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July16July 16, 2016

Bank On A Chisnall Checkout in Blackpool

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) Darts World Matchplay returns to Blackpool’s Winter Gardens this Saturday.

The nine-day, £450,000 tournament runs from July 16th through July 24th and sees 32 players in competition at the seaside resort. It will be televised live on Sky Sports.

The top sixteen players in the rankings all automatically qualify, while the other sixteen take their places through qualifiers.

Last year’s champion, Michael van Gerwen, beat James Wade in the 2015 final and will take centre stage on Saturday’s opening night as he faces off against qualifier Jamie Caven.

Blackpool Darts Betting Tips

No sooner had the draw been made than organisers, commentators and tipsters began speculating on what will surely be a wide open battle.

Reigning champion Michael van Gerwen is, as ever, the obvious pick – but where’s the fun in that? St Helens’ own Dave Chisnall lies at a whopping 28/1 at Skybet. He’s the closest thing to a local lad in these parts and if he can get the crowd onside he will be a match for anyone, particularly each way.

Fifteen-time World Matchplay Champion, Phil Taylor, can be backed at 6/1 at Betway where the other second-favourite, Gary Anderson, fresh from his Tokyo win, is ranked a best price 5/1.

Taylor’s round one opponent will be Wallasey’s own Robbie Green, another qualifier, who is ranked number 56 in the world and whose career highlight so far was a second place finish in the British Darts Organisation’s world championship in 2014.

Adrian Lewis, himself a former Blackpool finalist, is 14/1 across the board to claim his first World Matchplay title, while last year’s losing semi-finalist Peter Wright is 16/1 to finally win a major. With both players and Van Gerwen all in the same half of the draw, all three will need to be throwing their best darts if they are to progress.

James Wade, the only other former event champion on the ticket, is a decent price of 22/1 and meets former semi-finalist Mervyn King first up, with the winner seeded to likely meet Raymond van Barneveld who is 28/1 at bet365.

At 100/1, Simon Whitlock is a massive each way pick, and first up meets the unfancied Michael Smith. It will take a massive upturn in fortune for Whitlock but he’s been great in the past, can still beat anyone on a good day and always represents good value.

The first three in the betting are all obvious: Michael van Gerwen 6/5 (Skybet), Gary Anderson 5/1 (Betway), and Phil Taylor. However, on a good day (or if you’re feeling brave and want to look for the long odds), Dave Chisnall can go deep here.

If you want to pick the nationality of the winner you can go with the Netherlands at 21/20 at bet365, England at 2/1 with Skybet and Scotland 100/30 with Betway.

Each nine-dart finish achieved during the World Matchplay will see the event sponsors make a £5,000 donation to Parkinson’s UK, the official charity partner of the Professional Darts Corporation. This has happened six times in tournament history and three times this year alone.

Tourney Structure

Regarded as the second biggest PDC tournament, the World Matchplay began in 1994 and is played in a legs format. The first round concludes on Monday evening, before the second round sees the players in the top half of the draw play on Tuesday and the bottom halfers on Wednesday. This precedes the quarter-finals, which are split across Thursday and Friday before the tournament reaches its climax next weekend.

Saturday July 16

Vincent van der Voort v Kyle Anderson
Robert Thornton v Josh Payne
Michael van Gerwen v Jamie Caven
Dave Chisnall v Benito van de Pas

Sunday July 17

Afternoon

Stephen Bunting v Mensur Suljovic
Kim Huybrechts v Gerwyn Price
Terry Jenkins v Justin Pipe
Ian White v Daryl Gurney

Evening

James Wade v Mervyn King
Adrian Lewis v Mark Webster
Gary Anderson v Alan Norris
Peter Wright v Joe Cullen

Monday July 18

Jelle Klaasen v Steve Beaton
Raymond van Barneveld v Brendan Dolan
Phil Taylor v Robbie Green
Michael Smith v Simon Whitlock

Second round

Tuesday July 19

Thornton/Payne v Chisnall/van de Pas
Wright/Cullen v White/Gurney
van Gerwen/Caven v van der Voort/K Anderson
Lewis/Webster v Huybrechts/Price

Wednesday July 20

Wade/King v van Barneveld/Dolan
Smith/Whitlock v Klaasen/Beaton
Taylor/Green v Bunting/Suljovic
G Anderson/Norris v Jenkins/Pipe

Quarter-Finals

Thursday July 21

Wright/Cullen/White/Gurney v Lewis/Webster/Huybrechts/Price
van Gerwen/Caven/van der Voort/K Anderson v Thornton/Payne/Chisnall/van de Pas

Friday July 22

Wade/King/van Barneveld/Dolan v Taylor/Green/Bunting/Suljovic
G Anderson/Norris/Jenkins/Pipe v Smith/Whitlock/Klaasen/Beaton

Semi-Finals

Saturday July 23

Final

Sunday July 24

Tokyo Masters

In last weekend’s Tokyo Masters, Gary Anderson claimed a World Series title for the third time this year. The Scot beat Michael van Gerwen 8-6 in the final on Thursday and adds his latest win to his triumphs in both Dubai and Auckland.

Wednesday’s opening round match against Japanese qualifier Seigo Asada proved, unsurprisingly, to be no trouble at all for Anderson, who then saw off Raymond van Barneveld and Adrian Lewis to seal his spot in the final. Van Gerwen, though, struggled against Dave Chisnall in the quarter-finals, before a comfortable 8-3 win over James Wade on his way to meet Anderson.

Van Gerwen began the stronger of two and immediately landed a 180 and a 100 checkout, gifting him the first leg. Anderson though took two out the next three sets to bring the game even. The next two legs also went Anderson’s way, before Van Gerwen fought back and claimed a third after which Anderson cruised home to victory.

July7March 3, 2022

Tokyo Darts Masters Kicks Off

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

After a week away, it’s nice to be back amongst some top-level darts once again. Returning to the World Series, we have moved on to the fourth leg in Tokyo, Japan.

The Japanese leg of the Masters, a returning fixture on the series, will this time play out at the Yoyogi Olympic Hall in Tokyo, which replaces last year’s host city of Yokohama. The event concludes on Thursday, with round one matches having been contested over the best of 11 legs; quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final will all be best of 15.

As well as looking to find some form before the World Matchplay later this month, the players will once again battle it out for World Series ranking points which count towards November’s finals in Glasgow. At the same time, event sponsors Zipang Casino have put forward a £50K bonus for a nine-dart finish and have also pledged £1,000,000 for two 9-darters in the same match by the same player.

The Usual Suspects Win Round One

As with previous events in the series, competitors have been drafted in from the top ranked eight players, plus eight local qualifiers. Last year saw Phil “The Power” Taylor beat Peter Wright in the final to take home the trophy and this year’s draw saw Taylor paired with PDC Tour Card holder Haruki Muramatsu to begin the defence of his title.

Despite being Japan’s most experienced player, Muramatsu didn’t provide his rival with any real competition and the Englishman, with an average of 97.35, duly won out 6-2. The first round also saw Dave Chisnall face off against Shintaro Inoue and, averaging 96.64, he emerged as the 6-1 winner.

Elsewhere, Raymond van Barneveld overcame Keita Ono by the same score, while an impressive Peter Wright took on Chikara Fujimori and hit 100% of his double attempts on the road to a whitewash victory. Adrian Lewis and James Wade both won 6-1 against event debutants Tsuneki Zaha and Masahiro Hiraga respectively.

Following on from victory at the Shanghai Masters, Michael van Gerwen met Masumi Chino and the Dutchman made surprisingly hard work of things; he was broken twice but still managed to win by six sets to three. Scotsman Gary Anderson, winner in both Dubai and Auckland, took on Seigo Asada, who took part in both the Lakeside Championship and BDO World Trophy earlier this year, and also beat his Japanese competitor 6-1.

Looking Ahead To The Quarter-Finals

This all leaves the next round of matches looking very tight indeed. Gary Anderson and Raymond van Barneveld go heads up in the Thursday opener before Adrian Lewis and Peter Wright step up to the oche. Next up is event favourite Michael van Gerwen, who must see off Dave Chisnall, after which James Wade will take on Phil Taylor.

Anderson went into the event leading the World Series Rankings four points ahead of Van Gerwen before suffering defeat to James Wade in the Shanghai quarter-final. From a darts betting perspective, we are always looking for the best value and with eight players remaining it becomes easier to look at the draw.

Finding The Best Value For The Tokyo Darts Masters

For an outright win, there is even money to be made on the bookmakers’ clear favourite Michael Van Gerwen but after that, prices (even on the big names) begin to drift. To that end, why not take a look at Skybet’s offer of 5/1 on Taylor, who took the crown in Japan last time around. James Wade stands in Taylor’s way at the quarter-final stage and can be backed for 5/2 for that match at Bet365 against the much shorter-priced Taylor at 3/10.

That said, Van Gerwen’s compatriot Raymond Van Barneveld is an outright winner best price of 20/1, also at Skybet. This looks a peach of price given the form he is capable of, especially when each way pays 1/3 of the odds for a top two finish.

The very same bookmakers are also offering the same price on both Dave Chisnall and James Wade, which is well worth some thought. Peter Wright, who is hoping to end a run of three consecutive quarter-final defeats, is a best price of evens at bet365 to buck the trend at the fourth attempt and overcome Adrian Lewis.

In the UK, coverage of the event will be shown on ITV4 at 8pm BST on Thursday July 7.

As we stand, the current World Series of Darts Rankings are as follows:

Gary Anderson (27pts)
Michael van Gerwen (23pts)
James Wade (16pts)
Adrian Lewis (14pts)
Phil Taylor (13pts)
Dave Chisnall (13pts)
Raymond van Barneveld (11pts)
Peter Wright (9pts)

July2February 13, 2022

Michael Van Gerwen Wins Shanghai Masters, Plus Phil “The Power” Taylor Profile

By Peter FryersIn

Darts Betting Tips

With darts action taking a weekend off, we thought it would be a good time to look at the game’s top players – starting with (who else?) Phil “The Power” Taylor.

But first, a little note on last week’s Shanghai Masters.

Michael Van Gerwen wins Shanghai Masters

Michael Van Gerwin bests James Wade in Shanghai Masters

It feels more than little strange that, for the first time since we launched this column, Michael Van Gerwen has won an event. But that he did last week when he took down the Chinese leg of the World Series. His opponent in Sunday’s final was Englishman James Wade, who lost 8-3 at the Pullman Hotel.

It was the fifth international event win of the year for the Dutch number one, having missed out in Dubai and Auckland. Shanghai marks his first win since claiming the Darts Premier League in May.

On his way to the final, he saw off Singapore’s Paul Lim in round one before moving on to an altogether more familiar face in countryman Raymond van Barneveld, whom Van Gerwin outclassed on his way to an 8-4 win in the quarter-finals.

The semi-final stage of the event on Sunday afternoon matched the Dutch master with Dave Chisnall, who chucked his way into a 4-1 lead, which included checkouts of 148 and 150. Van Gerwen clawed things back soon afterwards, however; his eventual 8-5 victory came in part thanks to a 145 finish which launched a winning run of four successive legs.

Wade, on the way to his second World Series final of the season, had been paired with Gary Anderson. The Scot gave him a tough match before Wade eventually won 8-7 in the quarter-finals, almost repeating the score in the semi-final with an 8-6 victory over Phil Taylor.

“Every win means a lot to me but this is the first Shanghai Darts Masters so it’s very special,” said Van Gerwen. “Everything came together and I’m really glad I won this trophy. It’s been a very good week in China and it’s a pleasure for me to play in tournaments like this. Shanghai’s fantastic, and to get the win makes it even better.”

The PDC World Series of Darts continues with the Zipang Casino Tokyo Darts Masters on July 6-7, with the eight PDC stars set to take on eight Japanese qualifiers across two days at the Yoyogi Olympic Hall.

Profile: Phil “The Power” Taylor

When darts fans are gathered for a major event and (I’ve Got) The Power by Snap begins to play, they know that are in for a treat – that’s the walkout theme for arguably the greatest ever player to throw a dart, Phil “The Power” Taylor.

Phil "The Power" Taylor - darts' greatest ever

Hailing from the pottery city of Stoke-on-Trent, England, Taylor won the first of his record-breaking 77 PDC Premier events, including 16 World Championships, in 1995.

Born in 1965, Taylor honed his darts skills in local clubs before turning pro under the BDO towards the end of the 1980s. It wasn’t long before he took down his first major title, the 1990 Embassy Championship, when he defeated his mentor and five-time World Champion Eric “The Crafty Cockney” Bristow. Taylor briefly carried the nickname “The Crafty Potter” at this time. In the same year, he added the World Masters to his résumé.

By 1993, the PDC had formed and broken away from the BDO; this was a move that Taylor played a considerable role in. He has since become the dominant force of darts: he won his first World Matchplay title in 1995, repeating his success in 1997, but the best was yet to come as “The Power” went on an unprecedented unbeaten run in the event between 2000 and 2004. He claimed five successive titles before adding a record sixth and then seventh in 2013 and 2014.

It’s the World Championships that Taylor will really be remembered for, however; he presently holds sixteen titles dating back to 1995. This began a run of form the likes of which hasn’t been seen before or since: Taylor won again each year between 1996 and 2002, then notched up three further consecutive wins from 2004 to 2006. He has since added three more wins in 2009, 2010 and 2013, a feat which will almost certainly never be equalled.

Other noticeable successes include taking home the Las Vegas Desert Classic in 2002, 2004 and 2005; the first-ever UK Open in 2003 (not his last); as well as being unbeaten champion in the first-ever Premier League of Darts back in 2005.

Having seen off all comers until 2006, this was the breakout year for a rivalry that would shape the game for the next decade with the emergence of Holland’s Raymond van Barneveld. “Barney” was the first serious threat to Taylor’s domination and the two duly began to meet regularly in the latter stages of events.

Despite Taylor’s glorious track record, he countered this first of two Dutch threats (the second being today’s world number one Michael Van Gerwen) by changing darts. At a professional level, even miniscule changes in dart weight and shape can make all the difference; Taylor’s switch to 26g Target 9 Five Red Dragon Darts did just that, allowing him to maintain his challenge.

In total, the PDC have awarded Taylor their Player of the Year award six times, in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. Unlike most darts players, Taylor has found fame away from the oche, including nominations for the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in both 2006 and 2010 and an appearance on Coronation Street.

Taylor remains not only the best of all time but still one of the game’s top players, boasting a record that even Michael Van Gerwen is unlikely to breach.

If you fancy backing the game’s greatest-ever player for an outright World Matchplay win, you can get odds of 11/2 on “The Power” by visting Betway.

Phil “The Power” Taylor’s Major Honours

World Championships (PDC): 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2013
World Matchplay: 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
Las Vegas Desert Classic: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009
UK Open: 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013
World Series of Darts: 2006
The Masters: 2013
PDC US Open: 2007, 2008
World Darts Trophy: 2006
European Championship: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Premier League Darts: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012
Grand Slam of Darts: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014
PDC World Cup of Darts: 2012 with Adrian Lewis, 2013 with Adrian Lewis, 2016 with Adrian Lewis
PDC Player of the Year: 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013
PDC Fans’ Player of the Year: 2007, 2008, 2012

Inducted into PDC Hall of Fame in 2011