Rare Glimpse of the Lower Ranked in Gibraltar

The second European Tour event this year, The Gibraltar Darts Trophy, was available to stream online and we were treated to a weekend of some interesting darts to say the least. Predictably, the usual suspects prevailed with Michael van Gerwen beating Terry Jenkins in the final of this first to 6 legs tournament but the up-and-coming stars of our game gave the old-guard a run for their money with a few stunning performances against the odds.

Jamie Lewis was the stand out performer of the weekend as he reached the Semi-Final, defeating some useful players along the way including one of the pre-tournament favourites Michael Smith in the Second Round with a 96 average and a remarkable 67% checkout rate. This set up a last 16 match with ' Andy Smith who pushed the young Welshman in a match that could have went either way, but a 95 average and 3 180s from Lewis was enough to knock the stuffing out of 'The Pieman'.
In the Quarter-Finals Lewis faced another future star in the shape of Gerwyn Price who was having the best weekend of his darting career by coming out on top against Robert Thornton and Simon Whitlock. Sadly, one of these top prospects would be eliminated and it was 'The Iceman' Price who was edged out in a last leg decider, hopefully a sign of more to come.
A 6-1 loss in the Semi-Final to eventual champion Michael van Gerwen was as far as the young Welshman would go, but its another step in the right direction and I'm sure we will be hearing more from him soon.

After the trophy was won and the cameras had been turned off, I reflected on what was a really good weekend of darts and thought "Why is there not more tournaments with lower ranked players on TV?" People love an underdog and neutrals will always cheer them on so why can we not see them more often?

The World Championships allows us to see the top 64 in the world and that's great, but when it concludes we don't see players outside the top 16 until the UK Open over 2 months later (with the exception of number 22 Stephen Bunting who was invited to participate in the Premier League). Thanks to PDC TV we can stream to European Tour events once a month that players qualify to play in and that's a good chance to see the lesser known talents of the game, but what about the travelling? Should they not get a chance in the UK to show what they can do in front of cameras and a packed arena with an electric atmosphere?

Television and stage experience is vital in a players career, many of big names can play their best darts on the floor but when they get on the stage they fall apart. After the UK Open they only have 1 more chance to appear on our screens (not including streamed events) until October.
Don't get me wrong, I love watching van Gerwen, Taylor, Anderson and Lewis, they amaze me every time I see them, but its nice to see a new face coming through and getting the better of the established players and I think it is very important for the sport.

I understand that Sky and ITV want the big names for their tournaments, but a suitable solution would be to bring cameras along to Pro Tour events and televise some of the matches, some great darts are thrown at these events with some ridiculous averages being achieved. Showing these matches would do darts and TV companies no harm and it would bring in more fans, more money and more players.

Mervyn King 26 Gram Darts Review

My main problem as a dart player is the passing of the dart from holding hand to my throwing hand. I have a fast throwing style which means I do not have the time to adjust the dart during my throw so the transition between hands is vital. I'm sure there are other players with a similar problem and it can be very frustrating, especially when your first 2 throws are perfectly in the treble 20 and the third dart strays into a 5 or a 1. I set out to find a set of darts that would combat this weakness of mine and after some research I found that a 'Scalloped' barrel would be perfect.

I browsed Reddragondarts.com for this style and stumbled across Mervyn King's 26 gram darts, they seemed like they would fit the criteria of what I was looking for, so I decided to give them a go.
Two days later they were in my hand and I was straight onto the practice board. The first thing I noticed when throwing was how easy they were to throw despite weighing 26 grams, the scalloped barrel enables some extra push from the fingers on release creating a smooth throw but did the darts give me the consistency that I desperately needed? Yes. The darts were grouping better than they ever have, the speed of my throw is exactly where I want it and most importantly, I need to change the treble 20 segment on my board after just 1 week.

Forgetting all of the throwing elements of the darts, they really are beautiful. The tungsten alloyed barrel is finished off with a PVD black effect coating which gives them a nice attractive shine. Red Dragon have rated the grip 2/5 (1= Smooth, 5= Aggressive) due to there being some extra grooves towards the rear of the dart, these grooves may be a small addition but make the difference in a dart weighted towards the rear.

If you are struggling with inconsistency then I would advise you try these magnificent pieces of tungsten. They could improve your game and make throwing darts even more enjoyable than it already is.

UK Open Eye Catchers

The UK Open is a unique tournament that gives the lesser known players a chance to show what they can do on the big stage and on television. Apart from the obvious, there have been some players that really caught the eye and showed that they have potential to climb up the rankings into the top 32 and make a real name for themselves.

Eddie Dootson is highly thought of in St Helens where he hits 95+ averages for the county team regularly. He had an impressive qualifying campaign where he surprisingly made it to the Semi-Final stage in the 5th Qualifier claiming a few scalps along the way including Ronnie Baxter, Stuart Kellet, Christian Kist, Terry Jenkins and he certainly wasn't disgraced against Lewis losing just 6-4 to the World Number 4. Dootson placed 22 on the UK Open Order of Merit meaning his debut TV event would begin in the last 64 stage where he faced a good player in Joe Cullen, but it proved to be easier than expected winning 9-3. It was in the last 16 where he made his mark on the tournament by winning 9-8 against Robert Thornton in one of the shocks of the round. The Scot Thornton won the first leg but that was the only time he led in the match as Dootson raced into a 5-2 lead with a 14-darter and a 144 checkout in the process. The St Helens man led 8-4 and Thornton had to dig deep and hit an 11-darter to bring the match to a deciding leg where Dootson got to the double first and finished the match with double 10 and a 90 average to book his place in the last 16 and bag £5,000. This is would be the end of his run however, a 9-3 defeat to Devon Peterson dumped him out of the tournament but I am sure we will see more of this exciting player on our TV screens in the future.

Jamie Bain made his TV debut on the big stage at the weekend against Kevin Painter in a first round match that really caught the eye. The young lad from Scotland has a beautiful throwing action that can be very effective when on form. His statue like stance along with smooth and quick arm movements were key factors in making a his match with 'The Artist' a competitive one. Bain averaged and impressive 95 and the tie would have been closer than the 5-2 score-line suggests if he hadn't missed his chances at doubles. The confident Scot has had a floor victory over the mighty Phil Taylor in the past and showed on the big stage that it was no fluke and he can potentially go on to be as big as his followers in Aberdeen think he will. One to watch out for this year.

Dave Pallett faced the impossible task of overcoming Phil Taylor in a TV major event, but he sure had a good go at it. He found himself 4-1 down very quickly despite averaging 95 at that point and 'The Power' didn't let up winning the 4th round match 9-3. You might think that there isn't much to take from a thrashing like that, but commentator Chris Mason said he has played with Pallett on his super league team in the past and ensured the viewers at home that this young lad can play a lot better than he did despite averaging 96 and hitting 4 180s against the best there has ever been.
After his loss, Taylor said "David's a good up-and-coming player and he's one to keep an eye on,". Not something 'The Power' would say about everyone.
Pallett has beaten some top players in floor events before, including Christian Kist, Dean Winstanley, Peter Wright and Paul Nicholson, transferring that form onto the stage doesn't seem like it would be a problem as he seemed right at home in front of a big crowd in Butlins, Minehead. A big year lies ahead for the youngster and I hope he can build on a good weekend to start climbing further up the Order of Merit.