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.

Premier League Week 3 Preview

Michael van Gerwen will be looking to continue his phenomenal run of form this Thursday in Liverpool when he faces World Champion Gary Anderson for the second time in a week in the Premier League.

The two met in the final of the German Darts Championship on Sunday and 'Mighty Mike' showed exactly why he is World Number 1 with a 6-2 win and an average of 117.94. He produced some of the most incredible darts seen in recent years and was so dominant that Scotsman Anderson didn't get a dart at a double after the fourth leg despite averaging 103.78.

It will take something extraordinary stop the Dutchman who has won 30/31 matches since his elimination in the World Championships in the Ally Pally, but if anybody can, it will be the current World Champion.

Phil Taylor will take on Stephen Bunting this week in a match that promises big scoring and high checkout percentages. Bookmakers don't give Bunting much of a chance, but I think they might have this one wrong. 'The Bullet' will have the crowd firmly behind him cheering his every dart and after only getting 1 point in his first 2 matches, he will need to get a win this week to climb up the table and away from danger at the bottom. The St Helens man will need to improve on his latest performance in the German Darts Championship where he was demolished 6-0 by eventual winner van Gerwen averaging just 84.27, which I think he will do when he gets up on the big stage in front of his home fans who know exactly what the Big Man is capable of.

'The Power' will be looking to follow up on a 7-2 victory last week against Adrian Lewis where he averaged 108.33. He has averaged 100+ in 18 of his last 19 matches, which dates all the way back to October (93.74 against Terry Jenkins in the Masters being his only sub 100) and he will no doubt keep that record going, the outcome of this match depends on which Bunting shows up.

Peter Wright vs Raymond van Barneveld is a tough match to call. Both have not picked up a point in the opening 2 weeks and have honestly played poor. Wright's constant changing of darts is frustrating. Why doesn't he stick to the same set if he has previously played well with them? Who knows...maybe he just enjoys changing his darts like he changes his look every week? Whatever the reason, for the sake of his performances of late, it needs to stop. I fear that 'Snakebite' could be in danger of an early relegation this year from what i have seen so far.

One thing that winds me up more than Wright's darts changing is Barney's glasses. If he can't see the board then he should wear them. From what I've seen he performs better with them on so I hope to see the specs again this Thursday. The Dutchman's averages reflect his results with just 85.68 in the first week and 91.73 last week, he will need to improve on them to get his first points this week and I expect him to do so and get the points.

James Wade vs Dave Chisnall (Finishing vs Scoring). These two are completely different players and I think they will cancel each other out throughout the match. Dave will leave a double after 12 darts with Wade stepping up to the oche with 121. who wins from this point? 50/50? This is why I'm calling a draw in this one. 'Chizzy' has been on the form of his life and he says that a change of practice routine (only throwing for 2 hours a day instead of 6) is to thank for this.

Adrian Lewis is also playing some incredible darts. His performance last week was a shock considering his form in 2015. He is the only player to get the better of MVG this year on his way to winning a UK Open Qualifier recently. In the first week of the Premier League he averaged 113.8 against Barney and if he plays like that then I can't see anybody beating him. After his win in week 1 when he was interviewed by Wayne Mardle, 'Jackpot' admitted that he is 'lazy' and that Kieth Deller gets the best out of him. He is getting back to the form he showed when winning back-to-back World Championships.
His opponent this week is Kim Huybrechts who's first Premier League campaign has not got off to the best of starts with 2 losses despite averaging 98 in week 1. He needs something to kick-start his campaign but I don't think it will come this week, maybe next Thursday when he faces Chinall.
I think Lewis should win but be sure that 'The Hurricane' won't lie down without a fight and might push the World Number 4 all the way

World Championship. Who's Involved?

It's approaching that time again, on December 18th the World Championship will commence and it will showcase the best the PDC has to offer and will surely be the hardest to predict in recent times.

Phil Taylor has dominated this event for the best part of a quarter of a century but this years edition will not be as easy as some years have previously been. 

Even though 'The Power' is fresh off the back of an impressive Grand Slam which saw him being crowned champion for the 6th time and averaged over 100 in every game, he still faces stiff competition with many players in scintillating form, no more so than World Number 1 Michael van Gerwen. The Dutchman has had an impressive 2014 winning the World Grand Prix, The European Championship and of course The World Championship in January. He will no doubt feature in the latter stages and fans will be drooling at the prospect of a Van Gerwen and Taylor final.

James Wade is for me one of the best players never to be crowned World Champion, but he does have strong claims this time round after a fine 2014, most notably his triumph in the Masters where he showed great character coming from 9-2 down to win the match with a 135 checkout 11-10 against a stunned Mervyn King. Bookmakers make him a fair 10/1 third favourite to go all the way, not many would argue against that possibility.

Current BDO World Champion Stephen Bunting is also in the frame on his debut after quickly adapting to life in the PDC rocketing to number 23 in the Order of Merit despite only joining in February. Phil Taylor speaks highly of the man from St Helens saying that he has a lot of time for Bunting and that he's 'One to watch'.
'The Bullet' has produced some great performances recently averaging 100+ multiple times and his devastating success rate on double 16 is an incredible trait to have, every time he steps up to hit the green bit, I have no doubt that he will close out the leg accordingly.

Mervyn King may be a dark horse for the World Title but he is the most consistent players in the PDC at this current time. He is in the form of his life recently making the Quarter Final in the World Grand Prix (losing to eventual winner van Gerwen), Semi Final in the Grand Slam (losing to eventual winner Phil Taylor) and came second in the European Championship. 50/1 shows that he may have slipped under the radar yet again and could be a bit of value.

Kim Huybrechts had a great Grand Slam, but it was something i didn't see coming, he had failed to get past the last 16 stage in any televised tournament since November 2013, but if he can reproduce the form we seen last week then he will make an impact. He deafeated Michael van Gerwen in the Quarter Final averaging 104 and even hit a 9-dart-finish. He was unlucky to lose in the Semi Final to Dave Chisnall in a sudden death leg and it will be interesting to see if this form continues.

Phil 'The Power' Taylor is 7/4 favourite and its justifiable, but the amount of players on form is nothing short of incredible. If he wins his 17th World Title, it will probably be his best one to date.