The arra’s taking over the box at Christmas
TYNAN'S TAKE
YOU associate a lot of things with Christmas. Meeting up with family and friends. Sitting down for the glorious Christmas dinner. Acting surprised to see another Lynx boxset from your grandparents. And darts.
Whether you feel it’s a sport or not - if you don’t, stop reading – the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championships has become as much of a tradition at Christmas now as anything else, with the world best’s battling it out for the richest and most prestigious prize in the sport at the Alexandra Palace, London.
From filling out smoky rooms with a couple of hundred people watching to thousands in attendance at sellout arenas across the globe, darts is one of sport’s biggest success stories of the 21st century.
The tournament begins this evening (Thursday) and there are so many subplots with this year’s edition.
The women’s game has exploded in popularity in recent years and Lisa Ashton, Beau Greaves and Fallon Sherrock will be hoping to kick down a few more doors.
Ashton is the only female to win a coveted PDC Tour Card but has yet to taste victory on the Ally Pally stage. Ryan Meikle is her first opponent and it might be her best chance yet to claim a maiden win.
The world is talking about teen sensation Greaves and while she faces a real battle against Limerick’s Willie O’Connor, she is more than capable and that one could go to the wire.
But it’s the inclusion of Fallon Sherrock, who made history three years ago in becoming the first female player to win at the Palace, that raised a few eyebrows.
She won the Women’s World Matchplay back in July but missed out on the Order of Merit in the Women’s Series. But following the end of the series, the PDC announced that the winner of the Matchplay would automatically get a place in the Worlds. To many, it seemed the PDC were trying to shoehorn Sherrock into the tournament and criticism came Sherrock’s way.
It's not her fault at all, though. The way the PDC have handled it is poor and you can only hope Sherrock is able to deal with any hate from the crowd in the opening game against the popular Ricky Evans.
There is plenty of interest from this island also. The aforementioned O’Connor will face Greaves, Enniskillen’s Brendan Dolan awaits the winner of Jamie Hughes and Jimmy Hendriks, Derry’s Daryl Gurney could face a major second round battle in the form of Alan Soutar, Cork’s John O’Shea takes on Darius Labanauskas (who hit a nine-darter last year), and Meath’s Keane Barry faces Grant Sampson.
All eyes will be on newly-crowned World Youth Champion Josh Rock. The Antrim native has been a sensation and was involved in a classic with Michael van Gerwen at the Grand Slam of Darts last month. Should he get through José Justicia, he’s as much a threat as anyone in the tournament.
FAVOURITES
But as for a winner, it’s hard to look past van Gerwen. The ‘Green Machine’ has rediscovered his best form this year, winning four major televised titles. His form at the recent Players Championship Finals was cause for concern for everyone and if he is anywhere near that, the rest are in trouble.
World number one Gerwyn Price has had an up and down year but loves this event and is one of the few who can put it up to van Gerwen over a long format.
Last year’s runner-up, Michael Smith, finally won a major title in the Grand Slam and now that hoodoo is over, the floodgates could open up.
It’s hard to believe that no one is talking about reigning champion Peter Wright. He withdrew from the recent Players Championship Finals due to his wife being ill and his focus might be understandably elsewhere.
Other contenders come in the shape of former world champion Rob Cross, Luke Humphries, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Nathan Aspinall. But it’s all about MVG. Should he hit top form, the rest will have to settle for a runners-up spot.