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Grand Slam of Darts Tickets

From the PDC official website – info on the tickets released to the general public tomorrow (Monday);

The fourth staging of the Grand Slam, which sees champions of major tournaments come together to battle for the £100,000 first prize across nine days, live in front of the ITV Sport cameras.  The 32 players will include reigning champion Phil Taylor, the Stoke legend who has won all three previous Grand Slams since the tournament was introduced in 2007.

Three tournaments remain for players to qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts, with the finalists from the PDC’s Championship League Darts and Bodog.com World Grand Prix guaranteed a place in Wolverhampton alongside four players from the ITV Wildcard Qualifier, an open event which will be held on Friday November 5 in Barnsley.

The first round in Wolverhampton sees the players drawn into eight four-player groups to compete in a round robin format over five days. The top two players will progress to the knockout stages from the last 16 onwards from Thursday, with the quarter-finals being played on Saturday November 20 across two sessions.

The semi-finals will be played on Sunday afternoon, with the final on Sunday evening.

Tickets are available from 9am on Monday morning either in person at the Wolves Civic Box Office or by calling 0870 320 7000.

2010 Grand Slam of Darts

Date	Time	Games	Floor	Balcony
Sat Nov 13	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£25	£20
Sun Nov 14	12.30pm-5pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£25	£20
	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£25	£20
Mon Nov 15	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£20	£15
Tue Nov 16	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£20	£15
Wed Nov 17	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£20	£15
Thu Nov 18	6pm-10.30pm	4x Second Round	£25	£20
Fri Nov 19	6pm-10.30pm	4x Second Round	£30	£25
Sat Nov 20	12.30pm-5pm	2x Quarter-Finals	£30	£25
	6pm-10.30pm	2x Quarter-Finals	£35	£30
Sun Nov 21	12.30pm-5pm	Semi-Finals	£35	£30
	8pm-10.30pm	Final	£35	£30

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Crawley Player Championships – Results

I’ve not kept up with posting the results here over the weekend, as I was in Crawley myself enjoying the darts close up and personal (Thanks to Justin Pipe).  There’s nothing quite like being at a pro tour event – and it still feels like being a kid in a sweetshop.  I’ll write a personal recap of the weekend in a separate article – so for now, here’s the results of the two days.

Day 1 – Saturday

A ‘surprise’ name got to the final on Saturday - Steve Farmer.  Although fellow forum members have told me that they’d seen him play and were surprised he’d not had a long run in a floor tournament.  I did get to congratulate Farmer on his great performances back at the hotel – and he was beaming, totally made up.  The money he earned for reaching the final puts him up the PC rankings, and gives him a chance for some TV tournaments.  But it was won by Adrian Lewis – who has received some critism from fans in recent months for his poor TV performances.  Adrian was VERY happy with the win, and let out a lot of emotion after he threw the winning darts.

The Stoke star edged his first two matches with deciding leg victories over Wayne Atwood and Steve Maish.. to be honest, Lewis was lucky, as Steve Maish left himself 96 with Lewis on 161.. and Lewis took that 161 out with bull finish to win 6-5. But Lewis got better as the day went on, and his flashes of brilliance turned longer and longer.  He averaged 108 to win the final (Farmer was on 110!).

Quarter Finals
Steve Farmer 6-3 Mark Dudbridge
Gary Anderson 6-4 Wayne Jones
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Mervyn King
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Mark Webster
Losers £1,000

Semi Finals
Steve Farmer 6-5 Gary Anderson
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Losers £1,500

Final
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Steve Farmer
Winner: £6,000
Runner-Up: £3,000

Day 2 – Sunday

Jamie Caven had another long run in Sunday’s tournament – reaching the semi final (after the win and final in Canada), and a 9 dart leg!  (adding another £2,800 to his winnings).

Colin Lloyd continues his great 2010 form, with another win on the pro tour – the floor appears to be Colin’s at the moment!

Quarter-Finals
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Jamie Caven 6-3 Co Stompe
Alan Tabern 6-4 Paul Nicholson
Colin Lloyd 6-5 Tony Eccles
Losers £1,000

Semi-Finals
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Jamie Caven – Jamie Caven hits nine-darter in second leg
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Alan Tabern
Losers £1,500

Final
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Winner £6,000
Runner-Up £3,000

Players Championship back to UK this weekend

I thought I’d post a quick ickle story about the PDC Pro tour returning to UK shores this weekend, after it’s travelled to Australia and Canada.  So the pro’s and guests head to sunny Crawley this Saturday, for two more player championship pro tour events.

I’m again getting excited as I’m off to Crawley myself, a guest of Justin Pipe (one of the two players sponsored by The Stars of Darts Forum).  I’m risking the trains Friday afternoon to ensure I’m there nice n early Saturday – for plenty of darts n beers!  There should be a bit of a social in the evening, with some of the volunteer PDC markers, the odd player, and myself going out for beers (and possibly some darts).

The are rumours this could be one of the strongest fields of the year, with possibly both Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld playing.. but we shall see.   I’ve also heard a whisper that Dennis Priestly may not be attending, but otherwise it’s could be all of the top 32 Player Champ seeds .. we shall see!

On a serious note, there are only 4 events left before the cut off for qualification to the World Grand Prix in Dublin, so some players will be fighting tooth n nail to earn more ranking points, especially those on the cusp of qualification;

UPDATE: The PDC have announced the entries for this weekend, and there is NO Taylor or Barneveld (shame cause I thought he said he might start the floor tournaments again).

Remaining Events For WGP Qualification

September 4th, Players Championship 25, Crawley
September 5th, Players Championship 26, Crawley
September 18th, Players Championship 27, Nuland
September 19th, Players Championship 28, Nuland

Qualification for the WGP is as follows;

Top 16 in the PDC Order of Merit (top 8 will be seeded)
Top 4 nationals of Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland from the Players Championship Order of Merit not otherwise qualified
Top 12 in the Players Championship Order of Merit not otherwise qualified

.. and those on the edges of qualification are (above line in, below line, out);

PDC OOM	Irish qualifiers	Player Champ OOM
14. Gary Anderson, £137,050 15. Paul Nicholson, £133,454 16. Kevin Painter, £131,554 —————————– 17. Robert Thornton, £130,053 18. Co Stompe, £128,439 19. Dennis Priestley, £126,009 20. Vincent van der Voort, £120,487 21. Wes Newton, £120,339	1. Brendan Dolan, £4,900 2. William O’Connor, £1,700 3. Mick McGowan, £1,600 4. John McGowan, £900 —————————- 5. Aodhagen O’Neill, £500	9. Alan Tabern, £10,950 10. Dennis Priestley, £10,150 11. Steve Brown, £9,900 12. Jelle Klaasen, £8,500 —————————– 13. Mark Webster, £8,300 14. Steve Beaton, £8,000 15. Tony Eccles, £7,100

Player Championships – Jaws Bites In Canadian Masters

Well the 2nd day of player championships in Canada have finished, and the results are in…

For a while I thought my mate Jamie Caven was going to do the double, as he won through to the final.  But Colin ‘Jaws’ Lloyd was too strong – showing that his recent top form continues.  Also I must say a big well done to my mate Steve Maish, who had a great weekend too, after a round 3 he made the last 4 today – which is a great result and some good ranking £’s in the bank.  Maish’s display was his best run since reaching a Players Championship semi-final in March, and included deciding leg wins against Barrie Bates and Dennis Priestley as well as a defeat of world number nine Mark Walsh.
Mark Dudbridge and Kevin Painter reached the quarter-finals for the second time over the weekend before losing to Newton and Lloyd respectively, while Newton was appearing in his second semi-final in as many days.

UPDATE: Gallery of images added from the day; HERE.  Thanks to Shelley Woodward for allowing me to use her great pictures!

Third Round
Wes Newton 6-3 Darren Johnson
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
John Part 6-3 Colin Osborne
Mark Dudbridge 6-1 Dano Corriveau
Steve Evans 6-5 Steve Beaton
Kevin Painter 6-0 Steve Hine
Colin Lloyd 6-1 Matt Clark
Martin Tremblay 6-4 Steve Brown
Jamie Caven 6-2 Roland Scholten
Mark Webster 6-3 Royden Lam
Mark Hylton 6-1 Ross Snook
Alan Tabern 6-3 Nigel Heydon
Steve Maish 6-3 Mark Walsh
Barrie Bates 6-3 Justin Pipe
Andy Hamilton 6-4 Nick Fullwell
Dennis Priestley 6-3 Robert Thornton
Losers £200

Fourth Round
Wes Newton 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Mark Dudbridge 6-3 John Part
Kevin Painter 6-4 Steve Evans
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Martin Tremblay
Jamie Caven 6-3 Mark Webster
Alan Tabern 6-4 Mark Hylton
Steve Maish 6-5 Barrie Bates
Dennis Priestley 6-2 Andy Hamilton
Losers £300

Quarter-Finals
Wes Newton 6-2 Mark Dudbridge
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Kevin Painter
Jamie Caven 6-5 Alan Tabern
Steve Maish 6-5 Dennis Priestley
Losers £700

Semi-Finals
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Wes Newton
Jamie Caven 6-2 Steve Maish
Losers £1,250

Final
Colin Lloyd 6-1 Jamie Caven
Winner £5,000
Runner-Up £2,500

Player championship – Jamie Caven wins in Canada

Well I was out late last night, and missed the results coming in from Canada until this morning.  I was chuffed to read through the results being discussed on The Stars of Darts forum, to find out that my mate Jamie ‘Jabba’ Caven won the top £5,000 prize, which is a fantastic result (and spare a thought for his wife Debbie, who has to sit/pace at home waiting for the delayed results just like everyone else!).

Jame beat Michael van Gerwen, who had a great run to get to the final, racking up some much needed ranking points.

Special mention has got to go to Mark Hylton, who beat Mark Walsh in round 3.  Dennis Priestly continues his amazing recent form (after winning the PC in Australia) with a semi-final appearance.

Round Three
Wes Newton 6-2 Roland Scholten
Mark Webster 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Colin Osbone 6-4 John Part
Alan Tabern 6-3 Chris Scutt
Steve Beaton 6-5 Steve Maish
Kevin Painter 6-5 Darin Young
Mark Hylton 6-5 Mark Walsh
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Steve Brown
Colin Lloyd 6-1 Gary Mawson
Dennis Priestley 6-2 Robert Thornton
Denis Ovens 6-2 Bob Sinnaeve
Mark Dudbidge 6-2 Nigel Heydon
Jamie Caven 6-4 Steve Evans
Justin Pipe 6-1 Barrie Bates
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Scott Rand 6-2 Dave Switzer
Losers £200

Round Four
Wes Newton 6-2 Mark Webster
Colin Osborne 6-4 Alan Tabern
Kevin Painter 6-5 Steve Beaton
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Mark Hylton
Dennis Priestley 6-2 Colin Lloyd
Mark Dudbridge 6-2 Denis Ovens
Jamie Caven 6-5 Justin Pipe
Andy Hamilton 6-3 Scott Rand
Losers £300

Quarter-Finals
Wes Newton 6-2 Colin Osborne
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Kevin Painter
Dennis Priestley 6-5 Mark Dudbridge
Jamie Caven 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Losers £700

Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Wes Newton
Jamie Caven 6-2 Dennis Priestley
Losers £1,250

Final
Jamie Caven 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Runner-up: £2,500
Winner: £5,000

Player championships moves to Canada this weekend

There are two PDC pro tour events this weekend, just a few miles from the UK in Canada!  The field includes 45 PDPA members, headed by last week’s Australian Open Players Championship winner Dennis Priestley, who has won the Players Championships in Canada for the past two years.

Saturday’s London Ontario Players Championship will see 127 players competing for £22,000 prize money, with 122 in action in Sunday’s Canadian Masters Players Championship.

Canada’s three-time World Champion John Part is also in action on home soil, as he bids to secure top spot in the PDC’s North American Order of Merit this weekend.  The two events are the last to count towards the North American Order of Merit this year – adding to the five events held in Las Vegas at the New Tropicana World Series of Darts Festival.

Part enters the weekend sat on £5,200 – just £300 ahead of America’s Darin Young, who won £4,900 in Las Vegas. Paul Lim (£1,900), Larry Butler (£1,775), Ken MacNeil (£1,725) and Gary Mawson (£1,650) are their closest challengers.

Both events start at 12pm local time (I believe it’s about 5pm UK time… so results won’t be in until about 1am?), and will be the best of 11 legs throughout, with the draw conducted at 11am (4pm?) following the close of registration.

My personal good luck shouts go to

Justin Pipe, Jamie Caven, Steve Brown, and of course Steve Maish! It’s quite a way to travel at some expense, but with a ‘weakened’ field my mates must be hoping for some good ranking ‘points’ this week – with the World Championships at the Alley Pally coming to mind now.  BTW I’m not knocking the local talent, but a fair few of the top PDC top 16 are missing, including the top 7 I believe!

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Under-21 Entries Prove Popular – still time to enter

MANY top young names have already entered the Rileys Qualifiers for the PDC Unicorn Under-21 World Championship… and if you are young enough (lucky you!) and think you have the skill, you’d be MAD not to enter, as the prize on offer is something pretty special!

The inaugural Under-21 World Championship will offer £30,000 prize money – including £10,000 to the eventual winner – as well as places in the Grand Slam of Darts and a PDC ProTour Card for the finalists. The first of three stages will see players in the UK battling in knockout qualifiers to be held in Rileys DartsZones, with 46 different venues staging a qualifier.

Those winners will join a series of International Qualifiers and the leading eight Under-21s from the PDC Order of Merit in competing in the Last 64 at the Barnsley Metrodome on November 6, before the Final is played during the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace.

Several hundred young players have already signed up for the Rileys Qualifiers since the tournament was announced last week, with a further month to go before the entry deadline of October 1 2010.  The players include four who won through to the UK Open in June through the Rileys Qualifiers – Reece Robinson, Jamie Green, Ricky Evans and Alex Harrison.

Hull-based Robinson won through to the last 64 in Bolton, where he earned a clash with Simon Whitlock in front of the Sky Sports cameras, while Green – the son of former PDC player Robbie, defeated Harrison in their first round clash and Evans went out to Steve Beaton in round two.

Two players with PDC ProTour experience, Darren Whittingham and Adam Huckvale, will also be testing themselves in the Rileys Qualifiers.

The response of so many young players already shows the great demand for this tournament and we’re delighted that players are keen to take this opportunity – PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.

Rileys Qualifiers – Entry Information
Entries for the Rileys Qualifiers must be made by October 1 2010, and can be made online through this link to the Rileys Website.

The Rileys Qualifiers will be held at the following venues:
Saturday October 16
Aberdeen, Bolton, Burton-on-Trent, Chester, Chesterfield, Coventry, Edinburgh, Hull, Inverness, Ipswich, Leicester, Lincoln, Liverpool (Birkenhead), Liverpool (Bootle), Loughborough, Manchester (Chorlton), Middlesbrough, Norwich, Peterborough, Scunthorpe, Solihull, Stafford, Stirling, Sunderland, Wigan.

Saturday October 23
Bournemouth, Basildon, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Colchester, Croydon, Exeter, Gillingham, Gloucester, London (Victoria), Oxford, Plymouth, Reading, Southend, South Benfleet (Essex), Stevenage, Taunton, Torquay, Wolverhampton, Worcester.

Update - August 27: new venues at Liverpool (Birkenhead) and Stafford added for Oct 16 and Reading and Southend added for Oct 23.

Grand Slam of Darts Tickets – out soon

TICKETS for the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts will go on sale to PDCtv Annual Subscribers on Wednesday September 1 and on general sale on Monday September 6.  The Grand Slam of Darts will be played at the Wolverhampton Civic from Saturday November 13 to Sunday November 21, with 32 players competing live on ITV Sport for the title, which has been won by Phil Taylor for the previous three years.

Other players competing on the Wolves Civic stage will include world number two Raymond van Barneveld, former World Champions Ted Hankey, Mark Webster and Steve Beaton and last year’s Grand Slam of Darts runner-up, Scott Waites.

Also in action will be the PDC Unicorn Women’s World Champion Stacy Bromberg, as well as Simon Whitlock – who has taken the PDC by storm in the past year, reaching the World Championship final and the Premier League Darts and World Matchplay semi-finals as well as moving up to sixth in the PDC Order of Merit.

The first round in Wolverhampton sees the players drawn into eight four-player groups to compete in a round robin format over five days. The top two players will progress to the knockout stages from the last 16 onwards from Thursday, with the quarter-finals being played on Saturday November 20 across two sessions.

The semi-finals will be played on Sunday afternoon, with the final on Sunday evening.

Tickets will go on Priority Sale to PDCtv Annual Subscribers from 9am on Wednesday September 1.
Tickets will then go on general sale from 9am on Monday September 6.

Details of PDCtv Annual Subscriptions and how to purchase can be found at this link

Date	Time	Games	Floor	Balcony
Sat Nov 13	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£25	£20
Sun Nov 14	12.30pm-5pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£25	£20
	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£25	£20
Mon Nov 15	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£20	£15
Tue Nov 16	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£20	£15
Wed Nov 17	6pm-10.30pm	Group Stage (8 Games)	£20	£15
Thu Nov 18	6pm-10.30pm	4x Second Round	£25	£20
Fri Nov 19	6pm-10.30pm	4x Second Round	£30	£25
Sat Nov 20	12.30pm-5pm	2x Quarter-Finals	£30	£25
	6pm-10.30pm	2x Quarter-Finals	£35	£30
Sun Nov 21	12.30pm-5pm	Semi-Finals	£35	£30
	8pm-10.30pm	Final	£35	£30

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Player Championships – The Menace wins in Australia

It looks like the trip to Australia has been well worth it for Dennis Priestly, as he has use the chance to win their leg of the Players Championship pro tour, taking the £5,000 top prize.  Dennis beat Paul Nicholson in a tight semi final (6-5), and Simon Whitlock the round before, so it was no easy draw for him!  The prize money could help see Priestly make the world grand prix in Ireland later this year.

In previous days in the warm up tournaments before the Player Championships event saw both Robert Thornton and Tony Eccles win – which unfortunately did not count towards the PC OOM, but still were good wins for the pair.

Second Round
Simon Whitlock 6-0 Mark Anderson
David Platt 6-1 Bill Aitken
Steve Hine 6-2 Stuart Jackson
Dennis Priestley 6-3 Heath Daley
Brian Roach 6-4 Mick McCreadie
Rob Modra 6-1 Mike Merz
Paul Nicholson 6-3 Aaron Petty
Jeremy Fagg 6-2 Shane Tichowitsch
Sean Reed 6-2 Ben Gaitor
Barry Jouannet 6-4 Phil Hazell
Preston Ridd 6-4 Tony Eccles
Phil Bottrell 6-2 Richie Burnett
Robert Thornton 6-1 Tony Crampton
Mark Hylton 6-3 Peter Asmussen
Mark Walsh 6-0 Shane Haddy
Steve Padget 6-4 Craig Prizeman
Losers £200

Third Round
Simon Whitlock 6-0 David Platt
Dennis Priestley 6-5 Steve Hine
Rob Modra 6-4 Brian Roach
Paul Nicholson 6-0 Jeremy Fagg
Sean Reed 6-4 Barry Jouannet
Preston Ridd 6-0 Phil Bottrell
Mark Hylton 6-4 Robert Thornton
Mark Walsh 6-2 Steve Padget
Losers £300

Quarter-Finals
Dennis Priestley 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Rob Modra
Sean Reed 6-3 Preston Ridd
Mark Hylton 6-2 Mark Walsh
Losers £700

Semi-Finals
Dennis Priestley 6-5 Paul Nicholson
Mark Hylton 6-5 Sean Reed
Losers £1,250

Final
Dennis Priestley 6-3 Mark Hylton
Winner £5,000
Runner-Up £2,500

FIRST-EVER UNDER-21 WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP!

£10k prize and road to pro career starts at Rileys

Young darts players have the chance to be crowned the PDC Unicorn Under-21 World Champion and pick up the £10,000 first prize. Preliminary qualifying for the first-ever Under-21 World Championship will take place at 42 Rileys Darts Zones on Saturday October 16 and Saturday October 23.

Fifty winners from Rileys clubs across the UK will join 14 of the best young players from around the world in a 64-man tournament at the Barnsley Metrodome on Saturday November 6. Two winners will then go head-to-head in the Final, which will be held at London’s Alexandra Palace during the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship in front of a full house and live on Sky Sports.

The winner collects the £10,000 first prize. Players finishing in the last 16 share another £20,000 in the prize fund.  Both finalists will receive a wildcard for the Grand Slam of Darts professional tournament in November – where they could face reigning World Champion Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor – and also an invitation to join the PDC ProTour in 2011 and 2012 as a full-time professional.

Rileys Chief Executive Maurice Kelly said: “Rileys are delighted to be holding at our clubs the preliminary qualifying for the inaugural PDC Unicorn Under-21 World Championship.  There are some very talented young players using our clubs. I’ll be watching with great interest to see how they progress.  I hope that Rileys can help find the new Under-21 world champion. There is a great prize up for grabs and it is a real shot at the big time for all of them.”

The Under-21 World Championship could be the first stepping stone for the next superstar of our sport, and we’re very excited about the tournament.  The Rileys qualifiers will give the chance for any young player with talent and ambition the chance to earn their spot in the last 64 in Barnsley. From there they can go on to live the dream - PDC Chairman Barry Hearn said:

The PDC Unicorn Under-21 World Championship is open to players aged between 16 and 21 on January 3 2011, who must have been born between January 4 1989 and January 3 1995.

Entrants must register at www.rileys.co.uk/under21champs by Friday October 1 2010.

The Rileys Darts Zones holding qualifying tournaments are:

Saturday October 16

Aberdeen, Bolton, Burton-on-Trent, Chester, Chesterfield, Coventry, Edinburgh, Hull, Inverness, Ipswich, Leicester, Lincoln, Liverpool (Bootle), Loughborough, Manchester (Chorlton), Middlesbrough, Norwich, Peterborough, Scunthorpe, Solihull, Stirling, Sunderland, Wigan.

Saturday October 23

Bournemouth, Basildon, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Colchester, Croydon, Exeter, Gillingham, Gloucester, London (Victoria), Oxford, Plymouth, South Benfleet (Essex), Stevenage, Taunton, Torquay, Wolverhampton, Worcester.

Rileys, the UK’s largest cue sports operator, are adding Darts Zones to their 119 clubs nationwide. Rileys Darts Zones provide top quality facilities for players including championship quality boards, wide throwing lanes and electronic scoring.