Friday September 22 2017
Mensur Mania! 40/1 pre-tournament outsider Mensur Suljovic storms to Champions League title win, pages 2-3 LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC
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Friday September 22 2017 ● LOVE THE DARTS
Suljovic stuns the world to Alex Moss Editor Few people would have predicted that Phil Taylor would beat Michael van Gerwen twice in two days on his way to winning the inaugural Unibet Champions League of Darts last year. Even fewer people would have tipped Mensur Suljovic, a 40/1 pre-tournament outsider, to do the double over Gary Anderson, the world number two, on his way to claiming a maiden televised title in his Champions League debut. But that is exactly what transpired over the weekend at the Motorpoint Arena, in Cardiff, as the big Austrian shocked the darting world to win the second staging of the invitational event and £100,000 in prize money. Wins over the former back-to-back world champion Anderson bookended a dream weekend for the world number seven, who finished top of Group B after following up his first victory over the Scot with triumphs against world number three Peter Wright and Dave Chisnall. A thrilling semi-final with Raymond van Barneveld ended with one of the best finishes in the sport’s history. Van Barneveld, trailing 10-9, scored 150 to leave 32 after nine darts and put himself in a strong position to break the Suljovic throw and then have the darts in the decider. But this was Suljovic’s weekend. The Serbian-born thrower produced arguably the checkout of the season, a 160, treble 20, treble 20 and tops, to knock out the five-time world champion and reach only his second televised final, and second in the space of less than 12 months. An 11-9 win put him through to the final, where he met Anderson for the second time that weekend. The result may have been a lot closer than the 10-3 thrashing Suljovic handed out on Saturday afternoon, but the outcome was still the same, Suljovic victorious and Anderson on the losing side. “I feel perfect,” Suljovic said. “I never
thought I could win this tournament.” It was a line which the Austrian used throughout the whole weekend; when asked after beating van Barneveld in the semi-finals if he believed he could win the tournament, his reply was simply: no. “Gary is a brilliant player, a gentleman and I’ve got so much respect for him but I played well and I never gave up. “I played well and was focused on my game but I never thought I could beat Gary twice. “I couldn’t dream of being in the semifinals but I gave it my best and fought so hard. “I was so happy to get to the final against the best players in the world.” Whether the Champions League, an event still in its infancy but growing in stature as the only current darts tournament being shown on the BBC, is classed as a ‘major’ is very much up for debate, but there is no getting away from how impressive this win is for Suljovic. To finish with the trophy in an event restricted to the top eight players in the world takes some doing, and he did it by winning five matches out of five. His absence from this year’s Premier League came as a surprise to many, but as Anderson pointed out in his postmatch interview with the BBC, it was Suljovic who turned down the chance to play in the event. Now that he has a TV title under his belt, and with his popularity among darts fan now seemingly at an all-time high, could 2018 be the year that Suljovic makes his debut in the Premier League? Next year will see the Premier League go to Germany for the first time, which goes in Suljovic’s favour with him being the highest-ranked German-speaking player on the circuit, but it does feel like a spot is there for Suljovic and it is up to him if he wants it. Based on his heroics in Cardiff, though, it would be a shame not to see him in the line-up. There are still a lot of darts to be thrown before the end of the season, but Suljovic right now holds all the aces.
“Mensur was the player of the tournament” Alex Moss Gary Anderson conceded he was beaten by ‘the player of the tournament’ as Mensur Suljovic pipped him to the Unibet Champions League of Darts title on Sunday night. The world number two bounced back from a 10-3 thrashing from the Austrian in his opening game of the group stage with wins over Dave Chisnall and Peter Wright, the latter of which saw Anderson
survive eight missed match darts, to progress to the semi-finals. An eight-leg winning run from 2-0 down helped the two-time world champion see off Phil Taylor 11-6 and set up a rematch with Suljovic in the final, but once again it was the 40/1 pretournament outsider who came out on top, winning 11-9, to deny Anderson the £100,000 top prize. “Mensur has been brilliant and you can see how much it means to him,” the Scot
reflected. “He’s been phenomenal for the last two years and he’s been the best player this weekend. “He deserves it - he’s been the player of the tournament and smashed the lot of us. “I did alright in the final and I’d have loved to have made it 10-all and then see what happened in the last leg. “But I had three clear darts at double 10 and made a complete mess of it, so we’ll never know.”
LOVE THE DARTS â—? Friday September 22 2017
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win the Champions League LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC/BBC
Sheer delight: Mensur Suljovic clenches his fists in celebration after winning the Champions League of Darts on Sunday night
WAS THIS THE CHECKOUT OF THE YEAR? In the 20th leg of their semi-final epic on Sunday night, Raymond van Barneveld appeared to be in pole position to break Mensur Suljovic’s throw and force the match into a deciding leg. The Dutchman followed up two treble 20s with a treble 10 to leave 32 after nine darts, with Suljovic stepping up to the oche with a 160 checkout for the match. The Austrian fired in two treble 20s before finding the top of the double 20 bed with his final dart to win the match and progress through to his second televised final.
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Friday September 22 2017 ● LOVE THE DARTS LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC
Battle of the Scots: World Cup team-mates Gary Anderson and Peter Wright battled it out for a place in the semi-finals of the Champions League
Ando advances as Wright blunders at the finish line Match of the Week: Gary Anderson 10 Peter Wright 9 (Champions League of Darts Group B) Christopher Kempf In the end, it didn’t really matter how many 180s Peter Wright threw (six) or what his average was (100.15), or that he took out a Shanghai 120 finish under pressure in the tenth leg. Those statistics are best suited to summarise the match in terms of overall performance and to elaborate upon the exploits of the victor. Had Wright averaged 120 and thrown two dozen maximums, even that would barely have been noteworthy. That is because Wright, whose otherwise superlative 2017 campaign has been defined by the ignominy of missing six match darts to win the Premier League, stunned the darts world by missing eight more to crash out of the Champions League in agonising fashion on Sunday afternoon. Having reached a commanding position in the match by breaking throw in the 15th leg and taking a 9-7 lead, and needing only to hold his throw in the 18th leg to win the match, Wright showed no signs of playing conservatively, attacking the Gary Anderson throw with a 140 and
a 180, leaving himself 98 after nine darts thrown. Had Anderson, who also had 98 left after nine darts, not won the leg with his highest checkout of the match, completing an 11-darter, Wright might have ended the match right there. Moreover, with Anderson lagging well behind in the 18th leg and Wright seizing the initiative once again, the match appeared to be over. Wright, who hit treble 20 with his 13th dart, set himself up with five darts to win the match from 36 as Anderson had not left a finish. Two very near misses on the double 18 - one outside, one inside and close to the double four - seemed unlikely to shake his resolve to win the match. There is an intense pressure on a player not to go inside the double nine once the double 18 is split, and though Wright, facing the possibility of Anderson taking out 108 to steal the leg, nearly struck the outside wire with his third match dart, his fourth and fifth strayed further and further to the outside of the green sisal. When the Flying Scotsman pulled his dart at tops for a 108 finish, Wright gained a sort of reprieve - but the pressure continued to mount on him to get the job done. With his first dart, nearly a centimetre to the inside of
double nine, Wright split his score and saw his possibility of three more match darts dwindle to two. With his final panicked dart, Wright struck well to the outside of double four, nearly closer to double 13 than to his target. With that, Anderson finished the leg and forced a last-leg decider - on his throw and on his terms. Match dart number eight, if it had hit its target of double 12, would have completed a 101 checkout and silenced any talks of the previous seven. But it did not; Anderson returned to the board to strike tops and end the match. Wright, in disbelief, tossed his darts to the floor. His second Champions League campaign had ended in a second elimination from his group. This was, however, an unranked group match in Cardiff, not a final in London with a trophy and £250,000 on the line. Had Wright gone on to lose his semifinal anyway, he would have been a mere £10,000 richer - and no closer, in terms of ranking event earnings, to his goal of becoming the world’s number one ranked player. The symbolism of missing dart after dart to beat the world’s current number one and two players indicates that his goal remains further out of reach than the Order of Merit suggests.
LOVE THE DARTS ● Friday September 22 2017
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Diogo seeks Ally Pally spot PDC EUROPE/LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC
Alex Moss Editor Diogo Portela is hoping to cap what has been the best year of his darts career so far by qualifying for the William Hill World Darts Championship for the first time tomorrow. The UK-based Brazilian is back in his home country this weekend to compete in the South and Central American Qualifier for the prestigious tournament, which this year boasts a record prize fund of £1,800,000. The winner of Saturday’s qualifier will pocket a minimum of £4,500 at the Alexandra Palace at the end of the year, and Portela is hoping he will be the man to come through the qualifier and represent Brazil in the biggest tournament of the year. “I’m really confident, to be honest, for the qualifier,” he said. “I’m hoping that the best comes out of it (for me). I’m quite confident and hopefully I can bring the name of Brazil back to the TV. “It’s the biggest tournament in the world. If you want to play in one tournament it would be that one.” It has been a life-changing 2017 so far for the Brazilian. After narrowly missing out on a tour card at the final day of Qualifying School at the start of the year, Portela made his debut on the European Tour, beating home favourite Martin Schindler in the first round of the German Darts Championship in March. He then broke even more ground in June, partnering Alexandre Sattin to represent Brazil in the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt. The duo edged past Switzerland in the first round, before bowing out to the Germans in the last 16. “It all started at Q-School at the beginning of this year,” he explains. “In the last day of Q-School I had a really good run and went to the last 16, so I was two games away from getting the card. “But Matt Porter (PDC chief executive) was following me through the day, and I didn’t know who he was to be fair! When I lost the match he came to me and said he was really proud and he liked the way I played. “He said he’d love to see players from South America like me to come over and give the darts something extra, something different. “And then we started to chat about what we could do. I qualified for the first European Tour which helped a lot. After the World Cup, I started to wonder what we could do for the World Championship. “I had spoken with loads of
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directors in South America and Central America, to see if we had a chance to do a qualifier. They said ‘yes, it would be perfect’ and Matt said ‘let’s do it.’” The qualifier takes place at the Girasol Plaza Hotel in Palmas tomorrow and registration was open to players from 30 countries across South and Central America. But the chance to be the first player from the region to play in the World Championship since 2011 is one which has not attracted the response Portela was hoping for. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have as many players as we expected,” he said. “The registration closed and there were only 26 players registered, which kind of upset me with all the effort being put in. “It is a low turnout. I was expecting 50-60 players and we didn’t have that.” Of the 26 players who have entered the qualifier, most are from Brazil, while Argentina, Chile, Guiana and Trinidad & Tobago are among the other countries to be represented. Portela explains that there are two unexpected factors which have contributed to the low turnout. The first being that most of the countries had already spent their budget on sending players to the WDF World Cup in Japan next month. The second stems around the
location of the qualifier, with two to three connections needed to get to the city. Portela is optimistic about the future of the qualifier, though, and says early plans are already in the pipeline to ensure an increase in numbers next year. “If we move forward next year, if the PDC do the qualifier next year, we would try to do it in Rio,” he says. “We are already in negotiations with clubs and hotels for next year, believing that the PDC will do it again. So hopefully next year, with a little bit more experience and with this qualifier going well and getting the exposure at the end of the year, hopefully next year will be bigger.” The last few months may have been quiet for Portela in terms of big stage appearances, but he has certainly been keeping busy on the circuit. “I got to a semi-final on the Challenge Tour the other weekend and to be honest I couldn’t have asked for much better preparation for the qualifier,” he said. “Since the end of June, beginning of July, I quit my job and got a really good sponsor behind me, the Darts Performance Centre. “I managed to quit my job and focus 100 per cent on darts. I’ve been putting five to six hours a day in for three to four days a week and then playing in competitions during the weekends. “My game has improved a lot in the last two to three months. I won four local competitions in a row recently, which is something incredible for me. I’ve never done something like that before.”
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Friday September 22 2017 ● LOVE THE DARTS
Target go a ‘step beyond’ on product launch day TWITTER (TARGET/GARRY PLUMMER)
Alex Moss Editor “Have you enjoyed it?” An inquisitive Phil Taylor asks me as Target’s product launch heads into the evening hours. I’m sat in close proximity to the greatest player ever to pick up a dart, one of the best sportsman in the history of British sport, and here he is chatting to me to get my thoughts on the day so far. To say I had enjoyed it would be an understatement. My first taste of a product launch by a darts manufacturer brought me to the classy Manor of Groves Hotel, in Sawbridgeworth, on Tuesday afternoon and a chance to get a first look at the new range of darts and other related equipment Target are bringing out to the darting world. The excitement began to build as players, guests and media invitees gathered ahead of being ushered to take their seats for the presentation. It felt like being in a cinema as the visual effects on screen, coupled with the surround sound, gave off the feel of a film, but in fact we were being guided through all of Target’s new products, from the various steel and soft tip creations to new dart cases and shirts. There was something there for everyone. During the presentation we were also reminded of the players signed up to Target, including this year’s two notable signings Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross. Then we came on to what was my highlight
Launch day: Players and invited guests were sat in this room for the presentation, while Phil Taylor’s darts used during the Pro-Am later in the day were put up for a giveaway online
of the whole presentation: a fitting tribute to the soon-to-beretiring Taylor. Players both past and present, as well as a number of other familiar faces, including Barry Hearn, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Kevin Keegan all spoke of there admiration for Taylor and his achievements during his illustrious
career. Talk then moved on to what they will and won’t miss when Taylor has retired. Dave Chisnall’s reply, delivered in his typical dead-pan fashion, “I won’t miss him beating me” drew a good chuckle from the audience. Hearn then explained in the video how Taylor thinks his jokes and one-liners backstage are amusing, before the PDC chairman, followed by a few others, all remarked that they weren’t also raised a laugh too. The tribute finished with the players and officials, one by one, all thanking Taylor for what he has done for the sport of darts. The PDC’s lead MC, John McDonald, then at the conclusion of the
Results Unibet Champions League of Darts Cardiff: Group A: P Taylor bt A Lewis 10-7; R van Barneveld bt M van Gerwen 10-5; P Taylor bt R van Barneveld 10-6; M van Gerwen bt A Lewis 10-4; R van Barneveld bt A Lewis 10-2; P Taylor bt M van Gerwen 10-9. Pos 1 2 3 4
P Taylor (Q) R van Barneveld (Q) M van Gerwen A Lewis
P W 3 3 3 2 3 1 3 0
L 0 1 2 3
LD Pts +8 6 +9 4 0 2 -17 0
Group B: P Wright bt D Chisnall 10-5; M Suljovic bt
G Anderson 10-3; G Anderson bt D Chisnall 10-7; M Suljovic bt P Wright 10-8; M Suljovic bt D Chisnall 10-5; G Anderson bt P Wright 10-9. Pos 1 2 3 4
M Suljovic (Q) G Anderson (Q) P Wright D Chisnall
P W 3 3 3 2 3 1 3 0
L 0 1 2 3
LD Pts +14 6 -3 4 +2 2 -13 0
Semi-finals: M Suljovic bt R van Barneveld 11-9; G Anderson bt P Taylor 11-6. Final: M Suljovic bt G Anderson 11-9. Highest checkout: A Lewis 170 (vs M van Gerwen).
Unicorn Development Tour Barnsley: Event 13 Quarter-finals: H Ward bt L Budgen 5-2; R Griffin bt L Humphries 5-2; A Hunt bt J Cole 5-1; D van den Bergh bt J Smith 5-3. Semifinals: R Griffin bt H Ward 5-3; D van den Bergh bt A Hunt 5-3. Final: D van den Bergh bt R Griffin 5-4. Event 14 Quarter-finals: D van den Bergh bt A Hunt 5-4; C Bunse bt B van Peer 5-4; Ro-Jo Rodriguez bt S Groen 5-3; M van Duivenbode bt J van Tergouw 5-2. Semi-finals: D van den Bergh bt C Bunse 5-1; M van Duivenbode bt Ro-Jo Rodriguez 5-3. Final: M van Duivenbode bt D van den Bergh 53. Event 15 Quarter-finals: H Ward bt L Humphries 5-4; J van Tergouw bt R Roberts 5-3; N
LOVE THE DARTS ● Friday September 22 2017
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presentation, got the crowd to give their own applause to the 16-time world champion, before informing us of the draw for the Pro-Am, which would see Target players join up with amateurs in a straight knockout one leg doubles tournament during the rest of the afternoon. After watching the first couple of games, and seeing Adrian Lewis use what appeared to be three different sets of darts in consecutive throws, I had a look round at the new products which were on display. There were also three boards set up with some of the new darts sets on adjacent tables for guests to try out for themselves. With the sole aim of not trying to embarrass myself at the oche, (just in case one of the pros was watching!) I managed to rack up a few decent scores just throwing at the 20. The elusive 100 did not arrive, but I was satisfied with a top score of 85, while wearing a long sleeve shirt I might add. Only Co Stompe has mastered the long sleeve throw to my knowledge at the oche. As we got nearer towards the evening,
the Pro-Am reached its conclusion, with Stephen Bunting and his partner lifting the trophy. I heard it was the third time in four years that Bunting had won Target’s Pro-Am event too, he’ll be hoping the victory can perhaps transcend into some improved results on the circuit over the remaining few months of the season I’m sure. Into the evening, and by around 7pm we had all congregated to the hotel bar ahead of the buffet and drinks. A thank you must go to the guys at Target, who put on a free bar for the players and guests, a very kind gesture indeed! It was at this point I was joined by Taylor, who sat on the table next to me, and he was more than happy to oblige in signing autographs and having pictures with anyone who would ask. A great spread of food was put on by the hotel, with Taylor calling it a night a little while later, but not before I could shake his hand and wish him all the best for his final World Championship at the end of the year. What a story it would be for the 57year-old to end his career with a 17th world title! Of course, there will be 71
other players heading to Alexandra Palace in December hoping that will not be the case, and it is sure to be fascinating to see how the tournament unfolds, the last of Taylor’s playing career. Now joined by darts commentator (and TV star!) Dan Dawson at the bar, as well as the rising star Cross, it was great to hear the two of them tell stories of their time so far involved with the sport. It was Cross who won the Riley’s qualifier in Norwich to qualify for the UK Open last year, which would eventually lead him on to the path of the Pro Tour this year. I asked Cross how he thought I would now do in my darts career after reaching the second round of the same qualifier this year, but he didn’t hold out much hope! It was then Dawson’s turn to show off his talent at the oche, as we played on one of the two boards set up away from the dining tables, and I’m sure it will be a tale retold for many years to come. With Mensur Suljovic’s 160 checkout from the weekend still fresh in our minds, Dawson trumped it with a no-look double 13 to beat me in our encounter. He needs to work on his celebrations though!
Ziemann bt D Murschell 5-3; M Schindler bt S Lennon 5-2. Semi-finals: J van Tergouw bt H Ward 5-2; M Schindler bt N Ziemann 5-2. Final: M Schindler bt J van Tergouw 5-2. Event 16 Quarterfinals: D van den Bergh bt A Hunt 5-3; L Humphries bt D Read 5-2; S Lennon bt Ru-Ja Rodriguez 5-4; R Meikle bt H Ward 5-3. Semi-finals: L Humphries bt D van den Bergh 5-3; R Meikle bt S Lennon 5-4. Final: L Humphries bt R Meikle 5-1.
3 A Hunt 4 K Neyens 5 M van Duivenbode 6 R Meikle 7 S Lennon
Eßer 6-5; B Roith bt C Bunse 6-4; M Hopp bt S Stoyke 6-3; D Horvat bt T Junghans 6-4.
Development Tour Order of Merit after 16 of 20 events 1 L Humphries £10,100 2 D van den Bergh £9,800
£8,000 £6,750 £5,150 £4,750 £4,150
HappyBet International Darts Open Riesa: European Qualifier final round: C Kist bt Ro-Jo Rodriguez 6-5; D van den Bergh bt A Konterman 6-5; V van der Voort bt Y Meeuwisse 6-3; R Huybrechts bt W van de Wiel 6-1; Je Hendriks bt J Wattimena 6-5; M Plooy bt M Robbe; J Michael bt Ji Hendriks 6-5; R Meulenkamp bt J Dekker 6-4. Host Nation Qualifier final round: M Schindler bt M
Fixtures Today: HappyBet International Darts Open (First day of three). Tomorrow: HappyBet International Darts Open (Second day of three). Sunday: HappyBet International Darts Open (Third day of three). Thursday: HappyBet European Darts Trophy UK Qualifier.
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Friday September 22 2017 ● LOVE THE DARTS
Form Rankings calculated for the PDC’s top 20 form players’ last 180 stage legs
Lewis drops out of top 20 LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC
Christopher Kempf Darts Statistician One of the participants in the Champions League this past weekend is no longer among the 20 players in the best form in the PDC. Adrian Lewis, who went winless in Group A, winning a mere 13 legs to his opponents’ 30, has fallen to 21st in the Love The Darts Form Rankings. In seven of the legs he played over the weekend - including four against Michael van Gerwen - Lewis was unable even to reach a finish before his opponent had already won the leg. Van Gerwen himself, who was the other man eliminated from Group A, struggled in his match with Raymond van Barneveld in spite of recording the higher average. The great success story of the Champions League was, of course, Mensur Suljovic, who now finds himself within striking distance of second place in our form rankings. Suljovic, who put on display his ability to hit unusual combinations of trebles en route to a checkout, is now the fourthbest setup player in the PDC, and a mere 0.07 darts behind world number one van Gerwen. With Suljovic defending his title this weekend on the European Tour in Riesa, he has the potential to make even greater strides towards the top of the board. The Love The Darts Form Rankings attempts to determine, based on actual efficiency in winning legs, to what extent darts players are overvalued or undervalued by their rank on the PDC Order of Merit. To do this, we construct a rolling 180leg 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, right, 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.
Out of form: World number five Adrian Lewis has fallen out of the top 20 of the Love The Darts Form Rankings after a disappointing weekend in the Champions League of Darts
G A B C D E F 94.70 1 1 Michael van Gerwen (Net) 9.51 3.88 2.48 15.87 89.05 2 2 Gary Anderson (Sco) 9.95 3.74 3.18 16.88 87.72 3 10.22 38 Rob Cross (Eng) 4.02 2.89 17.13 87.70 4 10.34 4 Phil Taylor (Eng) 4.31 2.49 17.14 87.18 5 7 Mensur Suljovic (Aut) 10.60 3.95 2.68 17.24 86.68 6 21 Mervyn King (Eng) 10.56 4.15 2.63 17.34 86.52 7 12 Daryl Gurney (NI) 10.66 4.19 2.53 17.37 86.36 8 10.51 3 Peter Wright (Sco) 4.13 2.77 17.40 86.24 9 10.16 27 Kyle Anderson (Aus) 4.40 2.86 17.43 86.20 10 20 Joe Cullen (Eng) 11.03 3.93 2.48 17.44 85.96 11 6 Dave Chisnall (Eng) 10.20 4.42 2.87 17.49 84.25 12 11.05 14 Ian White (Eng) 4.27 2.52 17.84 84.24 13 9 Raymond van Barneveld (Net) 10.80 4.18 2.87 17.84 84.04 14 11 James Wade (Eng) 10.76 4.38 2.74 17.89 8369 15 8 Michael Smith (Eng) 10.80 4.29 2.86 17.96 83.35 16 15 Benito van de Pas (Net) 11.36 4.04 2.63 18.03 83.07 17 10.69 28 Cristo Reyes (Spa) 4.53 2.88 18.09 82.68 18 10.79 13 Kim Huybrechts (Bel) 4.28 3.11 18.18 82.51 19 16 Simon Whitlock (Aus) 11.03 4.07 3.12 18.22 82.17 20 23 Steve Beaton (Eng) 11.31 4.34 2.64 18.29 Column A: Love The Darts Form Ranking Column B: PDC Order of Merit ranking Column C: Estimated number of darts needed from 501 to reach a first three-figure finish Column D: Estimated number of darts needed from first finish to reach a double Column E: Estimated number of darts needed from first dart at double to check out Column F: Estimated number of darts needed in total from 501 to finish Column G: Estimated long-run “sandbox average”