The Darts

[bennocelt]

Didnt get to see any of the PDC on Sky, pity as I really like Whitlock
So have to make do with the BDO
It came alive yesterday - that young fella from Northern Ireland (Guerney)was great, coming from 2-0. playing Wolfie next up which should be a cracking game
Also Irish man Martin Mcloskey won last night and is into the second round

I have backed Chisnall at 8/1 after seeing him in the first round, steady player

[DmanDmythDledge]

Can't watch the BDO to be honest, just far too poor of a standard. Maybe it's just after watching the PDC that makes the BDO seems worse than it is but the BDO World Championships needs to be moved to before the PDC to get interest back in it I'd say.

[passinginterest]

BDO will always be a sentimental favourite with me, it reminds of my early childhood, my grandparents and the real legends of darts like Bristow, Wilson, Lowe and Anderson. Over the last few years the gap in standards has been fairly narrow based on the averages (I posted them somewhere on here the last few years), I think BDO has suffered badly with the first round starting on the weekend of the PDC finals. With all the major defections over the last year this probably is the weakest BDO field ever and I'd be surprised to see anyone hit 100 average, but there'll still be plenty in the 90's which is still a very good standard to watch.

If the PDC takeover of the BDO ever goes ahead I'd love to see the Lakeside retained and renamed as the World Amateur Darts Championship, with the prize for the winner being a chance to play a full year on the PDC circuit (turning professional would be optional but all travel and tournament entry fees would be covered, the runner up might get entry into 50% and the semi finalists 25%). This should still attract a very good standard of player and would give the competition a renewed meaning.

Great to see two Irish players in the second round this year too.

[Stevo Da Gull]

I like your idea passinginterest! Could also play a round of the Premier League at the Lakeside. I would have suggested playing the final there, but there isn't enough space/seating.

[DmanDmythDledge]

I think I brought this up last year as well Passing but BDO averages don't count when there is a finish on, whereas the PDC thus which skews the difference between them.

[TheBoss]

It is good to see the Irish lads get through, Gurney's avg was (91.11) and McCloskey's (79.74). Highest from Round 1 was 90/91, OK stuff, but no where near the PDC levels, where about 20+ players averaged over that in their Round 1.

I think it is only a matter of time before the 2 merge together, the BDO is run by the old school, and when they call it a day, than maybe the merge will happen. If the PDC decide to introduce their own county system, then the BDO's will suffer greatly and the standards will drop even more. I think thats why the PDC want to purchase it, cause the county system is already there, but if they are forced to act, they will.

[passinginterest]

I think I brought this up last year as well Passing but BDO averages don't count when there is a finish on, whereas the PDC thus which skews the difference between them.

Did you ever find anything to back that up? I'm pretty sure all of them are per dart averages so 15 dart leg = 100.2 average or 33.4 per dart.

*I think what causes the confusion is the BDO also refer to a "1st 9 average" at times during the games and this tends to be much higher as these are purely scoring throws.

[Aberdonian Stu]

This was my second year properly watching the PDC and given the problems the BDO has encountered over the past year I was stunned by how much the gulf seems to be widening. I don't know if there's even a handful of players in the BDO that could compete.

[rava]

What ever happens the whole bbc/bdo presentation needs a complete overhaul. Green & Fitzmaurice should be first out and somebody needs to tell Hankey that his gimmic is cringeworthy.

[bennocelt]

Can't watch the BDO to be honest, just far too poor of a standard. Maybe it's just after watching the PDC that makes the BDO seems worse than it is but the BDO World Championships needs to be moved to before the PDC to get interest back in it I'd say.

Some dont have SKy unfortunately. Yeah the standard in the BDO can be awful - esp the early rounds. The Dutch with the fast hits, and the Aussie who froze, or maybe he really is that bad!!
But the young fella from Norn iron and Chessy are great, and its only a matter of time before they follow the money to the PDC. I find that the BDO is like an academy for the PDC

[MeathDrog]

BDO tends to have better finals in my opinion.

[TheBoss]

BDO tends to have better finals in my opinion.

In terms of final score maybe, but the quality finals have definitely been in the PDC.

[MeathDrog]

In terms of final score maybe, but the quality finals have definitely been in the PDC.
Not really. Apart from Taylor V Barney a few years ago its just usually Taylor winning quite confortably each time.

[TheBoss]

Yes, he maybe winning easily, but by God, he is pushed in the finals, he is just so unbelievable he makes it look easy.

[Roadend]

This was my second year properly watching the PDC and given the problems the BDO has encountered over the past year I was stunned by how much the gulf seems to be widening. I don't know if there's even a handful of players in the BDO that could compete.

Well they say that every year, Whitlock and Webster made it to the semi's of the PDC this year, and Whitlock to the final obviously, having only switched from BDO. Outside of Taylor the top few in the the BDO could easily compete with the PDC. King made top 5 in his first year after his switch, Thornton is in the top 10 a year after switching. Scott Waites made the final of the Grand slam and Tony O'Shea put up a better performance than anyone else against Taylor in it.

[rava]

Well they say that every year, Whitlock and Webster made it to the semi's of the PDC this year, and Whitlock to the final obviously, having only switched from BDO. Outside of Taylor the top few in the the BDO could easily compete with the PDC. King made top 5 in his first year after his switch, Thornton is in the top 10 a year after switching. Scott Waites made the final of the Grand slam and Tony O'Shea put up a better performance than anyone else against Taylor in it.

Its true that players have played well after the switch but all of them have become full time players and practice accordingly. Anyway all PDC players over 35 came from the bdo in the first place. Taylor would have won the Bdo final 7-0 last night even though it was a enjoyable game to watch.

[Schumi]

A good final, I don't know what the averages were at the end but Adams was over 100 at one stage anyway. Taylor is obviously a step above but once the averages are well in the 90s, the matches are perfectly watchable. The odd double top, double 10, double 5, double 2, double 1 leg adds to the drama too.

[saint dog]

not sure taylor would have won 7-0 last night
great final though
wouldn't be surprised to see chisnal switch to the pdc
any reason why the likes of o'shea adams and hankey wont switch

[Schumi]

They're always talking about Adams as the England captain, he might be more interested in that side of the game.

[bennocelt]

A bit gutted that Chessy didnt win but he is def a name to watch out for.
Actually thought that the final wasnt as high of quality that it could, they both needed at least 6 chances to get out, which would def be punished by a PDC player IMHO.
But really enjoyed the darts, pity it isnt on the box all the time - ok now onto the snooker :)

[Macy]

not wouldn't be surprised to see chisnal switch to the pdc
any reason why the likes of o'shea adams and hankey wont switch
They did make the semi finalists sign contracts that they'd play BDO the year after, I'm not sure whether that's still the case or not. But they could just prefer the BDO set up, being a bigger fish in a smaller pond, and be doing alright financially anyway.

[Roadend]

They did make the semi finalists sign contracts that they'd play BDO the year after, I'm not sure whether that's still the case or not. But they could just prefer the BDO set up, being a bigger fish in a smaller pond, and be doing alright financially anyway.

That contract thing was in place when Mervyn King switched. Don't think its worth the paper its written on in truth.

[TheBoss]

not sure taylor would have won 7-0 last night
great final though
wouldn't be surprised to see chisnal switch to the pdc
any reason why the likes of o'shea adams and hankey wont switch

I can not see Hankey or Adams leave the BDO, they are pretty loyal to the organistation, and rumours around say that Adams will be on the BDO board when he gives up, Hankey keeps on complaining about the PDC Crowds, I think he is using that as an excuse to not go over, cause he wants to win many world championships, so he will always stay there.

About O'Shea and Fitton, if one goes over, the other will follow, not really sure if they may switch, they have always performed very well when playing PDC players, but not always great in the BDO, so they may go over to improve their game.

I can see Waites switching, its only a matter of time imo, he knows he can compete with them and the BDO standard is affecting his game, like it was for many of the players that switched over the last 3 years.

A bit too early for Chisnall I think, He has proven he is a decent player with some success over 2009, I think he may stay around for a 1/2 more years, to prove that he can maintain this form on a consistent basis.

[SkStu]

I say drunk...

UCXtIAMJ_FY

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A7nkVJXCYAAgIrb.jpg

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2232796/Darts-ace-Ted-Hankey-forced-deny-legless-jibes-missing-board-twice--watch-video.html

[nigel-harps1954]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rLmo_ltWbYw/TTuHUNfUOGI/AAAAAAAAAVw/s3XqV6vckrM/s400/rocky_beat_up.jpg

[nigel-harps1954]

On another note, he was nothing short of a disgrace. I'd beat myself up if I played that bad when drunk.

[TheBoss]

On another note, he was nothing short of a disgrace. I'd beat myself up if I played that bad when drunk.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/358723/Ted-Hankey-has-stroke

[SkStu]

Yeah, saw that last night - so strange. Hope he gets better soon.

[passinginterest]

Jason Cullen from Wexford knocked Martin Atkins out in first round of the BDO. My last ever youths tournament was one of his first, I went on to win the thing so I was obviously his inspiration to get to where he is today :D

[nigel-harps1954]

Wouldn't even waste my time watching that tournament. Hope the lad does well however, but in that tournament, I'd fancy myself to win a few games.

[TheBoss]

Wouldn't even waste my time watching that tournament. Hope the lad does well however, but in that tournament, I'd fancy myself to win a few games.

Not to disrespect you in anyway, but thats the sort of comment an Irish EPL Fan would say about the LOI.

[passinginterest]

Wouldn't even waste my time watching that tournament. Hope the lad does well however, but in that tournament, I'd fancy myself to win a few games.

The Boss is dead on there. Standard is still very good. Winning averages on day one;
Jason Cullen - 29.58 - 88.74
Robbie Green - 30.37 - 91.11
Garry Thompson - 29.61 - 88.83
Richie George - 27.22 - 81.66
Darryl Fitton - 29.77 - 89.31
Alan Norris - 26.66 - 79.98
Tony O'Shea - 28.91 - 86.73

Poor averages from George and Norris, but all the others would have been similar to the PDC averages in the early rounds. As an example Adrian Lewis averaged 83 in a comfortable first round win and Paul Nicholson 87.

if you consistently average above 85 I'd highly recommend taking up darts full time. There's £11,000 for getting to BDO semis and £100,000 for winning it. Then you can make the dream move to the PDC.

[nigel-harps1954]

It was obviously a slight over-statement, a bit tongue in cheek you may say, but at the end of the day, it's very hard to watch. I've been watching and playing darts since ever I was able to hold a dart, both BDO and PDC, and the gap between them has grown so significant, that it's making the BDO tournaments awful to watch.

For the record, if I could only afford to, I would take up darts on a semi-pro basis. It costs an awful lot of money on travelling alone, even around Ireland, where ranking tournaments are almost solely based in Munster.

I know many others in the same boat, much, much better players than me too. I could name you 6 or 7 players in Donegal alone who would easily hold their own in the BDO. It's all about money though. If a player can't get sponsorship, there's not even any point in trying.

[TheBoss]

Emmm..., maybe you were right, Nigel:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHJlLe58pNw

[bennocelt]

Can happen, in fact it happened to the Dutch guy in this years PDC final v taylor (not a missed dart all the same but still a dropped one!), not such a big deal as long as its not a regular thing for a player. Bit like me playing darts once when i was on speed, lol!!!

[IsMiseSean]

I watch that game in full the last night. Yer man is a bit odd to say the least....

[passinginterest]

Have to bump the darts thread after tonight. Barney Army! Great to see him roll back the years. Wouldn't be surprised if that's his high and Smith hammer him in the quarters. PDC standards getting higher all the time, the amount of averages over 100 these days is amazing. Anyone losing with 105 is pretty much unthinkable even 5 years ago. Love seeing the BDO players still crossing over and making an impact and will be looking forward to the BDO in the new year. The youth tour and the secondary tour on the PDC circuit are definitely helping to improve the standard too, it can only be a matter of time at this stage before there's a merger.

[nigel-harps1954]

There'll be no merger. People within the BDO absolutely loathe the PDC and think it's all a circus.

For what it's worth, the standard has been phenomenal in the PDC for the past few years, but this years World Championship is proving to be another huge leap in standard. Unbelievable stuff being thrown for the best part. Chisnall being put out tonight despite averaging over 100 for the entire tournament speaks volumes itself.

Also, the crowd are becoming more annoying. The minute Sky Sports and the PDC allowed chanting from the crowd it's almost killed the game. Atmosphere is one thing, but repeatedly chanting 'Kolo Toure..Yaya Toure' and 'Stand up if you love the darts' as well as the utterly confusing and stupid 'boring boring tables' is somewhat ruining watching it for me, especially the Kolo Toure, Yaya Toure one, which makes no sense whatsoever at a darts event.

[Real ale Madrid]

Nigel- I see a Donegal kid - Jordan Boyce, has reached the BDO Junior Final. Decent prospect?