{"id":6028,"date":"2023-02-22T11:25:45","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T11:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2023\/02\/column-hr395-interesting-week\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T22:18:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T22:18:02","slug":"column-hr395-interesting-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2023\/02\/column-hr395-interesting-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Column #HR395 Interesting week?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday, February 22, 2023
\n<\/strong>Column HR395<\/strong>
\nInteresting week?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before the Old Dart Coach became the world\u2019s Master Darts Writer he pontificated on the \u201cmanly art of self-defense\u201d (now\u00a0\u201cperson<\/em>\u00a0art of self-defense\u201d. Growing up as he did listening to Friday night fights on the radio he remembers the in-round announcer describing the first round with more action \u201cthan a service girl with a stolen credit card\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Then the between round guy would opine,\u00a0\u201cThat wasn\u2019t a particularly an interesting round\u201d.<\/p>\n

Darts last week?<\/p>\n

\u201cNot particularly interesting.”*<\/p>\n

(The ODC needs an asterisk to qualify that statement.)<\/p>\n

Of interest last week?\u00a0 Darts Royalty.\u00a0 \u201cThe Queen\u201d Deta Hedman proved again why she\u2019s the Rolls Royce of darters.\u00a0 For the 7th time she captured the Scottish Open.\u00a0\u00a0Her first Scottish Open win was 28 years ago.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Queen\u201d is the quintessential \u201cnever give up\u201d example – the embodiment of everything all dart players should embrace.\u00a0\u00a0For class, ability and longevity Deta is the female version of Paul Lim, just taller.<\/p>\n

Deta entered the final against Rhian O\u2019Sullivan who was smoking hot, going 8-1 in her two preceding matches with averages of 85.25 and 98.52 (a\u00a0missed double accounting for the one lost leg).<\/p>\n

Deta found herself down 4-3 in the race to 5 when in the 7th<\/sup>\u00a0leg O’Sullivan was at 61 with Hedman at 177.\u00a0 O’Sullivan would face double trouble – she had 9 darts to check (from 36) for win.\u00a0\u00a0O’Sullivan then wasted 7 doubles allowing Hedman to draw level.<\/p>\n

The decider went to Hedman against the darts as\u00a0O’Sullivan wasted 6 from 40.\u00a0\u00a0The win advances Deta Headman into 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0in the WDF rankings, ahead of O’Sullivan.\u00a0 Both trail Beau Greaves who laps the field.<\/p>\n

El\u00a0Estados Unidos last weekend saw the Syracuse Open.\u00a0\u00a0The WDF website\u00a0lists it as a WDF event.\u00a0 Not so, as the tournament eschewed\u00a0WDF \u201capproval\u201d this year.<\/p>\n

Hurt attendance?\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0\u00a0This year there were 277 more singles entries producing\u00a0$255 dollars of added revenue (plus no $250 sanctioning fee).<\/p>\n

Carolyn Mars (’01) and Marie Carli (Cricket) took regular singles as Cali West copped the pro version.\u00a0\u00a0The men\u2019s side also had three different winners.\u00a0 Ryan Vander Weit took the pro singles, Doug\u00a0Boehm the Cricket\u00a0and Danny Baggish (’01).<\/p>\n

Nostradamus\u00a0is quoted\u00a0today\u00a0though he assumed room\u00a0temperature in July of 1566.\u00a0 The ODC is darts Nostradamus – with apologies to the faithful, \u201cCricket is deader than Kelsey\u2019s reproductive organ\u201d.<\/p>\n

At the Syracuse Open ’01 Singles drew 277 combined entries.\u00a0\u00a0The combined Cricket singles drew 149.\u00a0\u00a0Pro ’01 singles drew 189.<\/p>\n

Maybe some daring tournament will grow a set by trying something new.\u00a0 How about no score Cricket\u00a0with three marks from 20-13 and Bulls and\u00a0equal darts?\u00a0 This would save time and maybe increase entries.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an old saying (well, it’s not old yet but will be eventually) that\u00a0<\/em>“you can\u2019t win the Premier League in the first weeks\u201d.\u00a0<\/em>The corollary is that \u201cyou can lose it\u201d.<\/p>\n

There are those that call the PL \u201cnothing but an exhibition\u201d.\u00a0 That could be true\u00a0 although with \u00a31,000,000 in the pot \u00a3275,000 to the winner and the runner-up grabbing \u00a3125,000 that\u2019s\u00a0some kind<\/em>\u00a0of exhibition!\u00a0 Not too Chablis.<\/p>\n

Going into week four (of 16) both Peter Wright and Jonny Clayton need to \u201cwhip up their horses\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The pair have combined for\u00a02 points – scored by\u00a0\u00a0Clayton with his 6-1 win over the fading Chris Dobey (6-1) last week.\u00a0 Clayton would lose to eventual winner Michael Smith in the semifinal. Clayton led 4-2 when he got hit with an avalanche of great darts (13, 12, 14) falling behind 4-5. Clayton leveled in\u00a015 but fell to the same number of darts 6-5.<\/p>\n

Peter Wright, who the ODC predicted would wake up on his home turf of Scotland which really isn\u2019t, was scoring in his 4-6 loss to finalist Dimitri Van den Bergh.\u00a0 Wright had no trouble putting up the points (98.23 to 94.76) – it was that irritating double causing his downfall. Wright would collect on only 4 of 14 doubles as Van den Bergh hit at a 50% rate.<\/p>\n

Michael Smith played one of the best finals in the PL ever.\u00a0 Smith averaged 109.42 exiting at 54.5% – winning 6-4.\u00a0 Smith would break in leg 1, then hold for a 2-0 lead before leading 3-1. Smith would hold throughout with only a 16-dart leg to start over 15.\u00a0 Smith added legs of 12 (T40 check),\u00a013 twice, 14 and 15.<\/p>\n

This Thursday the Premier League action moves back to the Land of Guinness and Dublin.\u00a0 Both Clayton and Wright face daunting tasks.<\/p>\n

The venue was not kind to Wright last year as he went out 6-3 to Jonny Clayton who finished runner up that night.\u00a0 Wright was sitting third then and is 8th<\/sup>\u00a0now.\u00a0 He\u2019ll draw the red-hot Michael Smith.\u00a0 Clayton gets no brake as he faces joint points leader Nathan Aspinall.\u00a0
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Night Four<\/strong>\u00a0– Thursday, February 23, 3Arena, Dublin, Quarter-Finals (first round.\u00a0 No points)\u00a0
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michael Smith<\/strong>\u00a0vs. Peter Wright: Smith will bury Wright leaving him at the bottom of the table.<\/p>\n

Gerwyn Price vs.\u00a0Dimitri Van den Bergh<\/strong>.\u00a0 Take the Dancing Darter who averages 94.76, 105.73 and 97.66 (when he lost to Michael Smith last week 6-4).<\/p>\n

Jonny Clayton vs.\u00a0Nathan Aspinall<\/strong>.\u00a0 Last year in Dublin Clayton had three 100-plus averages, losing in the final to James Wade 6-5.\u00a0 It’s a different Clayton this time around as he meets co-leader Aspinall.\u00a0\u00a0Aspinall prevails.\u00a0
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michael van Gerwen<\/strong>\u00a0vs.\u00a0Chris Dobey.\u00a0 The \u201cBloom is off the Rose\u201d for Dobey as he wilts under the pressure of MvG.<\/p>\n

Semi Finals<\/u>:\u00a0Michael Smith<\/strong>\u00a0over\u00a0Dimitri Van den Bergh.\u00a0 Smith duplicates last week\u2019s 6-4 win. \u00a0Michael van Gerwen<\/strong>\u00a0over Nathan Aspinall 6-5, reversing last week\u2019s 6-4 loss.<\/p>\n

Final<\/u>:\u00a0Michael van Gerwen<\/strong>\u00a0over Michael Smith 6-4 as Smith struggles with outs once again.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2023\u00a0<\/strong>Cazoo Current Premier League Standings\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
 <\/td>\nPoints<\/td>\nNights Won<\/td>\nMatches Won<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michael Smith<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nathan Aspinall<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gerwyn Price<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chris Dobey<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dimitri Van den Bergh<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michael van Gerwen<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jonny Clayton<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Peter Wright<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
 <\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The darts world gave the ODC\u00a0lemons last week.\u00a0 He made a lemon\u00a0meringue pie.\u00a0 What a guy.<\/p>\n

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

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Reed","author_link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/author\/howie-reed\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Before the Old Dart Coach became the world\u2019s Master Darts Writer he pontificated on the \u201cmanly art of self-defense\u201d (now\u00a0\u201cperson\u00a0art of self-defense\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\/6028","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=6028"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6133,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6028\/revisions\/6133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6028"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=6028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}