Darts

[ivoralljack]

Gerwyn Price on fire in the Grand Slam of Darts at Wolverhampton. Yesterday he beat dangerous Ryan Searle, Gary Anderson's practise partner, 5-0 in EIGHT MINUTES with an average of 110.51. He's just beaten Gian van Veen, the young Dutch pretender to MVG, by 5-1 to cement his place in the next round at the top of his group. He had finishes of 97, 107, 108 and won the match with a 121 averaging over 112 in the process! Some darts!! In 4 of his legs he went out first dart on tops. In one leg he missed top but nailed the double 10 with his next dart. Just great finishing.

Jonny and Chris Dobey fight it out in their group to go through as both have won 1 from 2. Jonny the Slider was all over the shop losing 1-5 to Josh Rock last night and will have to stop handing his opponent chances with his inconsistency on his scoring. Luckily, Dobey isn't in good form either and this game is too tight to call. Whoever finds his darts on the night will win this. Hope it's Jonny.

 

[ivoralljack]

PS: The ladies are doing okay as well. Fallon Sherrock is 1 from 2 and still has a chance to progress whilst 19 year old ladies #1 Beau Greaves beat her German opponent 5-1 and also has a good chance of progressing.

 

[ivoralljack]

Jonny is out well beaten by Dobey. The general opinion is that he's been poor for several months and he won't win anything major again until he starts scoring a lot heavier than he's managing right now. Mind you, he's still making a lot more money than he was working as a plasterer for the local council!

 

[ivoralljack]

Fallon went out 2-5 to Rob Cross never hitting form and averaging just over 88. She was unlucky though hitting the wire of treble one several times at critical moments. Had those 3s been 60s as they might well have been, it could have been a very different game.

Beau Greaves also went out going down 4-5 to Damon Heta. She was superb and actally missed a match dart on her favourite 16s. Well done to both girls for performing so well. They thoroughly deserved their places in the event.

 

[ivoralljack]

Gez out beaten 10-6 by Gary Anderson who averaged nearly 105 to Gezzie's 103+. Gez didn't throw badly but Gary, who apparently has never beaten Gez in a TV tournament, found some great form to win it. I suspect that Gez left his best form in the earlier rounds. Considering their history of bad feeling it was good to see the friendly spirit that they showed in the game.

 

[ivoralljack]

World Championship at the Ally Pally and Gez comfortably through to the next round winning 3 sets to nil averaging 98+.

 

[ivoralljack]

Jim Williams of Wales beat #4 seed Peter Wright by 3-0 in sets in a big shock. Good performance.

But take heed of this. SIXTEEN year old Luke Littler, in his debut Worlds, beat former BDO World Champ, Christian Kist, by 3-0. He averaged 106+ and doubled at 50%. A brilliant performance! His odds tumbled from 66/1 to 10/1 in a matter of hours. Wayne Mardle, commentator pundit, reckons he's the most natural talent he's EVER seen and that includes Taylor, Lewis and MVG. Seems his dad bought him an electronic board when he was two years old and by the time he was six he was throwing Phil Taylor darts at a regulation board and does little else in his life except throw darts. I'll follow his progress with great interest.

 

[ivoralljack]

Jonny Clayton through in one of the worst games I've ever seen. He beat Steve Lennon 3-1 in what the comms described as a 'missed doubleothon'!! Between them they missed over SIXTY darts at doubles, Jonny averaging just 28% and Steve with 15%. In one leg Lennon missed ten darts at a double enabling Jonny, who was light years behind, to snatch it. He won with an average of only 88%.

Post match, Jonny blamed his doubling (rightly) for his poor performance but he still doesn't get it. His scoring is also pants with no consistency. It's feast or famine with him. His sliding was even worse than usual moving the comms to remark that he didn't seem to know if he was hooking or slicing. The times he hit an adjacent bed was totally frustrating and the comms said that if he carried on like that he had little chance of going much further.

BUT also there might be good reason this time around. Jonny's dad unfortunately passed away quite recently and, understandably, it's affected his game as his dad was one of his greatest supporters. Sincere condolences to Jonny, his family and friends. Hope he rediscovers his form and goes on to win it in memory of his dad. That would be really good.

 

[ivoralljack]

Gezzie out beaten 2-4 by Brendan Dolan ranked way below him in the averages. Gez's doubling was atrocious and his scoring wasn't great either but generally he was outscoring Dolan. The trouble came on the outer ring. I mean the pros are supposed to practise doubling but I wonder about Gez. He's supposed to be great at tops then tens if he misses. I reckon he's crap on them - and has been for some time. Halfway through he'd missed 20 doubles according to the comms and missed a whole lot more as the game progressed.

At 1-1 Gez missed 3 set darts, the first one at tops. Dolan then took the set and was leading 2-1 instead of being 1-2 down. Abysmal!! Dolan was described as a pest by the comms in that he's not a top player but is always there in games to take advantage of misses by a superior player. He took out finishes of 144, 130, 120 and a bull finish while Gez was faffing about not doing what a pro dart player should be doing. Well he paid the price tonight and it was entirely his own fault. Now let's see if out of form Jonny Clayton can do better.

 

[ivoralljack]

Jonny through with a 4-2 win against Kratjski in a routine game. His average was about 92 and I expect him to be beaten by in-form Rob Cross in the next round. Jim Williams the only other surviving Welsh player won the first set but was then crushed 1-4 by RVB.

 

[ivoralljack]

Reigning champ Bully Smith out incredibly beaten 0-4 by in-form Chris Dobey, now a real dark horse for the title. Their respective averages were literally decimal points apart but the timing of Dobey's good throws won it for him. Great game in prospect with Luke Littler facing RVB. This will be Luke's first real test here against a seasoned top player. Interesting to see how 16 year old Luke will fare against him. However he does I'm sure he's a World Champ of the not too distant future. Maybe not this year because MVG is throwing like a man possessed!

 

[ivoralljack]

PS: MVG whitewashed Steve Bunting 4-0 and the pundits all reckon that Bunting is in the form of his life! Bunting thinks the same but he couldn't lay a glove on MVG.

 

[ivoralljack]

Jonny out beaten by Rob Cross who, as the comms said, took him apart. It was 4-0 in sets and 12-4 in legs and Jonny played almost like a pub player. These days, when he scores well he misses his doubles. When his doubling is on song his scores are crap. As soon as he gets back to putting both together he'll be a good player again but right now he's rubbish at this level. In the very first game he missed 3 darts at his favourite double 16 and Cross nailed a 140 to steal it. And it got worse from there. Jonny's average of about 90 tells the tale and his 18 trebleless visits to Cross's 12 summed up the game. And the sooner 'The King of the Sliders' loses that particular crown the better.

Next game Dolan, who put out Gez, versus Anderson. Dolan has been described as a pest by the comms. He isn't in the same class as the top guys but, nonetheless still being a very good player, he keeps himself in games by being consistent. He never goes away. And he's always there to scavenge on his opponents' mistakes to win legs. That's how he beat Gez. And it's how he beat Anderson 4-3. Dolan isn't on the same planet as either of them as a player but if they aren't on their game, or if they slip from their level, Dolan nicks the game. Nothing wrong with that; he's earning a good living.

I've recorded all the games and now taking a break. Next game up is RVB against wonder kid, Luke Littler. Should be a great watch.

 

[ivoralljack]

WOW!! Luke Littler, who was born 16 days after Barney beat Phil Taylor to become world champion, just hammered the Dutchman 4-1. This kid has all the talent to become world champion THIS year let alone in the future. He's a fast thrower in the Bully mould and seems to get a double treble score every other throw. His cover treble 19s ( 2 almost every time) are incredible and he's happy to double out anywhere on the board.

The comms were totally in awe. They said they'd never seen the like and that they were shaking their heads in disbelief at what they were seeing. They said that Barney, who finished with an average of almost 100, threw everything at Littler (105) but still was being absolutely walloped. Barney scored quite well: 100+ 37 to Luke's 30: 140+ 17 to Luke's 11 but Luke took the 180s 9-6. Hell of a game and Littler now meets 'pest' Dolan next.

PS: Barney's doubling% was 45 against Luke's 50. And I must add this - in one game, Luke deliberately used the last dart of a throw to nail a bull to leave 100, which he then took out with a 20 and 2 double tops. I mean, this kid is just 16!!!!

 

[The Blobster]

Littler is indeed one to watch but his finishing is erratic , he could have lost in earlier rounds with the number of doubles he missed but his scoring was good enough to give him a safety platform , MVG and Cross would have been there with him and stolen those legs .
Can't take it away from him though , he is definitely a future world champ . If not this year then very soon .

 

[ivoralljack]

MVG and Cross would have been there with him and stolen those legs .

True enough. A couple of opponents missed doubles to take sets that would have put pressure on the young man. The better players will take those chances and then we'll see how Littler handles it. Mind you, his 50% doubling against against RVB was impressive. Taking on average 2 attempts to finish is good going. Some great darts in prospect but they'll have to go some to beat the game between Humphreys and Cullen, described by the comms as right up there with the greatest ever games. It went to a tie break in the last set (2 legs clear) and both missed match darts before Humphreys nicked it. Great stuff!!

 

[Behindthegoal]

the game between Humphreys and Cullen. I thought they both played for the Swans

 

[The Blobster]

If you like darts , come to the Cocket Inn next Monday evening and join @ivoralljack and myself on the oche !

 

[ivoralljack]

Been recording the darts and watching bits when I have time. Saw a classic when Rob Cross beat Chris Dobey 5-4 after being 0-4 down. He never led in the match until the first game of the 9th set then needed one leg to win before Dobey rallied to send the game into a tie break that Cross won. Both had match darts they missed and there was a total of 27 180s in the game - 17 to Dobey and 10 to Cross. Brilliant game.

Young Littler stuffed Dolan 5-1 never giving the 'pest' the chance to nick legs as previous players did. Dolan is a nice guy and a decent player but he doesn't belong in this company, his average of 86 underlining that fact. Gez and Gary Anderson must be cursing the fact that they, as far better players, allowed him to sneak his wins against them. Littler was having none of that!!

 

[ivoralljack]

One of the biggest shocks ever in the darts WC as rank outsider (world #52) Scott Williams beat MVG 5-3. Williams, Littler, Humphreys and Cross are the semi-finalists. It's anyones' final as whoever finds form on the night will win it. No forecast from me as I haven't got a clue. They're all capable.