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This is a blog all about PDC darts. I am Jamie Barron and I am 18 years old from Yorkshire, England. This blog will contain posts about my experience and opinion of anything darts related as well as debates, player profiles and tournament reviews. I am writing this blog in order to share my opinions but also because I study A-Level Media and want to possibly pursue a career in journalism.

Previously at www.jambosdarts.blog.co.uk until 18/01/2015

Thursday 24 April 2014

Premier League - Week 12

The Top 4 starts to take shape
After an eventful few days in Manchester, the Premier League Darts brought more drama to the warehouse city. There was a scare for all male darts fans before the night began as news broke that the walk on girls were struggling to make the venue due to traffic problems but they all breathed a sigh of relief when they walked out during the opening walk ons! It was a full house in the Phones 4u Arena as many Manchester United fans looked to recover (or celebrate!) from the sacking of their Scottish manager David Moyes.
However, the opening match didn’t do much to banish the memories of their previous manager as it was an all Scottish clash between Peter Wright and Robert Thornton! Both players weren’t in the best of form leading up to the match and while Wright knew a win would keep him in play off contention, Thornton knew he needed to take at least 3 points from his 2 games in Manchester to avoid being cut adrift at the bottom of the league. Thornton was off to a flying start as he hit 3 180’s in the first 2 legs and a 137 checkout. Despite this, Wright was also scoring well, narrowly missed a bull finish on a 167 checkout in leg 3 before levelling the match at 2:2. Wright then moved into a 4:2 lead in an exceptional 6th leg where Thornton hit 6 consecutive T20’s but still didn’t get a shot at a double after a fantastic 121 finish from Wright. But Thornton wasn’t willing to lie down and take defeat as he brought the game back to 4:4 culminating in a determined celebration. The next 2 legs saw 2 more breaks of throw as Wright hit the bullseye to punish Thornton’s missed doubles before Thornton broke back with a D10 finish. In the first of the deciding legs, Wright hit 5 perfect darts before breaking Thornton’s throw and he then won the match in the final leg on D8 after Thornton made it 13 missed darts at D20 in the match. Wright’s celebration showed that he realised it was a vital victory for his play off chances but Thornton will be wondering where it’s all gone wrong as even though his scoring has been superb throughout the tournament, his realistic chances of making the top 4 are over. 
Next up was the most important match of the night as Phil Taylor and Gary Anderson went into their games 4th and 5th place in the league. Both players were full of confidence going into the tie after last week’s wins and Taylor’s German Masters victory last weekend. Anderson showed his newly found confidence by winning the first leg in 11 darts but Taylor hit back by winning the next 3 legs to lead 3:1. Taylor was on the verge of another break of throw in the 5th leg but he missed 3 double darts as Anderson stepped in to hit D20 before Anderson earned a break of his own to level the match 3:3. Taylor then looked flummoxed in the next leg after checking out 139 before realising he only required 129 and it ultimately cost him as Anderson won the leg to go 4:3 ahead. But his lead didn’t last long as Taylor hit a 121 checkout to level the game which cued animated celebrations. In the last few weeks, Taylor has looked the most animated I have ever seen him and this just shows his motivation and love for the game has not quivered. As a result, Taylor broke again in the 9th leg with D16 after Anderson missed D15 on a 150 checkout but Anderson returned the favour in the next leg by hitting D20. Similarly to the first game, the match went to the final leg after Anderson guaranteed a point to lead 6:5 but he couldn’t earn a victory as Taylor won the leg to draw the match. The match still leaves the race for the top 4 wide open but Taylor will feel disappointed he couldn’t have cemented his top 4 spot after averaging over 105. 
The third match of the night saw the most consistent player in Raymond Van Barneveld come up against the most inconsistent player Adrian Lewis in this year’s competition. Even before the match, Van Barneveld’s place in the play offs looked very secure but Lewis was in need of a darting dream to also make it to the O2 Arena. The first 3 legs all went with throw before Van Barneveld hit D16 to break in the 4th leg and it was a well deserved lead as he was averaging 112 at the end of the same leg. Four consecutive holds of throw then followed to leave Van Barneveld leading 5:3 after Lewis missed a double opportunity to break Van Barneveld’s throw. Van Barneveld then kept his 100% record of holding his throw in the 9th leg as he guaranteed a point to lead 6:3. Van Barneveld nearly rounded off the win in perfect style after hitting 6 perfect darts but even though he failed to earn the 9 darter, he comfortably won the leg to win the match 7:3. It is now all but over for Lewis in this year’s competition after 4 straight losses but Van Barneveld has shown his brilliance again as he all but secures his play off spot. Could this be the year Van Barneveld breaks his Premier League duck? 
Mighty Mike was next up on the big stage against Dave Chisnall knowing that he needed at least a point to regain his place at the top of the league. The first leg started off with a surprise as Chisnall swiftly broke Michael Van Gerwen’s throw with a 100 checkout but the lead didn’t last long as Van Gerwen threw an incredulous dart to hit the bull and break straight back. The pair then shared the next 2 legs on throw before Van Gerwen was broken again by Chisnall who impressively took out 80. It was then a feeling of deja vu for Van Gerwen as he broke Chisnall straight back to level the scores at 3:3. But Chisnall would not let up as he hit D20 for the third time in the match to break Van Gerwen again and his aeroplane celebration symbolised the fact he was flying in the match. Predictably, Van Gerwen broke straight back again on D5 which meant that 75% of the first 8 legs were breaks of throw! There was more drama in the next leg after Van Gerwen again let Chisnall have darts at double but when he missed them, Van Gerwen came back to hold his throw.
Van Gerwen then showed why he is world champion as he punished Chisnall’s minimal miss of D16 to break his throw and confirm a point. In the final leg, Van Gerwen threw another miracle dart to hit D2, win the match and go back to the top of the league but Chisnall’s realistic hopes of a play off spot in his debut season are over.
The final match of the night saw Gary Anderson retake the stage to take on his 2nd Scottish opponent of the evening in the form of Robert Thornton. Anderson took the early lead in the tie by winning the first 3 legs before Thornton got onto the scoreboard but then Thornton returned the favour by winning the next 3 legs himself! Anderson then won the next leg on D20 to maintain his 100% record on the doubles. Switch your attention back to last year when Anderson was relegated from the Premier League mainly due to his double trouble. Meanwhile Thornton was known for his prolific D20 hitting in which now he is showing inconsistencies on! Despite this, the next 3 legs then all went with throw to leave the match hanging in the balance at 5:5. But Thornton’s doubling frailties came back to bite him in leg 11 when he missed double darts to earn a point but he still earned the draw in the last leg on D8. This meant that Anderson picked up 2 points from his 2 matches leaving him level on points with Phil Taylor. Thornton however will be disappointed with his tournament with only 1 win throughout which is unbelievable as he has actually scored and played well but his failure has come down to timing as he has missed crucial doubles at crucial times.
I now honestly believe that the top 3 in the Premier League are pretty secure and only Phil Taylor and Gary Anderson can realistically achieve 4th place.

Thursday 17 April 2014

Premier League - Week 11

Taylor triumphant in front of the amazing Aberdeen crowd
As the Premier League stars made their way to Aberdeen for Week 11 of the competition all the players knew that every match would be absolutely crucial in the challenge for the top 4. Despite not being the largest arena on the circuit, it was certainly one of the loudest as the Scottish crowd did themselves proud. In all fairness, they had every right to sing as they got to witness a dream line up where the world number 1 faced the world number 2 and 3 respectively. 
Home favourite Gary Anderson kicked off the night against Adrian Lewis. Lewis was heavily booed throughout the walk on and the match as he went up against the Flying Scotsman. However, he already wasn’t in the good books of the Scottish crowd as on Twitter, he had branded it “a joke” that he had to play a Scotsman in Scotland. In the 1st leg, Lewis tried to silence the crowd with a 180 to leave D12 but Anderson didn’t even let him have a shot as he took out 138 to set the crowd roaring. That leg set the tone for the next 5 legs as Anderson won every single one while the crowd sang a deafening rendition of “Flower of Scotland” before breaking into a chant of “Easy,Easy,Easy!”. Anderson even had darts at double to whitewash Lewis but when he missed, it sent the momentum swinging in Lewis’ favour and a comeback looked on as Lewis quietened the crowd by winning 4 straight legs. Despite this, he couldn’t see it through as even though Anderson missed another 7 match darts, he eventually hit D5 to secure the match 7:4. The result left Lewis in need of a win against Van Gerwen later on in the night but it left Anderson in contention for a top 4 place. He is definitely a dark horse for the title as he is playing his best darts since winning the 2011 Premier League.
The main match of the night was next on the schedule as 6 time Premier League champion Phil Taylor looked for revenge against current Premier League champion Michael Van Gerwen after he was whitewashed in week 1. The quality on show was clear from the very beginning as the pair traded 180’s in the first leg and despite Van Gerwen winning the first leg, Taylor took control by strolling into a 4:1 lead, breaking Van Gerwen twice. However, in leg 6, Van Gerwen punished Taylor for missing 2 double darts as he broke Taylor straight back. Van Gerwen then levelled the scores at 4:4 as he followed up his first break of throw by holding his throw and breaking again as Taylor squandered his opportunities to win both legs. Incredibly, that was the last leg Van Gerwen won in the match as Taylor took over the last 3 legs to win 7:4. Phil Taylor averaged over 106 in his victory and he is now my favourite to regain his Premier League crown. 
Peter Wright was the second Scotsman to take to the Aberdeen stage as he took on Dave Chisnall. It all went wrong for Wright at the beginning of the match as he lost the first 4 legs and was only averaging 68 during leg 3! Wright then massively upped his game and won the next 3 legs but Chisnall won the 8th leg to lead 5:3 despite the Aberdeen’s crowd’s best efforts to distract him. In the next leg, Chisnall went on to hit 5 perfect darts before hitting D4 to secure a point. Wright didn’t want to give up without a fight as he produced a “miracle dart” to win the 10th leg on the bull but it wasn’t enough as Chisnall rounded off an impressive performance by hitting D20 to win 7:4. Wright had chosen a red outfit for the night and it spelled danger as his place in the top 4 now looks severely under threat even though he looked nailed on for a play off spot a matter of weeks ago. The win for Chisnall keeps his slim hopes of a play off place alive. 
Robert Thornton became the 3rd man flying the Scottish flag in Aberdeen and the crowd nearly raised the roof as they sang along to The Proclaimers during Thornton’s walk on. Thornton knew that his Premier League hopes are pretty much over for this year but he was looking to carry on his form from the weekend where he won the 6th Players Championship. His opponent Raymond Van Barneveld was also looking to carry on his fine form but from last Thursday where he won both of his matches. The match kicked off with 3 breaks of throw before Van Barneveld held to go 3:1 ahead. Thornton then missed D20 on a 135 checkout before Van Barneveld broke his throw for a 3rd successive time. Van Barneveld then won the next 3 legs ensuring a 7:1 hammering of Thornton in which Thornton did not hold his throw once. The win ensures Van Barneveld has all but guaranteed his play off position as he has been ‘Mr Consistency’ in this year’s competition, only losing once. 
The final match of the night saw Michael Van Gerwen and Adrian Lewis retake the stage after their earlier defeats. In a quick fire start to the match, the first 7 legs all went with throw as Lewis missed several chances to break Van Gerwen’s throw in the 5th leg. The mind games were rife throughout the match as Lewis threw extremely quickly and seemed unconcerned with where his darts were landing. Both players also decided to unnecessarily throw for the bull instead of setting up a finish to try and throw off their opponent. The first break of throw finally came in leg 8 as Van Gerwen hit D16 to go 5:3 ahead. It proved to be the only break of throw in the match as Van Gerwen went on to win 7:4. Van Gerwen went back to the top of the table but Lewis is in need of a darting miracle to make the top 4 after 2 defeats in 1 night.

Monday 14 April 2014

Dartoid's World

New Columnist at Dartoid's World
I am delighted to say that I have been offered a place at http://dartoidsworld.net to be a new darts columnist! Dartoid's World is the most widely read darts column in the world and I am grateful that Dartoid has been reading my blog and offered me a place. I will still try and carry on writing this blog as well but please read my new column at Dartoid's World! Thank you to everyone for your support and I need your support more than ever as I undertake this new position.

Thursday 10 April 2014

Premier League - Week 10

The business end of the Premier League begins
Week 10 of the Premier League saw the Steel City of Sheffield host as the business end of the competition begun. After all surviving the threat of relegation, the remaining 8 players all set their sights on challenging for the top 4. Peter Wright and Raymond Van Barneveld knew that either of them could all but guarantee their place in the play offs as both of them played twice on the night but it was Robert Thornton who nearly stole the show as he narrowly missed out on a 9 darter on D12.
It was a high quality start to the night as Raymond Van Barneveld held off Dave Chisnall to win 7:5. Chisnall amazingly hit 180's in every leg for the first 5 legs but incredibly he could only win 2 of those legs as Van Barneveld hit big checkouts of 81 and 116. Chisnall did manage to pull the game back to 3:3 with an 11 dart leg but Van Barneveld then won the next 2 legs to regain the lead. In leg 9, Chisnall hit a fantastic 164 checkout but in the next leg Van Barneveld guaranteed a point on D8. As the match went to a final leg decider, Chisnall fluffed his lines as he missed D19 for a draw and van Barneveld again used the D8 to punish Chisnall. 
In a repeat of last week's match, Gary Anderson was looking to avenge his defeat to Peter Wright and he did just that as he overcame his fellow Scot by 7 legs to 4. Anderson took an early 2 leg lead in the match as Wright missed 2 doubles and he had extended his lead to 6:2 by leg 8 as he finished 80 with two D20's. Peter Wright then looked like he might stage a comeback as he got back to 6:4 with a 136 checkout. However, it wasn't to be for Wright as Anderson won the last leg on D12 to win 7:4. Anderson admitted that he hasn't thrown a dart in practice all week due to the birth of his baby last Friday but it clearly didn't affect him on the big stage. Anderson is now a serous contender for a play off place. 
Robert Thornton went into his game against Premier League leader Michael Van Gerwen at the bottom of the league and he knew he would need to start picking up points quickly to challenge for a top 4 spot. Van Gerwen won his first 2 legs on throw in 11 and 12 darts and this was not the only thing Thornton had to contend with as he was also trying to battle the pain from the leg injury he picked up last week. Despite this, Thornton also held his first 2 throws and then broke Van Gerwen in leg 5 to lead 3:2. His lead didn't last long however, as Van Gerwen broke straight back and then won the next 2 legs. Leg 9 provided the highlight of the night as Robert Thornton hit 8 perfect darts before narrowly missing the D12 but he still broke Van Gerwen's throw on the D6. In the next leg, both players missed numerous darts at double before Thornton hit D2 to level the match at 5:5. However, Thornton's hard work went to waste as Van Gerwen won the last 2 legs to secure a 7:5 victory after hitting 7 perfect darts in the last leg. Nevertheless, it is going to be tough times ahead for both players as Thornton has a titanic battle on his hands to stay in the hunt for a top 4 spot and Van Gerwen faces both Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis in Aberdeen next week. 
The 4th match of the night saw Phil Taylor take on his apprentice Adrian Lewis. Since Taylor's recent weight loss it actually looked like little vs large on the stage. The first 4 legs all went with throw as both players punched the air with delight when hitting the winning doubles. However, in the 5th leg, Lewis came from nowhere with a 180 and D20 finish to break Taylor's throw and the next 3 legs were also breaks of throw to leave the match level at 4:4. Taylor then won the next 2 legs culminating in a 144 checkout which cued eccentric celebrations from Taylor as he was left dancing like a wave of the sea! Taylor was fist pumping again after the next leg as he hit D20 to win 7:4 and he is now above Lewis for the first time this year and is in the play off spots. He is again proving his doubters wrong as his poor start to the competition now feels a long time ago. Lewis will be hoping to recover next week after a little blip in which he has fallen to 6th place in the league. 
The night finished off with Peter Wright and Raymond Van Barneveld taking to the stage again with Wright wearing his second different outfit of the night and he was hoping it would bring him better luck than his earlier attire did. The outfit change looked to have worked early on as Wright broke Van Barneveld's throw in the first leg but Van Barneveld returned the favour in the next leg. The next 6 legs then all went with throw despite Wright having a dart at bullseye to break in leg 9. The turning point came in leg 10 however, as Van Barneveld broke Wright by hitting 129 and leaving Wright helpless. Despite this, Wright wasn't about to give up without a fight as he broke straight back and was throwing first for the draw in the last leg. But Van Barneveld took control of the final leg as he hit D8 to win 7:5 and he made it a perfect night with 2 wins. However, It all went wrong for Wright in Sheffield and now having played 1 game more than the majority of the field, is his top 4 place going to be in threat?

Friday 4 April 2014

Premier League - Week 9 - Judgement Night

Despite Thornton's fall, he avoids elimination at the expense of Whitlock and Newton
Last night, the Premier League stars headed to the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff for the most important night of the Premier League season so far. It was the night many players had been dreading and as Simon Whitlock's elimination had already been confirmed, it left Wes Newton, Dave Chisnall and Robert Thornton in danger of getting the chop. 
The opening match of the night was an all Scottish tie between Gary Anderson and Peter Wright. Following Wright's first defeat in the Premier League last week he was looking to bounce back but he wasn't helped by a minority of the crowd who booed throughout his walk on. There is no doubting that Wright certainly splits opinion and his colourful outfits continued as he wore some 'hippy' style trousers with his 9th different outfit in this year's tournament. He also carried on his tradition of changing his darts and he has now used 6 different sets of darts in his 9 matches in the Premier League. In an extremely close match, every one of the first 10 legs of the match went with throw to leave the scores level at 5:5 going into the last 2 legs. However, Wright took the 2 points by winning the last 2 legs as he snatched the points away from Anderson with a 7:5 win. Neither player played to the best of their ability but Wright will be very happy to now be only 1 point off the top of the League. It is another case of what might have been for Gary Anderson as he just can't seem to convert his positive performances into points this year. 
It was a top vs bottom clash next as Simon Whitlock was playing for pride against Premier League leader Michael Van Gerwen. However, you could be forgiven for thinking that Whitlock would be the player at the top of the League as he raced into a 6:2 lead which included a 116 and a maximum 170 checkout! Despite Whitlock taking the lead, Van Gerwen was still playing well and hit a 164 checkout in the 5th leg and he showed his pure class by winning the last 4 legs to fight back and earn a draw. Unfortunately for Whitlock, this performance was too little too late as he wondered where this form had been for 8 weeks! Both players averaged over 100 and they hit 5 ton plus finishes between them! This draw still leaves Van Gerwen on top of the Premier League. 
Previous World Champions Adrian Lewis and Raymond Van Barneveld went toe to toe in the 3rd match of the night but it was a scrappy opening leg in which Adrian Lewis had 7 darts at double before winning the leg on D1. Lewis then improved as he took 3 of the next 4 legs to move 4:1 ahead but Van Barneveld then produced a run of 3 successive legs to level the scores at 4:4. Similarly to the last 2 matches, the scores were level at 5:5 going into the last 2 legs and the players eventually shared the spoils with a 6:6 draw even though Lewis had 2 darts to win the match. Van Barneveld has now drawn for a record of 5 successive weeks but along with Lewis he stays in the top 4 spots. 
It was a case of the winner takes it all in the most important match between close friends Dave Chisnall and Wes Newton. The first 8 weeks of the Premier League all came down to 1 match for these 2 players and the pressure was clear to see for Newton early on as he had a horrible start in which Chisnall strolled into a 2:0 lead. However, after the first 2 legs, Newton looked like a totally different player as he won the next 4 legs by hitting two separate 2 dart finishes of 87 and 90. The tide then turned again as Chisnall again broke the Newton throw leaving the scores level at 5:5 for a 4th match in a row. Thornton was now undoubtedly biting his fingernails as he knew if the match was a draw, he was required to pick up at least a point against 16 time World Champion Phil Taylor in the last game of the night. Therefore, Thornton would have been hugely relieved to see Chisnall win the last 2 legs as Newton broke under the pressure. This confirmed that Chisnall was safe and he now moves up to 6th place in the league and only 2 points off a play off place! Newton on the other hand has now been eliminated for the second successive year and in my opinion the right 2 players were eliminated as Whitlock started off too slowly and Newton could only average 88 and hit 29% of his doubles in his deciding game. Will we ever see Wes Newton in the Premier League again? 
The match concluded with Phil Taylor comfortably beating Robert Thornton by 7 legs to 4. Both players played well throughout the match as Taylor averaged 102 with Thornton just below on 99. Taylor looked very determined and animated throughout the match and seemed to have a new lease of life as he went in search of another win. Thornton seemed to be playing a lot quicker throughout the match and this was shown in Leg 10 as he went for a little trip as he collided with Russ Bray on the way back from the dart board. This little trip sent Thornton flying into the drinks table and he seemed in some serious discomfort for the rest of the match. However, Thornton will be very pleased this was the only pain he had to suffer on the night as he just scraped through to the second stage of the Premier League on leg difference but he will have to seriously up his game to challenge for the play off spots. Taylor on the other hand has proved that you can quickly change around your fortunes in the Premier League as he has gone from relegation candidate to being only 1 point off a top 4 place.