Darts

[Invicta Informant]

Luke Humphries is victorious again, winning the Players Championship Finals 11 legs to 9 over the defending champion Michael van Gerwen. The World Youth Final was won by Luke Littler.

 

The draw has been made for the World Darts Championship, conducted by Phil Taylor and Dennis Priestley. The top 32 in the Order of Merit start in the second round. Michael Smith is the defending champion. The tournament at Alexandra Palace starts on Friday 15th December 2023 and concludes on Wednesday 3rd January 2024 and is broadcast on Sky Sports.

 

The draw bracket look like this:

(1) Michael Smith (ENG) Vs Kevin Doets (NED)/Stowe Buntz (USA)
(32) Madars Razma (LAT) Vs Mike De Decker (BEL)/Dragutin Horvat (GER)
(16) Ross Smith (ENG) Vs Niels Zonneveld (NED)/Darren Webster (ENG)
(17) Chris Dobey (ENG) Vs William O'Connor (IRE)/Bhav Patel (IND)
(8) Rob Cross (ENG) Vs Mario Vandenbogaerde (BEL)/Thibault Tricole (FRA)
(25) Jose de Sousa (POR) Vs Ritchie Edhouse (ENG)/Jeffrey de Graaf (SWE)
(9) Jonny Clayton (WAL) Vs Steve Lennon (IRE)/Owen Bates (ENG)
(24) Krzysztof Ratajski (POL) Vs Jamie Hughes (ENG)/David Cameron (CAN)
(4) Peter Wright (SCO) Vs Jim Williams (WAL)/Norman Madhoo (GUY)
(29) Raymond van Barneveld (NED) Vs Radek Szaganski (POL)/Marko Kantele (FIN)
(13) James Wade (ENG) Vs Matt Campbell (CAN)/Lourence Ilagan (PHI)
(20) Andrew Gilding (ENG) Vs Christian Kist (NED)/Luke Littler (ENG)
(5) Gerwyn Price (WAL) Vs Connor Scutt (ENG)/Krzysztof Kciuk (POL)
(28) Brendan Dolan (NIR) Vs Mickey Mansell (NIR)/Xiaochen Zong (CHI)
(12) Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED) Vs Keegan Brown (ENG)/Boris Krcmar (CRO)
(21) Gary Anderson (SCO) Vs Simon Whitlock (AUS)/Paolo Nebrida (PHI)
(2) Michael van Gerwen (NED) Vs Keane Barry (IRE)/Reynaldo Rivera (PHI)
(31) Kim Huybrechts (BEL) Vs Richard Veenstra (NED)/Ben Robb (NZL)
(15) Dimitri Van den Bergh (NEL) Vs Dylan Slevin (IRE)/Florian Hempel (GER)
(18) Stephen Bunting (ENG) Vs Ryan Joyce (ENG)/Alex Spellman (USA)
(7) Danny Noppert (NED) Vs Scott Williams (ENG)/Haruki Muramatsu (JAP)
(26) Martin Schindler (GER) Vs Jermaine Wattimena (NED)/Fallon Sherrock (ENG)
(10) Damon Heta (AUS) Vs Martin Lukeman (ENG)/Haupai Puha (NZL)
(23) Josh Rock (NIR) Vs Luke Woodhouse (ENG)/Berry van Peer (NED)
(3) Luke Humphries (ENG) Vs Lee Evans (ENG)/Sandro Eric Sosing (PHI)
(30) Callan Rydz (ENG) Vs Ricardo Pietreczko (GER)/Mikuru Suzuki (JAP)
(14) Joe Cullen (ENG) Vs Jules van Dongen (USA)/Darren Penhall (AUS)
(19) Ryan Searle (ENG) Vs Ian White (ENG)/Tomoya Goto (JAP)
(6) Nathan Aspinall (ENG) Vs Ricky Evans (ENG)/Simon Adams (RSA)
(27) Daryl Gurney (NIR) Vs Steve Beaton (ENG)/Wessel Nijman (NED)
(11) Dave Chisnall (ENG) Vs Cameron Menzies (SCO)/Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (AUT)
(22) Gabriel Clemens (GER) Vs Gian van Veen (NED)/Man Lok Leung (HKG)

 

Before then, there is the WDF World Darts Championship at Lakeside Country Club, Surrey between 2nd and 10th December. Many players who had originally qualified for this and since qualified for the PDC's event, have opted to play in the PDC, especially as there is more prize money on offer just for qualifying. £7,500 for first round losers in the PDC, against £1,000 for first round losers in the WDF. Plus, the PDC do not permit anyone to play in two World Championships in the same year. The only names that jump out at me in the WDF event are defending champion Neil Duff and 2006 Lakeside winner Jelle Klaasen.

[Invicta Informant]

The PDC World Darts Championship starts tomorrow (Friday 15th) evening with Sky Sports providing extensive wall-to-wall coverage. Highlights, I imagine, will provided by the PDC's YouTube channel.

 

The WDF World Darts Championship concluded with Belgian Andy Baetens defeating Dutchman Chris Landman 6 sets to 1, while Beau Greaves retained the Ladies' Title with a 4 sets to 1 victory over Aileen de Graaf. There hardly any media coverage of the event. I found out (afterwards) that the early stages were streamed live on YouTube, with the final three days on the TV channel Ayozat.

 

It will be the PDC's 31st World Championship since the acrimonious Split in Darts. It is incredible to think that the PDC (or the World Darts Council (WDC) as they first called themselves) went from being pariahs and struggling to give away tickets to their events (not helped by the BDO's psychotic banning of anyone who was "associating with" the WDC), to having greater media coverage, substantial prize funds, and tickets to tournaments selling out pretty quickly. The BDO's stringent ban was such that Phil Taylor's cousin, who was a Staffordshire county player, was warned not to associate with him. The BDO gradually became irrelevant, as more and more players defected to the PDC, and was liquidated in 2020.

 

 

[Invicta Informant]

There is also radio coverage of the World Championships on talkSPORT.

[Invicta Informant]

Something overlooked in the King's New Year's Honours List, is the 1983 World Champion Keith Deller has been awarded an MBE for services to charity:

https://www.pdc.tv/news/2023/12/30/keith-deller-awarded-mbe-kings-new-years-honours-list

[Pete the Elaner]

Some interesting matches yesterday & I suspect more surprises to come in the last 7 matches.

[Invicta Informant]

This is what the draw bracket now look like:

(17) Chris Dobey (ENG) Vs (8) Rob Cross (ENG)

Luke Littler (ENG) Vs (28) Brendan Dolan (NIR)

(2) Michael van Gerwen (NED) Vs Scott Williams (ENG)

(3) Luke Humphries (ENG) Vs (11) Dave Chisnall (ENG)

 

The quarter-finalists are guaranteed £50,000.

[Invicta Informant]

The World Championship Final is tonight (3rd January). May the best Luke win.

[Invicta Informant]

Luke Humphries is the new World Champion (and World No. 1), with a 7 sets to 4 victory over Luke Littler (who is now 31st in the Order of Merit). Littler had a chance to go 5-2 up.

 

The pair of them will be participating in the Premier League (broadcast on Sky Sports) along with Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, and Peter Wright. This commences on 1st February in Cardiff and concludes at London's O2 Arena on 23rd May. 

 

The next darts tournaments on TV are a couple of 'World Series' events on ITV4 from Bahrain on 18th & 19th January and from the Netherlands on 26th & 27th January. The Masters from Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes will take place between 2nd & 4th February, feature the top 24 players in the main Order of Merit, and be broadcast on ITV4.

[Invicta Informant]

Luke Littler did this en route to the final of the Bahrain Darts Masters:

 

[Invicta Informant]

Michael van Gerwen wins the Dutch Darts Masters 8 legs to 6 over Luke Littler.

 

This coming weekend, there is the Masters at Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes. Coverage on ITV. Players ranked 9th to 24th in the Order of Merit start in the first round and the winners then play the top 8 in the second round. Chris Dobey is the defending champion of this event.

 

Draw bracket:

(1) Luke Humphries (ENG) Vs (16) Stephen Bunting (ENG)/(17) Ross Smith (ENG)
(8) Peter Wright (SCO) Vs (9) Jonny Clayton (WAL)/(24) Krzysztof Ratajski (POL)
(4) Nathan Aspinall (ENG) Vs (13) Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED)/(20) Ryan Searle (ENG)
(5) Gerwyn Price (WAL) Vs (12) Joe Cullen (ENG)/(21) Josh Rock (NIR)
(2) Michael van Gerwen (NED) Vs (15) Chris Dobey (ENG)/(18) Andrew Gilding (ENG)
(7) Danny Noppert (NED) Vs (10) Dave Chisnall (ENG)/(23) Martin Schindler (GER)
(3) Michael Smith (ENG) Vs (14) Dimitri Van den Bergh (BEL)/(19) James Wade (ENG)
(6) Rob Cross (ENG) Vs (11) Damon Heta (AUS)/(22) Gabriel Clemens (GER)

[Invicta Informant]

The Masters was won by Stephen Bunting, who beat Michael van Gerwen 11 legs to 7. This is Bunting first PDC Major, having won the World Masters in 2012 and 2013 and the BDO World Championship in 2014. Daryl Gurney was a 'last minute' addition to the field, taking the place of Gerwyn Price who had to withdraw because of family reasons. Gurney made the quarter-finals, losing to Nathan Aspinall 10-9.

 

Aside the Premier League on Sky Sports, the next TV Major is the UK Open on 1st-3rd March at Butlin's Minehead with coverage on ITV.

Edited February 6 by Invicta Informant
Missed out 'ship' in Championship

[Invicta Informant]

Starting today (Thursday 15th) is the World Senior Darts Championship at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet, with coverage via the BBC Red Button and iPlayer. Robert Thornton is the defending champion. The event is open to over-50s who are not PDC Tour Card Holders.

[Invicta Informant]

The World Senior Darts Championship was won by John Henderson who beat Colin McGarry 5 sets to 0 in the final. Lisa Ashton made the semi-finals, while familiar names like Phil Taylor, Terry Jenkins, Keith Deller, and John Part did not get beyond the first round.

 

Winners on the PDC Pro Tour thus far this year are Luke Littler, Gary Anderson, Ryan Searle, and Damon Heta.

 

One interesting Rileys 'Amateur' Qualifier for the UK Open (1st-3rd March) is Joe Croft, the grandson of Olly Croft who founded the BDO.

[Invicta Informant]

The UK Open was won by Dimitri Van den Bergh, who beat World No.1 and World Champion Luke Humphries 11 legs to 10. Van den Bergh moves back into the top 10 of the PDC's Order of Merit from 14th to 7th.

 

There was also the sad news of the passing of Tony Green, aged 85 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. Green was better known as a commentator for the BBC's coverage of the BDO World Darts Championships, and as the announcer and co-host of Bullseye.

 

[Invicta Informant]

The Play Offs for the Premier League Darts is tomorrow night (Thursday 23rd May):

Luke Littler Vs Michael Smith

Luke Humphries Vs Michael van Gerwen

 

The next televised events (on ITV) are a trio of 'World Series' events, the US Darts Masters (31st May-1st June), the Nordic Darts Masters (7th-8th June), and the Poland Darts Masters (14th-15th June).

[Invicta Informant]

Luke Littler wins the Premier League with a 11-7 victory over Luke Humphries, and also does this: