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September23September 23, 2016

Betting Tips For First Champions League Of Darts

A little piece of darting history will be made this weekend when the players return to action for the first ever Champions League of Darts.

Taking place this coming Saturday and Sunday at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena, the event will also mark a thawing of the frost that has developed between the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and the BBC.

Since the PDC formed and split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) in 1992, their events (by far the more prestigious of the two), have not been broadcast on the United Kingdom’s national channel who have continued to cover BDO tournaments. In broadcasting the new event, the BBC will cease to cover January’s BDO World Championship, which will now be watchable on Channel 4.

And what can the Beeb expect for its money?

They can expect eight of the world’s best players selected according to the PDC Order of Merit following July’s World Matchplay. Playing a round robin format and competing in two groups, A and B, the top two places from the tables’ final standings progress to the knock-out phase, the semi-finals, which will be played on the following Sunday.

All of the group matches will be played out over the best of 19 legs with the semi-finals and final being the best of 21. Both days will have an afternoon and evening session, with Sunday’s session hosting the semi-finals and final.

The Groups

Group A

Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor, Peter Wright, Robert Thornton

As the inaugural event, both Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor and Michael ‘Mighty Mike’ van Gerwen will be aiming to be the first ever winner.

Good news then, that they have landed each other in Group A. Should both progress from the group, they cannot meet in the semis, thus there is a decent chance that the pair could meet in what would surely be an epic first final. That said, with Peter Wright and Robert Thornton making up the numbers, it will be tough.

Taylor is a best price 5/2 at Sky Bet to top the group while our partners all agree on MVG at 4/7 and Snakebite at 7/1 with Thornton way out at 25/1.

Group B

Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis, James Wade, Michael Smith

World champion Gary ‘The Flying Scotsman’ Anderson will be the man to beat in Group B, something Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis is capable of. Lewis has two world championships himself but with James Wade and Michael Smith looking to claim their slice of history, this could well be the closer of the two groups.

Understandably, Gary Anderson is the favourite to win the group and both Sky Bet and Betway are in agreement that 6/5 is reasonable value for him to do just that.

If, like me, you can see Jackpot toping the pile, then jump on the 9/4 offered by all of our partners. James Wade can be backed for the group at a best price of 9/2, available at Bet365, while Smith can be found at 13/2 in the same book.

So, if we go with odds and form, then we could end up with a last four of MVG/Taylor vs Anderson/Lewis, which would open up the Taylor vs MVG final face-off that we are all looking forward to.

Obviously, Van Gerwen is the clear outright favourite at 8/11 across the board, but that’s too easy so I’ll lose my money on Taylor instead, available at a more than reasonable 5/1.

The Champions League of Darts airs across BBC One and BBC Two, Saturday 24 September (first match at 1.15 pm) and Sunday 25 September.

Champions League of Darts tournament schedule

Saturday September 24

Group Phase One, Afternoon Session (1.15 pm-5 pm)

Gary Anderson v Michael Smith (B)
Adrian Lewis v James Wade (B)
Phil Taylor v Peter Wright (A)
Michael van Gerwen v Robert Thornton (A)

Second Group Matches, Evening Session (6.30 pm-10 pm)

The winners of earlier matches play one another, while the losers of earlier matches play one another.

Sunday September 25

Afternoon Session (1 pm-5 pm)

Final group matches

Evening Session (6.30 pm)

Semi-finals and final

September1September 1, 2016

Van Gerwen Finally Wins In Australia

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

Following a brief return to the oche for the year’s remaining World Series events, players will now spend the rest of the month largely touring Germany. For the next three weeks, the European Tour Events 7, 8 and 9 will be taking prominence but with no live television broadcasting in the UK and limited participation from the star names, only bet365 are laying odds.

For the record, Michael Van Gerwen (1/1), Peter Wright (8/1), James Wade (11/1), and Dave Chisnall (16/1) are all in attendance – so let’s just say that MVG won as he probably will do, or did, depending on when you’re reading this.

Actually, Mighty Mike won last week in Perth, Australia; this was his first win in the country, having previously been defeated in two Sydney Darts Masters finals as well as the 2014 final in Perth. A dominant MVG dispatched Dave Chisnall 11-4 in the final of the TABtouch Perth Darts Masters at the PCEC on Saturday.

On his way to the final, MVG had also seen off Kyle Anderson in the first round before beating James Wade the next day. At the semi-final stage, he came face to face with Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright, whom he swept aside 11-5 to bank his place in that evening’s final.

His rival in the final, Dave Chisnall, had also impressed on his way through the event, having grown in confidence from his opening round win Koha Kokiri. From there, he dumped out the reigning world champion Gary ‘The Flying Scotsman’ Anderson before moving onto Raymond van Barneveld, with the St Helens favourite emerging as the 11-8 winner, leading to his ill fated showdown with Van Gerwen later that day.

The world number one used the final to right the wrongs of the previous week’s defeat to Phil Taylor back in Sydney. Here, he stormed ahead early on, winning five successive legs, before Chisnall struck back and bought the match to 5-3.

The fightback was short-lived, however, as Van Gerwen claimed three in a row which included an 11-darter. Despite pulling a leg back, Chisnall was unable to hang on any longer leaving Van Gerwen to throw out for the title, his 14th tournament victory of 2016 and first ever on Australian soil.

Afterwards, Van Gerwen had this to say: “This is my first World Series win in Australia so it’s a great victory. Dave’s such a good player and you have to produce your best game but I went into the final with a lot of confidence because I had a fantastic record against him”.

As the sixth and final leg of this year’s World Series, Perth was the last event to count towards the World Series’ seedings for the World Series Finals which begin in Glasgow’s Braehead Arena this November 5.

In winning here, Van Gerwen leapfrogs Gary Anderson in the World Series rankings and will enter the finals as the number one seed and favourite with the bookmakers.

TABtouch Perth Darts Masters 2016 Results

First round, Thursday August 25

James Wade 6-0 Rob Szabo
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Koha Kokiri
Peter Wright 6-4 Adam Rowe
Adrian Lewis 6-3 David Platt
Phil Taylor 2-6 Corey Cadby
Gary Anderson 6-3 Kim Lewis
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Kyle Anderson
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Simon Whitlock

Quarter-finals, Friday August 26

Adrian Lewis 8-10 Raymond van Barneveld
Michael van Gerwen 10-8 James Wade
Gary Anderson 7-10 Dave Chisnall
Corey Cadby 2-10 Peter Wright

Semi-finals, Saturday August 27

Dave Chisnall 11-8 Raymond van Barneveld
Michael van Gerwen 11-5 Peter Wright

Final, Saturday August 27

Michael van Gerwen 11-4 Dave Chisnall

The next live darts action will be on September 24 when the Champions League of Darts will begin in Cardiff, Wales.

July2February 13, 2022

Michael Van Gerwen Wins Shanghai Masters, Plus Phil “The Power” Taylor Profile

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

With darts action taking a weekend off, we thought it would be a good time to look at the game’s top players – starting with (who else?) Phil “The Power” Taylor.

But first, a little note on last week’s Shanghai Masters.

Michael Van Gerwen wins Shanghai Masters

Michael Van Gerwin bests James Wade in Shanghai Masters

It feels more than little strange that, for the first time since we launched this column, Michael Van Gerwen has won an event. But that he did last week when he took down the Chinese leg of the World Series. His opponent in Sunday’s final was Englishman James Wade, who lost 8-3 at the Pullman Hotel.

It was the fifth international event win of the year for the Dutch number one, having missed out in Dubai and Auckland. Shanghai marks his first win since claiming the Darts Premier League in May.

On his way to the final, he saw off Singapore’s Paul Lim in round one before moving on to an altogether more familiar face in countryman Raymond van Barneveld, whom Van Gerwin outclassed on his way to an 8-4 win in the quarter-finals.

The semi-final stage of the event on Sunday afternoon matched the Dutch master with Dave Chisnall, who chucked his way into a 4-1 lead, which included checkouts of 148 and 150. Van Gerwen clawed things back soon afterwards, however; his eventual 8-5 victory came in part thanks to a 145 finish which launched a winning run of four successive legs.

Wade, on the way to his second World Series final of the season, had been paired with Gary Anderson. The Scot gave him a tough match before Wade eventually won 8-7 in the quarter-finals, almost repeating the score in the semi-final with an 8-6 victory over Phil Taylor.

“Every win means a lot to me but this is the first Shanghai Darts Masters so it’s very special,” said Van Gerwen. “Everything came together and I’m really glad I won this trophy. It’s been a very good week in China and it’s a pleasure for me to play in tournaments like this. Shanghai’s fantastic, and to get the win makes it even better.”

The PDC World Series of Darts continues with the Zipang Casino Tokyo Darts Masters on July 6-7, with the eight PDC stars set to take on eight Japanese qualifiers across two days at the Yoyogi Olympic Hall.

Profile: Phil “The Power” Taylor

When darts fans are gathered for a major event and (I’ve Got) The Power by Snap begins to play, they know that are in for a treat – that’s the walkout theme for arguably the greatest ever player to throw a dart, Phil “The Power” Taylor.

Phil "The Power" Taylor - darts' greatest ever

Hailing from the pottery city of Stoke-on-Trent, England, Taylor won the first of his record-breaking 77 PDC Premier events, including 16 World Championships, in 1995.

Born in 1965, Taylor honed his darts skills in local clubs before turning pro under the BDO towards the end of the 1980s. It wasn’t long before he took down his first major title, the 1990 Embassy Championship, when he defeated his mentor and five-time World Champion Eric “The Crafty Cockney” Bristow. Taylor briefly carried the nickname “The Crafty Potter” at this time. In the same year, he added the World Masters to his résumé.

By 1993, the PDC had formed and broken away from the BDO; this was a move that Taylor played a considerable role in. He has since become the dominant force of darts: he won his first World Matchplay title in 1995, repeating his success in 1997, but the best was yet to come as “The Power” went on an unprecedented unbeaten run in the event between 2000 and 2004. He claimed five successive titles before adding a record sixth and then seventh in 2013 and 2014.

It’s the World Championships that Taylor will really be remembered for, however; he presently holds sixteen titles dating back to 1995. This began a run of form the likes of which hasn’t been seen before or since: Taylor won again each year between 1996 and 2002, then notched up three further consecutive wins from 2004 to 2006. He has since added three more wins in 2009, 2010 and 2013, a feat which will almost certainly never be equalled.

Other noticeable successes include taking home the Las Vegas Desert Classic in 2002, 2004 and 2005; the first-ever UK Open in 2003 (not his last); as well as being unbeaten champion in the first-ever Premier League of Darts back in 2005.

Having seen off all comers until 2006, this was the breakout year for a rivalry that would shape the game for the next decade with the emergence of Holland’s Raymond van Barneveld. “Barney” was the first serious threat to Taylor’s domination and the two duly began to meet regularly in the latter stages of events.

Despite Taylor’s glorious track record, he countered this first of two Dutch threats (the second being today’s world number one Michael Van Gerwen) by changing darts. At a professional level, even miniscule changes in dart weight and shape can make all the difference; Taylor’s switch to 26g Target 9 Five Red Dragon Darts did just that, allowing him to maintain his challenge.

In total, the PDC have awarded Taylor their Player of the Year award six times, in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. Unlike most darts players, Taylor has found fame away from the oche, including nominations for the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in both 2006 and 2010 and an appearance on Coronation Street.

Taylor remains not only the best of all time but still one of the game’s top players, boasting a record that even Michael Van Gerwen is unlikely to breach.

If you fancy backing the game’s greatest-ever player for an outright World Matchplay win, you can get odds of 11/2 on “The Power” by visting Betway.

Phil “The Power” Taylor’s Major Honours

World Championships (PDC): 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2013
World Matchplay: 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
Las Vegas Desert Classic: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009
UK Open: 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013
World Series of Darts: 2006
The Masters: 2013
PDC US Open: 2007, 2008
World Darts Trophy: 2006
European Championship: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Premier League Darts: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012
Grand Slam of Darts: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014
PDC World Cup of Darts: 2012 with Adrian Lewis, 2013 with Adrian Lewis, 2016 with Adrian Lewis
PDC Player of the Year: 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013
PDC Fans’ Player of the Year: 2007, 2008, 2012

Inducted into PDC Hall of Fame in 2011