Premier League - Week 2

Taylor toppled again on a disappointing night at the darts

As Bournemouth hosted week 2 of the Premier League, despite the disappointing darts, it was still a very entertaining night as there were many shocks and comebacks which showed that darts is one of the most unpredictable sports in the world. 

Wes Newton set the tone for the night as he kicked off the night with a surprise win over Raymond Van Barneveld. This turned around both of their results from last week and Barney's 109 average looked a distant memory. The match was summed up by the first leg which took 23 darts and Newton missed 4 darts at the double before hitting double 10. Despite the Barney Army being in full flow, the same couldn't be said for Barneveld's darts and Newton always looked capable of hitting a big finish as he missed the bull for a 167 checkout on two separate occasions. Therefore, even though he found himself 5:3 down after 8 legs, he fought his way to win the match against an out of sorts Barneveld as he won the next 4 legs to win 7:5.

Game 2 of the night featured the 2 newcomers to this year's Premier League and it certainly wasn't a classic. Peter Wright entered the arena in his usual colourful attire as he chose a light blue outfit but his attitude contrasted his colour as he looked far from calm on the big stage. There was double trouble for both players throughout the match and in the first leg, Dave Chisnall missed 7 double darts before Wright took out double 1. For the majority of the match, both players seemed to be doing their best to throw away the game but at 5:1 up, Wright looked like he would take the match. However, in fairness to Chisnall, he upped his game and hit 6 perfect darts in leg 9 before securing a point as the game ended 6:6. 

The next game of the night started off better as Gary Anderson hit a 180 with his first 3 darts. Anderson carried on playing well throughout the match and carried out a resounding 7:2 win over Simon Whitlock. As Anderson hit 70% of his doubles, his trouble on the doubles looks to be over and with this form, could he be a dark horse for this years Premier League? In contrast, the man from down under still seemed under the weather and looked nervous throughout. He is going to have to quickly improve his performance if he wants anyone else to finish under him by week 9. 

The biggest game of the night was a repeat of the recent UK Open Qualifier 3 Final but the score was reversed as Phil Taylor was toppled again as Adrian Lewis won the match 7:3. The Power was unable to replicate the form from the weekend, which saw him hit two 9 darters, as he quickly went 5:0 down in the match and the whole darting world was wondering if he could be whitewashed for the second week running. However, he managed to salvage 3 legs in the match including winning a leg with a 140 finish but it wasn't enough to earn any points as an impressive performance from Lewis saw him comfortable winner. It is all looking promising for Lewis as he goes top of the League but Taylor is left in the bottom 2 and without a point. Is it possible that the great Phil Taylor could be relegated?

Finally, it was a quality start between Robert Thornton and Michael Van Gerwen as both players were averaging over 100 after 2 legs. Thornton made Van Gerwen work hard for his 7:5 victory and he showed an improved performance from last week's loss. Despite this, Van Gerwen still took the 2 points as he rounded off the night with a double 16 finish and a well earned victory. Van Gerwen already looks a cert to make the top 4 but is Thornton going to be challenging for the top spots or fighting relegation?

Week 3 Predictions

Robert Thornton 5 : 7 Gary Anderson
Dave Chisnall 2 : 7 Michael van Gerwen
Peter Wright 3 : 7 Phil Taylor
Wes Newton 2 : 7 Adrian Lewis
Raymond Van Barneveld 7 : 5 Simon Whitlock

Darts Academy

Burton on Trent darts academy approaches its 2nd anniversary

Live in the Staffordshire area? Want to try something new? Are you interested in Darts?
If the answer to any of those questions is yes then this post is appealing directly to you. 

Based at The Dart Inn at Stapenhill in Burton on Trent is a fantastic, free darts academy run by Rocky Hurst. The darts academy is open to all ages from 7 year olds up to 60 year olds and offers the opportunity for players to learn basic skills and then build on these skills by entering competitions. 

Rocky Hurst and his wife will have been running the darts academy for 2 years this May and have now got 60 members signed up. It is free to join the academy and it costs nothing to learn but the only cost is to play in competitions as this is to cover the cost of engraving the trophies. The academy is open every Saturday and everyday during school holidays from 11AM to 3:30PM. 

Mr Hurst says that he “would love to get new members” and that anyone is welcome as long as they want to play and improve their game. He says that his aim is to “promote darts and to get more people interested in the sport”. He hopes this will help to “keep youngsters off the streets” and “put the spirit back into the community’.

Finally, as well as playing for fun, the darts academy is also a great stepping stone for all aspiring darts players. 6 of the current members now play in the derby youth and some of the members even go to Jamie Caven’s darts academy on Wednesdays. 

I understand this won’t be accessible to most of you but if you know of anyone who may be interested then please let them know 

To find out more, please email rhurst163@gmail.com or find him @rhurst164 on Twitter.

Webcam Darts Association (WDA)

Practice makes Perfect

If you are a beginner, pub player or professional player, the WDA can help you to improve your game. Playing in the WDA is an easy, fun and challenging format for all players to practice and it allows everyone to test their game against an opponent in a competitive game. The WDA is free to join and all you need is a webcam and a darts board!
In order to register in the WDA you need to have a google account and once you have registered you can get straight onto the site. It all becomes clear when you are on the website but you also need to set up a webcam so that the darts board is clearly viewable for the other player so that the darts board is the only thing in shot. Then you can play a match against anyone from anywhere in the world to test your skills! Your stats are recorded and your game is analysed. This means you can choose opponents who play at a similar level to you based on their averages.
I personally only played my first game in the WDA and I have loved it so much that I have played 9 games in 4 days but have only won 1! It's fair to say that I have a long, long way to go before I am winning competitions but the more I practice, the better I get. As well as playing individual matches in the WDA, you can take part in competitions including the Equalizer (Best of 9 legs) and Ladder (Best of 10 legs).
So, get yourself signed up to the WDA and see how you fare against other darts players from around the world. Good Luck! 

https://www.webcamdarts.com