PDC World Darts Championship 2018

[Gerrumonside ref]

Anyone following it this year?  Been some cracking matches already.

One half of the draw is wide open following Peter Wright’s early exit and the loss of a few other seeds.

Michael Van Gerwen and Gary Anderson are strong favourites with the bookies and could meet in the semi finals meaning a potential path for a lesser known player in the other half of the draw.

 

 

 

[Niels]

1 hour ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Anyone following it this year?  Been some cracking matches already.

One half of the draw is wide open following Peter Wright’s early exit and the loss of a few other seeds.

Michael Van Gerwen and Gary Anderson are strong favourites with the bookies and could meet in the semi finals meaning a potential path for a lesser known player in the other half of the draw.

 

 

 

Yes I have been watching it every night.

I like Michael Van Gerwen and I always hope he wins but his draw is difficult. He just seems to be not at the peak of his game this year, though there were flashes of it second round. 

As you say, the bottom half is wide open, even more so now Suljovic has just been defeated. "Bully Boy" looks to be the main beneficiary as they were due to meet next round but one. 

Be interested to hear your thoughts on the matches

[Gerrumonside ref]

5 minutes ago, Niels said:

Yes I have been watching it every night.

I like Michael Van Gerwen and I always hope he wins but his draw is difficult. He just seems to be not at the peak of his game this year, though there were flashes of it second round. 

As you say, the bottom half is wide open, even more so now Suljovic has just been defeated. "Bully Boy" looks to be the main beneficiary as they were due to meet next round but one. 

Be interested to hear your thoughts on the matches

I must admit that I’m only a casual darts fan, but over the last few years I’ve become more engrossed in the World Championship at its early stages.

It can only be a matter of time before I too one year end up dressed as an oversized banana at the Ally Pally!

I’m really hoping we get a Van Gerwen-Anderson semi final as it could be fantastic viewing.  Part of me thought it was sad the way Van Barneveld bowed out though.

Despite that the unpredictable nature of the tournament is making it very entertaining.

 

 

 

 

 

[Northern Eel]

Have the two ladies played yet? Darts strikes me as a game where there ought to be no gender gap in terms of quality, but I imagine that’s not the case.

[Gerrumonside ref]

30 minutes ago, Northern Eel said:

Have the two ladies played yet? Darts strikes me as a game where there ought to be no gender gap in terms of quality, but I imagine that’s not the case.

Yes, they both got knocked out in the first round unfortunately.

The Russian female player looked nervous and struggled in the second set with quite a low average score.

On the other hand though, Lisa Ashton of Bolton played very well and won the first set in her match before finally succumbing 3-1.

I think the gap is mainly in experience and hopefully for a younger female player coming through the ranks in the future, they could build the experience necessary.

That said, Rob Cross has shown that you can literally come from nowhere and win the World Championship.

 

[DavidM]

Love the darts .... can’t stand the crowd and sky’s complete obsession with showing them even to the point of missing the bloke throwing the dart . 

[gingerjon]

15 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Yes, they both got knocked out in the first round unfortunately.

The Russian female player looked nervous and struggled in the second set with quite a low average score.

On the other hand though, Lisa Ashton of Bolton played very well and won the first set in her match before finally succumbing 3-1.

 

Do they - and the other very low ranking players who go out early - now enter the BDO or is the split so much that you can only choose one of the tournaments?

[Gerrumonside ref]

5 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Do they - and the other very low ranking players who go out early - now enter the BDO or is the split so much that you can only choose one of the tournaments?

It’s a good question and one I don’t know the answer to in truth so I’d have to look it up.  Perhaps someone on here might know better than me.

I believe there’s been some form of reconciliation between the PDC and BDO.

One of Sky’s PDC pundits even mentioned the BDO the other day.  I do know that the averages tend to be lower in the BDO tournament.

[gingerjon]

1 minute ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

I do know that the averages tend to be lower in the BDO tournament.

Significantly lower, I believe.

I did catch some of the BDO tournament on BT the year before last (I completely missed it last year) and the standard was ... well, let's just say that in the Round 1 game I saw there was a lot of chasing double 1 and not getting it.

[Gerrumonside ref]

12 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Love the darts .... can’t stand the crowd and sky’s complete obsession with showing them even to the point of missing the bloke throwing the dart . 

I don’t mind the crowd, think it makes the event what it is and it does look like they’re having fun.

 

[Gerrumonside ref]

1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

Significantly lower, I believe.

I did catch some of the BDO tournament on BT the year before last (I completely missed it last year) and the standard was ... well, let's just say that in the Round 1 game I saw there was a lot of chasing double 1 and not getting it.

Sounds like one of my efforts!

[DavidM]

1 hour ago, Northern Eel said:

Have the two ladies played yet? Darts strikes me as a game where there ought to be no gender gap in terms of quality, but I imagine that’s not the case.

I thought the same tbh . It’s not a game of physical strength like other sports , but really from what I’ve seen apart from Lisa Ashton the level really is very bad generally 

[Niels]

5 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Do they - and the other very low ranking players who go out early - now enter the BDO or is the split so much that you can only choose one of the tournaments?

I am more knowledgeable about darts than politics

The 2 ladies are eligible to compete in the BDO ladies world championship. 

The PDC men eliminated cannot compete in the BDO mens' event.

[DavidM]

I’m tipping Gary Anderson v Michael Smith in the Final . And  my tipping is legendary...bad

[shrek]

Love the darts, not seen as much as I'd like so far this tournament, but will be watching later tonight.

[graveyard johnny]

1 hour ago, shrek said:

Love the darts, not seen as much as I'd like so far this tournament, but will be watching later tonight.

love darts too, den hegarty is my favourite

[Mumby Magic]

However Former PDC world darts FINALIST Andy Hamilton and former Premier Leaguer Wes Newton will compete in the BDO Worlds this year along with former PDC member Nigel Heydon,

Due to the fact my Sky Box went capput I was not able to watch any of early rounds. Then when I could a lot of the matches seemed uninteresting. A hell of a lot of qualifiers this year with Phil Taylor, Justin Pipe, Mark Webster, Terry Jenkins, Kevin Painter and a couple of other "names" not qualifying,

Love the worlds, it brought me and my wife through the darkest moment in our life.

Form players are Wade and Anderson before this tournament. Put 25p e/w on Anderson. Bottom half of draw is open. don't write Cross off getting to the final so he can knock off the one tournament wonder tag. I believe the winner gets half a mill this year too.

[bazzzz65]

I see that tickets for the final are still available. At £ 66 and £56 !! And some people on here think RL is overpriced.

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, bazzzz65 said:

I see that tickets for the final are still available. At £ 66 and £56 !! And some people on here think RL is overpriced.

Some people seem to think the darts plays to full houses every night as well.

[graveyard johnny]

has the power retired?

[Phil]

I’d rather watch yawnion than darts 

[graveyard johnny]

45 minutes ago, Phil said:

I’d rather watch yawnion than darts 

try lie down and relax  phil, the doctor will be round to see you shortly 

[shrek]

1 hour ago, graveyard johnny said:

has the power retired?

Yes after last years World Championships, I forget if he's popped up since, can't recall him doing.

[graveyard johnny]

5 minutes ago, shrek said:

Yes after last years World Championships, I forget if he's popped up since, can't recall him doing.

if u think about it the margin of retirement must be very thin, no doubt he can still bang the 180s in one after the other and is a better player than 99% of the population , u don't just lose that over night, the level of commitment to practice and dedication must takes its toll first for sure

[shrek]

4 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

if u think about it the margin of retirement must be very thin, no doubt he can still bang the 180s in one after the other and is a better player than 99% of the population , u don't just lose that over night, the level of commitment to practice and dedication must takes its toll first for sure

I'm sure he could still earn good money, but they seem to travel lots, I'd imagine the top PDC players have a fairly punishing schedule.

Looks like in "retirement" he's still doing plenty with his sponsors and doing plenty of exhibition games on his terms etc, bet the moneys still good.  https://twitter.com/PhilTaylor