Monday, June 14, 2010
Column 5
Barnsley, Bromberg – and the PDC Invades Vegas!
The Old Dart Coach reminds us that in six days the “Man” created the world which included the earth which included both man, women and declined to state. On the 7th day, according to the Good Book, he rested. In the same amount of time Phil Taylor in a more spectacular fashion annexed the Premier League title and the UK Open. Like the “other man” Taylor rested which accounts for his absence from a pair of PDC ProTour events in Barnsely.
Scott Gary Anderson, runner up to Taylor in the UK Open, didn’t rest as he won his second PDC Players Championship of 2010. Anderson had a comparatively easy time on his march to the win going 42-11 which included his 6-1 win over Mark Walsh in the finals. Anderson trailed only once and that was in the semi’s to Justin Pipe who he rallied to defeat 6-4. In the final Anderson built a 5-0 lead which had the fat lady ready to sing. Walsh was bidding to become the only player not named Taylor to have three tour wins this year although Simon Whitlock has won four times. Walsh’s trip to the final included a come-from-behind win, down 3-2 and 6-3, over world #3 James Wade.
Day two of the Barnsley event brought the Old Dart Coach to new heights of happiness. His “Rocket” Ronnie Baxter annexed his first Players Championship in almost twelve months. Using ODC logic it’s easy to see why he’s so happy. The thinking is that with Baxter taking in £6,000 the chances of the ODC scoring a free lager or ten in Las Vegas have just increased. To collect the win Baxter had to beat one of the hottest players of late in Denis Ovens 6-5. Ovens has collected £13,500 in the last seven days. Ovens is always candid and honest. After his UK Open semi-final loss to Taylor he was asked about his performance. “I was already in the last 64 for £1,000 and wanted one more game for £2,000 and get back to work Monday.” Ovens took £10,000 out of the UK Open.
Baxter had no easy time as he had to go to the decider leg against both Mark Dudbridge and Dennis Priestly. Simon Whitlock’s bid for a fifth Players Championship went out the window when Baxter took him out 6-2. Ovens disposed of John Part (6-3), Wes Newton (6-2), Andy Hamilton (6-5), and Mark Welsh (6-3). Ovens took the first two legs in the final only to have Baxter counter with three on the trot aided by finishes of 143 and the dream 170. Baxter built a 5-2 lead when his doubles went astray missing doubles in the next two for the match. Ovens used the opportunity to convert for 5-4 the last leg with a 122 finish. Up 5-4 Baxter tossed a 180 that left him a finish when Ovens stole the leg to tie the match at five with a 72 and out. Having won the bull to start the match Baxter produced his best leg using 171 to leave 96 which he erased with two darts for the win in 11 darts.
BROMBERG-WRIGHT TO MEET FOR LADY’S TITLE
On the day that the USA BEAT England 1-1 in soccer’s World Cup, Yank Stacy Bromberg played her way into the finals of the PDC Unicorn Women’s World Championship. She will face Tricia Wright on Sunday, July 25 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool just prior to the World Matchplay final. Bromberg swept into the final with a whitewash of Japan’s Kazumi Nakagawa along with a pair of 4-2 wins over Donna-Marie Rainsely and Denise Cassidy. Tricia Wright justified her top 8 “seeding” with 4-1 wins over Paula Clemett and Rebrecca Rose. Wright booked a spot in the semi’s finals taking out Sharon O’Brien 4-2. In the round of 8 only Fiona Carmichael came from a “non-seed.” Ms. Carmichael removed “seeded” players Cindy Pardy of Canada and the ODC’s pal World Dart Federations #1 Deta “The Six Foot Chocolate Bar” Hedman, both 4-2.
The cynical might advance the theory that a Tricia Wright v. Anastasia “The Russian Fox” Dobromyslova final in Blackpool might have guided the “seeding” for TV “porpoises.” If true it didn’t work as Stacy Bromberg tossed a “monkey wrench” in the works by defeating Dobromyslova 4-3. These two premier ladies in women’s darts had never met on the oche. Bromberg held serve to take legs one and three and punished three missed doubles by Dobromyslova to take leg two. Bromberg was up 3-nil and one leg from victory when Dobromyslova hit back. She held serve for 1-3. When Bromberg missed six match darts Dobromyslova erased 97 with two darts the edge back to 2-3. Holding serve, Dobromyslova leveled at three. In the decider Bromberg collected 140 and 100 to reach a finish first. Dobromyslova got to 130 when Bromberg used all her darts to make 69 disappear. The Wright-Carmichael final also was a 4-3. In the end Wright was just too strong for Carmichael. Bromberg and Wright will be playing for a winners check of £10,000 with the runner-up getting £5,000. In addition the two ladys will be invited to compete in the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts and collect PDC ProTour cards for 2011 &2012 plus a sponsorship from Rileys Darts Zones. Way to go ladies!
PDC INVADES LAS VEGAS
For years North American players have decried the opportunity to compete against the best in the world. The North American “wine” has been, “We don’t get a chance.” June 27-30 they will get the chance when the Tropicana World Series of Darts Festival lands in Las Vegas. The good news is that the World Cricket Championships will kick things off on Sunday the 27th. The bad news is that Phil Taylor will make the trip across the Atlantic. The conventional wisdom, which is often not wisdom at all, is that North American players should have the edge as cricket is regularly played in the colonies. That would put PDC players like John Part and Ronnie Baxter as favorites as both campaigned in the states before the emergence of the PDC. With Taylor in attendance he has to be favored in every event but the North American Darts Championships on Wednesday June 30th. He can’t be favored because entries for the final event are limited to North American players. For North American players this is their chance to put up or shut up. Let the lager flow and the good times roll.
