{"id":6035,"date":"2023-04-12T10:23:17","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T10:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2023\/04\/column-hr402-three-dot-lounge-open\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T22:17:59","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T22:17:59","slug":"column-hr402-three-dot-lounge-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2023\/04\/column-hr402-three-dot-lounge-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Column #HR402 THREE DOT LOUNGE OPEN"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, April 12, 2023
\n<\/strong>Column HR402\u00a0<\/strong>
\nTHREE DOT LOUNGE OPEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Old Dart Coach walked thru the swinging doors of the\u00a0Three Dart Lounge.\u00a0 He heard\u00a0Neil Diamond singing \u201cSweet Caroline\u201d as the crowd, fueled by single malt (and assisted by more than a touch of Scottish singing fluid), sang along.<\/p>\n

A patron paused singing to take a wee sip…<\/p>\n

The ODC inquired,\u00a0\u201cWhat the name Benny Hill is going on?”<\/p>\n

\u201cAha the wee one (Peter Wright) like the Lord Jesus Christ has arisen from the dead on this Easter Week\u2026”<\/p>\n

The ODC quickly exited for the Stumble Inn, before mentioning that \u201cYes, Peter Wright made the finals of the Premier League last Thursday but failed to win”.\u00a0 (Never anger Scottish men in skirts – they can be dangerous, as sheep know\u2026)<\/p>\n

Wright was languishing in the basement of the PL table when he arrived in Birmingham.\u00a0 Snakebite faced a daunting task – taking on Michael Smith straight out of the practice room…<\/p>\n

Smith opened with a 14-darter plus a 96 check for 1-nil.\u00a0\u00a0Snakebite then reeled off 6\u00a0on the trot.\u00a0 Wright added a little \u201cin your face\u201d about which the\u00a0Star<\/em>\u00a0tabloid of London headline screamed,\u00a0\u201cPeter Wright’s ‘insane, s***house’ checkout leaves darts fans flabbergasted<\/strong>\u201d.\u00a0 That would be a T25 check of bull, 25, bull.\u00a0\u00a0Wright\u00a0closed\u00a0the show with a T16 out\u2026<\/p>\n

Against Gerwyn Price, Smith broke a draw at 2, leading 5-2 when Price hit his stride leveling things at 5, denying Smith a chance at a double.\u00a0 In the decider and after starting slow, Smith after used 9 darts to score 381 points leaving 20 – which he closed in 3 propelling him into his first PL final\u2026<\/p>\n

If anyone has come back from the PL \u201cdoghouse\u201d it would be Jonny Clayton.\u00a0 He was cruising along with a 4-2 lead against Nathan Aspinall.\u00a0 Clayton couldn\u2019t finish 12 with 3 and his lead shrank to 4-3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Clayton recovered, winning 6-4.<\/p>\n

MvG took the first leg off Clayton, then The Ferret struck – building a 5-2 lead.\u00a0\u00a0There are times when stats are misleading – in this one MvG checks stats.\u00a0 They were 3\/13 although he missed only 2 during Clayton’s surge.\u00a0 Clayton got the 6-3 win\u2026\u00a0The final (Smith-Clayton) was an \u201cI got it\u2026 you take it\u201d sort of affair.\u00a0\u00a0The lead see-sawed back and forth with neither leading by more than 1.\u00a0\u00a0That could have changed when Clayton missed a match dart at bull calling for\u00a0decider.\u00a0 Given a second chance, Clayton hit tops from 53 for his second PL win on the trot\u2026<\/p>\n

Current Standings<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
 <\/td>\nPoints<\/td>\nNights Won<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michael van Gerwen<\/td>\n25<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gerwyn Price<\/td>\n20<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michael Smith<\/td>\n15<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nathan Aspinall<\/td>\n15<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jonny Clayton<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chris Dobey<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dimitri Van den Bergh<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Peter Wright<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As the German Darts Grand Prix in Munich unfolded the fans were dressed up in various costumes ranging\u00a0from bananas to Super Mario and a pig being chased by 3 butchers.\u00a0 The match referees and introducer were dressed in \u201ckinda\u201d Lederhosen, vest, high socks and clogs.\u00a0 (Note to referee Georgie Noble Jr\u00a0–\u00a0\u201cNot your look!<\/strong>).\u00a0\u00a0Considering the attire, it’s no wonder the\u00a0always resplendent John McDonald was MIA\u2026<\/p>\n

A rumor circulated that Fallon Sherrock\u2019s current \u201cmain squeeze\u201d Cameron Menzies was going to give up his PDC Tour card and give it to Fallon.\u00a0 The official spokesperson for the PDC stated, “If he gave up his tour card it would not go to Fallon”.<\/p>\n

Menzies\u00a0would lose to Nathan Aspinall 6-3 hitting on 3 of 16 doubles.\u00a0 Fallon could do better\u2026<\/p>\n

Of all the pros Michael Smith has a throw slicker than a \u201cgoose shooting buttered bullets out it\u2019s backside.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0His rapid throw is flawless but sometimes a \u201cchink\u201d appears in the amour.\u00a0 For no discernable reason he gets the \u201cWTF\u2019s\u201d where he can’t seem to find an Indian take out in London let alone a triple or double…<\/p>\n

On his way to the final Smith had one of those deals when he averaged only 85.6 against Adam Warner.\u00a0 Adam Warner may or may not be the son of Alan Warner-Little without the hyphen.\u00a0 Smith led 3-0 when the \u201cchink\u201d appeared.\u00a0 Smith would trail 4-3 and 5-3.\u00a0\u00a0Warner leveled at 5 and had 3 darts from 32 for the match.\u00a0 With 40 being Smith’s highest check he\u00a0eliminated 116 points (t19, 19, d20) for the win\u2026<\/p>\n

Of all the stars of the PDC, UK Open winner Andrew Gilding is the most unlikely.\u00a0\u00a0He has a low key personality with a “aw-shucks\u201d kind of attitude.\u00a0 After he beat Jonny Clayton 6-1, he was told, \u201cYou were for 6 of 6 on doubles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGee, I didn\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilding’s next match was a 6-5 win over Dave Chisnell. \u00a0He had owned double tops with his torpedo shaped darts.\u00a0 In this one, level at 5, he used T40 to set up 36 when he had the chance to set up tops.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did you set up 36 when you like tops?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a favorite out – I like them all.\u201d<\/p>\n

“You\u2019re in the Quarter finals against Nathan Aspinall.\u00a0 How do you feel?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYea, I\u2019m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He would lose to finalist Aspinall 6-4 after being level at 4 as The Asp used 14 and 12 darts for the win\u2026<\/p>\n

Nathan Aspinall would reach his first European Tour final after 42 attempts.\u00a0 He had some degree of confidence (facing\u00a0Michael Smith) since in\u00a0PL play this year, he held a 3-2 edge…\u00a0though Smith battered him in last year\u2019s Grand Slam 16-5.<\/p>\n

Smith would come out on top\u00a08-5 with nary a \u201chiccup\u201d averaging 102.88, finishing at 61.5%.\u00a0 Smith started 2-nil in 16 and 17 darts – the two worst of his winning 8 legs.\u00a0\u00a0Aspinall couldn\u2019t\u00a0have started worse as he missed 6 doubles to take leg 1\u2026<\/p>\n

Smith would lead 3-1 and 6-3 where he was almost perfect using 11, 12 (a T30 finish) and 13 darts plus three 15 darters.<\/p>\n

Aspinall got\u00a0his 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0leg\u00a0in 15 with a T12 close.\u00a0 He would narrow Smith’s lead to 6-5 with 15 and 14 darts.\u00a0 Smith closed things out in 15 and a 13-dart final\u2026<\/p>\n

The win was worth\u00a0\u00a330,000.\u00a0 Afterwards, Smith would say,\u00a0\u201cI think that first leg changed the match against Nathan\u201d.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A possible understatement.<\/p>\n

The ODC found a double egg yolk when cooking breakfast.\u00a0 <\/em>\u201cHmm\u201d,\u00a0he thought,\u00a0\u201cThe rooster must have gone back for seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The Old Dart Coach walked thru the swinging doors of the\u00a0Three Dart 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Reed","author_link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/author\/howie-reed\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Old Dart Coach walked thru the swinging doors of the\u00a0Three Dart Lounge...","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\/6035","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=6035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6126,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6035\/revisions\/6126"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6035"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=6035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}