Championship league darts

Day 3 of the of the Champions League Darts – and remember you can watch it live on one of the internet streams, including the official PDC.tv channel.

Play commences at 10.30am, with all matches the best of 11 legs as players battle for places in the evening’s semi-finals and final.

Reigning champion Colin Osborne enters the fray in Group Three, alongside Andy Hamilton and Alan Tabern (semi finalist on Sunday in Crawley, so on form) – who steps up after Co Stompe was promoted to Group Two when Mervyn King was ruled out through injury.

Prize money is paid at £50 per leg won in the round-robin group stage and £100 per leg in the play-offs.

The bookmakers streaming Championship League Darts are:
Bet365 – www.bet365.com, 188bet – www.188bet.com, IBC Bet – www.ibcbet.com, Unibet – www.unibet.com ,Sportingbet – www.sportingbet.com , Ladbrokes – www.ladbrokes.com , Paddy Power – www.paddypower.com , Betfair – www.betfair.com , Betclic – www.betclic.com , Betathome – www.betathome.com , Expekt – www.expekt.com , Digibet – www.digibet.com , Titanbet – www.titanbet.com , Hititbet – www.hititbet.com , Stan James – www.stanjames.com , Betboo – www.betboo.com

Latest League Table

Group Three Fixtures

To continue my theme of bringing you behind the scenes stories of the PDC Pro Tour, I am bringing you the words of Steve Grubb, 66th Ranked player in the world, as he describes his recent weekend at Crawley.  Steve is a good friend to many darts fans (and other pro’s obviously!), and his table on the tour is often surrounded by the volunteer markers and darts forum members.

Steve Grubb throwing at the 2008 World Championships

Started at 2.15 friday afternoon for the Journey to Crawley after I’d done the running around and banking to allow me to go away. Leaving at that time on a friday could have been hell BUT got to the Ramada at 4.45! M25 was quiet and at no point did we have to stop, in truth the A303 was heavier traffic wise. After settling in we decided to go for a chinese to the “happy Meeting”. VERY good quality food and from there it was onto Crawley Labour club for a “quiet” drink. Got in just as Defoe was about to score the first English goal! Lovely!  Said hello to Ross and Mike, who I’d met last time in Crawley, and the other guys who were playing darts (pairs) There was a board free where I could practise and watch the football whilst having a drink. Around half nine the chalkboard was cleared and it was Grubby vs THE CLUB! They all wanted to challenge, Game on. First up a 15year old kid called Owen (Grantham?) who preceeded to start 140,85 with throw as I was against throw of course! Luckily enough I wore him down with back to back 140′s and a 15 dart checkout! Next…..and he started 140,100 Bloody buggers had it in for me BUT I hit a 14 dart leg this time after beating all 5 of them and playing one of them again Mike decides he wants to have a go and he goes and leaves 90 after 15 with me hittting 140 to leave 112 only to watch Mike go 60,30 , 2 darts no messing and celebrates more then Defoe who just scored his hatrick for England.  After another “quiet” pint of Kronenborg, got a taxi back to the Hotel and relaxed watching another episode of spooks, thanks Chissy for loading EVERY series onto our PC Lights out before midnight.

Sar morning met John, one of my guests for the day, at breakfast and drove to the Venue just after 9am. Didn’t have a pint until half 9 as I had to pick up Chissy and grandad from the train station BUT the plonkers got off the wrong stop and proceeded to Gatwick Airport. Having been to Gatwick many times I drove the 9 miles quickly and waited for them at arrivals, BUT they didn’t know where they were and AFTER a few mins on the phone they got directions to where I was from a copper and we started the journey back.

Had a few people join our table and with Kripsy, Par, Adrian, Chissy, Lee t,Nikkiboy,Bruce etc you know you are in for a laugh. Got drawn out against MVG, someone who I’d played twice and lost to both times. Just as the first games started the fire alarm went off so we all had to trudge outside for a minute or 2 before being allowed back in, this wasn’t the last unusual thing to happen to me on Sat!

Unfortunately it wasn't to be for Grubby vs Taylor, 2008 Worlds

The game started at I didn’t feel like I’d played well BUT Jen and Ade both said I played great. Reckon I had 8 or 9 darts at a double in hitting 6 of them. £200 won and Holland entries covered to win 6/2 was very satisfying.
Next up came Anna and she outscored me but couldn’t hit her doubles even when she had left 36 or 40 after 12 DARTS in a few legs but again my checking out was sharp to say the least! It was a game I always felt in control of as you could visibly see her tense up at times going for her doubles and I was happy to win 6/4 killing the match with a 13 dart leg. £300 now won! Take Anna lightly and it will be at your peril she is some dart player !!

Next came Steve Farmer in the board final and I have to say that it was one of the best games that I’ve been involved in. Losing 6/4 with only 1 break of throw, when Steve hit D9 with his last dart after I’d missed one at tops, which put him 3/2 up was dissappointing as it was the only time I’d missed a crucial shot all day. Didn’t have a dart to break back but neither did Steve and the last 6 legs were all under 15 darts. Hit a 13 dart leg to hold for 5/4 down with Steve leaving tops after 12 and in the 10th leg I hit 140,100,96,100 to leave 65 with Steve on 135, I was really thinking about hitting 25 tops in 2 darts and get psyched up when he hit 50,45,tops sweet as you like to win 6/4. Brilliant darts and averages must have been well over 100 as most legs went under 15. Steve’s girlfriend thought we must have been close to 110!
Gutted and got pulled straight away without getting back to my table by security for a random drugstest. Got escorted to a small back room where Terry Temple and Paul Williams were already sat down. Robert Thornton followed me and the testers explained that 4 of the last 32 round losers were selected and we the lucky ones! After a couple of bottles of water, a bit of banter, Terry went first, 35 mins into our isolation and got a round of applause when he appeared with a full bottle of his specimen only for it to be a failure for being too clear but not before going through the rigmorole of transferring it into 2 bottles that got sealed and forms filled out for. After a good bit of banter I went next and if any of you wonder what it’s like let me tell you it’s horrible BUT so necessary in today’s professional sports climate!. They have to see from your nipple to your knee to make sure you don’t cheat and use someone elses specimen. (chatting to Rod H after and he told a story about a sportsman, not darts, who managed to use his wife’s specimen only to get pulled into the offices and told he was a medical miracle because he was pregnant!) After putting it into 2 bottles and sealing everything my wee failed the purity test like Terry’s and I had to sit back down and go again! NOOOOOOOO

Paul went in next and his was ok for them to use and was allowed out. The testers said that they’d be with us as long as it took to provide a specimem that they could use. OMG, horror stories told of 22 hours waiting and the like! Robert went next and his failed as well! Terry went back in and although his failed again his went more pure than his first reading so they let him go and told us that it would be the same for us! Rob then asked about a proper drink and were told that we couldn’t go and get one BUT it could be brought in. I give Keiran , the security guard a fiver and asked for a Kronie while Rob had 2 S/C and lemonade. 2 mins later and he was back with our drinks, legend! Drunk the pint in seconds and needed to go to the toilet! phew. After standing for 5 minutes the floodgates opened and the job was done BUT it was too pure again BUT I was allowed to go. I got into the room at 2.50pm and got let out at 5.20 to see my conquerer Steve in the FINAL! Could it have been me? was my first thought as I knew I was playing smooth and in control of what was happening.

Steve either warming up before facing Taylor, or he's stormed the stage for a throw

Had another drink while watching the last few legs of the final and congratulated Steve on his run and he said that he really believed he would have been out if not for a 135 check vs me! I thought he was joking but his other half said the same!

Got dropped off by Chissy who was driving our car back sunday after darts! This was 6pm and arranged to meet John in the bar at half past BUT we were back down in 20 mins to see him already in the bar, ferreting hell!

Got a taxi to Wusungdun, an all you can eat Chinkie next to the George Hotel and I have to say that for £13.50 a head the food was excellent. With a table of me, Jen,John, Chissy, Lee, Kripsy, Nikki and Adrian you can imagine the banter and Ossie and his crew sat near us as well. After destroying the profits of the restaurant I got a taxi to Crawley Labour club again while the others decided to walk. By the time they arrived we were already sat with a pint half drunk! Taxi was £3.50 FFS!

Sat and got quietly happy while some played darts and others put loads of £’s into the £500 jackpot friut machine. Par joined us as well and we tried to put the world to rights… again…. and again!
Got a taxi at half 11 and had a nightcap back at the Ramada. Bed around midnight again. Nice!
sunday was never going to be as eventful. Chissy and Lee T picked us up just after half 9 and met up with the other guys who were telling stories of drunken night club dancing and Chissy nicking a drink off the bar that turned out to be ………….DIET COKE…NEAT!

Practised well but only had 2 pints before I played, not like me usually but I just didn’t need it! Drew the Thorn and the first 4 legs were almost as good as it gets both holding in 13/14/15 darts with the other player around a double to go out! HIt a 180 to leave 58 after 12 in leg 5 with Rob replying inkind to leave 36. S18 , pinned tops and the last dart fell out of my hand and was nearer T5 than tops! Rob went out in 1 and the next leg was the only really bad leg I played all weekend as I knew I had to break back. didn’t hit a T20 in the whole leg. Held in 14 darts (80 check tops tops!) to go to within 1 leg BUT realised afterwards that I’d lost my composure for the first time and tried too hard instead of just throwing like I had been! Lost 6/3. dissappointed but Rob is coming back to form and went onto win the board!

Had a couple of drinks and some crackers and cheese whilst chatting to Krispy and Par about the traveelling involved for him! Kirk said something after that was nice and made sense, he said that I had a lovely pace on Saturday, no panic just in a groove and relaxed. It has given me something to think about and I will always try something that may improve my game. Chissy drove back at 4.30 and we got back at just after 6.30, a brilliant run and again the M25 was relatively empty!

Must say thanks to Ross and the boys from Crawley Labour club for their hospitality, hope I repayed you by managing to arrange for a few of them signed in and for Chissy driving my car back again! LEGEND!
Played some really great darts and spent the weekend with some great people who were very good company.

Roll on Holland Friday week!!!!!!!!

PS KRISPY, It may have been me that triggered the fire alarm from the toilets

Day two today of the Champion League of Darts (which is streamed live on the internet – see HERE for who is showing it).  After a great day yesterday for Mervyn King, it’s not such good news today;

UPDATE:  Whitlock wins group 2

MERVYN KING has withdrawn from Group Two of Championship League Darts through injury, and is replaced by Colin Osborne. King competed in Group One of the tournament on Tuesday despite a heel problem, finishing top of the league table but losing to Colin Lloyd in the semi-finals.

However, the injury worsened overnight and King has pulled out of the tournament, and will be replaced in Wednesday’s Group Two by Co Stompe. Stompe was one of the three players due to enter the tournament in Group Three, but with Andy Hamilton and Colin Osborne unable to travel to Essex in time for the 10.30am start the Dutchman has stepped in for King

Alan Tabern will now enter in Group Three, with Kevin Painter and Dennis Priestley – who had sat above the St Helens man in the rankings when the tournament’s invitations were issued after the StanJames.com World Matchplay – unable to compete on Thursday.

Latest League Table

..

Group Two Prize Money

An exhibition write-up, by “The Battler”

Lorraine and Eric Bristow outside the Circus Tavern

When we were last at the spiritual home of PDC darts the Circus Tavern Purfleet for the players championship finals back in january, both myself and my wife Lorraine noticed this event advertised for Sept 3rd. The line up was to be legends Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, and the young ones being Simon Whitlock, Wayne Mardle, Adrian Lewis and rising Essex star Scott Lawrie, with the event to be hosted by Russ “the voice”Bray.

We arrived at 6.30 and Eric was outside so a quick “hello” and photo opportunity.  On entry to the tavern Simon Whitlock was in the foyer so another photo and this time an autograph (glad I took We Love Darts cuttings on the off-chance!) .

On entry to the arena there was Mrs Mardle selling merchandise and Wayne was busy with a queue.  Typical “501″ laughing and joking all the while.  When we got to meet he actually thanked us for waiting! We grabbed a drink and the famous Tavern burger and chips.  Around 8pm the action got underway with the full PDC style show walk-ons.

Keith Deller beating Eric, Wayne beating Scott and then Simon winning the Circus Tavern Trophy after a cracker with Adrian Lewis who hit seven perfect darts towards that magical nine darter at one point. We had a fantastic nights entertainment and all this on a pint and a half of lager each!

by The Battler

An “internet broadcasted only” PDC Darts tournament starts today – “The Champion League Darts”.  Info and RESULTS here during the day.  UPDATE:  Day 1 has been won by the one and only, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor, with a 6-2 win over Colin Lloyd (another great days work from Colin after winning on the pro tour on Sunday!).

Championship league darts - starts today

THE 2010 Championship League Darts begins on Tuesday, as eight of the world’s top players battle for £200,000 in prize money in the internet-streamed tournament.

Stars such as Phil Taylor, James Wade, Simon Whitlock and Mervyn King are used to battling in front of thousands of fans around the UK in major PDC tournaments, but will be playing behind closed doors across the nine days of Championship League Darts.

The internet-streamed event sees eight eight-player groups contested during September and October, with each of the group winners then competing for the £10,000 first prize in the Winners Group.  However, prize money per leg won is also awarded throughout the event, starting at £50 per leg in the groups as the players compete in a round-robin format.

The top four players from each group contest the play-offs, where they won £100 per leg, and each day’s winner progresses to the Winners Group on October 14. Each day also sees the bottom two players after the round-robin stage eliminated, with the players finishing from second-sixth progressing to the next group and joined by three more stars.

Championship League Darts is streamed exclusively live around the world through 16 bookmakers’ websites, as well as to PDCtv subscribers at the PDC’s official website, www.pdc.tv.

The bookmakers streaming Championship League Darts are:
Bet365 – www.bet365.com, 188bet – www.188bet.com, IBC Bet – www.ibcbet.com, Unibet – www.unibet.com ,Sportingbet – www.sportingbet.com , Ladbrokes – www.ladbrokes.com , Paddy Power – www.paddypower.com , Betfair – www.betfair.com , Betclic – www.betclic.com , Betathome – www.betathome.com , Expekt – www.expekt.com , Digibet – www.digibet.com , Titanbet – www.titanbet.com , Hititbet – www.hititbet.com , Stan James – www.stanjames.com , Betboo – www.betboo.com

Group One Fixtures

Final League Table

Players tied on Points are separated by Leg Difference. In the event of any further ties, Legs Won and then Legs Won Against Throw are taken into account. Should players still be tied, the Head-To-Head result would be used to separate the players.

Maishy and Jabba taking advantage of the fire alarm to get some sun

I thought I’d try again and sum up what it’s like to visit the PDC pro tour – from a fans point of view.  I’m lucky that players like Steve Maish and Justin Pipe are good enough to invite me as their guest, so I can do what very few fans can, rub shoulders with the players ‘at work’ behind closed doors.

Crawley had around 112 entries – so the top 16 or so pro’s earned a bye through to the 2nd round (tops seeds get the byes).  That also meant that the days were a little shorter than earlier in the year when 150 or so could be there, and prelim rounds are required (128 is the magic number for any event).

So this week there was no Danger (my mate Lee), so instead of driving down on the Saturday, I took Friday afternoon off work to spend a leisurely journey down on the train.  The hotel I booked wasn’t too hard to find from the train station, a 20 minute or so walk, with the ever handy iPhone guiding the way.  After a dust down in the room, I thought I’d have a quiet pint or two and sit outside the hotel pub, after all it was probably the last sun of the summer!  I supped my first pint sitting a short distance from young William O’Conner, a real one to watch (as he has shown on the TV this year), and saw Mark Webster walk past.  Not bad spots for my first 20 minutes – but the thing about going to the pro tour and staying near the venue is, the hotel(s) are dripping with darts pros!

Good morning Crawley! 20 minute walk from the hotel I had arrived

2nd pint in, a taxi pulls up and the one and only Steve ‘Mr Magic’ Maish gets out – weekend bag in toe.  Well it would have been impolite not to get him a pint (and me).. as he thought he’d have one before checking in.   That was about 5pm.  I think about 7pm Maishy went and checked in quickly, while I got us another pint.  The quiz machine was then assaulted, with us winning many hundreds of pounds… hmm.. or more probably Maishy spending a tenner or more.  Brains suitably exercised, we watched the England game – as Kirk Shepherd and posse turned up.  To be honest it all gets hazy after a while…  At no point had I actually eaten that day, and all I do know is a packet of crisps is NOT enough… remember that kiddies.  I did meet ‘Nookie’ (Rob) and his girlfriend Hannah; Rob is one of the volunteer markers (and The stars of Darts forum member) – after he left me a message on the forum to “with your right hand touch your left ear” – I did it to much laughter from him sitting nearby.  Contact made!

I awoke Saturday still clothed lying on top of the bed at about 6am.. good move.  Not.  Friday was MEANT to be a quiet night before the weekend’s entertainment – turned out to be nothing of the sort.  I blame you Steve Maish!  A big breakfast later, I was half ready for the darts.  A bit of fresh air on the walk there did help out, as did a pint of breakfast cider once I got there.  I was actually there the earliest I’d ever arrived, about 10:20am.  The K2 sports hall was already pretty full of players, warming up on the boards, or catching up with friends, as it’s been quite a while since the last UK pro tour event.

It was great to catch up with some of the members and admin from ‘The Stars of Darts’ forum – many of them were marking, and a lot of us sat with our mate and pro Steve Grubb and his lovely wife Jen (great supply of cheese n crackers).  It was unusual for it to be suffering, and not the legend who is Chissy (although he looked ROUGH Sunday morning!).   Our ‘markers and pros’ table was a good laugh – shout out to more of the lads, EssexMark, Nikkiboy, Adrian, Bruce, Grandad, Col (mod500).  Also got to chat with Little Richard and Jacque’s for a little while – both legendary refs/callers/spotters/TV faces    We had some interesting conversations over the finer points of the rules of darts!

Sat night in the Labour social club.. notice my '7' highlighted! Cheers guys

About 1 leg in to the tournament a loud alarm sounded, with a voice coming over the tannoys; “This is an emergency, please leave by the nearest exit”.. oh great!  The whole tour had to make a swift exit.. and the area outside turned into a mass of amused and not so amused darts pros.  At least the sun was shining!  Rumours that it was actually caused by Grubby turning the toilets toxic are unconfirmed.

Unfortunately forum sponsored Justin Pipe had a rough first game vs. Paul Nicholson – he was 5-2 up at one point, and then Paul come back winning 4 legs in a row.  Steve Grubb beat Anastasia to get to round 3, where he unfortunately came up against Steve Farmer (finalist at the end of the day).  Maishy also got to round 3, where he was 5-5 vs. Adrian Lewis, and left himself on 96, with Ade on 161.  But Adrian is that sort of player – he banged in 161 without even looking like he was aiming… nothing that Maish could do about that!  Mark Dudbridge looked like he was in fine nick  beating Simon Whitlock 6-1 in the 4th round (Mervyn Hathway from We Love Darts magazine said he’d been working with Mark to get him ready for the world champs, and it appears to be working).

I did wonder if Gary Anderson was going to come back from his dodgy shoulder problems to win on the day, but he was beaten 6-5 in a close game by Steve Farmer, which is a bit of a shock – but you can’t take anything away from Falmer.  Adrian Lewis won the final, throwing some fantastic darts on the way in his semi and final.  But all in all I think my player of the day had to go to Steve Farmer, whose run to the final was pretty damn impressive.  He was hitting 140’s and 180’s for fun all afternoon.

Ahah more is coming back to me slowly… I was also interrupted by a handsome welsh chap – my cider addled brain didn’t kick in for a few seconds… it was none other than our staff writer Andrew Devonshire (A.Dev) – who was a guest of Wayne Attwood (who I also made sure I had a chat with – he’s a really underrated player).  Hope you enjoyed your day out mate!

Saturday night was pretty damn good – after a good wash down with strong bleach, it was off to an all you can eat Chinese in the town centre.  Not bad at all (Happy Welcome near the George hotel)… and suitably stuffed we took the short walk (well I say short.. with Nikkiboy guiding us it felt like a LONG walk!) to the Crawley Labour Social Club.  Thanks to our forum mate Ross, we were well looked after by the members, all signed in and pint in hand with no delay.  The club had 3 boards up, and the lads wasted no time to get warming up.  A player of my standing doesn’t need to practice of course… as you can’t polish a turd (as they say).  We played a doubles tournament as I mixed up pints of Mild and cider (not in the same glass, I’m not an animal!).  I actually chalked one of the early games, which is a cheek with ‘professional markers’ all around me, hehe only teasing guys.  After only 1 or 3 simple and drastic mistakes, I earned my chalk stripes.  My game up – I carried my local partner through our games, by trying to average his ton plusses out with my 26’s.  At one point I even managed a 7, I was so proud, and the rest of the guys were very impressed, trying to hid it by jeering and catcalls.  My double 2 was pretty much straight off the pro tour itself.. but it wasn’t enough to win the game, and we bowed out 2-1.  The rest of the tournament was a farce and un-important.. with Chissy and Ross somehow scraping a victory in a pathetic show of 100’s and 140’s.  Well done guys.  Back to the hotel for a pint and a large gin and tonic, lovely, and some funny chip shop stories from Ozzie (Dan) and his mate Tommy (two great geezers – you couldn’t meet to more friendly lads) .  Oh and also I must mention Par Riihonen (a Swedish darts player on the tour), who sat on the same table as us and Grubby, and I found out he really is a gentleman and so dedicated to his darts and the PDC.  Par and his lovely wife even turned up at the Labour club – which I think was a very nice touch, and who knows what they made of it and us! I hope to see and chat with Par and his wife again in the near future, and maybe bring an interview of the Swede who travels from Sweden to play on the pro tour.

Ronnie Baxter sees the funny side of the building evacuation.. The Hammer doesn't.

Sunday dawned with me pretty much hangover free, and not even that tired – RESULT.  I felt even better when I got to the K2 and found Chissy more than a little worse for wear (dancing to 2am at a local club it turns out?  These markers.. animals!).

I got to say hello to my mate Dave Ladley, who was looking very well and tanned after a well earned holiday… and I also got to shake hands with the rest of the ‘Yorkshire Mafia’ – Chris Thompson and Darren Johnson (nice 4th round.. lost to the Viper).   Ladders lost 6-3 to Ronnie Baxter, but took a lot of encouragement from the fact he hit 3 legs after not throwing a dart for a few weeks, and also had chances in the first leg to win another.

I was also introduced to Mark Dudbridge for the first time – who appears to be a real gent (he “re-introduced” himself after being in another world first attempt!)  Mark appears to be using some very professional techniques to prepare for games – total game head on, using ipod to zone out.. and what looked like breathing and meditation techniques (don’t laugh.. his game was definitely improving – we all know he’s got the talent, just needs to sort out the head).

Game of the first round must have been the John Part vs. Mervyn King game (for me anyway).. as Part wasn’t seeded he started with such a tough game.  Part was losing.. but came back to win strongly 6-4.   Also got to speak with Darren and Hitman – who once got a signed board for marking a 9 darter … and speaking of which (9 darters).. I actually left about 3pm, as I wanted to get the trains while they were running ‘quick’, and also to beat the tube strike (in case they fancied starting early).  Typically that meant I missed Jamie Caven’s 9 darter!!!  Dave Holland actually gave me a call while I was on the train to tell me he’d just hit it – and as often happens Jamie actually lost the game to Colin Lloyd he hit that 9 darter in.  But still another good weekend for Jabba, especially on top of last week.  Jabba is always very friendly and welcoming to me, and I hope he continues his form to really break up into the top 10 of world darts.

So all in all a great weekend, some fantastic darts matches watched (I’ve missed loads of them out.. it turns into a blur in the end).  I can’t wait till next time (Derby late Nov for me), to watch, drink, and swap some banter with my mates.

Cheers guys!

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

Format
Group Stage – Best of nine legs
Second Round – Best of 19 legs
Quarter-Finals – Best of 31 legs
Semi-Finals – Best of 33 legs
Final – Best of 35 legs

Terms & Conditions of Ticket Sales
* Balcony seats will not be sold until floor table seats have sold out for that session.
* There will be a maximum of six floor table tickets sold per customer. There is no restriction on sales for the balcony seats.
* For the priority sale period, Annual Subscribers must have an active Annual Subscription to PDCtv at midnight on Sunday August 29 2010 to qualify for this offer.
* Please note that all tickets may be subject to a booking fee and/or service charge.
* No football colours will be allowed into the venue.
* The PDC reserves the right of admission.
* Customers are respectfully requested to behave in an orderly manner at all times.
* Drunkenness will not be tolerated and perpetrators will be asked to leave the premises.
* If you shout out, whistle or boo whilst players are throwing you may be ejected without warning.
* Session times are subject to change and the PDC will make every effort to give as much notice as possible should this be unavoidable. Please check with the Box Office or visit www.pdc.tv for any changes.
* Doors will open an hour before the scheduled start time and ticket holders are requested to take their seats at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the event. The PDC reserves the right to fill any seat after this time.
* The Broadcast may contain strobe lighting and smoke effects. Any person who may be adversely affected by such effects should take notice and take appropriate action.
* No tickets are to be re-sold at a greater price than the face value on the ticket. Any persons attempting to do so will have those tickets made void.
* Any spectators are reminded that the writing of any message deemed offensive or inflammatory on 180 cards or similar will lead to perpetrators being asked to leave the premises.
* Please note the use of flash photography is expressly barred as is any filming of the event for any purpose.
* Mobile phones should be switched off by all customers when in the main auditorium.
* Whilst there is no lower age limit, children under 16 should be accompanied by an appropriate adult.

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

Darts, Beers & Cheers! Brings you The Thunder! Par Riihonen

Par Riihonen – sponsorship opportunity

As part of my attempts to help players in the PDC, I was pleased to hear from the manager of Par Riihonen, also known as “The Thunder”.

You can find more info on Par on his website here, including image gallerys of Par playing across Europe.

Like many talented players in the PDC, Par’s game would benefit from a sponsor taking some of the financial pressure off him while he works his way up the world rankings and fights for a tour card for next year’s pro tour (when the rewards will be even greater for those in the top 96 who attain a tour card, or qualify through other means).

Par is currently 27th in the European order of merit, and I’ve seen many good reports about him on the darts forums (where hard core darts fans who know their stuff chat darts).

Par also has to make twice the effort of many darts pros on the tour, as he travels over from his native Sweden.  If someone out there could recognise that sort of dedication and help him cover the £200 a weekend entry fees and travel, I’m sure Par can reward you with improved results, invite(s) as his guest along to the behind closed doors tour events, and a deal  you will both be happy with.

If you feel that your company would enjoy the mutual benefit of putting your companies name on Par’s shirt (along with the other benefits that come from player sponsorship), please get in touch with Craig Wilson, Par’s manager.

Par plays in this weekends PDC Pro tour event in Crawley – and I wish him the best of luck!  I’ll hopefully get to watch him play (and win), and maybe say hello.

Par Riihonen - looking for a sponsor

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);