peter Machin Has quite possibly the best record on television with nine wins from his 10 games so far in front of the TV cameras. The Adelaide man burst onto the scene with his run to the final of the BDO World Trophy at Lakeside last year, before going one step further in May to win the title in Wales. Will test himself against the best from the PDC after earning a spot in the Grand Slam of Darts later this year.

Terry O’Dea A consistent performer in the 1980s, Terry O’Dea played in 10 consecutive BDO World Championships between 1979 and 1988, reaching two quarter-finals in 1982 and 1986.

Also made it through to the last eight of the World Masters in 1983, but O’Dea’s most memorable victories came in unranked events.

The Aussie defeated Eric Bristow 31 in the 1984 MFI World Matchplay, before knocking John Lowe out of the Butlins Grand Masters a year later.

UK over the last 18 months and has risen up through the rankings and is now in the top eight.

Russell Stewart Dominated the Australian circuit in the 1980s and early 1990s, Russell Stewart has won the Australian Grand Masters six times, as well as the Australian Masters five times.

Also reached the quarter-finals of the World Masters in 1985 and 1988.

Kyle Anderson Picked up a plethora of titles in Australia before taking the plunge to turn professional in the UK in 2014.

Now established in the PDC’s top 32 and with two major quarter-final appearances under his belt, many believe it will not be long before he wins his first PDC senior title.

Corey Cadby Emerged onto the scene in style last summer when he beat Phil Taylor in the Perth Darts Masters, Corey Cadby cruised to victory in the PDC World Youth Championship at the end of last year. A player with undoubted potential who it is anticipated will make the move over to the UK to play on the PDC Pro Tour next year.

Corrine Hammond Became the first Australian to play in a women’s world final when she made it through to the decider of the BDO Women’s World Championshp at Lakeside in January.

Corrine Hammond has started to play more of the BDO circuit in the lovethedarts 15

Darts History June 1997

BDO AND WDC REACH A SETTLEMENT A four-year legal battle between the British Darts Organisation and the World Darts Council (now the PDC) comes to an end as the two bodies reach an out-of-court settlement in the form of a Tomlin Order which changes the sport forever playing in any of their sanctioned The split in darts is arguably one of agree that all players should be given events, a move which was later the biggest moments in the history of the freedom of choice to play in endorsed by the World Darts the sport, as the two organisations, whichever open events they wanted Federation (WDF) and thus became a the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to, while the WDC dropped its claim The Form Rankings attempts to determine, based on actual efficiencytoinbe winning legs, to whatbody extent worldwide sanction. and LoveTheDarts World Darts Council (WDC, now a world governing of darts the players are overvalued or undervalued by their rank in the PDC Order of Merit.

A prolonged legal battle ensued the Professional Darts Corporation sport and renamed itself the PDC. To do still this,exist we as separate entities between the BDO and the WDC, (PDC)), Despite the Tomlin Order coming ,toand “sandbox average”, the estimated average a player would record without an opponent over an number which eventually came to a thisthe day. into effect, there stillinfinite remains some ofItlegs. conclusion with the aforementioned was 20 years ago last month, on restrictions on what players can play Tomlin Order in the summer of 1997.

June 30, 1997, that the BDO and the in today.

The results of which saw the BDO WDC reached an out-of-court Since the start of 2002, entry to the settlement, in the form of a Tomlin majority of PDC majors is limited to Order, which brought an end to a members of the Professional Darts four-year legal battle between the two Players Association, an organisation sides. which looks after the interest of the Darts was on the decline heading players in the PDC. xinto the 1990s, with television Meanwhile, to enter a BDO/WDF xcoverage of the sport way down on tournament, all players must be what was on offer during its big boom eligible to compete in the BDO World xin the 1980s.

Championship and World Masters, x With players frustrated by the which in effect means a player xx direction the BDO was going, 16 of cannot be a member of the PDPA. xthe top ranked players at the time, In 2007, the PDC organised the xincluding Eric Bristow, Phil Taylor, first staging of the Grand Slam of xJohn Lowe and Jocky Wilson, decided Darts, a cross-code tournament xto break away and form their own which sees players from the PDC and xdarts organisation: the WDC. the BDO go up against each other. x The BDO’s response was to ban the The tournament has been shown x16 players who had defected from on ITV and Sky Sports in the UK. x 16 lovethedartsmag.com

Darting Diary

CONFESSIONS OF AN AMATEUR DARTS PLAYER Our Asian Darts Correspondent Richard Edwards is back with his latest diary entry as he continues his journey playing on the steel and soft tip circuits

I

board, but I made the decision not to. represent South Korea in Shanghai recently turned 37, I played Granted, the day off consisted of next month. Many people out here, down my birthday very well, lying in a park, watching darts on including myself, are looking forward which was helped as I received YouTube, but I was not throwing. A to seeing how he fares against the my present (Target Vision 360) The Formthe Rankings to off determine, on things actual up efficiencyPDC in winning day can reallybased freshen stars. legs, to what extent darts earlyLoveTheDarts last month, when lights inattempts players overvalued orstop undervalued by their rank in the PDC Order of Merit. for you at the oche. my dart are room seemed to To do this, we Crumbs, May is already a week old working. , and thefeel “sandbox average”, theinestimated averagesaw a player would record without an opponent an start infinite number Thursday the Korean qualifiers I don’t anywhere near 37, a and it’s beenover a bad to the of legs.of maturity, but the body take place to see who will go to the sense month! I had most of last week off PDC Shanghai Masters in July. The (Buddha’s birthday and Children’s certainly does - so today was the day day before I had a four hour session Day holidays in Korea), which is to supplement my midweek power practicing with Ki Young, one of the great, but put me out of sync with my walks with a yoga session at Seoul favourites to win the place. routines.

Body and Mind Fitness Centre!

It really was a great experience I hardly picked up a steel tip dart Things started off well as I sat there playing 50-odd legs with a player of apart from Wednesday’s marathon on a foam block listening to Ravi that standard - something I do not get practice session.

Shankar (note to self: put Ravi xShankar back on my phone), but to do out here much at all.

Practiced soft tip for basically the xbefore long I was desperately trying We were both consistently finishing entire weekend. Like the idiot I am, I in 15-18 darts, with of course a few decided my equipment is to blame to keep calm and composed while xlying in what my spiritual leader 20+ dart legs thrown in there. for playing poorly, so I spent Monday xreferred to as the ‘helicopter I can’t resist not mentioning my tinkering with various darts, flights, xx 125 checkout (bull, 25, bull) during position’. tips and stems. x I thought to myself ‘what on earth one of the many, many close legs.

The best I have ever played has xwas I doing this for?’ And, of course, I went to cheer him and another been the couple of weeks up until xthe answer was darts. friend on - I just hope the 3-2 in sets this weekend and that has been the x I want a more flexible, generally loss to me hasn’t dented his time where I’ve not been changing xbetter body in order to perform better confidence (could not resist my equipment. xat darts. Just like with the weight loss mentioning that!). Soft tip superstar So, I know I am a clown for doing xthing, it is darts that is giving me a Park Hyunchul, now based out of this, but I just couldn’t resist. I am xkick start to sort myself out spiritually Japan, beat my training partner Ki pretty certain I have got the setup for Young in the semis 6-4 and then me in steel tip and I am determined and physically. Thank you darts! dispatched Cho Kwang Hee 6-0 in to have my soft tip setup as similar Saturday saw the Seoul the final. as possible, but I just can’t nail it.

International Dart League’s Mid Hyunchul will now go on to I am starting to think that a Season Tournament. It was a pairs tournament with the highest ranked players ranked with the lower players.

My darting partner (MJ) roaring with joy at getting to play with me - bless her. I threw some solid darts; we came seventh - it’s all good, it was a fun day.

A few months ago I would have critiqued my play, but who cares?

One thing I would say; this was the first time in ages I had a drink while playing and I can happily say it did not improve my game one iota!

Sunday was a glorious day in Seoul and I decided to have a day off. I can honestly say I would have happily spent a few hours on the practice

“WE DON’T WANT OUR PLAYERS XXX - XXXXXX XXXXXX

XX XXX WW WWW

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different setup entirely for soft tip might be the answer?

My head is spinning with all the permutations, but I’ll get there. Oh, and my aim of losing nine kilos this month hasn’t had the best of starts as I have gained a couple of kilos!

Concluded on Wednesday that the last couple of days had been a complete waste of time. Have to stop tinkering!

It is not like I am making drastic changes between a long, thin dart and a bullet-shaped dart.

If I were to pick up my John Lowe’s I bet I would throw to a standard not too far off what I am throwing now - I need to concentrate on my mechanics and mind set!

I feel like I spend half my life ramming tungsten putty into darts and balancing them on my finger to find the centre of gravity.

This level of tinkering should be left to the pros as they look for the one per cent extra edge. If I throw a couple of 26s in a row it is because of a poor release, or lack of follow through, not because I was using stems 3mm shorter than what I was using when I hit a 180 10 minutes earlier.

Having said all that, I am starting to think I make all these changes for a confidence boost, and it occasionally pays off, as it did this week with some solid practice sessions.

I have a massive weekend ahead with a steel tip tournament on Saturday (round three of the Korean Darts Championships) and soft tip on Sunday (Phoenix Perfect Tour round two), so I am in a good place now.

It really is a mind game, darts, how I can feel atrocious one day and great the next, hopefully I can keep pushing forward after this kick start.

Berated myself on the Thursday commute to work for not power walking for over a week.

Sat there thinking what days would be best to get going again. Monday’s not great, because it’s well, Monday.

Tuesdays not ideal as have darts Monday nights… excuses, excuses.

It dawned on me what a hypocrite I’m being. I say I am determined to succeed, but I am not taking action.

I set the alarm clock for 5am every day of the week, weekends included.

Now is not the time for excuses,

now is the time for action! I need to step up on the practice too; yes, I am spending 2-3 hours a day lobbing darts at a board, but I am not doing the routines I set out to do - I am spending most of my time endlessly playing matches online. I need to work smarter.

It is hard to put into words how much I fudged up on Saturday. I was playing solidly throughout the tournament, certainly playing well enough to win the whole thing and gain some valuable points for WDF World Cup qualification, and then… double trouble!

My doubles had been pretty off all day, but I was ahead by so much most of the day that it was not an issue.

I made it to the semi-finals and found myself playing in a final leg decider (mainly due to a stack of missed doubles in the first leg).

My opponent was sat on 157, I had the darts and was on 156. There must have been a smirk on my face as the second dart joined the first in the treble 20.

That smirk was soon wiped from my face though, as the third dart actually landed closer to the first two, rather than the double 18; maybe I exaggerated in my mind where it landed as I have relived it over and over, but I am pretty sure it bent the treble 18 wire!

Lord knows what my opponent, Ronie Maestre, scored next, as I had my head down psyching myself up for the double nine.

I won’t bore you with any more details, but a minute or so later I was sat in the madhouse, when Ronie put me out of my misery and secured the win. I think it was a total of seven match darts missed!

Ronie went on to win (his opponent just missing three match darts against him in the final: amateur!).

After a brief reflection, I sensibly attempted to put it behind me, after all there was a huge soft tip tournament to play the next day.

An even more sensible approach

would have been to hit the practice board! Sadly, that didn’t happen, perhaps that goes to show where my priorities lie?

Perhaps I just fancied a booze?

Either way, after dinner a few of us went on to play steel tip down the pub and ended up in ‘Club Zion’ to God knows what hour! (Ronie went home after dinner, says a lot doesn’t it?)

Sunday started exceptionally well as I discovered I was bordering on feeling alright, considering it was 8am and I hadn’t a clue when I’d retired the previous evening.

Spirits were high and I was feeling good as I approached the oche for a few practice throws - after all, I had been hitting trebles for fun for the past day and these trebles on the soft tip boards are frankly enormous!

My first dart landed in the double five! I, of course, hurled the other two in the same direction to make it look like I was practicing my doubles but, to be frank, nobody was looking anyway.

It then dawned on me that you could probably count on one hand the amount of people out of the 400+ participants that owned a steel tip dart, let alone had spent the last day throwing one.

I was ill prepared, annoyed with myself and in trouble. Somehow in the first leg of the day I got to an out before my opponent, 42, two then tops, lovely!

The dart felt good leaving my hand, followed by the “oh good, you’ve hit a treble” noise the machine makes when you hit a treble. I’d ‘slipped’ into treble 15 - I went on to miss at least half a dozen doubles and lost.

I was about to have a right old sulk (and possibly even a beer) when I thought to myself ‘that is exactly what you deserve, instead of getting adjusted to lighter darts and keeping fresh and focused the night before, I was careering about making a tit of myself to African beats in a nightclub’.

I tried to stay positive and focused and am delighted to report my game

‘I HAD A SMIRK ON MY FACE AS THE SECOND DART JOINED THE TREBLE 20, BUT IT SOON LEFT WHEN MY THIRD DART BENT THE TREBLE 18 WIRE!’

lovethedarts 19

picked up. I didn’t play brilliantly, but well enough to beat my remaining three opponents relatively easily.

I even finished top of the group ensuring a bye into the last 32.

Despite a nervy finish I advanced to the last 16, winning 3-1. I often feel I get nervous because I am so desperate to show people how good I am, and I see getting out of the groups as showing people.

This mentality is getting me in a right pickle during the group stages and I need to adopt a different mindset.

Anyway, I was in the last 16 and playing on stage. With this being my third performance on stage at a big soft tip tournament, I was excited, but not daunted.

I felt relaxed and I threw some good darts, without doubt some of my best darts of the day.

However, I never really threatened a quarter-final spot as my opponent was a player who was in that elite bracket of players out here that I am a fair way off and I crashed out 3-0.

At the end of the day, I am pleased that my shoddy attitude and nerves didn’t end up costing me earlier in the day and reaching the last 16 meant I treasured the biggest pay cheque of my darting career!

A busy Monday involved walking for two hours, three hours of steel tip at home, three hours of soft tip at Dart Prince, two hours playing a single league game (won 12-4) and three hours of Monday night darts (won 318). I think I might have overdone it?

I also decided to accept the fact that I need to be throwing the same darts for soft and steel.

I play so much of both soft and steel and it just seems like the common sense thing to do.

Without doubt, my main goal this year lies with steel and aiming to qualify for the WDF World Cup in Japan, so I am hesitant to stop throwing my steel tip darts that I seem to be making so much progress with.

I am worried that I will be scuppering my chances, but surely if I am throwing the same dart day in, day out that can only help improve both my soft and steel game?

Did you know that Andrew Gilding didn’t join a pub team until his mid20 lovethedartsmag.com

30s? I don’t usually think of Goldfinger when I am powering through the streets of Seoul at 5am, but I happened to be listening to yet another motivational speech about if you know somebody else has done something before you, you know it is possible, and it helps you believe you can do it!

The example on the speech was the four-minute mile. Apparently over 20,000 people have run a mile in under four minutes since Roger Bannister proved it was possible.

I can’t see myself or the big man from Bungay joining that list, but what Gilding has achieved since joining a pub team leads me to believe it is possible to achieve what I want.

With a spring in my step despite the seven miles I had just put in, I quickly showered, ate then hit the practice board. Things are really clicking into place - I didn’t throw out of this world darts, but I felt comfortable with my darts and put in some impressive legs after a few routines.

The highlight of the morning was an 11-dart leg (135, 140, 140, 86).

Cracking stuff!

In the past week my form has dipped alarmingly again and there is one massive reason: I am still constantly changing darts.

I don’t know what finally triggered it, but last night I decided on the setup for me (same as what I decided over a week ago), and packed everything else away in boxes.

I might invest in a padlock and throw away the key! I have bought over 150 sets of darts over the past couple of years - that is insane.

Thankfully extortionate prices for darts out here means I have managed to sell a load on and get my money back on a load of them, so I’m stripped down to a mere 87 sets now!

I had a few throws this morning and instead of changing equipment constantly, I ended up analysing my stance, action, follow through etc.

After an hour or so I was brimming full of confidence again!

That’s it - no more yoga. I realised after three sessions it’s just not for me. It’s not that I don’t like the challenge and actually I am quite flexible for a fat knacker.

I just lack the coordination skills to do what those ladies have been putting me through.

While I was still trying to work out how to ‘wave my spine’, everyone else had moved onto the ‘downward dog’ - what is that all about?

When Monika told me to continue my ‘belly bonfire breathes’, I lost it completely and had to desert my mat to compose myself at the back of the class.

Well, when I say compose myself, what I really mean is I sat and watched the BDO World Trophy on my phone.

To be honest, it would have ended in tears anyway, keeping your knees together for some of those positions is just not feasible for 50 per cent of the world’s population.

I was a little surprised that when I checked my monthly average on the Pro Darter website it was 69.0.

I was expecting it to be in the mid 70s, so I was a mile off. I guess all the tinkering with equipment in the middle of the month really scuppered my first monthly average in the 70s.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that my average on the practice board will be 75+ in the next month.

It also seems that I am producing better darts and better averages in ‘real matches’, which seems a little bizarre to me, considering how I still get a bit Peter Purvis during big games.

BURTON DEWITT’S 180% DARTS QUIZ PUB - Who famously threw his darts into the Lakeside lake in 2009?

LEAGUE - Who has won the most PDC prize money without ever winning a senior ranking PDC title?

COUNTY - Who was the first person to win 10 or more PDC titles in a singles season (a season ends with the World Championship)?

INTERNATIONAL - Which of these WDF men’s opens have never been won by a host nation player (more than one choice can be correct)? A. Belgium Open B. Denmark Open C. French Open D. German Open E. Malta Open F. Turkish Open PROFESSIONAL - Other than Phil Taylor, as of June 12, 2017, who has defeated Michael van Gerwen the most times of any player in PDCsanctioned matches?

Answers in next month’s issue May’s answers - 1. Larry Butler 2. [correction - we forgot the News of the World, so there are two] Goran Klemme (2005 World Masters) and Stefan Lord (1978 and 1980 News of the World) 3. Alan Warriner 4. Wales 5. All defeated a former BDO world champion in their final match at Lakeside before switching to the PDC (Wilson defeated Kist; Walton defeated Webster; Stompe defeated Klaasen; Klaasen defeated van Barneveld; van Barneveld defeated Beaton; Baxter defeated Burnett; Carter defeated Part)

stores.ebay.co.uk/Mojo-DARTS lovethedarts 21

Match of the month

HARMS IN SEVENTH HEAVEN AS WIN STREAK SHOCKS DUZZA Match of the month: Wesley Harms 7-4 Glen Durrant (BDO World Trophy quarter-finals)

By CHRISTOPHER KEMPF

A

fter authoritative triumphs dart at double in his first four legs, at double seven for a 122 finish was at the World Masters and struggled to recover as he fell 4-0 no great disaster, as Harms returned the World Championship, down to Durrant. to the board to hit double 18 and The LoveTheDarts Form Rankings to determine, actual to efficiency in winning legs, to what extent darts the only BDO major left attempts Yet few playersbased couldon manage do hold his throw. players or undervalued by their rank inagainst the PDC Order of Merit. without are Glenovervalued Durrant’s name so anyway a superb But after missing tops for a 78 To do this, inscribed on we the winner’s plaque is performance from Durrant, who finish, Harms did him one better by ,the andWorld the “sandbox average”, the estimated average a player would record without an opponent antwo infinite number Trophy, despite Duzza’s punished his opponent’s every checking outover 85 in darts, of legs. best efforts in the tournament’s mistake with a torrent of ton-plus breaking throw and levelling the 2016 edition at Lakeside. scores, including two maximums in match.

The Middlesbrough man’s 104.56 the fourth leg to respond to Harms’ The collapse was made complete average - one of the highest losing first 180 and set up an 11-darter.

by Duzza’s failure to hit double eight averages in BDO major event history Even as Harms’ hold of throw in the with his final three darts at double, was not enough to enable him to next leg put him on the scoreboard at allowing Harms to convert two clutch overcome a career-best performance 4-1, the prospect of taking back three 140s into a 61 finish. A dejected from Lithuanian star Darius breaks of throw from the BDO world Duzza then had no answer for Harms’ xLabanauskas, who nailed a 138 number one looked more impossible match-winning 12-darter. xfinish to beat Durrant 7-3. than daunting.

Durrant, in finishing with a 103.59 This year, however, Durrant’s stellar In a cruel, ironic twist to the match, average, showed that he has the skill xform made him even more of a Durrant’s missed dart at the bull for a to contend for every title in the BDO, xprohibitive favourite to win the title 170 finish in the next leg that might but to compete in the PDC as well. xx after seeds Jamie Hughes, Scott have all but ended Harms’ weekend If, after another great year, he opts xWaites, Mark McGeeney, Darryl Fitton allowed the Dutchman to come back to play with van Gerwen, Anderson xand Danny Noppert were all to the board for a tricky three-figure and Wright, it will be a deserved xeliminated before the final day of finish of his own - a 138. promotion for the Middlesbrough xcompetition.

Two trebles and a double nine later master. But his inability to complete x Duzza’s 10-darter in the first leg of - a different route from the one taken a historic sweep of the BDO majors xhis 6-2 second round defeat of Andy

by Labanauskas one will haunt him if he does. xFordham set the tone for an event in year earlier - Harms xwhich upsets seemed to be paving had thrust himself the way for a triple crown coronation back into the match for Durrant. with an ominous In quarter-final challenger Wesley reminder of Harms the bookmakers saw merely a Durrant’s last minor threat, a 14/1 title underdog elimination from to Durrant’s 4/6 near-certainty. a BDO major.

The first four legs of the match Though Durrant appeared to be confirming the continued to pour bookies’ forecast. on the trebles, Sparky’s disastrous first leg, in eventually which he left only 244 after his finishing the twelfth dart, surrendered an early match with seven break of throw to his English 180s, his opponent. finishing Harms, who was unable to secure a crumbled as a stunned crowd watched Harms take leg after leg back from the BDO world champion.

Missing a dart

“WE DON’T WANT OUR PLAYERS XXX - XXXXXX XXXXXX

‘HARMS THRUST HIMSELF BACK INTO THE MATCH WITH A 138 FINISH’

22 lovethedartsmag.com

After ending a near two year trophy drought with victory in Gibraltar recently, Michael Smith looks to be heading back in the right direction. The former PDC world youth champion chats to us about how he turned his form around and what his future hopes are Words Alex Moss

24 lovethedartsmag.com

lovethedarts 25

his time last y

2

017 marks the tenth year that Michael Smith has been playing on the PDC circuit. It feels like he has been around forever, but at the age of 26, he is still considered as one of the exciting youngsters in the game.

It has been a career so far which has certainly had more ups than it has downs. In 2013, Bully Boy was crowned PDC world youth champion at The O2 Arena, in London, and later that year he knocked out the great Phil Taylor in the second round of the World Championship at Alexandra Palace.

The back end of 2015 saw Smith really start to make his mark. A first major semi-final came in the Grand Slam of Darts, closely followed by a run to the quarter-finals of the World Championship, which in turn saw him

26 lovethedartsmag.com

his time last year I decided to

earn a wildcard into the prestigious Premier League for the first time in 2016.

A tough maiden campaign in the invitational event culminated with Smith being one of two players eliminated early on, and the rest of the year saw the St Helens ace suffer a dramatic slump in form.

However, a first tournament victory in 20 months, in the Gibraltar Darts Trophy in May, and a deciding leg defeat to Michael van Gerwen in the Austrian Darts Open final a month later, showed big signs that the Bully Boy had turned the corner.

In an exclusive interview with Love The Darts, Smith opens up about how he managed to resurrect his career after a difficult 2016.

“To be honest, the Premier League has nothing to do with players when

his time last year I decided to start a ‘darting diary’. I had they just go bad after,” he says. “It’s all in the mindset, and my mindset in the wrong place.

“I was being an a*** to be honest.

I just didn’t care about darts anymore, even though obviously I wanted to do well, when I was still practicing I didn’t care about the results or what I was doing.

“I was just fighting depression. I wasn’t depressed to the point where I started thinking silly things, I was just depressed about the game, because I didn’t care about it anymore.

“There was no fight, there was no passion about the game and that’s all it was. It was nothing to do with the Premier League. It was just a lack of confidence and a loss of passion.

“Every time I went to a tournament and got beat first round, I was coming home to the missus and I

extra leg; which will in turn lead to no time to hang out the laundry and a seething wife who gets home work before you to a pile of sodden undercrackers.

On the way to work the darts does not stop. A year ago I would probably be on Facebook watching videos of cats doing the cutest things or Asian doctors getting dragged off planes.

Now I will either be looking at the social media of all the ‘darty’ people I follow, hoping for some news on imminent tournaments.

The walk from the station to work; more darts! An endless cycle of motivational speeches that I nabbed off the internet.

Lots of these speeches I have turned into little posters which I have placed next to my practice board (see right).

One of my favourites says “Welcome to Success, Enjoy the Journey” and whatever the outcome of my pursuit I can honestly say I am enjoying life and feeling great.

Since starting ‘Operation Max Hopp’ I have been loving life, and I have even seen some health benefits.

Being a larger than average man, the old ‘hammer and tack’ gives me a fair bit of grief when I play, so I am on a mission to lose some weight.

I am watching what I eat and drink more carefully and I even squeeze in a couple of power walks each week.

When I returned from the UK in was like ‘I can’t keep doing this. I want to start winning’.

“I’ve got a lifestyle I like and I don’t want to go back to a different lifestyle where I can’t afford nice things for the baby or the missus or myself.

“I very rarely spend my own money because it’s not mine. Everything I win is for my kids or my wife, for the family, it’s never mine.

“I bought myself a car which I like but if I don’t win I’ll have to sell my car, sell my house, lose everything, that’s what it was like. I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing.

“I then started getting the fight back, back to where it used to be. It wasn’t quite happening in the PDC but since the beginning of this year I’ve had good runs. I think I’ve lost twice in the first round this year, but I’ve made about five or six quarters,

Main Feature

however, it would not prove necessary against “Mighty Mike”.

“Jackpot” secured holds of throw in the second, fourth and sixth legs to keep himself at level pegging, the latter coming thanks to a clutch 12 darter on an 84 finish after “MVG” missed double 12, just to the outside, for the perfect leg.

That is what it takes to beat the world number one - relentless punishment for van Gerwen’s slightest imperfections.

Another “MVG” imperfection missing double 16 for a 108 finish resulted in a critical break of throw for Lewis.

A 122 checkout on the bullseye pushed “MVG” to the brink on a 3-5 deficit, but under pressure the Dutchman continued to pound the trebles.

Within three minutes, “MVG” had taken out both 80 and 84 finishes in the mid 70s as very positive. I have got so far to go, but if I continue making progress, who knows where I a couple of semis, a couple of finals and now I’ve just got the win in Gibraltar.

“If you look at last year I was always going out in the first or second round.

It was just about believing in myself again. I believe I can win every major I play and every tournament I play.

“It’s just having that belief and getting rid of the doubts. I don’t want to think that I might miss instead of going for a double thinking I’m not going to miss this.”

S

mith’s career in the PDC began as a 17-year-old when he embarked on the Pro Tour for the first time in early 2008, but his path to the upper echelons took an unexpected turn at the end of the following year, as he explains to us: “When I had just first

“THERE WAS NO FIGHT, THERE WAS NO PASSION ABOUT THE GAME. IT WAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PREMIER LEAGUE. IT WAS JUST A LOSS OF PASSION AND CONFIDENCE” started I broke both my hands when I was 19. It was Christmas Eve and I was going to a friend’s house and I slipped on the ice and hit my knee on the floor.

“And then I slipped again and put my hands on the floor and my hands slipped underneath me, so they bent all the way back and I broke every bone in both my wrists.

“The only thing I didn’t break was my fingers. I broke every bone from the wrists down and I was in casts for four months.

“I was playing in my local league with my casts on just flicking the darts in. Eddie Dootson was my captain and I played five games in the 301 double start and won all five games with my casts on.

“And then I got the casts took off on the Tuesday and we had a cup final on the Friday. I think we were 4-2 up and I got brushed, I didn’t even hit the double to start!

“When I first started I didn’t have any passion for it. I wanted to be world champion, but I wasn’t willing to make myself a world champion.

“I wasn’t willing to do the effort or the practice or the sacrifice, and then when I broke my hands I thought ‘I’m never going to be a dart player, I’m going to have to get a job’.

“When I finally came out of the casts that’s when the fire came back.”

Smith had only taken up darts at the age of 15 by chance, after breaking his hip on the way to school one day which left him with crutches for four months. To pass the time ► lovethedarts 27

Main Feature ◄ he began playing with his father’s darts, while still on crutches, he threw his first 180.

“From day one I always thought I could win a major,” Smith says. “Even when I first picked up a dart, it’s what I want to do, like this is all I wanted to do.

“My mum and dad used to have five jobs just to send me round England to play darts. It was hard work and then I think the first year I was at the worlds, Gary Anderson managed to come over just as I missed double 12 for a nine darter.

“When he asked me if I would sign with his team he didn’t have to ask me anything else, I would have signed the contract there and then.

“My mum and dad could go back to the pub and have one job between them running the pub, and Gary did the rest. I owe quite a bit to him, he was a massive help.”

A

first PDC title for almost two years arrived for Smith in May this year, as he defeated Mensur Suljovic 64 in the final of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy at the Victoria Stadium.

It was Smith’s fourth European Tour title and first tournament victory since winning the European Darts Trophy back in September 2015.

“It’s been a very long time, two years,” he reflects. “It’s just battling through the hard times, losing matches that I shouldn’t have done, but it’s all worth it when you get to pick up another title.

“I just knew the hard work was paying off. It was just down to myself, I had lost a final earlier in the year which I missed two match darts to beat Peter Wright in.

“I went into Gibraltar like this will be my weekend. I think that about every tournament that I play in.

“I never go into a tournament thinking I’m just there to make the

numbers up. I always believed it, even when I kept going 5-5 every time, I just wanted more practice!”

Since beating Suljovic to end his trophy drought a few months ago, Smith’s career has continued to grow once again, with two semi-finals and a final on the European Tour, as well as a call-up to the World Series of Darts for the first time.

Smith will be heading to Australia and New Zealand in August for the triple header of World Series events in Auckland, Melbourne and Perth.

Before that, Smith heads to Blackpool for the World Matchplay, and after breaking his duck in 2017 with a victory on the European Tour, he now has his sights on landing a first major title.

“I x JUST KNEW THE HARD WORK WAS PAYING OFF. BATTLING THROUGH THE HARD TIMES, LOSING MATCHES YOU SHOULDN’T, IT’S ALL WORTH IT WHEN YOU GET TO PICK UP ANOTHER TITLE” 28 lovethedartsmag.com

“It’s been hard, it’s been depressed is not the right word, but trying to drag myself out to go and practice and stuff like that, being frustrated,” Smith recalls.

“Thinking ‘why am I even bothering?’ It was just getting the fight and passion back, but I look at someone like Anderson, obviously he’s my mentor, watching him battle through two tough years and watching him come back, he’s been in the final of the last three World Championships.

“Adrian Lewis, Chizzy, they are my main three players. They’re my idols, they’re the best scorers in the world I want to be the best scorer.

“Hopefully I can get my form back, keep working hard and hopefully it will be back for the Matchplay and I can win my first major.

“I’ve always believed I’m not far away, obviously it’s just my own belief. I’ve finally just got the doubts out of my head.

“It’s just getting the belief that every dart that goes to the board is going to be treble 20.” LTD

eight of the World Masters in 1983, but O’Dea’s most memorable victories came in unranked events.

The Aussie defeated Eric Bristow 21 in the 1984 MFI World Matchplay, before knocking John Lowe out of the Butlins Grand Masters a year later.

Corrine Hammond Became the first Australian to play in a women’s world final when she made it through to the decider of the BDO Women’s World Championship at Lakeside in January.

Corrine Hammond has started to play more of the BDO circuit in the

Stephen Bunting

CAN THE BULLET BOUNCE BACK? The former BDO world champion has seen his quick rise in the PDC hit the breaks, but can he rediscover the winning touch on the circuit?

Words Dave South

L

ife in darts has never been more competitive and Stephen “The Bullet” Bunting knows it. On January 22, 2014, it was announced that Bunting had received, and accepted, a tour card to join the Professional Darts Corporation.

Bunting’s first tournament was at the UK Open Qualifiers, and he won the second of the six tournaments and pocketed £10,000 by beating eight players, concluding with a 6-5 victory over Andrew Gilding.

Fast forward through 2014 and Bunting had presence throughout, making a semi-final in the World Grand Prix on TV, having made the latter stages of a tour event and on the European/World Series tours.

Add in a quarter-final in the Grand Slam of Darts the following month, and 2014 was a pleasing start to life in the PDC for the St Helens thrower.

Then 2015 came around and it began for Bunting with an emotional quarter-final against Raymond van Barneveld in the World Championship.

This was enough for Sky Sports to nominate Bunting as one of their wildcards for the Premier League, which proceeded a few weeks later.

An excellent run to the semi-finals of the UK Open in March, came midway through the Premier League,

and was a stark contrast, as he narrowly avoided relegation in the Premier League shortly after, and it showed how tough it was for Bunting.

Premier League syndrome appeared to have hit Bunting, with early exits following in all the proceeding majors that year.

2016 saw what Bunting would have called a below par year, although in his defence, with the quality ever improving and bigger prize funds, Bunting was unlucky in last year’s major events.

However, an above average run in the Players Championship and European Tour events saw the Bullet take his second PDC title, as well as reach a European Tour semi-final too.

Moving on to this year, and it has followed in the highlight of what 2014 and 2015 offered and he has not really shown his full potential thus far.

Currently ranked 21st in the PDC, he will not be a seed for the upcoming World Matchplay, which comes to our screens in July.

Bunting is well placed on the Pro Tour Order of Merit, which offers 16 places in the 32-man tournament, and will be the method of qualification for him this year.

Bunting will need this event to help bring a halt to the decline he has experienced. If he can maintain his

record on the Pro Tour, he should be at the World Grand Prix in October.

The opportunities are there, but having seen Bunting earlier in the year, and in the World Championship at the end of last year, it was painful to see him miss seven match darts in his first round defeat to Darren Webster at Alexandra Palace.

Bunting has slid down out of the top 16, and at 21 now, he should be looking at ways to tweak his game, not reinvent it, but putting some more confidence in himself.

By kick starting his season at the Matchplay, it may only take one win for Bunting to renew some confidence, especially on the TV. With talent for the top 32 so fierce now, to get in the elite top 16 is increasingly more difficult now than ever.

I hope if Bunting can recover from his apparent decline, by continuing to build on the Pro Tour events will only be beneficial, but the bulk of the prize money is in the TV events.

By building from one of those and elevating himself back on TV must be his target and I for one hope that it happen this year.

Bunting performed well in Germany on the European Tour, reaching a quarter-final, and more of that will be needed for him to get back to the heights he was once at. lovethedarts 33

Fix the World Trophy?

THE DIFFICULT THIRD BDO MAJOR Low ticket sales, a slashed prize fund, poor television coverage, what next for the BDO World Trophy?

Words Alex Moss

W

hen it comes to listing the biggest events on the darting calendar, the BDO World Masters and World Championship may not be as high as they once were, but they still remain the two longest running major events in the sport.

The two tournaments are the two main staples on the BDO calendar, but in 2014 they were joined by the World Trophy, a newly-launched event which was given major status by the organisation.

A £30,000 first prize in the inaugural staging of the World Trophy, held at the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool in February 2014, was snapped up by James Wilson, beating Ross Montgomery 13-11 in the final.

Fast forward three years and following the 2017 edition of the World Trophy, the term ‘major’ could not have been more inaccurate.

A sparse crowd across the four days of play at the Memo Arts Centre, in Barry, Wales, did not depict the image of one of the premier competitions on the BDO circuit.

The prize fund had been cut so much from the previous year that the eventual winner Peter Machin took home more money back to Australia as a runner-up in 2016 than he did for lifting the trophy 12 months later.

Where does the World Trophy go

from here? Its status as a major has to be in question after this latest showing, but can it be rescued?

The lack of interest from this year’s hosts Wales perhaps tells the story. A country which has produced a long line of world class players, from the likes of Leighton Rees and Alan Evans in the 1970s and 1980s to Richie Burnett and Mark Webster in the 1990s and 2000s, Wales has a proud tradition of being the birthplace for major winners.

Welsh darts fans come out for the Cardiff leg of the PDC’s Premier League roadshow year after year, while the Motorpoint Arena will be the home again for the BBC-televised Champions League of Darts again later this year.

The interest of darts in Wales is still there, but the BDO World Trophy, one of the events which forms its ‘triple crown’, is clearly not high on the agenda.

The event’s preparations this year were not helped by rumours on social media suggesting there would not be a World Trophy in 2017 and that it had been cancelled.

Some of the players who had qualified for the event had the options of taking on exhibitions instead, but with six weeks to go the BDO moved to quash the rumours that were gathering pace, and

announced that the World Trophy would be running for a fourth year, and in a fourth different venue.

From Blackpool in 2014, to Manchester in 2015, to the famous Lakeside Country Club in 2016, and now to Barry this year, as 32 men and 16 ladies descended on the Vale of Glamorgan on the Bank Holiday Weekend at the end of May. A fourth different venue also brought with it a third different broadcaster, as Front Runner TV took on the broadcast rights in the UK, while Winmau TV provided live coverage online for the rest of the world. It gave the BDO plenty of optimism heading into the weekend.

Sue Williams, chairperson of the BDO, had said ahead of the event: “We are delighted to have such a breadth and depth of live coverage for the 2017 BDO World Trophy.

“From a dedicated free to air sports channel for the UK in Front Runner, through core partner Winmau’s streaming channel, to coverage for the first time on Facebook live with our partner UNILAD, giving us access to their 29 million user base to attract a significant and younger audience.”

New host broadcasters Front Runner certainly had a lot to live up to with the coverage for the World Trophy. Previous incumbents of ► lovethedarts 37

Fix the World Trophy? ◄ the TV rights, Dave, had pulled out all the stops in their first efforts showcasing live darts on their channel. A presentation team including two hosts and pundits, it had the feeling of a tournament which meant something.

The opening pictures from Front Runner’s broadcast could not have been different. No presentation team, commentary which went up and down in volume at times, the odd appearance of a purple screen and the sound of the darts hitting the board out of sync all conjured up an image not in correlation with a major darts event.

Most of the technical issues were resolved as the first day of action went on, but for some fans they had seen enough already. They did miss out on some great darts though, with BDO world number one and reigning world champion Glen Durrant, his conqueror that weekend Wesley Harms, and Machin among those to impress over the weekend.

It took a career-best performance from Harms in the quarter-finals to deny Durrant a chance at completing the triple crown, with the question now whether “Duzza” will be back next year to give it another go at winning all three BDO majors?

Are these players that much better than when we played or has something changed?

Their conditions at the Pro Tour are much better than the conditions were in the days when we played, when people could be within touching distance whilst you were in a game so to speak, compared to today. I understand that the conditions at events are perfect for the players in the room and Barry Hearn has made the game the way it 38 lovethedartsmag.com

But will the World Trophy still be around? With four stagings now under its belt there has been enough time now for the World Trophy to

make a name for itself, and for the right reasons too.

So far it has proven to be a bit of a poisoned chalice for the BDO, but it does have the potential to be much more than that. We saw it last year when it was held at the Lakeside and Dave’s impressive coverage gave it the feel of an event with importance.

It did come as a surprise to see Dave not take its coverage of the World Trophy into 2017. Was there an offer on the table from them? We may never know, but the BDO should be looking to renew their interest in their product as a matter of high importance.

Front Runner has been useful for the BDO this year, they’ve shown plenty of their events, which usually do not get any televised coverage, but for an event like the World Trophy to be truly considered as a major then it needs to have better coverage than it did this year.

Getting a venue sorted earlier would also help too, as it would give the BDO more time to really push ticket sales and give it the big event feel that they are looking for. LTD

LORRAINE IS ON THE WAY UP Words Dave McNally

W

ith the HAL Masters, Welsh Open and the England Open recently added to her roll of honour this year, LoveTheDarts magazine managed to find a break in Lorraine Winstanley’s hectic schedule to uncover a bit more about the BDO women’s current world number five.

After congratulating Lorraine on her recent victories and current form, was she pleased with how the year had gone so far?

“Thank you, and yes, I’m playing well and really pleased with the way I’m playing but it is important for me to keep up my consistency,” she says.

So Lorraine, where did all this begin, the darts and the rise to prominence as a familiar face on the circuit?

“I worked in a local pub where I often had to do the quiet afternoon shifts so I’d use these periods to have a throw.

“I soon realised I wasn’t too bad at it and after joining my local league I managed to progress from playing local league to super league onto county level and then eventually getting the call up for England.

“I currently do most of the tour now.

One of the earliest memories was being made to mark all night using the chalk because I couldn’t subtract, I have a lot to be thankful for being made to do that as my maths is much better now (laughs).”

So, with Lorraine now fully established on the BDO circuit and with the hard work paying dividends, what next? What does she want to achieve or be remembered for?

“My ultimate goal is to become world champion; I’d definitely like to be remembered for that.”

Lorraine has obviously battled through the ranks to become an icon associated with women’s darts, but what of her darting heroes?

“Years ago watching darts on the television I looked up to Trina Gulliver. She’s not 10 times world champion for nothing.

“She was the face of ladies darts back then and now it feels surreal; going from watching her on the TV to playing against the top ladies in the sport and myself being on TV. “If I’m being honest it’s a dream come true really.”

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however, it would not prove necessary against “Mighty Mike”.

“Jackpot” secured holds of throw in the second, fourth and sixth legs to keep himself at level pegging, the latter coming thanks to a clutch 12

first nine darts, to secure an 11-dart break of throw and overthrow the Dutch darting tyrant.

Had this match taken place on stage, it would have thrown any of the capacity crowds for which Lewis and “MVG” play each week into an uproar, as the players combined to throw 13 180s and played 11

It can have a huge impact on a personal and professional level to stay at the top of the sport, with dedication, travelling and commitment required to gain ranking points. Something that Lorraine is well aware of.

“I’ve sacrificed time with my family, it costs a fortune and you lose out on sleep, eat rubbish food; but what’s not to love about it? I’m only joking.

“It is hard being away from home so much but my family know that it’s what I do, it’s not going to be forever so I’ll enjoy it whilst I can.”

A lot of darts players from not just the UK agree with Lorraine when it comes to travelling, especially those based outside of Europe.

“Yes, it (the travelling) really does take it out of you.” So what about preparations then, with the touring having an impact; do you have to prioritise how you get ready for these tournaments?

“For the TV events, I obviously put more hours of practice on the board in the run up to these but I tend to just settle on my usual routine and try not to deviate too much.”

Even though you are now in the darting spotlight? “(laughs) no, nothing’s changed, I still do my usual routine.”

Surely nerves must come into play in the bigger ranking events, do you tend to suffer?

“Yes I suffer with nerves and that’s where the wine plays its role (laughs).”

“TO BE PLAYING AGAINST THE TOP LADIES ON TV IS LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE” We quickly move on to women’s sport in general with the lack of exposure at the forefront of the conversation.

“There’s never enough exposure for the women’s game and that makes it difficult for getting sponsorship,” admits Lorraine.

Without sponsorship it can have a financial burden on all players and makes it difficult to attend and compete in some events, so how does Lorraine cope with all of this?

“I currently do not have a money sponsor and it’s very difficult to be self-funded, with the cost of fuel, flights and hotels constantly rising it’s getting more and more difficult and a real effort for so many on the tours.”

Despite the struggles involved, Lorraine gets to travel around the globe; but what of her favourite venue? Is there a certain place that is special to her?

“I love the Scottish Open. That will always be a special place for me as it’s where I won my first major tournament.

“The Spa at Bridlington is also special as that’s where I made my ► lovethedarts 41

Feature Interview ◄ debut for England. It doesn’t really matter to me where I play; you will always perform better if you’re comfortable in your surroundings.

“There are some venues I really don’t like and I never seem to do well there.”

Lorraine has become a household name amongst fans of darts and within the BDO in particular, so has she been getting recognised more often?

“I do sometimes (laughs). I have been recognised in the toilet in a service station on the motorway.”

So what about the rivalry amongst the women on the tour?

“We all get on, well pretty much, some better than others like in all walks of life.

“I’ve got my best mate Anastasia (Dobromyslova) but in general, we are a nice friendly little circle.”

Darts has moved on significantly over the last 10 years and the women’s game has been no exception.

Lorraine thinks that a mixed tournament with the men and women competing together would be a good idea, suggesting that a combined tournament would be more than welcome.

“It would be great, I love competing against the men, and it sets up a whole new challenge.”

So, who is better Lorraine, you or your husband Dean, a former finalist at Lakeside who until the end of last year was playing on the PDC circuit. “(laughs), me at the moment, Dean is struggling with his shoulder.”

Finally Lorraine, what advice, if any, do you have for women trying to break through in darts, especially with the stigma that some attach to it?

“Believe in yourself, we all started somewhere. I remember watching the Lakeside on TV years ago and thinking I could do that.

“I’ve been there seven times now, what can I say?

“If you want something badly enough you can make it happen with some hard work.” LTD 42 lovethedartsmag.com

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Darts Around the World

DARTS AROUND THE WORLD

VAN GERWEN HAS MENTAL EDGE After surviving six match darts to beat Peter Wright in a last-leg decider and successfully retain the Betway Premier League title, Michael van Gerwen says he believes he has a ‘mental advantage’ over his rival.

The world number one fought back from 3-0 and 7-2 down to snatch an 11-10 win over Wright in the final at The O2 Arena, in London, in May, and punished the UK Open champion for missing six match darts during a dramatic finale to the Premier League season.

The triumph saw van Gerwen win the Premier League title for a third time in five years since first being selected in 2013, with the Dutch ace believing his wealth of experience at

playing in, and winning, major finals proving to be decisive.

“He probably doesn’t know how it feels to have that pressure against him,” van Gerwen said. “He’s never beaten me in a really important game and I think this was one of those moments where I used that mental advantage.

“He’s a fantastic player, more steady and he’s one of the big boys now - but still I kept him off the big trophies!”

After 15 consecutive weeks of

touring the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands, this year’s Premier League season reached its conclusion with the semifinals and finals at The O2.

Joining van Gerwen and Wright in London were Gary Anderson and Phil Taylor, but it was the two who finished as the top two at the end of the league phase who would battle it out in the decider for the tournament record £250,000 first prize. lovethedarts 45

Darts Around the World PDC Floor Tournaments Review

By CHRISTOPHER KEMPF The third Development Tour weekend of 2017, hosted by Halle 39 in Hildesheim, served as a chance for young continental players to gain ground on their British rivals who were unwilling, or unable, to travel to Germany for events 9-12.

A few PDC tour card holders moreover, having won meagre amounts in the Players This top echelon Championships, putofinyoung an players includes Kenny Neyens, whose appearance to bolster their bank balance. exploits on the tour include one title, One player falling into both categories was Jeffrey de Zwaan, a young Dutch talent struggling to maintain his place on the PDC circuit that he secured at Q-School in 2015.

His triumph in event 11 put him £2,000 in the black for one morning’s work, helping to push him up to 11th place on the Development Tour Order of Merit.

De Zwaan’s countryman Mike van Duivenbode and 16-year-old Austrian prodigy Rusty-Jake Rodriguez both knocked out multiple top-10 Development Tour players en route to their titles, including whitewashes of Adam Hunt and Luke Humphries respectively.

BDO wunderkind Justin van Tergouw reached three consecutive quarter-finals on the weekend, turning around what had been a The Challenge Tour added four new champions on the 27th and 28th of May, including one, Luke Humphries, who has earned a title and a high position on the leaderboard on both this circuit and the Development Tour.

Nathan Aspinall put on a display in event nine, knocking out three Challenge Tour top-10 players en route to a title blow out of Radoslaw Szaganski, including Wayne Jones 53 in the quarter-finals and Mark Dudbridge by the same score in his next game.

After Aspinall crashed out in the third round against Peter Hudson, the stage was set for Burnley’s Robert Rickwood to eliminate Hudson and Alex Roy to achieve his first-ever 46 lovethedartsmag.com

disappointing 2017 campaign for him in the PDC. Despite another respectable weekend that saw him reach third place in leg difference, Ted Evetts still has yet to take home the winner’s share of the prize fund.

A last-leg decider loss to Rodriguez in event 12 was the latest in a string of near misses for Evetts for title glory.

The hegemony of the top four, however, has remained untroubled by a weekend that witnessed the naming of three new Development Tour champions.

Englishman Luke Humphries added a Hildesheim title to two others he has won on the tour, reaching the number one spot, and Adam Hunt (finalist in event 10), Kenny Neyens and Dimitri van den Bergh (finalist in event 9) all supplemented their sizeable earnings.

DEVELOPMENT TOUR Player Earnings Leg +/L. Humphries £7,450 +106 A. Hunt £6,800 +126 D. van den Bergh £6,250 +106 K. Neyens £6,150 +123 R. Meikle £3,550 +67 S. Lennon £3,350 +77 T. Evetts £3,050 +107 M. van Duivenbode £3,050 +47 Ru-Ja. Rodriguez £2,700 +51 H. Ward £2,650 +39 professional darts title after a quarter-final appearance earlier that same day.

Players Championship finalist and Huddersfield postman Peter Jacques became the latest title debutant the following day, but only just - Jones pushed him to a deciding leg in the final.

Jones’ loss to Aaron Dyer in the afternoon event that Sunday did not provide enough impetus for the twotime Challenge Tour champion to overcome Humphries, however, as the versatile Berkshire star overcame World Championship veteran Andy Smith in another last-leg decider.

All this recent action did little, however, to trouble leaders Jones, who built up an enormous lead with

anti-social to play webcam darts against real human beings) and then the rest.

It is this rest period that I am learning is so important. In the past I

jobs tend to be left before the frantic getting ready to go to founder of the Malaysia Darts Corporation. He told me how he is

x two titles in April and supplemented his winnings in May with appearances in two quarter-finals and the event 11 final, and Gloucestershire’s Dyer, whose two event triumphs placed him firmly in second place.

CHALLENGE TOUR Player Earnings Leg +/W. Jones £6,400 +132 A. Dyer £4,950 +72 L. Humphries £3,500 +78 L. Evans £3,350 +65 M. Frost £3,300 +73 R. Rickwood £3,200 +58 P. Jacques £3,200 +58 M. Dudbridge £2,950 +34 N. Aspinall £2,850 +65 P. Milford £2,650 +47

League reaches its conclusion with at The O2 Arena this month. We look e classic matches from years gone by Words Alex Moss

lovethedarts 47

Darts Around the World Spotlight on Russia

TEAM RUSSIA BREAKS THROUGH TO THE QUARTER-FINALS OF PDC WORLD CUP Boris Koltsov and Aleksandr Oreshkin chats to Chistopher Kempf before, during and after their World Cup success

I

games to the likes of Raymond Smith f you needed an introduction to anti-social to play webcam darts and Scott McKenzie, to namedrop a the world of Russian darts, you against real human beings) and then couple). got it at the Betway World Cup the rest.

At the turn of the year, after a jolly of Darts earlier this month. As It is this rest period that I am The Form Rankings attempts determine, based on actual efficiency in winning legs, to what extent dartsI uptoback in Blighty, I returned back to BorisLoveTheDarts Koltsov and Aleksandr Oreshkin learning is so important.

In the past players are or undervalued

by Korea their rank in the of Merit. looking forPDC workOrder - unfortunately threw for theovervalued match to reach their had been known to thrown darts for To do this, we my previous employer was not keen first-ever quarter-final, Sky Sports five hours non-stop without even ,commentator and the “sandbox average”, a player would without an opponent over an infinite number onaverage me taking four days offrecord to Wayne Mardle the estimated pausing to relieve myself. of legs. represent their country. cautioned: “Russia are not to be Taking a proper rest makes the It was then I decided to get a partmistaken for an outfit that think they practice more realistic. The rest is time job and full my spare time with can’t win. They can… so why not also sometimes the trickiest thing to pounding the lipstick.

Russia in the final? They’ve played do, as win or lose you want to keep Money is going to be awfully tight some stunning stuff.” going and beat the computer again, for a while, but I could not resist.

No match was more stunning than or in most cases, try and get revenge.

In a year’s time I will probably have the Russian pair’s whitewash of the I fill this rest period with enjoyable to go back full-time, but I really don’t Australian team, in which they put jobs; perusing darts forums, xforward one of the tournament’s want to be thinking about that right cleansing etc and not so enjoyable xhighest doubles averages up to that now! jobs; doing the dishes, hanging out So this is my life right now… darts, point. the laundry etc. x The excitement of watching the darts, darts! From 8am until Needless to say the not so xRussians play was enhanced by the 11.30am every weekday I hit the enjoyable jobs tend to be left before xx curiosity of Oreshkin’s unique the frantic getting ready to go to xthrowing style and the exuberant xcelebrations of Koltsov, who reacted, xduring their pairs match, to every dart provides excellent support.” appropriate score and I would hit the xhis partner was throwing.

“Boris is the leader of our team,” doubles.” Both players agree with x But more fundamentally, they Oreshkin insists, “but if necessary I Michael van Gerwen that the World xdemonstrated their prowess both as can also fulfil this function.”

Cup should be a doubles event only, xserious darts players and as a strong, Indeed, as they were to as it encourages the formation of xwell-balanced doubles threat. demonstrate later, one player’s strongly-bonded national teams. strong finishing in one match was Though the 28-year-old Muscovite In spite of their mutual deference’s, compensated by heavy scoring in (Koltsov) and the 55-year-old man commentators have typically another, as Oreshkin had the high from St Petersburg (Oreshkin) differ identified Koltsov as the stronger average in the first doubles match enormously in age, throwing styles player, with a natural throwing style and secured a bullseye 81 checkout and on-stage demeanours, the and power scoring ability that has in the second, while Koltsov hit all unlikely pairing are five-time Russian helped him win six Russian Tour titles five doubles to defeat Hong Kong and national doubles champions, and and reach the PDC World then took over power scoring duties both players attribute the other’s Championship twice, in 2015 and against Australia. contributions to the overall strength 2017.

After downing Royden Lam and Kai of the team.

Koltsov played in Q-School at the Fen Leung, Koltsov explained that “Aleksandr is a really strong player, start of this year, falling just two wins this de facto division of labour made and I feel really good playing with short of winning a tour card on the the team successful: “Sasha him,” says Koltsov. “If one of us is second day, but remains uncertain (Oreshkin) would set up an not feeling well, the other always over the prospect of moving to England to play professional darts full time.

Igor Dzasokhov, president of Russia’s darts governing body (and a former Russian champion himself), remarks that Russia’s sports ministry offers travel stipends and subsidies

“WE DON’T WANT OUR PLAYERS XXX - XXXXXX XXXXXX

“ALEKSANDR IS A REALLY STRONG PLAYER. IF ONE OF US IS NOT FEELING WELL THE OTHER ALWAYS PROVIDES EXCELLENT SUPPORT” 48 lovethedartsmag.com

for youth players, but not for adults.

The constant travelling needed to reach competitive heights puts a great burden on darters living in Russia, he says.

If the opportunity to play full-time on the PDC circuit arises, Koltsov says he will take it, but choosing a new life for the sake of darts naturally remains a difficult decision.

Koltsov attributes relentless practicing of finishes - especially sixdart checkouts of finishes between 121 and 170 - to his confidence and past performances, but wasn’t swayed by the suggestion that an upset of Australia by Denmark would make the Russians’ route to success in Frankfurt a straighter one.

“All the players that come to the World Cup are strong players,” he said. “To say that Australia played poorly (in their first round match) would be inaccurate - Denmark played greatly.”

Without much experience against top foreign players in televised tournaments, he explains, all they can do is play well and hope for the best.

Although a 95 average serves as a personal benchmark for Koltsov, he is quick to assert that “averages don’t matter, hitting the doubles is most important. You only gain experience from playing the strongest opponents.

“If we are lucky and our darts fly accurately, I will be very happy.”

For a man with only two previous experiences of playing matches on TV, Oreshkin similarly views highprofile matches as a test of concentration (“You have to ignore the crowd completely,” he says) and imperturbability.

Oreshkin never formally learned to play darts, which accounts for his unusual ‘flicking’ throwing style.

The rings on his left hand, he says, help to stabilise his throw. “I am trying to change it,” he admits, since the consistency of his laborious throw, even with annular enhancements, is difficult to maintain in a long-format match.

The left-handed Russian achieved a brief moment of fame in 2015 when he took a 2-0 lead in sets over Mervyn King, hitting an emphatic 134 checkout to take the second set.

Thinking back to his loss after reaching such a commanding

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however, it would not prove necessary against “Mighty Mike”.

“Jackpot” secured holds of throw in the second, fourth and sixth legs to keep himself at level pegging, the latter coming thanks to a clutch 12 darter on an 84 finish after “MVG” missed double 12, just to the outside, for the perfect leg.

That is what it takes to beat the

first nine darts, to secure an 11-dart break of throw and overthrow the Dutch darting tyrant.

Had this match taken place on stage, it would have thrown any of the capacity crowds for which Lewis and “MVG” play each week into an uproar, as the players combined to throw 13 180s and played 11

position in the match, Oreshkin is remarkably sanguine.

“I was disappointed, of course, but this is a natural feeling after losing a match.” The important thing, he says, is for a stage-and-screen debutant to get used to the crowd and bright lights of the stage to translate the experience of losing into future success.

On the floor in Moscow, however, where this year he won his first EADC Pro Tour title by defeating Koltsov, and reached the finals of three other events, Oreshkin is a regular feature and a top player on the tour circuit of the EADC, the governing body of professional darts in the former Soviet Union.

On beating Koltsov, the longrunning Russian number one player, Oreshkin downplays his accomplishments.

“Beating him means nothing to me,” he said. “He was not lucky that day, that’s all. I was just happy to have qualified (due to that win) for the World Cup.” After downing Hong Kong, Oreshkin acknowledges his difficulties on the doubles but assured us that “I can rely on Boris 100 per cent - if I don’t hit the doubles, he will do it for sure.”

It was not such a problem for him the day after as he defeated Kyle Anderson 4-2, capitalising on the

Australian’s mistakes to put his team one point ahead.

In the quarter-finals, however, Team Wales swept them aside - only Oreshkin managed to take a leg off his opponent, Gerwyn Price - and the Russians’ performances did not match up to their exploits against the Australians in the previous round.

With the defeat behind them and soft-tip tournaments in Italy and Japan coming up, Oreshkin and Koltsov are already thinking ahead to preparing for the Russian qualifiers for the 2018 PDC World Championship, where we may get another helping of one of those two Russian stars.

It was the second round duel with Australia that demonstrated the best of the Russian team, especially Oreshkin.

In Russian-language remarks on Sky Sports, Koltsov pointed to his partner saying: “he’s a champion, he did it all.”

As for Oreshkin, he summarised perfectly what the Russian team did in Frankfurt: “I haven’t anything to say. I just don’t have the words. I threw it all out on the board.”

Thank you to @Berlin180 (Twitter) and Maxim Gladkov for their help as interpreters, and to president Igor Dzasokhov for making the players available for an interview lovethedarts 49

Darts Around the World

AUSSIE DELIGHT FOR MACHIN IN TROPHY Peter Machin became the first Australian to win a BDO major in 15 years after beating Martin Phillips to win the World Trophy last month.

The Australian, who lost out to Darryl Fitton in the final of last year’s event, went one step further this year as he battled back from 5-2 down in the final to scoop the £8,000 first prize.

Machin fired in three big checkouts of 150, 149 and 141 on his way to winning the final and the title, becoming the first player from Australia to win a BDO major since his compatriot Tony David’s victory in the Zuiderduin Masters back in 2002.

“This is beyond my wildest dreams to be able to win this event,” Machin said.

“I only knew four weeks ago I was going to come across to it, and my wife was unsure if she was going to come with me.

“I just wanted to give her the experience. I’ve been playing in Australia for the last seven years and I got the opportunity to come here last year, and I just wanted to give her a taste of what I’ve been able to do.

“To come here today with her by my side and win this title, it’s beyond my wildest dreams.”

As well as the £8,000 first prize, Machin returns to Australia with an extra £1,000 in his pocket after hitting the tournament’s highest checkout, a 170, during his 7-4 win against Martin Adams in the quarterfinals.

Machin then fought back from 4-0 down to squeeze past Glen Durrant’s conqueror Wesley Harms 8-6 in the semi-finals, while Phillips enjoyed wins over Conan Whitehead and Nick Kenny on the final day to reach is first World Trophy final.

In the ladies event, Aileen de Graaf

clinched her first World Trophy title after beating former champion Anastasia Dobromyslova 6-2 in the final.

De Graaf had beaten Anca Zijlstra 5-2 in an all-Dutch clash in the semifinals, while Dobromyslova edged past ladies world number one Deta Hedman 5-4 in the other semi-final. ◊ Peter Machin is to make his bwin Grand Slam of Darts debut in November after being confirmed alongside Glen Durrant and Danny

Noppert as three of the eight BDO qualifiers for the cross-code event.

The Australian won the recent World Trophy to secure his first big title, while BDO world champion Durrant and runner-up Noppert have also secured automatic places in this year’s tournament.

The trio will be joined by the next top five players from the BDO men’s rankings as at September 30, and currently includes Scott Mitchell, Jamie Hughes and Mark McGeeney. lovethedarts 51

PDC TOP 20

Form Rankings

By CHRISTOPHER KEMPF The LoveTheDarts Form Rankings attempts to determine, based on actual efficiency in winning legs, to what extent darts players are overvalued or undervalued by their rank in the PDC Order of Merit.

To do this, we construct a rolling 180-leg dataset from players’ stage matches that is updated with each additional leg played (and, consequently, each additional leg dropped out of the rankings).

From this data we can estimate how well a given player would throw if he played out every leg until he hit a winning double.

This provides us a controlled statistical situation in which we can directly compare players’ strengths, weaknesses and overall form.

In the table, those qualities are expressed by the average number of darts it would take each player to complete this hypothetical leg, stage by stage, and the “sandbox average”, the estimated average a player would record without an opponent over an infinite number of legs.

Gary Anderson may be the world number two, but he is playing better at the moment than Michael van Gerwen, as he demonstrated in an authoritative 11-7 defeat of the Dutchman in Dubai, averaging 111 en route to the title. x With van Gerwen not far ahead of xmany other top players, a few more strong performances from Peter xWright or Dave Chisnall could put xMVG’s current form within their xx grasp. x May was also a superb month for xMensur Suljovic, who reached the xfinal of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy, xbefore winning every leg he xcontested in World Cup singles play xin June, thus rising through our xrankings to become the fourth xstrongest player.

The man who defeated Suljovic in Gibraltar was Michael Smith, whose average has jumped two points, within striking distance of the top 10, while world number five James Wade has slipped to 18th on form.

“WE DON’T WANT OUR PLAYERS XXX - XXXXXX XXXXXX

x x

x

x

x x x x LOVETHEDARTS RANKINGS - PDCx TOP 20 A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

B 2 1 3 7 6 18 8 10 12 15 16 13 4 11 20 17 9 5 18 14

C Gary Anderson 9.64 Michael van Gerwen 9.85 Peter Wright 10.22 Mensur Suljovic 10.13 Dave Chisnall 10.06 Daryl Gurney 10.41 10.14 Phil Taylor Raymond van Barneveld 10.51 10.45 Kim Huybrechts 10.89 Benito van de Pas 10.74 Simon Whitlock 10.71 Ian White Adrian Lewis 10.80 Michael Smith 10.19 Mervyn King 10.99 Gerwyn Price 10.66 Jelle Klaasen 11.32 James Wade 11.08 Alan Norris 10.91 Robert Thornton 10.99

D 3.90 3.86 3.82 4.05 4.00 4.03 4.33 4.01 4.17 4.14 4.28 4.66 4.00 4.40 4.29 4.31 4.41 4.57 4.48 4.54

x

x

x

E 2.58 2.42 2.61 2.64 2.78 2.79 2.83 2.82 2.77 2.49 2.52 2.21 2.89 3.15 2.62 3.07 2.69 2.94 3.43 3.32

F 16.12 16.14 16.65 16.82 16.85 17.23 17.29 17.34 17.39 17.52 17.55 17.59 17.69 17.74 17.89 19.04 18.42 18.59 18.83 18.84

G 93.23 93.13 90.28 89.36 89.23 87.25 86.93 86.66 86.45 85.77 85.66 85.46 84.95 84.75 84.00 83.30 81.60 80.84 79.81 79.77

Column A: LoveTheDarts Form ranking Column B: PDC Order of Merit ranking Column C: Estimated no. of darts needed from 501 to reach a three-figure finish Column D: Estimated no. of darts needed from first finish to reach a double Column E: Estimated no. of darts needed from first dart at double to check out Column F: Estimated no. of darts needed in total from 501 to finish Column G: Estimated long-run “sandbox average” Co lA

Co

Col A B

XX

Col A lovethedarts 53 B Col A

The Final Leg Chris Mason

T

he BDO have recently announced how they will be handing out their eight invitations for this year’s Grand Slam of Darts, and one player who many were surprised has missed out is the current ladies world champion Lisa Ashton.

Both organisations, the BDO and the PDC have their men’s game, while the BDO also have a women’s game which is getting better and better. The standard is getting better and better and I think the BDO have missed a trick in not picking Lisa for the Grand Slam this year.

It was a great opportunity for the BDO to put forward the other side of their organisation, which is the women’s game.

Yes, it would have been tough going for Lisa, but what a great advert it would have been for women’s darts and the BDO to have her there representing them.

It’s almost like a stab in the back for women’s darts to be honest. Don’t tell me there’s eight people that deserve their place in the Grand Slam, that play BDO darts, ahead of Lisa Ashton. I find that mind blowing,

I think they’ve made a bit of a mistake there, in terms of promoting their product, which is obviously something they do have a problem with at the moment.

Barry Hearn got on board with the PDC and with great marketing and foresight that’s why the PDC is so successful. They’ve created a brand which the TV companies like, and the BDO don’t seem to understand that.

I honestly think it’s a missed opportunity.

Both organisations have men’s darts, both organisations effectively have youth darts, but what the PDC doesn’t have is ladies darts, so that’s something the BDO could use to their advantage.

I’ve been saying for a while that the women’s game could be something the BDO could focus a lot more

“I THINK THE BDO HAVE MADE A BIG MISTAKE BY NOT PICKING LISA ASHTON FOR THE GRAND SLAM THIS YEAR” 54 lovethedartsmag.com

on, in terms of their product and brand.

All TV companies look for something that’s not been done, but for the BDO it just seems to be put on the back of the men’s game, and I honestly think that’s a huge mistake.

Hopefully it is something the BDO can look at again next year and maybe consider putting the ladies world champion in the Grand Slam.