Premier League Darts Night 5 Review
Posted on March 12th, 2010
RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD ignited his Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts campaign with the best performance of the season on Thursday night, while leaders Phil Taylor & Mervyn King scrapped out a draw in Manchester.
Dutch star van Barneveld bounced back from three successive defeats to average 106.9 in defeating Terry Jenkins 8-4 at the M.E.N. Arena to claim his second victory of the year.
A clinical performance included two 11-dart finishes and the highest average so far this season, putting the five-time World Champion back in the fray for a play-off place.
“I’m really pleased with that performance and the average,” said van Barneveld. “Tonight the darts went in like they can do and I was really focused.
“Hopefully I can keep this going every week because I felt comfortable on stage but know there is more in my. I’ve changed to using 23 gram darts instead of 25 gram darts and I’m already noticing an improvement.”
Van Barneveld sits one point adrift of fourth-placed Simon Whitlock, who also claimed his second win of the campaign in Manchester, punishing Adrian Lewis’ missed doubles to take an 8-4 victory.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Premier League Darts, Results, Review
Filed under PDC, Premier League Darts | No Comments »
German Title For Lewis
Posted on March 7th, 2010
ADRIAN LEWIS claimed his first PDC ProTour win of 2010 with a 6-4 win over Mark Walsh in the final of Sunday’s German Darts Classic Players Championship.
The 25-year-old from Stoke picked up the £6,000 title in Gladbeck with a fine performance, coming from 4-3 down to take three successive legs in winning the final.
Lewis produced legs of 11 and 15 darts to lead 2-0 in the final – hitting a showpiece 96 finish of single 20, double 18 and double top in the second.
Walsh hit back to win the next three, including a 126 finish, in taking the lead, and also punished missed doubles from Lewis in leg seven to edge 4-3 up.
But Lewis took out a 14-darter to level, double four to break throw and then sealed victory with an 80 finish of two double tops in ensuring the title.
Earlier in the day, he had avenged Saturday’s defeat to Mark Dudbridge with a 6-2 win, and also overcame Mick McGowan, Maik Langendorf, Steve Hine and Robert Thornton to reach the semis.
He also found himself 4-3 down in the last four against Dolan, but included a 121 bullseye finish in winning the next three without reply in taking victory.
Walsh battled past Gary Anderson with a 6-3 semi-final win, having been taken to a deciding leg in the quarter-finals by Steve Brown.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: PDPA Players Championship, Results, Review
Filed under PDC, PDPA Players Championship | No Comments »
Van Der Voort Claims Maiden PDC Title
Posted on March 7th, 2010
VINCENT VAN DER VOORT won his first PDC title with a 6-2 defeat of Wayne Jones in the final of Saturday’s German Darts Classic Players Championship in Gladbeck.
Van der Voort celebrated three years on the PDC circuit by claiming his first title in his fourth final, having lost two previous PDC ProTour events and the 2007 UK Open final.
The Dutchman showed some fine form in Gladbeck, Germany, to win through to the final, whitewashing Steven Marckowiak in his opening game before seeing off Dennis Smith, Andy Smith and Mark Walsh to reach the quarter-finals – missing double 12 for a nine-darter against the latter.
He overcame Mark Dudbridge 6-3 in the last eight before edging out Kevin Painter 6-5 in a thrilling semi-final.
Painter led 2-0 and 3-1 before van der Voort took three legs in a row, including seven perfect darts in one leg, to hit the front.
Painter levelled with a superb ten-darter, featuring seven perfect darts of his own, but missed two darts in the next as van der Voort edged 5-4 up.
The Dutchman missed the bullseye for a 127 finish for victory in the tenth leg, as Painter took out 90 on the bull – but the English star missed the same bed for a 121 checkout in the decider and van der Voort posted tops for a 14-darter and the win.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: PDPA Players Championship, Results, Review
Filed under PDC, PDPA Players Championship | No Comments »
Premier League Darts Night 4 Results
Posted on March 5th, 2010
PHIL TAYLOR maintained his 100 percent start to the Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts season with an 8-2 rout of Raymond van Barneveld at the Westpoint Arena in Exeter.
The 15-time World Champion came from 2-0 down to win eight successive legs against the Dutchman, who was condemned to defeat for a third successive game.
Taylor sealed victory with a 116 checkout to ensure that he remains two points clear of Mervyn King ahead of their meeting at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester next week.
“I’m pleased to get the win but I felt the pressure a little bit and started slowly,” said Taylor. I expected Raymond to click into gear but when I went in front his head dropped and he wasn’t the same player.
“When you see a weakness you have to exploit your opponent and hit them hard, and that’s what people are doing to Raymond at the moment.”
King picked up his third win of the season with an impressive 8-5 win over Terry Jenkins, winning four of the game’s final five legs to pull clear for victory.
Ronnie Baxter won his second successive match, seeing off Simon Whitlock 8-6 in a thriller.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Premier League Darts, Results, Review
Filed under PDC, Premier League Darts | No Comments »
Walsh Beats Taylor to Derby Title
Posted on March 1st, 2010
MARK WALSH celebrated victory in a UK Open Qualifier in Derby for a second successive year with a 6-2 defeat of Phil Taylor in Sunday’s final.
Walsh had defeated Raymond van Barneveld to take the £6,000 title at the Moorways Centre in 2009, and this time overcame the World Champion in the decider.
He had held off a Co Stompe fightback to win their semi-final 6-4, having led 3-0 and 4-1 before the Dutchman levelled.
Walsh also took some notable scalps in the early rounds with wins over Colin Lloyd, Mark Webster and Dennis Priestley, before seeing off Colin Monk 6-1 in the quarter-finals.
He saved perhaps his best form for the final, taking out double five for the opening leg after Taylor missed two darts to break throw, before finishing 100 in the second leg to move two legs up.
Taylor hit back with a 14-darter, but paid for missed doubles in the next two as Walsh took out a brace of 14-darters on 62 in reply to move 4-1 up.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Results, Review, UK Open
Filed under PDC, UK Open | No Comments »
Derby Win For Taylor
Posted on February 27th, 2010
PHIL TAYLOR powered past Terry Jenkins 6-1 to claim Saturday’s Players Championship in Derby in his first PDC ProTour appearance of 2010.
The world number one confirmed his return to top form following a virus at the Moorways Centre in Derby, backing up a third successive Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts victory on Thursday with a devastating Players Championship win.
Taylor dropped just six legs in seven matches on his way to the £6,000 title, which included whitewashes of Andy Hamilton and Chris Thompson, with Co Stompe being the only player to win two legs against him, in their quarter-final.
After storming to victory against York’s Thompson in the semi-finals, Taylor blew away Premier League rival Jenkins 6-1 in the final.
He opened the final with a 14-dart finish, and set up a double eight checkout with a 168 score in breaking Jenkins’ throw in the second leg.
A missed double 11, for a 124 finish, allowed Jenkins to hit back in the third, but Taylor slammed home checkouts of 108 and 124 in taking the next two legs, before hitting a 180 in a 13-darter to lead 5-1.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: PDPA Players Championship, Results, Review
Filed under PDC, PDPA Players Championship | No Comments »
Premier League Darts Night 3
Posted on February 26th, 2010
REPORTS from Belfast’s Odyssey Arena from night three of the 2010 Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts.
The £400,000 tournament crossed the Irish Sea for the third night of league action, with four games on the night including four-time winner Phil Taylor’s clash with current champion James Wade.
2010 Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts
Week Three – Odyssey Arena, Belfast
Mervyn King 6-8 Ronnie Baxter
Adrian Lewis 6-8 Terry Jenkins
Simon Whitlock 8-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Phil Taylor 8-2 James Wade
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Premier League Darts, Results, Review
Filed under PDC, Premier League Darts | No Comments »
Swindon Double For King
Posted on February 21st, 2010
MERVYN KING completed a clean sweep of the PDC ProTour events in Swindon with a 6-1 defeat of Simon Whitlock to win Sunday’s UK Open Qualifier at the Oasis Leisure Centre.
King backed up Saturday’s Players Championship victory with another classy display to claim the £6,000 top prize from the first of eight UK Open Qualifiers to be held in the coming months.
Having overcome a scare in Sunday’s opening game, when he battled from behind to defeat Anastasia Dobromyslova in a deciding leg, King then swept to 6-3 wins against local rival Peter Wright, Premier League Darts opponent Ronnie Baxter, Jamie Caven and Wayne Jones.
In the semi-finals, he landed seven 180s in a 6-4 defeat of world number two James Wade – repeating his Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts win on Thursday against the left-hander – before defeating Whitlock in the final.
King made an early statement of intent in the decider, taking out 117 in the opening leg, double one to break Whitlock’s throw in the second, and a 14-darter to move 3-0 up.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Results, Review, UK Open
Filed under PDC, UK Open | No Comments »
King Takes Swindon Title
Posted on February 21st, 2010
MERVYN KING won his first tournament since 2008 with 6-3 victory over Andy Hamilton in the final of Saturday’s Players Championship.
The world number four ended a 15-month gap between victories to claim the £6,000 winner’s cheque at the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon.
Having won both his Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts matches so far this season, King continued his form to sweep through the 156-player field in the third Players Championship of the year.
Having edged past Steve Evans in a deciding leg in the first round, he took 6-2 wins against Andy Callaby, Vincent van der Voort and Steve Hine to reach the quarter-finals.
There, he saw off in-form Adrian Lewis 6-4 before blowing away another Premier League rival, Ronnie Baxter, 6-1 to reach the final.
In the decider, he took out 101 in the opening leg to break Hamilton’s throw before the Stoke man punished two misses from King to level with a 76 finish.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: PDPA Players Championship, Results, Review
Filed under PDC, PDPA Players Championship | No Comments »
Premier League Darts Night 2
Posted on February 19th, 2010
PHIL TAYLOR roared back from 4-0 down to defeat Ronnie Baxter 8-6 in the Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts at the BIC in Bournemouth.
Taylor had defied a virus to defeat Simon Whitlock in the event’s opening week, but looked a shadow of his best when a slow start allowed Baxter to superbly win the opening four legs.
But Taylor, inspired by an 11-dart finish, took seven successive legs to assume the advantage and eventually sealed victory in a deciding leg.
“I couldn’t get going at the beginning and Ronnie played really well,” said Taylor. “After I got a leg and then another against the darts I put a little bit of pressure on him.
“I’ve been practising well but didn’t play very well but my form’s picking up and my doubles are going in, which is important.”
Taylor will face reigning champion James Wade in Belfast next week, with the left-hander under severe pressure after slumping to a second successive defeat with an 8-4 loss to Mervyn King.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Premier League Darts, Results, Review
Filed under PDC, Premier League Darts | No Comments »
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.
