Ian ‘Diamond’ White Claims First European Tour Title Win; 2019 PDC Schedule Released

Ian ‘Diamond’ White Claims First European Tour Title Win; 2019 PDC Schedule Released

Ian Diamond White

Darts fans were treated to a surprise winner last week when Ian White won his first ever PDC European Tour title at the MECC in Maastricht. In doing so, he beat another surprise package, world number 56 Ricky Evans, by winning 8-5 in the Dutch Darts Championship final.

The 48-year-old from Stoke, ranked 13th in the world, had already recorded a superb triumph over Peter Wright in the last four and went on to average a mere 89 in the final. Despite the low average, it proved to be enough as he made the most of Evans’ 13 missed doubles from 18 shots. Amazingly, White’s win was also recorded six years to the day since he reached his first European Tour final in 2012. In that match, he lost in the final of the German Darts Masters 6-3 to Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis, but this time he was determined to get the win.

A recap of the MECC

Playing in his 63rd European Tour event, White began his road to the final with a 102.26 average in a 6-4 victory over Arron Monk before reaching the quarter-finals, courtesy of an outstanding 6-2 victory over Mervyn King. He then moved on to get his revenge over the two-time World Champion and fellow potter Adrian Lewis in the quarter-finals before successfully getting the better of Snakebite in the semis.

28-year-old Ricky ‘Rapid’ Evans’ brilliant run to his first PDC ranking final — his first in nearly five years — saw him record impressive victories over Jan Dekker, Steve West, William O’Connor, Joe Cullen and Ritchie Edhouse, before his meet-up with ‘Diamond’ White in the final. He also established himself as a firm crowd favourite thanks to his ‘Baby Shark’-inspired walk-on music.

Once there, both players made a strong start with White scoring first thanks to a 14-dart hold of throw. Evans responded in kind by duly hitting back with a 13-darter. From there, he grew stronger, recording the first break of the match to go 2-1 up, only for White to hit straight back with an 11-darter to level the score.

The game continued with serve for the next few legs until White’s 14-darter cracked his rival and opened up a two-leg advantage for the first time. Evans then took out a double 16 with his last dart to break throw and keep the game alive. It wasn’t to last long, however, as White immediately broke back before holding throw to move within a leg of victory, which came two legs later after he pinned tops for the title. For White, that meant that he has now won 10 PDC titles in total.

Elsewhere, William O’Connor inflicted world number one Michael van Gerwen’s first Last 32 exit in Europe in almost three years when he somehow beat the world number one 6-1.

2019 PDC schedule announced

The 2019 PDC calendar has now been published and it includes over 200 days of darts. Highlights include an expanded Darts Premier League, which now stretches to 17 nights and includes doubleheader in Rotterdam.

This year’s UK Open format has been tweaked to include 128 Tour Card Holders, 16 Challenge Tour Order of Merit Qualifiers plus 16 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers. The Rileys Qualifiers were the same route taken by current World Champion Rob Cross when he turned professional before stunning the world last January.

Prague will join the list of European Tour hosts alongside established destinations in Germany, the Netherlands, Gibraltar and Austria. Following a successful inaugural event in Copenhagen, the European Tour will be returning to Denmark for the second time. Amsterdam will also be hosting a PDC televised event for the first time.

Next year’s World Cup of Darts will take place in Hamburg, while Blackpool’s World Matchplay retains its traditional date in late July. In the autumn of 2019, the Darts Champions League and the European Championship will follow the World Grand Prix.

The Grand Slam of Darts will then be held in Wolverhampton before the Players Championship Finals in Minehead in November. Finally, the World Darts Championship will close the season out over the Christmas holidays, although no starting date has yet been announced.

January

  • 1 (London) World Championship Final

February

  • 1 – 3 (Milton Keynes) The Masters
  • 7 (Newcastle) Premier League Darts Matchday 1
  • 14 (Glasgow) Premier League Darts Matchday 2
  • 21 (Dublin) Premier League Darts Matchday 3
  • 28 (Exeter) Premier League Darts Matchday 4

March

  • 1 – 3 (Minehead) UK Open
  • 7 (Leeds) Premier League Darts Matchday 5
  • 14 (Nottingham) Premier League Darts Matchday 6
  • 21 (Berlin, Germany) Premier League Darts Matchday 7
  • 22 – 24 (Leverkusen, Germany) European Tour 1
  • 27 (Rotterdam, Netherlands) Premier League Darts Matchday 8
  • 28 (Rotterdam, Netherlands) Premier League Darts Matchday 9
  • 29 – 31 (Hildesheim, Germany) European Tour 2

April

  • 4 (Belfast) Premier League Darts Matchday 10
  • 11 (Liverpool) Premier League Darts Matchday 11
  • 18 (Cardiff) Premier League Darts Matchday 12
  • 20 – 22 (Munich, Germany) European Tour 3
  • 25 (Birmingham ) Premier League Darts Matchday 13
  • 26 – 28 (Saarbrücken, Germany) European Tour 4

May

  • 2 (Manchester) Premier League Darts Matchday 14
  • 3 – 5 (Graz, Austria) European Tour 5
  • 9 (Sheffield) Premier League Darts Matchday 15
  • 10 – 12 (Sindelfingen, Germany) European Tour 6
  • 16 (Aberdeen) Premier League Darts Matchday 16
  • 23 (London) Premier League Darts Play-Offs
  • 24 – 26 (TBC, Netherlands) European Tour 7

June

  • 6 – 9 (Hamburg, Germany) World Cup
  • 14 – 16 (Copenhagen, Denmark) European Tour 8
  • 28 – 30 (Prague, Czech Republic) European Tour 9

July

  • 20 – 28 (Blackpool) World Matchplay

August

  • 3 (Hildesheim, Germany ) Players Championship 21
  • 4 (Hildesheim, Germany) Players Championship 22
  • 30 – Sep 1 (Vienna, Austria) European Tour 10

September

  • 6 – 8 (Mannheim, Germany) European Tour 11
  • 13 – 15 (Riesa, Germany) European Tour 12
  • 27 – 29 (Gibraltar) European Tour 13

October

  • 6 – 12 (Dublin) World Grand Prix
  • 19 – 20 (VENUE TBC) Champions League
  • 24 – 27 (Göttingen, Germany) European Championship

November

  • 1 – 3 (Amsterdam, Netherlands) World Series Finals
  • 49 – 17 (Wolverhampton) Grand Slam of Darts
  • 22 – 24 (Minehead) Players Championship Finals

December

  • TBC (London) World Championship
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The PDC Calendar And The Best Upcoming Darts Events For 2018

The PDC Calendar And The Best Upcoming Darts Events For 2018

2018 PDC Calendar and the best dart events

Another Darts season is just around the corner, and always we will continue to give you the best darts betting tips available online across the new year. In 2018, the PDC are stepping up attempts to grow interest in the game for those outside the UK by introducing a new German Premier League night and adding a European Tour event in Copenhagen in what is now the biggest ever schedule for the tour.

So, what are the major events to look forward to in the coming year?

Early 2018 schedule

First up on the 26th of January is the 2018 Masters in Milton Keynes. featuring the world’s top 16 players. This year that will include the new champion of the world Rob Cross.

On February the 1st, The Betway Premier League of Darts gets underway at Dublin’s 3Arena, taking place in different venues on Thursday nights for three months until we reach the playoffs at London’s O2 Arena.

Newly crowned champion Cross will be featured here as one of four debutants to make the final ten and is 100/30 with event sponsors Betway to win the league outright. Gerwyn Price, Daryl Gurney and Mensur Suljovic are the other Premier League newbies who will join the likes of Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Gary Anderson, Raymond van Barneveld, Michael Smith and Simon Whitlock.

This year’s event even promises to break new ground with a visit to Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena on Thursday February 22nd, the first time Germany hosts the event. The Premier League will also return to Rotterdam for a third successive year.

UK-based events will be taking place until May at venues in Cardiff, Newcastle, Exeter, Leeds, Nottingham and Glasgow before Judgement Night takes place in Belfast on March 29. The remaining eight players to have made the cut will then visit Liverpool, Sheffield, Rotterdam, Manchester, Birmingham and Aberdeen before the Play-offs at The O2 in London on May 17.

In March, The European Tour will begin its expanded 13-event run in Leverkusen, Germany. This year’s tour will also include a second European Tour event being held in the Netherlands, as Zwolle joins Maastricht as a Dutch tourney host town. A whole new competition will be staged in Copenhagen, the first time Denmark has hosted a PDC ranked event. In all, eight European Tour events are due to be held in Germany, with tournaments also taking place in Austria and Gibraltar.

March also sees the UK Open Finals take place at the Butlins Minehead Resort, while April promises to feature two Players Championship double-headers, European Tour events in Saarbrucken and Graz. Come May, additional European Tour events will be taking place in Sindelfingen and Zwolle.

Events for the second half of 2018

The weeklong 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts will be held from May 31 through June 3 in Frankfurt, with the summer’s popular World Matchplay being held from July 21-29 at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens.

The summer will see plenty of still-to-be-announced trips to different corners of the world, including the US Darts Masters in Las Vegas, as well as other runs for the World Series of Darts events. Those will likely be hosted in Australia, New Zealand, China and Dubai among others. What we know now is that the 2018 World Series of Darts will begin on Friday May 25 with the second running of the German Darts Masters.

In September, The Champions League of Darts gets its third running starting from the 21st, before Dublin stages the World Grand Prix from September 30-October 6. October will also see the conclusion of The European Championship in Dortmund.

November brings The World Series of Darts Finals, Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton and Players Championship Finals at Butlins Minehead Resort.

Finally, in December the 2019 World Darts Championship gets underway once more concluding the year’s action at the Ally Pally in early January.

Enjoy!

PDC Calendar 2018

JANUARY

  • January 26-28: Darts Masters (Milton Keynes)

FEBRUARY

  • February 1: Premier League Darts (Match day 1, Dublin)
  • February 8: Premier League Darts (Match day 2, Cardiff)
  • February 15: Premier League Darts (Match day 3, Newcastle)
  • February 22: Premier League Darts (Match day 4, Berlin, Germany)

MARCH

  • March 1: Premier League Darts (Match day 5, Exeter)
  • March 2-4: UK Open (Minehead)
  • March 8: Premier League Darts (Match day 6, Leeds)
  • March 15: Premier League Darts (Match day 7, Nottingham)
  • March 22: Premier League Darts (Match day 8, Glasgow)
  • March 23-25: European Tour 1 (Leverkusen, Germany)
  • March 29: Premier League Darts (Match day 9, Belfast)
  • March 31-1.04: European Tour 2 (Munich, Germany)

APRIL

  • April 5: Premier League Darts (Match day 10, Liverpool)
  • April 12: Premier League Darts (Match day 11, Sheffield)
  • April 13-15: European Tour 3 (Saarbrucken, Germany)
  • April 19: Premier League Darts (Match day 12, Rotterdam, Netherlands)
  • April 20-22: European Tour 4 (Graz, Austria)
  • April 26: Premier League Darts (Match day 13, Manchester)

MAY

  • May 3: Premier League Darts (Match day 14, Birmingham)
  • May 4-6: European Tour 5 (Sindelfingen, Germany)
  • May 10: Premier League Darts (Match day 15, Aberdeen)
  • May 11-13: European Tour 6 (Zwolle, Netherlands)
  • May 17: Premier League Darts Play-Offs (London)
  • May 25: German Darts Masters (Dusseldorf, Germany)
  • May 31-03.06: Darts World Cup (Frankfurt, Germany)

JUNE

  • June 8-10: European Tour 7 (Gibraltar)
  • June 22-24: European Tour 8 (Copenhagen, Denmark)
  • June 29-01.07: European Tour 9 (Hamburg, Germany)

JULY

  • July 21-29: World Matchplay (Blackpool)

AUGUST

  • August 31-02.09: European Tour 10 (Hildesheim, Germany)

SEPTEMBER

  • September 7-9: European Tour 11 (Maastricht, Netherlands)
  • September 14-16: European Tour 12 (Riesa, Germany)
  • September 22-23: Champions League of Darts (Cardiff)
  • September 30-06.10: World Grand Prix (Dublin, Ireland)

OCTOBER

  • October 12-14: European Tour 13 (Gottingen, Germany)
  • October 25-28: European Championship (Dortmund, Germany)

NOVEMBER

  • November 2-4: World Series Finals (TBC)
  • November 10-18: Grand Slam (Wolverhampton)
  • November 23-25: Players Championship Finals (Minehead)

DECEMBER

  • December TBC: World Darts Championship (London)
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