{"id":5794,"date":"2018-07-23T16:28:43","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T16:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2018\/07\/column-hr237-pdc-world-matchplay-what-a-difference-a-day-makes\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T22:22:47","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T22:22:47","slug":"column-hr237-pdc-world-matchplay-what-a-difference-a-day-makes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2018\/07\/column-hr237-pdc-world-matchplay-what-a-difference-a-day-makes\/","title":{"rendered":"Column #HR237 PDC World Matchplay \u2013 What a Difference a Day Makes!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, July 23, 2018
\n<\/strong> Column HR237<\/strong>
\nPDC World Matchplay – What a Difference a Day Makes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Old Dart Coach\u2019s all-time favorite song is Dinah Washington\u2019s \u201cWhat a Difference a Day Makes.\u201d It barely edged out \u201cWho Left the Chewing Gum on the Bedpost Overnight,\u201d \u201cMrs. Brown you Have a Lovely Daughter\u201d and \u201cI Gave Her the Ring and She Gave Me the Finger.\u201d<\/p>\n

The title \u201cWhat a Difference a Day Makes\u201d explains why dart players are just a few bubbles off center with elevators that don\u2019t go all the way to the top and pilot lights permanently blown out. One day the triples and doubles are there for the taking. A day later three in any bed would be a darting accomplishment. It could drive a person to drink and thank you for that.<\/p>\n

For the gentleman of the PDC this condition is doubly difficult to handle as their \u201cproblems\u201d are magnified being played out on International TV. Those are the times when the \u201cTungsten God\u2019s wife bakes a large portion of humble pie.\u201d He\u2019ll serve it to any and all.<\/p>\n

Take \u201cGary, Gary, Gary\u201d Anderson. He was gangbusters winning in Las Vegas. A week later he got served humble pie in Shanghai, losing in the opening round to \u201cprimarily\u201d machine dart player Royden Lam 6-5. Lam, currently #3 in the DARTSLIVE soft point rankings, also earned a PDC players card via Q School. Anderson fell behind 3-nil due to a bundle of missed doubles, which are Anderson\u2019s personal humble pie.<\/p>\n

Lam would fall 8-5 to eventual event winner Michael Smith who dispatched Michael van Gerwen (8-4) and then Rob Cross 8-2 in the final.<\/p>\n

There is no greater dart example of \u2018What a Difference a Day Makes\u201d (using the term \u201cday\u201d with a tad of poetic license) than is Rob Cross. Ian from Manchester, during play in Las Vegas spouted the truism, \u201cIn no other sport can a player go from a working man to world champion in a day.\u201d Prior to last year\u2019s World Championships Rob Cross was an electrician splicing \u201cred to red and green to green\u201d while making sure he didn\u2019t get his wires crossed. Then he was crowned \u201cChampion of the World.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cross has just a Players Championship win this year. He finished second in both Las Vegas and Shanghai but said, \u201cI’m feeling happy with my game at the moment.\u201d Really? You lost by combined scores of 16-6. Darts is also a \u201cWhat have you done lately?\u201d sport.<\/p>\n

With the BetVictor \u00a3500,000 World Matchplay in progress there\u2019s room for redemption. The Midsummer Classic, played out in Blackpool, is without defending champion Phil Taylor. He was in the commentary box the first night. He was Okay.<\/p>\n

As most dart folks play the part of Captain Oblivious the big favorite to win was \u201cMarvelous\u201d Michael van Gerwen. As he\u2019s won so many times this year most think he\u2019s won everything but that\u2019s not true. He holds only the Grand Slam. Daryl Gurney (Grand Prix), Rob Cross (World Champion), Gary Anderson (UK Open) and Mensur Suljovic (the Champions League title) hold the majors.<\/p>\n

As a big favorite van Gerwen got a rude comeuppance as fellow \u201cWooden Shoe Guy\u201d Jeffery de Zwaan sent van Gerwen packing straight away. With van Gerwen leading 6-5 de Zwaan nailed a 121-check to level. De Zwaan then reeled off four legs on the trot for the 10-6 win. making his record against van Gerwen this year 2-0. He beat him in March.<\/p>\n

Possibly the only person happier than de Zwaan with the win was Adrian Lewis who got a 10-8 win over a \u201cChoking\u201d James Wilson. Wilson built a 7-3 lead but then couldn\u2019t score. Lewis applied the coup de gr\u00e2ce with a 116 finish. While Lewis said, \u201cI look forward to playing Michael van Gerwen,\u201d he just might have been telling \u201cporkies.\u201d Instead, de Zwaan will be a welcome opponent – although sometimes getting what you wish for doesn\u2019t turn out good.<\/p>\n

Daryl Gurney advanced in the only match that went to extra time. He advanced with a 12-10 win over Steve West. In that one West missed 11 match darts. The \u201coutsiders\u201d didn\u2019t fare well except for Joe Cullen who beat Gerwyn Price 10-3. Cullen had built a 5-0 lead going 4\/6 on doubles. He finished it off with 170-out. Price may have an excuse as he undergoes Achilles surgery next week<\/p>\n

Before the start of play \u201cGary, Gary, Gary\u201d Anderson was quoted as saying, \u201cI must be the only Scotsman that comes to Blackpool in the summer and doesn\u2019t enjoy himself.\u201d He was referring to the fact that he\u2019d never won the Matchplay, although he made the semifinals twice. After a bit of a stumble Anderson got by Stephen \u201cFamily Guy\u201d Bunting 10-7.<\/p>\n

Mensur Suljovic had no trouble with Steve Beaton 10-6. He built a 6-2 lead on finishes of 120, 124 and 112. During that match John Part opined that Suljovic was difficult to play because of his \u201cherky jerky\u201d style. Rod Stud asked\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that a dart term?\u201d<\/p>\n

Part answered\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about discombobulated?\u201d<\/p>\n

Both work just fine.<\/p>\n

Other first round winners included Michael Smith (10-6 over Jonny Clayton), Darren Webster (10-6 over Steve Lennon), Ian White (10-7 over Max Hopp), Rob Cross (10-5 over Mervyn King), Dave Chisnall (10-4 over Keegan Brown) and Raymond van Barneveld (0-6 over Kyle Anderson). The first round concludes today.<\/p>\n

In case you wondered how many 9-darters have been thrown in World Matchplay – and why wouldn\u2019t you – there have been 7 with Phil Taylor tossing two including \u201cthe first ever nine dart finish to be broadcast live on UK television\u201d in 2002. That of course is false as everyone knows the first TV live 9-darter was thrown by Leong Hwa (aka Paul Lim) against Irishman Jack McKenna in 1990 during the Embassy World Championships. Lim would earn \u00a352,000 which was more than Phil Taylor got for beating Eric Bristow. Taylor got \u00a324,000<\/p>\n

As most every North American darter knows, Larry Butler won the first World Matchplay 16-19 over Dennis Priestley. That\u2019s a given. How many know how much it paid and who Butler beat on his way to the title? He beat Steve Raw, Jerry Umberger, Jocky Wilson and Shayne Burgess. The win was worth \u00a310,000. A little bonus information: he averaged 90.72 to Priestley\u2019s 91.59.<\/p>\n

Now everybody knows.<\/p>\n

Former USA International Russ Lopez was speaking of a male darting friend who was, to put it politely, \u201cfeline whipped.\u201d \u201cShe\u2019s got the reins and he doesn\u2019t want to change leads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stay thirsty my friends.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Old Dart Coach\u2019s all-time favorite song is Dinah Washington\u2019s \u201cWhat a Difference a Day Makes.\u201d 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Old Dart Coach\u2019s all-time favorite song is Dinah Washington\u2019s \u201cWhat a Difference a Day Makes.\u201d","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":17,"user_id":4,"is_guest":0,"slug":"howie-reed","display_name":"Howie Reed","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/111howie.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/111howie.jpg"},"first_name":"Howie","last_name":"Reed","user_url":"http:\/\/www.dartoidsworld.com","job_title":"","description":"Astute, often controversial, and always humorous, the Old Dart Coach, Howie Reed (a former rodeo cowboy and advertising executive), is heralded as the Dean of Darts Chroniclers - the most prolific and widely followed writer ever about our sport. He goes back decades with the legends and knows where the skeletons are buried (just ask any of the ADO and WDF old-timers!). Here are four well-known facts about the Old Dart Coach: 1) he is a Republican, 2) he loves the ladies, 3) he can drink most anybody under the table, and 4) he throws darts as bad as Dartoid."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6287,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5794\/revisions\/6287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5794"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}