Friday, December 12, 2024
Column CM137
Changers…
This year some of the well-known players will miss the PDC World Championship.
Most have in common (and it’s not uncommon) that at some time in their career they switched from one darts organisation to the other – normally they started in the BDO and later switched to the PDC (or after the end of the BDO, from the WDF to the PDC).
Some switched back when they had no success – for example Jelle Klaasen, the BDO World Champion from 2006, who switched in 2007 to the PDC. Klassen took part in his last PDC World Championship in 2020 and then reappeared in the 2023 WDF World Championship.
Only a few players started their career with a PDC World Championship and later qualified for one or a few BDO World Championships and even later for the WDF World Championship (as did, for example, Nick Fullwel, who takes part in tournaments here and there or Dennis Nilsson who first took part in the PDC World Championship 2012, played the BDO World Championship in 2017 and 2018 and was among the participants of the WDF World Championships in 2024 and 2025).
The situation of Paul Lim was somehow different – at the time Lim took part in his first World Championships, the PDC did not even exist. The only organisations were the BDO and the WDF and the World Championships were always organised by the BDO.
In most cases one has to observe that players (whether they won a BDO World Championship or one of the so far three WDF World Championships) will not automatically be successful in the PDC as well. The standard of the BDO was just never as high as in the PDC and it is seemingly even lower in the WDF. It might also be that the mindset of the amateurs is different and has an effect too – the pressure to perform to be sure is much higher in the PDC and players might have a problem with this.
It is interesting that only four players managed to win World Champion titles in both the BDO and the PDC. Of course, leading the way was Phil Taylor, who dominated everything when he was at his best – so much so that other players (as well as those who switched in those years from the BDO to the PDC) mostly couldn’t win the title even if they reached the final and had to face him.
The other players were Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld and John Part – and all three won the title by beating Taylor. Part again won the title in 2008, a year in which Taylor and a lot of other players were taken ill during the tournament. Priestley won the title 1994 and stood in the final in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000 and lost every time to Taylor. van Barneveld switched after he had won the BDO World Championship four times. In 207, he defeated Taylor in the final – and one often heard, he only won because Taylor gave him the throw, something he often did when he had won the bull. In 2009, the Dutchman reached the final a second time and was destroyed – of course by Taylor.
(Actually, one can’t really say Taylor and Priestly “switched” as they were both founding members of the WDC (World Darts Council), later the PDC, which split off the BDO.)
Other BDO World Champions and finalists who switched to the PDC were Richie Burnett, Steve Beaton, Ted Hankey, the already mentioned Jelle Klaasen, Mark Webster, Christian Kist, Stephen Bunting, Scott Mitchell, Scott Waites, Glen Durrant, Jim Williams, Danny Noppert, Alan Norris, Dean Winstanley, Dave Chisnall, Simon Whitlock, Mervyn King and Ronnie Baxter.
The winner of last year’s WDF World Championship, Andy Baetens and the finalist Chris Landman, now play as well in the PDC as does the runner-up from 2022 – Thibault Tricole. Tricole and Landman qualified for this year’s PDC World Championship, but Baetens didn’t manage. Shane McGuirk, the new WDF World Championship, has not yet decided in which organisation he will play.
Of course, not only champions and finalists switched and to be sure there were some players whose careers were ignited in the PDC, such as Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson (who only reached one semifinal while he played in the BDO) or Vincent van der Voort.
Many of those players are no longer active for a variety reasons – Hankey was banned, Durrant lost his form completely after he had been ill with Covid 19, while problems with form and lack of success caused Dean Winstanley and Alan Norris to disappear. Mark Webster prefers to work as an expert now-a-days – he had been in a slump as well.
This year, Steve Beaton and Simon Whitlock will not take part in the PDC World Championship either. King already missed out last year as did Vincent van der Voort, who one should think is still too young to leave, but he had a lot of health and injury issues.
I will focus on some of the aforementioned players during a series of articles which will accompany the World Championship – featured in the first article will be Paul Lim (who will appear due to his performances during the WDF World Championships).
No doubt, Lim will be in the hearts of the fans once again.
