Premier League - Week 8

The Premier League just keeps getting better!

The penultimate week before elimination saw the Premier League hit Dublin which is undoubtedly one the best venues on the Premier League circuit. The 10,000 fans packed into the O2 Arena were confirmed as the loudest crowd so far this year and their relentless singing made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. However, despite the fans, the night will undoubtedly be remembered for the drama between Peter Wright and Michael Van Gerwen. In addition, Simon Whitlock also became the first player to be eliminated from this year's competition. 

The opening match of the night saw Gary Anderson come up against Wes Newton who knew his Premier League future was reliant on his 2 matches in Dublin. Newton even put on an Irish hat during the walk on but it didn't help him earn the luck of the Irish as he lost his first match 7:3. Anderson went into the match looking to extend his fantastic Pro Tour form onto the big stage. Out of the first 7 legs, 6 legs were breaks of throw as both players missed doubles on their own throw. However at 4:3 up, Anderson took control of the match and won the last 3 legs to win the match 7:3. Clearly, Anderson was in a hurry to finish off the match as his wife was due to give birth the same night! All in all, Anderson played very well and has avoided elimination but Newton's downfall was only hitting 25% of his doubles.

Next up was an all English clash between Adrian Lewis and Dave Chisnall. Chisnall has been the maximum man in this year's tournament by hitting the most 180's but he has shown his inconsistencies on doubles leading to his relegation fight. However, in this match both players were excellent on the doubles as only 3 darts at double were missed in the whole match! The match finished as a draw as neither player could build up even a 2 leg lead throughout the match. Despite this, it was still one of the most entertaining matches of the night as ten 180's were hit as well as big checkouts including 158 and 134. It was a shame that the match had to end after 12 legs but neither player deserved to lose. Lewis still remains in the play off spots after the match but Chisnall knows his Premier League future is down to his performance in Cardiff. 

In a must win match for both players, Wes Newton played his second game of the night against Simon Whitlock. Similarly to the match beforehand, neither player could force a lead in the match of more than 1 leg and the match finished as another draw. Newton had a match dart at D13 in the final leg but couldn't convert it as Whitlock punished him on D8. The draw wasn't enough for Whitlock as he became the first player to be eliminated this year and this is mainly down to his disastrous start to the tournament. Newton is still hanging in there but he is relying on his performance next week to avoid dropping into the other elimination spot for a second successive season. 

The top 2 in the League went head to head in the fourth game of the night and it was definitely the most dramatic game so far this year. Peter Wright and Michael Van Gerwen have undoubtedly been the most entertaining and best players so far this year with Wright still looking to hold onto his unbeaten record in the Premier League. The first 4 legs all went with throw as Van Gerwen hit a 130 checkout and a 13 dart leg on his throw. The first bit of drama came in leg 4 as Peter Wright threw an 'exhibition style' dart as when his line was blocked, he ducked down about 1 foot before throwing the dart! Then in the next leg, Wright had a shot at 161 for a break of throw and hit the T20 and T17 to set up the bull. Wright then did his trademark turn to the crowd before missing the bull with his last dart. This clearly riled Van Gerwen as he angrily then took out 84 and then won the next 3 legs to lead 6:2. Despite a late comeback from Wright, he was unable to defend his unbeaten record as he couldn't hold his throw in the last leg as Van Gerwen hit 128 to win the match 7:5. 

It was clear to see from the handshake after the match that the players do not like each other and this was confirmed by Van Gerwen's interview where he ranted about Wright and branded Wright as "out of order and respect-less". Wright then responded by saying that he "don't give a monkeys", it is "tough" if Van Gerwen doesn't like his style and he is going to "do him next time". This falling out started a huge debate in the darting world over which player was in the right. Wayne Mardle and Rod Harrington backed Wright because he is not disrupting Van Gerwen's throw with his antics and he is providing excellent entertainment which is what the Premier League is about. However, Adrian Lewis backed Mighty Mike on Twitter by saying that Wright was "disrespectful" and said that he was there just to "piss about". In my opinion, I am backing Peter Wright. I would like to make it clear that I am a huge fan of both players and this is only my opinion but I think Van Gerwen has just thrown a strop. I think Van Gerwen is just moaning because he feels threatened that Wright is starting to win a lot of matches and win over a lot of fans. I don't understand Van Gerwen's need to moan as he is top of the league, he won the match and he has no need to feel threatened. I think that Wright is just enjoying his Premier League experience and trying to entertain as much as he can and this clearly hasn't affected his darts this year. As long as Wright doesn't start his antics while his opponent is throwing I think it's acceptable. Finally, I would also like to commend Wright as I have heard that he stayed for 4 hours after the match last night taking photos and signing autographs for fans. 

The final match of the night saw a friendlier clash between old friends Raymond Van Barneveld and Phil Taylor. These 2 legends first played each other 24 years ago and they clearly have great respect for each other. The match kicked off with 2 breaks of throw before Van Barneveld took out checkouts of 160 and 121 to go 4:2 ahead. However, Taylor showed he is back playing well again as he fought his way to 6:5 ahead. Taylor even won the 11th leg with a 12 dart leg even after Van Barneveld hit 6 perfect darts. Therefore, this match was also decided by a last leg decider and Van Barneveld hit D8 to finish the match 6:6 and complete a 3rd draw of the night. Taylor is now safe from elimination and Van Barneveld stays in the play off spots despite again failing to beat Taylor in the Premier League. 

Next Week!

Simon Whitlock is already eliminated
Wes Newton plays Dave Chisnall - The loser is eliminated
IF the match is a draw, Wes Newton will be eliminated unless Robert Thornton loses to Phil Taylor.

Prediction: Whitlock and Newton will be eliminated.

Premier League - Week 7

Taylor back to his best in front of a record crowd in Leeds

The Premier League went to Leeds for the first time last night and it is definitely a fantastic addition to the Premier League circuit. The biggest ever Premier League crowd of 11,000 was crammed into the newly built First Direct Arena which had a slightly different feel to the other venues. Instead of being a long arena, the crowd were all a lot closer to the action and despite being very high up, the crowd was deafening. Last night showed us how far the Premier League has come to have 11,000 spectators when only 10 years ago, Bournemouth was the biggest venue in the Premier League with no more than 4,000 fans. This shows why darts is one of the biggest success stories of the 21st century.

Dave Chisnall and Simon Whitlock kicked off the night with a topsy turvy tussle. In a relegation clash, Chisnall looked far from nervous as he was busting some shapes during his walk on song. Even before the match, the bookies had written off Whitlock at 1/7 to get eliminated but he was still determined to get some much needed points. Chisnall had the best start to the match as he averaged nearly 110 as he went 3:0 ahead. Whitlock then won 4 of the next 6 legs which culminated in a 100 finish to be only 5:4 behind. The match went into a last leg decider and Chisnall looked set to take a point until he bust his 80 finish and Whitlock claimed a point on D20. This match leaves Chisnall precariously situated 1 place above the bottom 2 and Whitlock remains rooted to the foot of the table.

The second game of the night was another draw as Robert Thornton couldn't see out a much needed win against Adrian Lewis. Thornton looked far from a relegation candidate at the start of the match as he raced into a 4:0 lead. Lewis tried to fight back but despite hitting a 108 checkout, Thornton went into a 6:3 lead. However, Thornton then preceded to look nervous at the finishing line and lost the last 3 legs after missing 2 match darts. As a result, Lewis still remains in the play off spots but Thornton is relying on other results to hope he doesn't get dragged further down the table. 

The most entertaining match of the night came next between Gary Anderson and Michael Van Gerwen. The first 4 legs all went with throw but both players were playing excellent darts as Van Gerwen hit an 11 darter and Anderson was averaging nearly 110. The pair then exchanged breaks of throw as Van Gerwen hit a 112 checkout and Anderson replied with an 11 dart leg of his own after 5 perfect darts. Going into the last 2 legs, the score was at 5:5 and we knew that the game would go to the last leg again. But it would not be another draw as Van Gerwen turned on the style to win the last 2 legs and the match 7:5. Anderson should feel hard done by as he didn't deserve to lose and now despite his great performances this year, he is looking over his shoulder at elimination. Is he playing too well this year to be relegated? Van Gerwen on the other hand is flying as he became the new leader of the Premier League.

In another relegation clash, Wes Newton then went up against Phil Taylor but it wasn't much of a contest. Taylor was back to his best as he romped to a 7:1 victory while averaging over 106. The highlight of the match was when Taylor hit 6 perfect darts but he could not complete the 9 darter. Taylor is now out of the relegation zone for the 1st time this year and has moved up to 6th and only 2 points off the top 4! This shows how close the league is this year and how important back to back wins are. Newton however has had back to back losses and is in the bottom 2 but he will feel unlucky again to have lost as he also averaged over 100. 

The final match of the night saw unbeaten Peter Wright up against 5 time World Champion Raymond Van Barneveld. As both players were already pretty much safe from elimination they could go out and enjoy the game and this was shown by a ferocious start to the match including a 180 with Wright's first 3 darts. The quality was shown throughout with numerous 180's and ton plus checkouts. Barneveld guaranteed a point in the 10th leg with a 156 checkout to go 6:4 ahead. However, Wright wasn't about to give up his unbeaten record without a fight and hit an incredible 161 checkout in the final leg to draw the match. It was a great way to wrap up a great night and both players still look odds on to make it into the play offs at the end of the tournament.

Premier League - Week 6

Ruthless Wright remains unbeaten as the race to avoid relegation hots up

The PDC's biggest darts stars made their way to Nottingham for week 6 of the Premier League. After my disappointment at the UK Open, I was very pleased to back watching the Premier League on SkySports. As we enter the last few weeks before 2 players face elimination, it really is 'squeaky-bum' time because I believe at least 6 different players could get eliminated. 

The night started with a top vs bottom tie between Peter Wright and Simon Whitlock. It was easy to see the distance between the players's in this year's league from the beginning as Wright was like a steam train as he raced into a 4:0 lead which included a 132 checkout. Although Whitlock picked up his first win last week, he couldn't carry on the revival as he only won 3 legs as Wright ran out 7:3 winner. Wright looked focused throughout and was ruthless on the finishing as he averaged over 100 and this shows that he has become one of the best players in the PDC. However for Whitlock, he looks destined for elimination unless he can completely turn around his form. He has been very unlucky this year and this was shown last night with numerous bounce outs. If he didn't have bad luck, he would have no luck at all. 

The best game of the night was definitely the second game between UK Open champion Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson. Although it wasn't the highest quality match I have ever seen, it was one of the fastest which led to a highly entertaining match which went to the very last leg. Lewis made the best start in this match as he quickly went 4:1 ahead. Then the game turned around as Lewis looked to be on the racks as Anderson won the next 4 legs to lead 5:4. But in the last 3 legs, Anderson faltered and missed a total of 6 darts at double to earn a point as Lewis won them all to win the match 7:5. Despite the result, both players should feel relatively safe from elimination and I think they will both be fighting it out to sneak into the play off spots on the 15th May. 

Michael Van Gerwen beat Wes Newton 7:1 in the next game of the night but the score doesn't tell the whole story as it was easily the highest quality match of the night as Newton averaged 103 and Van Gerwen averaged 105. Newton looked far from rusty after missing last week's tournament due to illness. Van Gerwen's second whitewash of the season looked on the cards as he raced into a 5:0 lead but he had to settle for a 7:1 victory in the end. Despite Newton's impressive scoring, he looked sloppy on the doubles and he is now just 1 point above the elimination zone going into the last 3 weeks. Van Gerwen however, looks well on track to securing a play off spot again. 

The 4th match of the night saw the only draw as Robert Thornton and Raymond Van Barneveld shared the spoils. Both players looked solid on their throw as the first 8 legs were all comfortable holds of throw. Thornton broke for the first time in Leg 9 with an excellent 13 dart leg before Van Barneveld broke straight back on D16. Thornton was the first player to guarantee a point as he broke Van Barneveld's throw with another 13 dart leg but again he stuttered at the finish line as he missed 2 match darts at his favourite D20. Van Barneveld then hit the D19 to make sure the match finished 6:6. This point kept Van Barneveld in 3rd position but Thornton is still only 1 point above the elimination zone and he will be looking over his shoulder as he has already played 1 match more than his opponents. 

Phil Taylor picked up only his 2nd win of the tournament in the last game of the night as he battled to a 7:5 win over Dave Chisnall. In truth it was a very poor match which was summed up by the 9th leg which Taylor won comfortably even though he missed 7 darts at double. After exchanging breaks of throw, the match was level at 5:5 going into the last 2 legs but as Chisnall missed 2 double darts and a dart at bullseye to earn a point, Taylor punished him as he hit D16 to win the match. Taylor admitted after the match that he was very nervous and was relieved that he could hit the winning double. Although, despite Taylor's poor run of form, he is still very capable of avoiding relegation and could this be at Chisnall's expense?

UK Open (ITV Coverage)

What's gone Wrong?

That was not the darts tournament I have grown to love over the last few years. The date, the coverage and the venue all led to the event being a huge anti-climax. I had planned to write a detailed tournament report on the UK Open including a match report on the final. I have changed my mind. I want to tackle the reason why this has happened to one of my favourite darts tournaments. Am I being stupid or did anyone else notice that this year's 'FA Cup of Darts' just did not live up to the expectations? What is your view? 

Firstly, I don't think any of the players can be blamed for this year's disappointment. Congratulations to Adrian Lewis who won his 4th major tournament after an excellent weekend rounded off by a sublime 11:1 win in the final. The darts really had everything to make it an exciting tournament: there were major shocks as TV debutant Aden Kirk knocked out Phil Taylor and Peter Wright; there were ton plus averages and there was lots of drama so why do I still feel like the tournament was a huge disappointment? 

In my opinion, the main reason why this tournament didn't feel as special this year is because of the date of the tournament. Every year to date the UK Open has been held in June but for some unbeknown reason to me, it was moved to March this year. This may not seem like a big deal but it means that it now clashes with the Premier League schedule. I feel that the date of this year's UK Open is hugely unfair to the Premier League players despite Adrian Lewis actually winning the tournament. I think this is shown because only 2 of the Premier League stars reached the quarter finals and I think this is because of the strain of playing numerous games, possibly 4 days in a row, in addition to the travelling distance from their Premier League venue. I just don't understand why they felt the date had to be changed as the only other major tournament in June is the World Cup of Darts. 

Another reason I didn't enjoy this year's UK Open as much is because to be honest, I really don't like ITV coverage. Don't get me wrong, I think that the ITV pundits and commentary team are getting better and maybe are just as good as the Sky Sports pundits. However, it just doesn't have the same feel as Sky Sports Darts. I miss the big characters of Wayne Mardle and Eric Bristow and even though many fans accuse them of bias, they are just what darts needs. They are enthusiastic and controversial as well as being unique and knowledgable and for me they make darts today as much as the darts players themselves. 

The venue of Minehead, Butlins is the final reason why I think that the UK Open has gone backwards in progression. The uniqueness of the UK Open has now disappeared. Every darts fan knows that the special part of the UK Open is the several boards around the edge of the arena that are in use during early tournament games. However, not only does this new venue not have these in the same arena, but ITV didn't even have camera's on all the boards meaning lots of quality darts matches were missed by the viewer. Moreover, another disadvantage of this new arena is the main stage being so far away from the crowd! The stage is so long that even the front row fans must be around 15 yards away from the dart board making it impossible for them to see the action other than on the big screens. I don't know if this was why they struggled to sell tickets for the earlier rounds of the tournament as during some of the day matches the crowd was so quiet and there was so little atmosphere that I felt like I was watching BDO darts! Despite this, I do think that for the night matches and especially the final matches, the crowd was absolutely excellent. 

All in all, I just feel slightly disillusioned into the reasons why these changes to the UK Open have taken place and I sincerely hope they can rebuild this tournament next year. Darts is one of the fastest growing sports for a reason and this is the reason why millions of fans now watch the darts across the World. We just need to be careful that we keep moving forwards as a sport and make sure that all Barry Hearn's hard work is not wasted.

Premier League - Week 5

Excellent Entertainment in Exeter

What a Night! The Premier League just keeps getting better and better! On a night of drama that started even before the darts, 60 legs were played on the night which is the maximum amount possible and this was the first time this has happened in the entire history of the Premier League. It was announced during the day that Wes Newton would miss out on Week 5 due to tonsillitis and I hope he can fight back to full fitness to be firing freely again next week. This led to Robert Thornton having to play 2 games in one night. By the end of the Week 5, the tournament is still wide open and this year's tournament truly must be the best and closest league ever with only 6 points separating the top and bottom of the league and only 3 points separating bottom of the league and the play offs. 

The night kicked off with an all Scottish clash between top of the table Peter Wright and Robert Thornton. Thornton knew it was a big night for him as he had to play twice and he started well with two 180's in the first leg and this led to him breaking Wright's throw straight away. The next 4 legs saw 4 holds of throw including Wright taking out an excellent 116 checkout. In the 6th leg, Thornton then missed 3 darts at double to let Wright in to break back and level the match. Wright broke again in leg 10 with a 96 checkout and guaranteed he kept his unbeaten record. However, Wright couldn't see off Thornton as he won the last 2 legs and won the last leg with an 11 darter after hitting 6 perfect darts. The match finished 6:6 which was probably a fair result. 

Week 5 continued with another 6:6 draw between Raymond Van Barneveld and Dave Chisnall. Chisnall had hit the most 180's in this year's tournament at the start of the night despite only being one place above the elimination zone and he was determined to turn his high scoring into more points. The match started with 6 comfortable holds of throw which was then followed by 4 breaks of throw. Van Barneveld then guaranteed a point by hitting the bull but he couldn't turn the draw into a win as he missed D20 for the match to let Chisnall steal a point. 

Michael Van Gerwen and Adrian Lewis then played out an eagerly anticipated match where both players failed to hit the 'jackpot' as they made it a hat-trick of draws. It was a slow start for both players as Lewis needed 8 darts to hit his first big treble and both players missed doubles at the end of the leg before Van Gerwen broke Lewis' throw with a D4. Van Gerwen then hit an excellent 111 finish to take an early 2 leg lead. This lead didn't last long however as Lewis won the next 3 legs and he showed the world how much it meant to him with his extravagant celebrations. But Lewis' inconsistent form was then shown again as he followed up winning 3 legs by losing the next 4 as Van Gerwen went 6:3 ahead to guarantee a point. The Exeter crowd thought a 9 darter might be on the cards when Van Gerwen hit 6 perfect darts in Leg 8 but it wasn't to be. After Van Gerwen guaranteed a point, the match turned around again as Lewis won 3 consecutive legs to also earn a point. This result meant that Van Gerwen stayed in the play off positions and Lewis avoided a 3rd straight defeat. 

Gary Anderson found the first win of the night in match 4 as Taylor lost again. After last week's win, I expected Taylor to mount a challenge up the Premier League table but he again missed crucial doubles and hit too many 5's as he lost his 4th match in 5. Many critics are now naming Taylor the 'Manchester United' of darts and it remains to be seen whether he can recover and find his old form. The tone of the match was set from the 1st leg as despite Taylor hitting a 180, he missed 2 darts at D8 as Anderson punished him on D11 to break his throw. In the early stages neither player could build a lead as the first 4 legs were all breaks of throw. Anderson drew first blood in the match in the 8th leg as he held throw to go 5:3 ahead and he then hit a 114 checkout in leg 10 to hold his 2 leg lead. This meant that Anderson guaranteed a point but Taylor wasn't willing to hand him the 2 as he pushed him to a final leg. It looked as though Taylor would get out of trouble as he hit a perfectly timed 180 in the last leg but as he missed 2 darts at D14, Anderson punished him with a D10 finish to win the match 7:5. 

The final game of the night saw Robert Thornton return to the stage against Simon Whitlock who was in need of his first points of the tournament. This match was probably the highest quality match of the night as Thornton hit the first 100+ average of the night but Whitlock had a 100% record on the doubles. When the scores were tied on 2:2, Whitlock then produced a sublime 150 finish to hold his throw and then both players kicked off leg 6 with 180's. At the end of leg 10, both players were again tied at 5:5 but as Thornton missed 2 darts to guarantee a point, Whitlock took the last 2 legs to win the match 7:5 and earn his first points of the tournament. Whitlock still remains in the elimination zone but now he is only 2 points off safety and can he achieve the great escape? In contrast, Thornton will feel very unlucky to only pick up 1 point from his 2 games and looking at his remaining fixtures he will no doubt be feeling the heat as he has already played 1 more match than his competitors and is only 2 points above elimination. 

Week 6 Predictions

Simon Whitlock 4 : 7 Peter Wright
Adrian Lewis 5 : 7 Gary Anderson
Michael Van Gerwen 7 : 1 Wes Newton
Raymond Van Barneveld 5 : 7 Robert Thornton
Phil Taylor 7 : 5 Dave Chisnall

Dartitis

A Darts Player's Worst Nightmare

What do Eric Bristow, Rod Harrington and Mervyn King all have in common? 

It is that as well as all being fantastic darts players, they have also all suffered from Dartitis. Dartitis can affect any darts player whether they are old, young, pub level or world champion and it is believed that thousands of darts players suffer from Dartitis around the world. Some players have proven that Dartitis can be overcome including Eric Bristow, Mark Walsh and Mervyn King but no darts player has ever really got back to their best after suffering from Dartitis. 

The definition of Dartitis is "nervous twitching or tension that destroys concentration and spoils performance". In most cases players lose control of the dart they are throwing and in more severe cases players are unable to let go of the dart and it is a similar condition to the "Yips" in golf. Generally it is believed that Dartitis is a psychological problem with a player's technique and the release of their darts. Dartitis can just suddenly occur in a player's game and there is often no explanation into why it has suddenly happened but many experts believe it happens because of the fear of missing. It is truly the darts player's worst nightmare as it can destroy your career. 5 time World Champion Eric Bristow said of his experience with Dartitis that "the game you love doing, all of a sudden you can't do anymore"

However, I personally have a slightly different view on why Dartitis might occur. I myself have been lucky enough to never suffer from Dartitis and therefore my views are based on second hand knowledge and different sources. I don't believe that Dartitis does stem from a fear of missing. I find it unbelievable that such great darts players can suddenly lose their mental ability overnight. Eric Bristow, 5 time world champion, known for his charisma and perhaps arrogance, surely couldn't have just 'lost his bottle'. I believe that there must me some other explanation for Dartitis. I think that one explanation is that overthinking the throw could contribute to this condition. Sometimes even when I am practising, I forget when to release the dart temporarily and Dartitis might be similar to this in a more severe form. Or maybe it is down to practising too often and repetitive muscle use? Will we ever know for sure what causes Dartitis?

Another key question often asked about Dartitis is whether it can be cured. The answer again is inconclusive. There is no definitive answer or drug that can cure Dartitis but there are many methods that some players believe to be successful. Some players have successfully learnt to throw the dart with the opposing hand, others have changed their darts to lighter or heavier darts and others have slow down their throw. I don't think there will ever be a conclusive cure for Dartitis and the best method will always depend on the individual. 

To conclude, I think that Dartitis will continue as long as the game of darts is played but I honestly believe and hope that one day, a player who has suffered from Dartitis can come back to be a World Champion.

Follow this link to watch Eric Bristow talk about his experiences of Dartitis - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXqtzFvZzmI