Darts

[ivoralljack]

And Jonny goes out 3-6 to Cullen. Both our guys threw complete crap in their semi games (Gezzie averaged below 90) and can have no complaints. Guess it just wasn't their night but they should be pissed off that they threw so badly. Ironically, both players went first and lost whereas they threw second in the quarters and won!! No interest for me in the final of Wade v Cullen.

 

[ivoralljack]

Premier League night in Aberdeen. In the first match of the quarters Jonny Clayton eased to a 6-2 win against Gary Anderson with neither player finding much form. Jonny, however, always had the edge and earns points for reaching the semis where he might face Peter Wright who would be an entirely different proposition.

Gerwyn Price has his hands full against an in-form MVG in his quarter game. Gezzie missed the last tournament with illness and still has problems with his fractured hand, so I can't see him upsetting MVG tonight.

 

[ivoralljack]

As expected Gezzie went out 3-6 to MVG after holding him at 3-3. Jonny, who was playing really poorly for him early doors, scraped through 6-5 against Peter Wright knocking out his second Scotsman of the night in Aberdeen!! How he got through beats me but he did. He hung in there and his advantage in throwing first counted in the final leg. Now for the final but he needs to up his game to win it.

 

[ivoralljack]

Wow, what a great night of darts and an unexpected triumph for Jonny who beat MVG in the final to replace him at the top of the Premier League table. At 4-4 Jonny missed two darts for the game and MVG took out 94 with 18 and 2 x double 19s. Brilliant throwing. But Jonny broke back in the next game and held his throw to win 6-5 showing the value of going first in this format. Next week it's back to Dublin and the battle continues.......

 

[ivoralljack]

Premier League darts again tonight back in Dublin. Gezzie beat Cullen 6-3 in the quarters but was then blitzed 1-6 by James Wade who threw incredible stuff. Jonny beat Peter Wright 6-3 and then beat Bully Smith 6-4 after being 1-4 down. Seesaw final saw James Wade edge out Jonny 6-5 after Jonny missed a match dart and being 5-3 up. Nevertheless Jonny still tops the table and is almost assured of his place in the last four for the Grand Final night in Berlin.

 

[ivoralljack]

I missed last week's PL as I had no internet. Just tuned in for tonight's competition and learned that Jonny beat MVG 6-5 in last week's final. They are now playing for position as the last four will qualify for the Grand Final in Berlin. Jonny tops the table six points ahead of MVG, so almost certainly qualifies but Gezzie, who has been hampered by a hand injury, looks like missing out.

 

[ivoralljack]

Gezzie just beat Gary Anderson 6-4 to make tonight's semis. Comms confirmed that he had broken his hand several weeks ago, so it's no surprise that he hasn't been at his best. In this game he was 3-0 up having twice broken Gary but then missed 2 darts at double on his own throw to go 4 up. Gary made him pay by taking out 128 for 1-3. But Gezzie kept it together and ran out a winner with an average of just over 100. Meets Joe Cullen next who had a bye as James Wade was ill.

 

[ivoralljack]

Well what a surprise! Gezzie won tonight in Sheffield beating Cullen 6-3 in the semis and edging MVG 6-5 in the final. Great drama because Gezzie was behind and not throwing well. But he hung on and was leading 5-4 with three darts in hand to take out 12s which he likes. MVG had to take out 95 but missed the trip 19 with his first dart then took out 2 double 19s to level up the match. Luckily Gezzie kept his cool and won the last game to win. Despite all that was riding on the match for Gez, it was good to see the fist pump and smile of appreciation he gave MVG for his brilliant 95.

Jonny lost 5-6 to 'Bully' Smith but just went through the motions as he and MVG have already qualified for the last 4 no matter what the results in the next few nights. Wade is in third position, Peter Wright is fourth and Gez just outside the frame in 5th spot and two of those three will make up the four man shoot-out on finals night in Berlin.

Gez is the outsider but can still make the finals if he gets good results in the remaining matches. Interesting that he meets Jonny in the first round next week and I wonder if a bit of 'buddies' will influence their game as Jonny has nothing to play for .

 

[ivoralljack]

Definitely no buddies tonight on the 15th night of the Premier League at the O2 Arena in London. Jonny hammered Gezzie 6-3 and missed 4 match darts along the way. Gezzie threw rubbish by his best standards but Jonny showed his intent from the start by breaking throw in the first game and getting two consecutive 180s. Being broken in a race to 6 makes it very difficult to win and Gez didn't come close after that. Doubtful that he'll qualify for the last four now and his best darts mate didn't help him one jot. But that's as it should be. Honest competition.

 

[ivoralljack]

Jonny beat Bully Smith 6-4 in the semis but lost by the same score to Joe Cullen in the final. Jonny is such a frustrating darter. Time and again he ruins his visit by sliding a dart into the 5 or triple 5 bed. He must have done it at least a dozen times in the final....... I was counting but stopped when I lost count somewhere around the tenth time. I was that frustrated.

No matter because, not only has he qualified in the last four for the final in Berlin but, even if he doesn't win another game, he'll finish top of the qualifying league. Can't wait for the finals!! Doubt Gezzie will make it though.

 

[ivoralljack]

Premier League in Newcastle tonight. Jonny beat a rejuvenated Gary Anderson 6-5 to make the semis whilst Gezzie beat James Wade 6-4. Jonny meets Joe Cullen in the semis and Gezzie faces Michael Smith. Jonny and Cullen have both made the Berlin finals, so there's nothing on their game other than the £10k prize for winning the night. The same applies to Gezzie and Bully both of whom miss out on finals night.

Bad luck on Gezzie who missed the Brighton night altogether costing him points as he had injured his hand, which has proved a bit of a handicap since. He has shown flashes of his true form but it's far from the 100% Gezzie who would probably have been in Berlin with a strong chance of winning but for his injury.

 

[ivoralljack]

Jonny beat Cullen 6-4 but Gezzi lost to Bully 3-6 who went on to beat Jonny 6-3 in the final - the first time he's won an evening during the competition. To be honest Jonny just went through the motions but I have to say that the number of darts he allows to slide into the 5/15 beds is plain ridiculous. He's throwing away points almost every game and letting opponents stay in the match when he could/should be out of sight. It's a definite flaw in his game but, given how good he is anyway, he would be virtually unbeatable if he could correct it. Nevertheless I enjoyed the night and pleased for Bully.

 

[ivoralljack]

Premier League finals night in Berlin with Clayton v Cullen and MVG v Wade. Sad to say that Jonny was blown away by Cullen and I mean blown away!! Jonny had the darts but Cullen hit 180 with his very first throw. Jonny never recovered and couldn't even get close. Cullen went 6-0 up then 8-2 before clinching it 10-4. Jonny couldn't buy a double even though he had darts to win the first three legs.

His old failing of sliding into the 5 or 1 bed had even the commentators making mention of it and he was doing it on the 19 bed as well going into the 3 and 7. Scores of 45, 28 and 30 etc will never win games at this level especially when your opponent hits ELEVEN 180s to TWO and finishes for fun.

Jonny was never allowed to get going and play his game. He was comprehensively hammered and I wonder how this will affect him going forward. One thing is for sure; it's time he decided on whether he wants to be a plasterer or a professional darts player. Sure, he'll earn decent money doing both but, if he wants to reach the very top as a dart player, it's time he concentrated on it as his sole profession.

 

[The Blobster]

I'm sure I read something yesterday that he was giving up the day job and concentrating on darts.

 

[ivoralljack]

I'm sure I read something yesterday that he was giving up the day job and concentrating on darts.

I read similar but that he was only going to do it if he won tonight. He didn't win, so we'll see.

MVG beat Wade 10-4 and met Joe Cullen in an exciting final. Joe had won the bull shot to tee off and it went neck and neck until MVG broke him to go 10-9 up. Amazingly Cullen broke straight back and had the darts for the deciding last leg. Down they went blow for blow until Cullen had one dart to win the title at his favourite double 16. He missed. Up stepped MVG to nail his double and win the title 11-10. Great game!

As for Jonny, despite his success which has him rated as one of the world's top three (some say he's #1), he has this fatal flaw of letting opponents off the hook by fcuking up his scores with these repeated darts into the lower number beds. It's now become commonplace and is costing him games he should be winning. Then he tries too hard to recover, loses his rhythm and starts missing his doubles as well. He's putting pressure on himself.

As I understand it, his employers give him time off to travel and play tournaments but he has to practise in his own time in the evening and weekends. It's not enough at this level. His natural talent has given him the success he's had but, as I believe, the TOP pros practise a minimum of six hours a day. Whilst they are doing that, Jonny is plastering. I reckon if he did the same he really would become #1 in the world. That said, if he's happy doing what he is then that's all that counts.

 

[ivoralljack]

Watching the World Cup of Darts. Gezzie and Jonny through to the next round after beating the Philippines 5-2. One of the oppo players was very good and, had he had a partner of equal ability, they might have sprung a shock. It was 2-2 before our guys ran away with it averaging just under the ton. Trouble is, Jonny isn't really firing but luckily Gezzie was. He's been quiet of late but he was back to his fist-pumping, roaring best tonight. The comms all reckon he has to be that way to play his best. When he's not doing it, he's off his game. I suppose his rugby background is responsible in that he has to fire up the adrenalin to play his best. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[ivoralljack]

Format change today with two singles and a deciding doubles if it's 1-1. We were playing last year's surprise finalists Austria. Gezzie opened against always dangerous Mensur Sulovitch and threw crap apart from four throws. He threw a 180 then a 156 out. In the penultimate leg he got a 149 finish and capped that to win the last leg with a 142 out for a 4-3 win. But, believe me, he could so easily have lost and nearly did.

Up stepped Jonny and he was worse than Gezzie. He lost his game 2-4 against an opponent he beat 6-0 in their last match. He was terrible!! I know no other top pro who so regularly has trebleless visits and no other top pro hits the 1 and 5 beds with anything like the regularity he does. It's a fault he MUST work on. He hit numerous scores of 45, 41 and 42 and looked no better than a decent pub player at times.

At 3-2 in the deciding doubles game, he missed TWO CLEAR darts at double top (comms said they were nowhere near) to win the match and the Austrians levelled. Luckily it was our first throw and we scraped through 4-3 after missing FIVE more match doubles. In their present form they have no chance whatsoever of winning the title again. Favourites for me are England with Bully Smith and James Wade who won their first round 5-1.

Bully is the form thrower in world darts right now having won several competitions. When he's in the groove he's plain awesome. He has a machine gun delivery. When his first dart hits the treble 20, the next two are in there almost before you can blink BAM..... BAM BAM!! Couple that with Wade's brilliant finishing and his scoring ability and you have a recipe to become world champions.

Of course darts is a fickle game and form can vary wildly from day to day. England could have an off day and get knocked out but if every team maintains the form they have shown so far there is little doubt who the winners will be. One caveat though, Holland are also looking shit hot.

 

[ivoralljack]

England surprisingly were taken to a doubles decider by Latvia of all teams. Bully breezed his singles 4-0 but Wadey suffered a shock defeat in his game. However, he got it together in the doubles, played well and England went through quite easily in the end. Bully throwing really well with fluency and speed. Sometimes he doesn't even seem to take aim!!

 

[ivoralljack]

WOW!! Did Gezzie Price hit the heights! He won his singles 4-0 so quickly if you went for a piss you missed it. He had out shots of 120 and the Big Fish 170 averaging 117.88 in the game. Before his penultimate visit of the match his average was over 123, which would have been a World Cup record. His German opponent averaged over 101 and barely had a dart at double! Incredible stuff.

Jonny won his game 4-2, so Wales are now in the semis and will play Holland. What a game that is likely to be. The Dutch are on fire too and I can't pick between the two teams. If Wales are to win, Gezzie needs to maintain his form and Jonny needs to find another gear.

 

[ivoralljack]

England brushed a very poor Scotland aside and I have never seen Peter Wright play so badly. They face Oz in the semis whilst Wales have Holland.