Thursday, June 16, 2022
Column HR347
CHEESE-EATING WEASLES RULE DAY ONE at World Cup!
A cheese-eating weasel is a punter that bets on every favorite in a sporting event. The Old Dart Coach and his pal (The Legend, Russ Lopez) are charter members of the club. On Day One of the World Cup the ODC picked 8 matches with 6 wins. He used his heart to pick Singapore and Oh Canada. Neither played well.
Defending champion Scotland on the combined earrings of Peter Wright and John Henderson earned the #8 seed. Gary Anderson, who should have been Wright’s teammate, “stepped aside” so Henderson had a chance to repeat.
“Stepped aside” is code for “I don’t want to play.” Had Andersen played Scotland would have earned a #1 seed. That would have set up a final between Scotland and England. Now, the two will meet in the round of 8. van Gerwen’s “Car Pool” tunnel surgery” moved Netherland to #3 seed.
It was no surprise that Wales had the highest wining average at 99.17 with a 45.5% check rate. Gibraltar was a fun team to watch as they had a higher average then winner Northern Ireland, 81.19 to 80.27. Gibraltar was a crowd favorite which irritated Daryl Gurney. Afterwards he said, “I don’t give a f—”. Easy to root against this jerk.
MATCH OF THE DAY
It took a while but in the penultimate match of the evening Germany squeezed by Spain 5-4. Level at 2, Germany pegged 146 (Clements) for 3-2. Then, a 108 close made it 4-2. Spain leveled at 4 in 18 darts. It took a combined 8 match darts over two legs to get it done. At 4 Germany’s Gabriel Clements pegged T40 to leave 24. Spain’s Tony Martinez answered with a T74 to also leave 24. Martin Schindler closed out with d12.
Denmark 5-2 (83.88) over Singapore: Vladimir Andersen had the only T80 and 4 doubles to lead Denmark, including a 112 to close. Singapore struggled with scoring. P. Lim had one at 32 to level at 2. PDC tour player Anderson was very good.
New Zealand 5-3 (79.42) over Switzerland. Ben “Big Rig” Robb took out 40 for the winner. Both teams started nervously but settled down. Switzerland’s Stefan Bellmont came on late to keep it close but missed darts to extend.
Republic of Ireland 5-2 (88.26) over “Oh Canada” The Guinness guys took the first 2 legs in 16 darts each as Canada couldn’t score. Ireland’s William O’Conner made it 3-1 with an 83-out on the bull. In the end, Canada just could hit a double.
Austria 5-2 (82.71) over Finland. Austria was sailing along 3-0 trying to replicate their runner last year. Then Rowby-John Rodriguez stalled, and Finland’s Marko Kantele caught fire. Have to feel sorry for Kantele as partner Paavilainen highlights were d3 and d2. Kantele missed 1 for a T70 and 1 for 126. Austria’s Rowby-John Rodriguez will have to play better, or they’ll get rolled by Wales on Saturday.
#6 Northern Ireland 5-3 (80.27) over Gibraltar (81.19). The guys from the Rock missed 3 to win the opening, falling behind 3-1. They battled back to level at 3 legs. Then Northern Ireland’s Daryl “The Chin” Gurney caught fire with a T80 to open and a T35 on the bull to finish. Again, the guys from NI have shirts that display their ample bellies.
#2 Wales (99.17) over the Philippines 5-2. Gerwyn Price with a pair of ton finishes led favorite Wales to the win. At 2-2 Price erased T32. The Welsh started with an 11-dart leg win that led to a 90+ average. Next up Austria on Saturday.
#3 Netherlands (87.38) over Brazil 5-0. It was a workmanlike performance for Danny Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode as they held Brazil to four double attempts.
Friday, June 17 order of play:
Latvia vs. Hungary – is a battle to see who plays England next round.
Poland vs. USA – the Polish Eagle, Krzysztof Ratajski, will lead Poland to the win.
Sweden vs. South Africa – this Swedish Pair (Daniel Larsson and Johan Engström) have not fared well. Look for Dancin’ Devon Petersen to lead the Springboks to the win.
Portugal should prevail over Italy. José de Sousa has the ability to catch fire and lead. Good test.
#5 Australia (9-1) faces a team from Lithuania where their leader Darius Labanauskas just got pummeled by Fallon Sherrock 6-1 with a 76 average. The Aussie’s (Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock) should advance as the draw should help them to round of 8.
That #1 England (9-2) will prevail over the Czech Republic is a given. No drama. Michael Smith warmed up with his 5th Players Championship averaging 105 and a checking percentage of 60+.
See ya tomorrow.
Stay thirsty my friends.
