{"id":5992,"date":"2022-07-24T09:30:35","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T09:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2022\/07\/column-hr361-at-last-the-end-is-near-but-not-for-ladies\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T22:18:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T22:18:15","slug":"column-hr361-at-last-the-end-is-near-but-not-for-ladies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2022\/07\/column-hr361-at-last-the-end-is-near-but-not-for-ladies\/","title":{"rendered":"Column #HR361 AT LAST, THE END IS NEAR… but not for ladies!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday, July 24, 2022
\n<\/strong>Column HR361<\/strong>
\nAT LAST, THE END IS NEAR… but not for the ladies!<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are some out there that think the Old Dart Coach is going to\u00a0use the old \u201cLet\u2019s use a Frank Sinatra song to start this column.\u00a0 Then the ODC will quote a few lines thinking\u00a0it\u2019s cute\u00a0or\u00a0clever.\u201d\u00a0 They were right…<\/p>\n

And now, the end is near,<\/em><\/p>\n

And so, I face the final curtain…<\/em><\/p>\n

(They knew he\u2019d do this, of that they\u00a0were certain<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

LADIES FINAL<\/u>\u00a0(8:00 AM EDT and 5:00 AM in Las Vegas)<\/p>\n

\u201cWakey, wakey ODC!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0For the ladies the first ever PDC World Ladies Matchplay is just the beginning of a trip that may change\u00a0the face of ladies darts.\u00a0On\u00a0July 20, 1969,\u00a0Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon saying,\u00a0\u201cA giant step for man.\u201d\u00a0 These 8 women playing on worldwide TV\u00a0today\u00a0are\u00a0taking a\u00a0baby step up the ladder which could take them to new heights.<\/p>\n

The oddsmakers for the Men’ World\u00a0Matchplay\u00a0had Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price as co-favorites at 2-1 yet MvG was the slight dog (as Chalk-eating Weasels like to say) against Dimitri Van den Bergh.\u00a0 Van de Bergh was 3-1 and Noppert the longshot at 5-1.<\/p>\n

THE MILLER REPORT<\/u>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Winter Gardens exploded with Gerwyn’s 9-darter.\u00a0 Don’t have the words in my vocabulary to express.\u00a0 Old Winter Gardens was shaking at her seams and the floor felt like a carnival ride.\u00a0 Needless to say, quite a bit of beer was flying around.<\/em>..\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

MENS SEMI-FINAL<\/u>\u00a0(Best of 33 or first to 17)\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

#3 Gerwyn Price 17-11<\/strong>\u00a0over Danny Noppert<\/p>\n

This one was sailing along in quiet waters\u00a0with Price up 7-5 when the storm hit.\u00a0 In blew a Price 9-darter of T20, T20, T19,\u00a0and D12.\u00a0\u00a0At 8-5 Price opened\u00a0with T80 (for 15 perfect darts in a row) which begat 9-5.\u00a0 At 10-5 Price the \u201cOver Weigh Lady\u201d prematurely licked her lips\u00a0ready to sing \u201cMae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau” –\u00a0the Welsh National Anthem.<\/p>\n

At 15-8 she wasn\u2019t so sure as Noppert got to 11-15 but, alas, Price closed the deal and signed the check with 13 and 14 darts for the 17-11 win.\u00a0 Noppert couldn\u2019t hit d20 which hurt him from the first dart.<\/p>\n

#2 Michael van Gerwen 17-15<\/strong>\u00a0over #8 Dimitri Van den Bergh.<\/p>\n

The best description of the match came from John Part.\u00a0\u00a0When things are going good you run to the oche.\u00a0 When they go bad you stroll there.\u00a0 These two guys look like they\u2019re getting ready to walk the plank into an ocean full of sharks.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

MvG looked discombobulated early when broken for 1-3 when he wanted 48 going 12, d7 miss.<\/p>\n

5 ugly legs combined with 6 missed doubles –\u00a0Van den Bergh gets another for 4-1.<\/p>\n

MvG made a 3 leg run which was stopped when Van den Bergh,\u00a0with 32, closed d7, d9 to lead 6-4.<\/p>\n

When MvG mucked up 82 (3-13-10),\u00a0Van den Bergh took 100 to re-establish a 2-leg lead at 11-9 into 12-9.<\/p>\n

Then something\u00a0strange occurred.<\/p>\n

Like a golfer MvG started hitting GREAT approaches to finishes.\u00a0 T68 = 40, T77 = 40, T74 = 36, T3 = 66, T02 =22, T59 = 24 and 105 = 20.<\/p>\n

Of the 7, he was denied a double on only 2 which\u00a0wasn’t\u00a0good enough to deny Michael his first lead at 15-14.<\/p>\n

Early on, John Part commented, \u201cIf Michael ever gets the lead, he won\u2019t give it up.\u201d\u00a0 He didn\u2019t, using 27 darts to take the last two legs including the final where his 105 left 20.\u00a0 He took the d10 when Van den Bergh never got a double with a 96 leaving 8.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE FINAL<\/u>\u00a0(#3 Gerwyn Price vs.\u00a0#4 Michael van Gerwen)<\/p>\n

#4 Michael van Gerwen\u00a0<\/strong>was\u00a0<\/strong>World #1 in 2019.\u00a0 He has slipped to #3 currently although he has shown flashes of his old self here.\u00a0\u00a0In his three wins over Adrian Lewis (10-7), Joe Cullen (11-5) and Nathan Aspinall (16-14) he has never trailed, and\u00a0his averages have risen from 89.66 to 101.86 against Aspinall.<\/p>\n

#3 Gerwyn Price\u00a0<\/strong>came from behind in two of three wins. \u00a0Averages spiked in his nail-biter against Jos\u00e9 de Sousa to 104.64 – the highest of this year’s Matchplay.\u00a0 He needed that average as his finishing sucked, connecting on only 16 from 35.\u00a0 Price is able to explode as he did in the third session against Noppert when he averaged 119.10.\u00a0 As usual, he had a slight stall mid-game that could have been fatal but wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The favorite is Gerwyn Price who had to relish MvG and Dimitri Van den Bergh beating the hell out of each other.<\/p>\n

As an amateur boxer, Price will be trying to land the haymaker on van Gerwen scoring the early KO.<\/p>\n

But MvG is resilient, takes a great punch and you\u2019ll find no \u201cdog\u201d in him.<\/p>\n

Anyone that watched the semi-finals has got to go with the current World\u2019s #1 Gerwyn Price.\u00a0 On paper it\u2019s a blowout.\u00a0 Both have \u201cHigh Hopes,\u201d another Sinatra tune.<\/p>\n

But as the Chalk-eating Weasel has learned: there\u2019s no sure thing…<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why they play the game.<\/p>\n

Stay thirsty my friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are some out there that think the Old Dart Coach is going to\u00a0use the old \u201cLet\u2019s use a Frank Sinatra song to start this column…\u00a0 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Reed","author_link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/author\/howie-reed\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"There are some out there that think the Old Dart Coach is going to\u00a0use the old \u201cLet\u2019s use a Frank Sinatra song to start this column...\u00a0","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\/5992","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\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6164,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992\/revisions\/6164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5992"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}