Thursday, July 25, 2024
Column HR461
Cool Hand… HOT!
To the surprise of almost no one, Luke Humphries became the 2024 Matchplay Champion. He was the big favorite before the event started and never faced a real challenge until the final – Michael van Gerwen gave him a struggle. MvG had chances to win but lost 18-15. More on the final later.
There are two stories that many have been missed or ignored coming out of the 2024 World Matchplay…
First, there was the “Fountain of Youth” secret discovered by James Wade. As the #21 seed he made it to the semifinals with wins over #12 Danny Noppert (10-4) and #6 Nathan Aspinall (11-8) before losing to the eventual winner Luke Humphries 17-10. Make no mistake, it appears there’s still a lot of life in the old dog yet and that dog can hunt.
The other missed story came when Luke Littler lost 10-6 in the first round to Michael van Gerwen. That loss brought out the “I told you so” group of dummies who appear after a Littler loss of any match. Taking to social media, they explained that Littler really wasn’t world class. He was the preverbal “flash in the pan” – a mere “here today, gone tomorrow”.
The Sultan of Sittingbourne, Dave Whitcombe, was quick to answer those posts.
“I honestly can’t see what the problem is. He lost to MVG which anyone alive or dead could do playing at their best. He’s a young lad who’s (if this is a direct quote, okay, but it should be ‘whose’) media hype has had everyone in expectations (again, if direct quote, okay, but this doesn’t make sense) for big tournament wins which will come, but let’s be honest he’s 17 so give the lad a chance to grow and get experience. As Andrew Pasco said, he’s not a robot and the pressure he must be under is huge. Guys, he won the Premier League which is harder than the world championship. Luke is no fluke just let him get used to it.”
The Old Dart Coach found that watching the Matchplay many times became the ultimate yawner. That was caused by playing long leg matches rather than sets, calling for the best of 5 sets. This alone may be best for selling beer, which is great, but watching? No thanks. PDC Darts has become a TV event bringing in new and supportive fans along with copious amounts of cash. Once, a cricket match would go on forever. In came TV – and the one-day match appeared.
Mr. John Lowe MBE posted the following:
Never thought I would say this, watched the darts last night, and it became boring, the first to 16 legs, and the 2 players going neck and neck, superb darts from all 4 players, both matches 16-10, made me realize, sets keep the interest alive, 3-2, 3-0, 3-1, but only 12 legs played, and you have a chance to pull back into the match if it’s first to 5, I accept certain tournaments have historical value, but if someone like myself says sorry, boring, it may mean a little.
Many matches were over before they were over. There are two matches that stand out…
One was the 13-12 nail bitter win by Rob Cross over Gian van Veen – this may have been the second-best match behind the final. Cross survived six missed match darts to win. Credit to van Veen though as he had some timely finishes of 126, 167 and 170 finishes, all on the bull, which went for nil.
Cross led 8-5. van Veen put together a run of three to draw even at 8. That stretch included two 12-darters and a 15. At 10-9 van Veen missed 2 darts for the win 11-9 but alas he missed.
The format required two legs clear for a win. They traded legs to 12-12. Then, they arrived at the sudden death leg. Cross took it with 12 darts.
Luke Humphries’ 18-15 win could well have been 18-15 the other way. Without recounting every dart, which is an invite to Snooze City, Michael van Gerwen missed 11darts that could have won 4 legs and resulted in a new Matchplay 2024 Champion.
As all know “If I’das” equate to any member of the Squat Family including Jack and Diddley. The true fact is that Luke Humphries is #1 in the World and intends to stay there. Period. Full stop.
The women’s Matchplay took place on finals day with the results matching the betting odds of the gentlemen. The top two seeds were Beau Greaves and Fallon Sherrock. They met in the finals. The men’s side also saw seeds #1 and #2 in the final.
Beau Greaves 4-1 vs. Katie Sheldon. From 2-1 Greaves cruised.
Mikuru Suzuki 4-2 vs. Noa-Lynn van Leuven. At first, Suzuki was not at her best as “I feel Like a Women” leveled at two. From that point Suzuki hit two pair for the win in 20 and 17 darts.
Fallon Sherrock 4-0 vs. Anastasia Dobromyslova. Great to see Anastasia back on TV. To be honest Sharrock’s darts were not up to her standard. But “a win is a win.”
Lisa Ashton 4-1 vs. Rhian O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan took the first leg – then it was “goodnight nurse.”
Semifinals
Beau Greaves 5-2 vs. Mikuru Suzuki. Greaves took the first leg in 25 darts as Suzuki missed 6 at a double. Greaves returned to form for the win.
Fallon Sherrock 5-4 Lisa Ashton. Sherrock would be the first to tell you it was a lucky win as both players missed multiple darts to win. When Sherrock hit the final double, she went to Ashton giving her the “it was lucky win” sign.
Final
Beau Greaves 6-3 vs. Fallon Sherrock. They were level at 2. Greaves put together legs of 12, 13 and 15 to move one leg from victory. She won that leg (after surrendering one more leg to Sherrock). Like that?
On the ADO front a source has reported that “the ADO will vote at their next board meeting on a new proposal. Basically, if your tournament asks for and receives ADO sanctioning, then they won’t let any other organizations hold events there. No CDC, USSDA, DPFL, JDC, Plague Darts, etc.”
It appears that the ADO doesn’t promote “darts” – but only ADO darts. It could also stop tournaments from additional revenue. Will it pass? The politic will do what the chairman wants.
Stay thirsty my friends.
