The Class of 2010 Part 4: Ally Pally 2012 & End of Term Report, by Callum Harris

Posted on January 15th, 2012

By Callum Harris, Missed Previous articles? Click here

Impressively, all six of the 2010 alumni qualified for the 2012 World Championships. Each player has so far stated their case and shown evidence that they can make an impact on the PDC rankings.

Nigel Heydon led the defending World Champion, Adrian Lewis, two sets to nil and was only pipped in a last leg decider.

Ian White pushed Rob Thornton all the way but went down 3-1 to ‘The Thorn’ who has made a habit of removing the 2010 boys from their debut World Championship!

Mark Hylton featured in one of the best games of the first round against the rapid fire Dutch Destroyer, losing to Vincent van de Voort in a last set decider.

Antonio Alcinas lost another thriller to The Hammer, Andy Hamilton, to leave just two of the Class of 2010 standing at the Ally Pally. Hamilton went on to reach the final, losing to Adrian Lewis.

Scott Rand enjoyed a cool debut as he whitewashed The Pieman, Andy Smith. A second round tussle with Colin Lloyd saw Cool Hand start favourite against the former world number one; further evidence of the progress that Class of 2010 have made. However, it was not to be this year as Jaws ruined Rand’s first match as a professional, dumping him out of the tournament.

Steve Farmer’s master plan of laying low and coming on strong at the end of the season appeared to have worked to a tee. Farmer defeated Ronnie Baxter in round one and qualifier Kevin Munch in round two to reach a last 16 dust up with James Wade which proved a bridge too far, Farmer losing out to The Machine.

This made Farmer the most successful of the bunch at Ally Pally 2012, a tournament that saw all players put up a good fight and Scott Rand make the decision to give up the lorry driving and become a full time darts pro.

2011 Summary

PDC Ranking Position: Hylton 33 (up 21 places from 2010) | Farmer 36 (14) | Rand 41 (58) | Heydon 43 (12) | Alcinas 51 (20) | White 54 (35)

Pro Tour Results: Wins – 0 | Runner Up – 2 | Semi Final – 6 | Quarter Final – 14 | Last 16 – 22

Majors:

Player Championship Finals (2010) – 1 Qualified (1 x Semi)

UK Open – 5 Qualified (1 x Qtr, 1 x L64, 1 x L96, 2 x L160)

World Matchplay – 2 Qualified (2 x L32)

European Championship – 1 Qualified (1 x L32)

World Grand Prix – 1 Qualified (1 x Qtr)

Players Championship Finals (2011) – 2 Qualified (1 x Semi, 1 x L32)

World Championships – 6 Qualified (1 xL16, 1 x L32, 4 x L64)

Part 5 – End of Term Report

So here we are after almost two full seasons. The progress of the Class of 2010 is there for all to see. All six players are in, or around, the top fifty in the PDC Order of Merit. Mark Hylton is one place outside the top 32 and three others are within striking distance; all are going in the right direction, some quite quickly.

One member of the class has won a floor event and three more have been to Pro Tour finals. Two have been to a semi final and one has made a brace of quarter final appearances at the PDC’s blue riband events.

The entire class have performed admirably against the best of their peers, both on TV and away from the cameras. Between them they have represented the class of 2010 at every PDC event in the last two years (with the exception of the Premier League & Championship League of Darts).

It is an impressive litany of success and to do it within the first two years of joining the PDC is remarkable. Somewhat surprisingly they have stayed under the radar for most part due to the arrival in 2011 of some more famous faces – Dave Chisnall and John Henderson for example.

There is another reason why the Class of 2010 deserve huge credit for the impression they have made on the PDC. I have been told separately, and by the players themselves, that a number of other players from unheralded backgrounds (players such as Mick Todd, Matt Edgar & youngsters like Adam Smith-Neale) took huge inspiration to enter the PDC based on the exploits of the Class of 2010.

Todd, Edgar, and the like played with and against players such as Rand and Heydon in the amateur arena and took the plunge at the PDC Qualifying School at the start of 2011 others were spurred on by the thought “if bloody Mark Hylton can get that far, I could do even better!”

Players such as John Henderson, Dave Chisnall and Brian Woods all followed Ian White after seeking Diamond’s advice, inspired by his success.

If more evidence were needed of the inspiration provided by the Class of 2010, look no further than the year James Richardson has had. It has been a year almost identical to the one Mark Hylton enjoyed in 2010 and a year that bubbled to the surface with his spectacular trouncing of Raymond van Barneveld at the 2012 World Championship.

Due to a number of changes that have taken place with the qualifying criteria (with more in the pipeline) it will be difficult for new players to make such an impact in future years. I believe that the Class of 2010 will go from strength to strength and will come to be regarded as a unique group.

Six guys with little or no top level experience who had only twelve months to secure tour cards and only another year to break into the Order of Merit top 64. All six achieved both targets and have shaken up the comfortable world of professional darts, inspiring others to do the same along the way.

Will any other intake compare to the Class of 2010?

By Callum Harris, Missed Previous articles? Click here

Tags: Antonio Alcinas, Ian White, Mark Hylton, Nigel Heydon, PDC Pro Tour, PDPA, Scott Rand, Steve Farmer
Filed under Callum Harris, Darts Blog, News, PDC |