Blood on Muswell Hill
Posted on August 8th, 2011
Oliver Albert Croft OBE formed the British Darts Organisation on January 7th 1973. During the next four decades he ruled British darts from Muswell Hill with an iron fist. Uncompromising, pioneering, and despotic, it is worth remembering that the BDO itself was a breakaway from the National Darts Association of Great Britain. Olly was once a rebel himself.
On August 7th 2011, precisely 38 years and 7 months after the inception of the BDO, Olly Croft was booted off the board he founded in a ruthless but long-overdue coup by his member counties. A man who once said “I don’t owe any darts player a living” now finds himself out of work.
One side of the tungsten curtain holds Olly Croft up as a standard bearer for darts, rightly stating that the sport would not be where it is today were it not for Olly’s efforts over four decades. He helped drag darts out of the pubs and onto prime time television, turning working men who throw arrers into household names.
The other side of the curtain readily grant this indisputable fact but counter that darts would now be in a much healthier condition if Olly Croft had relinquished his grip some years ago.
Given the parlous state of relations with the BBC, and the dwindling attraction of BDO darts as a sporting spectacle, this point is also difficult to refute. The world has changed, the landscape of darts has changed, but Olly and his friends have not.
Tags: BDO, Darts Split, Martin Adams, Olly Croft, PDC
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Olly Croft – Voted Off The Board
Posted on August 7th, 2011
The End of an Era
We usually stay away from rumours/gossip on DartsMad, however the BDO AGM has been held today and a Twitter post from @lancashiredarts (Lancashire County, presumably present at the meeting), confirmed that Croft had been voted off. (now confirmed on BDO website – DartsMad Ed.)
The new board of directors will consist of:
Barry Gilbey (Chairman)
Sue Getty
Martin Adams
Derek Weston
Wayne Williams
Vic Sexton
*Resignation of Chairman Dave Alderman was accepted.
What the future holds for the Organisation is unknown, but you may be able to get a flavour of the new boards intentions by reading the following letter to County Officials written by 5 of it’s 6 members.
http://www.derbyshiredarts.co.uk/images/Letter%20the%20future%20of%20BDO%20darts.pdf
With almost 40 years of service since the BDO’s inception in 1973, 81 year old Croft OBE has long been the butt of jokes from those who are pro-PDC. Despite this, throughout the tungsten divide Croft had many loyal servants, including Martin Adams who (to date) has not succumbed to the glitz, glamour and potential financial reward of the PDC.
Croft’s influence on regulating darts and being instrumental in bringing it to the attention of the world is undeniable. However clearly even the likes of Adams eventually became frustrated with the lack of forward thinking and treatment of their players by Croft and the previous board.
One thing is for sure, things will not change over night, but over the coming months there may be some interesting and exciting twists in the tungsten world. Of course when we hear something official we will add the information here.
Perhaps we are now a step closer to a unification of the sport of darts? Watch this space………
Tags: 2011, agm, Barry Gilbey, BDO, Derek Weston, Martin Adams, Olly Croft Voted off board, Sue Getty, Vic Sexton, Wayne Williams
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2011 Grand Slam of Darts Invitations
Posted on August 4th, 2011
GRAND SLAM OF DARTS INVITATIONS CONFIRMED
THE qualification criteria for the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts has been confirmed, with John Part, Ted Hankey (who said he wouldn’t return last year – DartsMad Ed.), Co Stompe and Barrie Bates invited to compete in Wolverhampton in November.
One of DartsMad’s contributors has his own thoughts on how the criteria should be drawn up, click here to see the ‘Race2Wolves’! The PDC statement continues below….
The £400,000 tournament, to be held from November 12-20 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, features the finalists from major darts tournaments over a two-year period.
Won last year by Scott Waites, who succeeded three-time winner Phil Taylor, the event will be screened live on Sky Sports this November across nine days. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: BDO, Grandslam of Darts 2011, PDC, Scott Waites, Ted Hankey, Wolverhampton
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2011 Winmau BDO Classic Results Kettering
Posted on July 24th, 2011
Dean Winstanley won his way through an all Yorkshire final at the BDO Winmau British Classic in Kettering to lift the Men’s Singles title for the first time, but it was a memorable sixth Women’s Singles title for Trina Gulliver with a
3-1 victory over Lorraine Farlam.
Men’s Semi-Finals:
Peter Boughey (Cheshire) 1-2 Garry Thompson (Yorks)
Dean Winstanley (Yorks) 2-1 Dave Prins (Co.Durham)
Final:
Dean Winstanley 2-0 Garry Thompson
Women’s Semi-Finals
Deta Hedman (Oxfords) 1-3 Trina Gulliver
Lorraine Farlam (Ches) 3-1 Julie Gore (Pembrokes)
Final
Trina Gulliver 3-1 Lorraine Farlam
In the high-scoring Men’s Final, Dean Winstanley checked out on 91 for the opening leg and went on to win the first set with d-10, not to be outdone Garry Thompson checked out on 104 for the 1st leg of the 2nd set. But Dean won the second leg and then the set with an outstanding 143 checkout for the match and the British Classic title.
Equally impressive was the Women’s Final, with Trina Gulliver recording a 24.69 single dart average and Lorraine Farlam a 24.47 average. Trina won the opening leg and Lorraine opened the 2nd leg with a 140 and 180, only to see Trina go 2-0 up. Lorraine halted the Gulliver charge by taking the third leg. However, it was Trina who finally took her sixth British Classic title with d-6.
Source BDO
Tags: BDO, British Classic, Dean Winstanley, Garry Thompson, Results, Trina Gulliver
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BDO/WDF June 2011 Results
Posted on June 28th, 2011
Gary Robson and Karen Lawman win England Open Singles 2011
England’s Gary Robson and Karen Lawman are 2011 England Open Men’s and Women’s Singles Champions respectively.
Results are as follows:
Men’s Singles Semi-Finals
Ted Hankey 5-0 Benito van de Pas
Gary Robson 5-3 Tony O’Shea
Final
Gary Robson 6-2 Ted Hankey
Women’s Singles Semi-Finals
Karen Lawman 4-3 Trina Gulliver
Kirsi Vinkanainen 4-3 Lisa Ashton
Final:
Karen Lawman 4-2 Kirsi Vinikanainen
Men’s Pairs Final:
Paul Hogan/Paul Gibbs 3-1 Paul Neate/Aaron Turner
Women’s Pairs Final
Trina Gulliver/Lisa Ashton 3-1 Donna Rainsley/Trish Kidd
Mixed Triples Final
Ash Khayat/David Pallett/Linda Jones 3-1 Garry Thompson/Dave Calvert/Dee Bateman
Boys Singles Final
Craig Brown 4-3 Nick Kenny
Girls Singles Final
Stacey Ellis 3-1 Josie Patterson
For more information: www.englanddarts.co.uk
2011 BDO International Open Posted 13/06/11
The 2011 BDO International Open played at Pontin’s, Brean Sands, certainly lived up to its name by producing Men’s, Women’s and Youth Champions from The Netherlands, Russia and Wales respectively.
Exciting young Dutch player Wesley Harms won the Men’s title in an impressive 4-2 victory over England’s in-form Stephen Bunting; Anastasia Dobromyslova enjoyed more success in her return to the BDO with an impressive 3-2 victory over England’s Deta Hedman, and in an all-Welsh Youth Final, 14 year-old Rhys Griffin of Glamorgan played an outstanding match against Europe Cup Youth Champion Nick Kenny of Gwent.
The two extremely promising youngsters thrilled the big crowd with some exciting and high-scoring darts. Key to the win by Rhys was an 86 check-out to level the leg scores at 2-2 before he took the final leg to win the title 3-2.
In the Men’s Singles Benito van der Pas, another exciting Dutch talent had the crown on the edge of their seats when he produced a 10 dart leg at the start of the deciding set of his Quarter-Final with Peter Mitchell. He then hit a 104 checkout to win the game.
Stephen Bunting almost equalled the feat by producing an 11-dart leg to win his Quarter-Final match with Vern Sheppard.
Anastasia Dobromyslova confirmed her return to form by winning the Mixed Pairs with England’s Stephen Bunting.
The Mixed Triples was won by Martin Adams, Louise Hepburn and Gary Stone.
Results:
Men’s Singles
Quarter-Finals:
Garry Thompson (Yorks) 2-0 Martin Adams (Cambs)
Wesley Harms (Neth) 2-1 Dean Winstanley (Yorks)
Peter Mitchell (Kent) 1-2 Benito van der Pas (Neth)
Vern Sheppard (Middx) 1-2 Stephen Bunting (Eng)
Semi-Finals:
Wesley Harms 3-2 Garry Thompson
Wesley Harms 4-2 Stephen Bunting
Women’s Singles:
Semi-Finals
Deta Hedman (Oxfords) 3-1 Sue Brazell (Som)
Anastasia Dobromyslova (Russ) 3-2 Julie Gore (Pembrokes)
Final:
Anastasia Dobromyslova 3-2 Deta Hedman
Youth Singles
Final:
Rhys Griffin (Glam) 3-2 Nick Kenny (Gwent)
Paul Jennings wins 2011 Swiss Open June 4th & 5th 2011
The 2011 Swiss Open Men’s Singles has been won by England’s Paul Jennings, with Russia’s Irina Armstrong taking the Women’s Singles title.
The Swiss Open was played in Lausen, Switzerland over the weekend on June 4th and 5th, and England Men enjoyed more success in the Pairs, with Martin Atkins and Scott Mitchell winning the title.
Russia’s Irina Armstrong added to her tally of titles by taking the Women’s Pairs crown with her countrywoman Karina Kanzig .
Results:
Men’s Singles
1 Paul Jennings (Eng)
2 Christian Kist (Neth)
Semi-Finalists
Benito van de Pas (Neth)
Wesley Harms (Neth)
Quarter-Finalists
Tony West (Eng)
Jerry Hendriks (Neth)
Dave Prins (Eng)
Alan Norris (Eng)Last 16
Gino Vos (Neth)
Kim Huybrechts (Belg)
Clive Barden (Eng)
Stephen Bunting (Eng)
Scott Mitchell (Eng)
Maarten Gerritsen (Neth)
Martin Atkins (Eng)
Jamie Lewis (Wales)
Men’s Pairs
1 Scott Mitchell/Martin Atkins (Eng)
2 Tobias Muller/Johannes Posthoff (Ger)
Semi-Finalists
Paul Jennings/Kevin Hill (Eng)
Clive Barden/A.J. Urmston-Toft (Eng)
Quarter Finalists
Stephen Bunting/Alan Norris (Eng)
Thomas Junghans/Tobias Anliker (Switzerland)
Patric Aesshbach/Martin Bohn (Switzerland)
Andy Bless/Chris Kotal (Switerland/Ger)
Women’s Singles
1 Irina Armstrong (Russ)
2 Fiona Gaylor (Switzerland)
Semi-Finalists
Colette Rudin (Switzerland)
Neclar Densar (Switzerland)
Women’s Pairs
1 Irina Armstrong/Karina Kanzig (Russia)
2 Lorraine Woodrow/Ann Walsh (Eng)
Tags: 2011 BDO International Open, Anastasia Dobromyslova, BDO, Brean Sands Pontins, darts, Deta Hedman, England Open, Gary Robson, Karen Lawman, Results, Stephen Bunting, Ted Hankey, Wesley Harms
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BDO British Classic 2011
Posted on May 24th, 2011
The Winmau BDO British Classic Men’s and Women’s Singles Championships return to the Arena Sports Centre, Kettering on Saturday, July 23rd and the closing date for all entries will be Monday, July 11th.
“We are delighted to be returning to Kettering because of its central location and accessibility to all of our players”, says Olly Croft. “The British Classic is one of the most popular singles events on the BDO calendar and we are looking forward to a great attendance by players and public alike.”
The defending Champions, Ross Montgomery (Scotland) and Deta Hedman (England) are both in great form and lead a field of top-class players.
The BDO Winmau British Classic is a BDO Invitation Tables event for men and women and as such is only open to players who are eligible to play in the Winmau World Masters and Lakeside World Professional Championships.
The day after the Winmau BDO British Classic, there is a feast of darts featuring the youngsters of tomorrow.
Players in the Great Britain Finals of the BDO British Teenage Open Mixed Singles will be competing for the Barbara Wood Trophy together with prize money and prizes to the value of £2,000. In addition, all 64 Finalists will receive a set of Elkadart darts.
On the same day, immediately following the BDO British Teenage Great Britain Finals, the BDO British Inter-County Youth KO Cup will be played by county teams of 7 players per team (Squad up to 9 players).
The closing date for entries is July 9th.
Spectators will be welcome:
BDO British Classic = £7 per person;
BDO British Teenage GB Finals only and BDO British Inter-County KO Cup = £5 per person (payable on the door).
Download Entry Form for the BDO British Classic here:
Taken from BDO Website
Tags: 2011, BDO, British Classic, Kettering
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The BDO v Rileys (Official)
Posted on May 24th, 2011
Darts politics, it’s a messy business and something that we rarely report on unless we have the facts, however you may have heard (not through this this site) about an incident at the BDO council meeting in April, where accusations and allegations were aimed towards Rileys, by an (as yet) undisclosed minority of County delegates.
There is understandable concern that these groundless comments have spread quickly thoughout the darts world, and therefore Rileys Darts Manager Howard Miller has contacted us (amongst others) with a request that we host the official statement released yesterday by the BDO, in an effort to redress the situation. Please take the time to read the statement and feel free to comment. Rileys are keen to reach out to the darting public and should this raise any supplementary questions, they have committed to try to answer them openly and honestly.
BDO Board response to the Comments and points of view expressed in the BDO Full Council Meeting held on Sunday 17th April 2011.
Following the negative and misleading comments expressed by several County representatives in the last Full Council Meeting it was imperative that a formal response be made by the BDO Board and Rileys.
First I would like to make it clear that the Board has no intention of breaking off our relationship with Rileys – the working partnership has already established several opportunities which can not only provide substantial financial rewards to parties involved in the partnership but also provide many opportunities for player’s right across the BDO network.
Currently Rileys have 47 Darts zones across the UK which most agree provide unrivalled facilities all of which can be used by any darts teams with financial support in return for regular use. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: BDO, BDO Council Meeting April, BICC Masters, Rileys
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BDO/WDF May 2011 Results
Posted on May 18th, 2011
2011 Welsh Open 17 May 2011
Scotland’s Ross Montgomery won the Men’s Singles at the 2011 Welsh Open, with the on-form Deta Hedman (England) claiming the Women’s Singles title. Results are as follows:
Men’s Singles
1 Ross Montgomery (Scot)
2 Martin Phillips (Wales)
3-4
Paul Jennings (Eng)
Jan Dekker (Neth)
5-8
Andy Boulton (Eng)
James Wilson (Eng)
Steve West (Eng)
John Walton (Eng)
9-16
Robbie Green (Eng)
Wayne Warren (Wales)
Wesley Harms (Neth)
Garry Thompson (Eng)
Martin Atkins (Eng)
Craig Baxter (Scot)
Peter Jacques (Eng)
Vincent Kamphuis (Neth)
17-32
Dean Winstanley (Eng)
Kevin Thomas (Wales)
Tony O’Shea (Eng)
Scott Hudson (Eng)
Joey ten Berge (Neth)
Steve Alker (Wales)
Steve Stacey (Eng)
Andy Murray (Scot)
Ron Muelenkamp (Neth)
Richard Langlois (Wales)
George Bell (Eng)
Steve Coote (Eng)
Scott Mitchell (Eng)
Clive Barden (Eng)
Steve Smith (Eng)
Ben Ward (Eng)
Women’s Singles
1 Deta Hedman (Eng)
2 Karen Lawman (Eng)
3-4
Sue Gulliver (Eng)
Trina Gulliver (Eng)
5-8
Chris Savvery (Wales)
Michelle Shepherd (Wales)
Lisa Ashton (Eng)
Jukie Gore (Wales)
9-16
Lorraine Farlam (Eng)
Jane Stubbs (Eng)
Janet Fox (Eng)
Linda Kelly (Eng)
June McCallum (Scot)
Zoe Jones (Eng)
Angela Mann (Eng)
Michell Jones (Eng)
17-32
Apylee Jones (Eng)
Emma McGarvie (Eng)
Irina Armstrong (Russ)
Alannah Waters (Wales)
Leanne Loveridge (Eng)
Andrea Hunt (Eng)
Liz Williams (Wales)
Karen Rimmer (Eng)
Frances Lawson (Scot)
Heather Lodge (Eng)
Josy Locke (Eng)
Michelle Webber (Wales)
Vickie Martin (Eng)
Chrissie Halliday (Eng)
Louise Simmons (Eng)
Sarah Thornbury (Wales)
Men’s Pairs:
1 David Pallett/Ash Khayat
2 Colin Nicholl/John Haines
3 Steve Douglas/Ross Montgomery
3 Keirion Carter/Lloyd Browning
Women’s Pairs
1 Bev Martin/Louise Carroll
2 Deta Hedman/Karen Lawman
3 Rhian Edwards/Michelle Webber
3 Emma Pearce/Jane Stubbs
Youth Boys
1 Kurtis Atkins (Eng)
2 Nick Kennny (Wales)
3 Jake Jones (Eng)
3 Sion Thomas (Wales)
Youth Girls
1 Lucy Williams (Wales)
2 Josie Patterson (Eng)
3 Kate Jones (Eng)
3 Rhian Evans (Wales)
Mixed Pairs
1 Steve Douglas & Irina Armstrong
2 Andy Beardmore & Emma Pearce
3 Stuart Kellett & Bev Martin
3 Stephen Bunting & Michelle Webber
Tags: 2011 Welsh Open, BDO, darts, Deta Hedman, Results, Ross Montgomery
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BDO supports the International Belgium Darts Tour
Posted on March 4th, 2011
The British Darts Organisation is pleased to announce its support for four Belgian international darts tournaments to be played under the new organisation of the International Belgium Darts Tour (IBDT). These tournaments will provide more professional opportunities to Belgian Darts and its growing numbers of darts players – as well as the European players who wish to compete.
The four tournaments announced for 2011 are:
- Antwerp Open, Herentals: April 22nd & 23rd
- Belgium Open, Ranst: August 5th, 6th & 7th
- Top of Ghent, Ghent: October 21st, 22nd & 23rd
- Center Parcs Masters, Lommel: November 25th, 26th & 27th
Through its own ranking system, 32 men and 8 women will qualify to play in an additional final tournament with a prize fund of 10,000 Euro.
This tournament will be played early in 2012. Because the closing date for the 2011 Winmau World Masters is September 1st, the BDO will invite the winners of the 2011 Antwerp Open and Belgium Open to the 2011 Winmau World Masters and the Lakeside International Playoffs for the 2012 BDO Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships.
The BDO will invite the winners of the 2011 Top of Ghent and Center Parcs Masters, plus the overall winners of the final event to participate in the 2012 Winmau World Masters and the International Playoffs for the 2013 BDO Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships.
Further information can be found on: www.internationalbelgiumdartstour.be
Tags: BDO, Belgium Darts Tour, Belgium Open, Winmau
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Latest BDO/WDF Major News
Posted on May 1st, 2009
Japan Open 2009
Please note there has been a date change for this years Japan Open in Tokyo. Due to venue problems the event will now take place on June 28th and not on April 26th.
DFA Australian Grand Prix – BDO Invitational Points and $100,000 in Prize Money for DFA Major Events
BDO Invitational Points have been awarded to seven DFA events that will carry in excess of $100,000 in prize money and rewards available to DFA and WDF players in the space of eight months from April to November 2009. This follows recent announcements that the Directors of the British Darts Organisation (BDO) approved the DFA Australian Grand Prix to carry BDO Invitational Points on its events.
The Darts Federation of Australia (DFA) has developed the Australian Grand Prix to create a circuit of seven individual tournaments into one Grand Prix circuit giving our members access to BDO points all around Australia. The Federation believes that the development of the Australian Grand Prix circuit will be attractive to players and will assist in the attraction of major sponsors as the success and publicity of the circuit grows especially within the media.
The geographical distribution of the events will provide improved access to players for attendance at an event for our western and northern based players. The Grand Prix will also encourage International participation due to the grouping of some events to coincide closely with existing BDO events in New Zealand and Asia making the long-distance travel and expense more attractive. All of these events are unique because each provides women players with their own stand-alone events. The events to establish the inaugural Australia Grand Prix circuit are:
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: BDO, News, WDF
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Both poker and darts are highly popular pursuits. The games are available online, in fact, that there are organizations dedicated to making sure the rules of video poker and online darts are conformed. Similar to darts having the World Darts Federation, among others, and poker has the Tournament Directors Association. These rules are put into place in highly competitive tournaments, in which as many as hundreds or even thousands of people compete for cash prizes as well as prestige.
