Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships 2016

Sport
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142 checkout from Scotty Dog to take the set. That’s the real Scott Mitchell.

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Back to back 180s and a 13 darter for the Dutchman to level set 7 at 1-1.

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Scotty with a 13 darter of his own to take the next leg.

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2-2 and Scotty must hold.

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Scotty kills it. Never in doubt in that leg. Heart of a champion. Just one set down now.

If we’d seen a tenth as much bravery from the Scots in the independence referendum as we’ve seen from the two Scotts at Lakeside over the last 24 hours, they’d be an independent country.

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Veenstra goes 1-0 up on throw in set 8. 12 darter.

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1-1. But Scotty needs to break. And he chucks in a 180 to start!

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Richard takes out 80 with Scotty waiting on tops.

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Veenstra looking in position to win it here…

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Scotty applauds that clutch finish. Mark of the man.

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Richard does it.

Scotty typically gracious in defeat.

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Scotty Dog asked the questions, and they were Jeremy Paxman-like in their intensity.

But all credit to the young Dutchman, he answered them in great style, and he continues in his Rich Veen of form.

Commiserations to Scotty Dog, a great champion, a great ambassador for darts and a top, top man. A champion, even in defeat.

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Lovely anecdote from Richard about how when he played Scotty on his Dutch international debut, Scotty encouraged him so much, and told him that if he played like he did that night, he’d make Lakeside.

Hopefully we’ll hear Scotty as an analyst tomorrow to impart his unrivalled insight into the game for the viewers.

Waites v Hughes is first up tomorrow on BBC with Smith v Veenstra on BT at 6:30.

Have Stubbsy and Tony time for a drink? “I think so!”, says Tony. :clap:

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I aimed for 50. But 50 wasn’t enough.

50 reasons the BDO is better than the pdc

  1. History. Lakeside is the one they all want to win. All the greats have won it. Bristow, Wilson, Lowe, Barney, Part, Hankey, Walton, Wolfie. When a player walks on to that stage, they’re living history.
  2. The players. The best in the world. The 40 best dart players in the world go to post every year.
  3. The family atmosphere. Players’ wives and families are an integral part of the Lakeside TV experience. That’s because there’s a tremendous, welcoming family atmosphere where they can mingle with everybody else. Unlike at the Alexandra Palace where they’d probably be beaten up by some scummy drunk. Sylvia van Barneveld, Sharon Adams, Ted Hankey’s oul’ wan with the bingo wings and the lovely Marie George have all been familiar faces over the years.
    On Thursday, as Trina Gulliver played Lisa Ashton, there was a touching scene in the audience as a card with a picture of Lisa’s nine-week old granddaughter, Amelia Rose, sat on the table in front of her daughter Danielle. Amelia Rose is also Trina’s goddaughter. Rivals, but friends and now family.
  4. Free to air coverage for all on the world’s greatest television network, the BBC. And that means no ad breaks.
  5. The walk ons are better. From Dennis Harbour’s “Eye Of The Tiger”, a song “The Harbourmaster” has made his own, to the pure theatre of Bobby George’s entrance, to Scotty’s dog, to Wolfie’s howl and The Count’s prowl, BDO walk ons are in a different class.
  6. The Lakeside arena itself. The Home of Darts. The Croke Park, the Wembley, the Wimbledon, the Crucible, the Lord’s of darts. The Temple of Tungsten, the Mecca of Metal, the Cathedral of Camaraderie. The first sight of it each year never fails to send a tingle down your spine.
  7. Colin Murray and Bobby George’s banter. Laugh out loud stuff, or LOLtastic, as the young people say.
  8. The players’ bar. The world’s second most famous darting arena. The congratulatory or sympathetic round of applause players get as they walk in after playing a match sums up the bond amongst the darting family.
  9. The camaraderie. The friendship. The gracious winners, the dignity in defeat.
  10. When audience members wear fancy dress in the pdc, it’s moronic. When audience members wear fancy dress in the BDO, it’s charming.
  11. No “boring, boring tables” or Toure chants.
  12. The official, regulated Winmau boards used in the BDO. Real sport, real standards.
  13. Tony Green. The Voice of Darts. Even as he enters senility he’s still a master broadcaster in comparison to any of Sky’s commentary team. His commentary for Paul Lim’s nine darter will live forever in the memory. Passion. History. Synchronicity. Few words, but the right words at the right time.
  14. The way the players stick around for the rest of the week when they’re beaten. Sparky Harms hasn’t missed a session this week. Qualifier Craig Caldwell soaking up the atmosphere for the whole week after travelling from the other side of the world to be at Lakeside. Numerous other examples.
  15. The way the staff at Lakeside let the crowd empty out of the famous old arena gradually and at their leisure.
    No security staff there roaring at them to get out like in some other darting organisations. They’re happy to let the crowd stand or sit around and chat, and let the patrons at famous old arena empty out gradually, at their leisure. Those working at Lakeside are real darts people and are joining in the discussion like everybody else, still enthralled at what they’ve seen.
    Very reminiscent of how the crowds stand around talking after big GAA matches, with the knowledgeable stewards, or “maors” usually joining in. And it’s the same after every session throughout the nine days.
    Real people, real fans, real knowledge.
  16. The way Bob Potter stands at the main door of Lakeside each night and shakes hands with each patron as they leave. A great man who loves darts and loves people. And none of this would be possible without him.
  17. Women are treated as equals.
    103 years ago, just down the road from Frimley Green at Epsom, Emily Davison threw herself under the King’s horse at the Derby and died so that women would have equal rights.
    If she was alive today, she’d come to Lakeside and see Trina Gulliver, Lisa Ashton, Deta Hedman and Aileen de Graaf competing and being treated as equals. She’d see the massive number of women in the crowd and the way they are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. She’d think to herself, “Yes, this is the kind of equality, dignity and respect that I sacrificed my life for. The good people at the BDO know their history and have taken the values of the Suffragette movement and applied them to darts. I would feel welcome here. I didn’t die in vain.”
    Then somebody would tell her about the sordid carry on in the pdc - the skimpily dressed dancing girls, the glamour models blowing kisses to the camera in sexually provocative poses, players’ wives being spat on, the racism, misogynism and homophobia of the crowd, the “get your tits out for the lads” chanting, the glorifying of sex offenders.
    Then a single tear would roll down her cheek and she’d realise she was better off dead.
  18. Ted Hankey’s 170. What a shot to win a world title.
  19. There is no pint limit at Lakeside. There doesn’t have to be.
  20. The emergence of a host of brilliant young referees in recent years such as Marco Meijer, Anthony Dundass, and Huw Ware. The future of darts refereeing has never looked brighter. As Marco would say: “Um umwud a matey!”
  21. The possibility in any given year of a hidden, unknown gem announcing themselves in glorious fashion and winning the tournament. Is Richard Veenstra about to add to that rich tradition?
  22. The unpredictability. No match at Lakeside is ever a foregone conclusion. No match is safe until the winning dart is thrown. Just look at the incredible comebacks this week.
  23. The pressure. The other night Geert de Vos appeared to be powering his way past Scott Waites. At 3-0 up and needing one more set to win, he turned into a gibbering wreck. That’s the pressure that only the Lakeside stage can make a player feel. Even the great Martin Adams took well over a decade to come to terms with it.
  24. Players’ family members applauding their opponents when they hit a good outshot or a big score.
  25. The knowledgeability of the fans. The connoisseurs, the cognoscenti, the intelligentsia.
  26. Ray Stubbs.
  27. Martin Fitzmaurice. For many years, the voice of Lakeside. Now enjoying a well earned retirement, content in the knowledge that Lakeside week will always be the time to “Let’s! Play! Darts!”
  28. Richard Ashdown. He’s been coming to Lakeside every year since he was 6. Now he’s the best referee and MC in the business.
  29. The back stories of the players. Nobody who watched it will ever forget when Shaun Greatbatch was given a guard of honour by the other players as he took to the stage to play while fighting cancer. One of the most touching and poignant moments in sporting history.
  30. The fun. And the totally unforced, spontaneous nature of it. For example, Anthony Dundass this year organised a competition between the referees for who could call the most 174s. He’s currently trailing last in the competition, much to the other referees’ amusement.
  31. Olly Croft. The father of darts. The debt we owe him can never be repaid.
  32. The Chelsea Pensioners. Great men who served their country, always with the best seats in the house come final day. A wonderful tradition.
  33. “Rockin’ All Over The World” by Status Quo getting the crowd rocking before the final.
  34. The meat raffle. Congratulations to all this year’s winners.
  35. Belgian darts fanatic Jacky. A beautiful, harmless soul.
  36. Scott Mitchell’s analysis. Always fair, always insightful.
  37. Wolfie once referencing wrestling legend Rey Mysterio in commentary. Unbelieveable scenes.
  38. The respect shown to international team captains by referring to them as such.
  39. The fact that Gary Anderson, who has won the pdc title for the last two years in a row, failed to get past the first round on four of his seven appearances Lakeside.
  40. Poor players don’t reach Lakeside finals. You’ll never get a Kirk Shepherd, a Mark Dudbridge, a Kevin Painter or an Andy Hamilton-type jobber reaching a Lakeside final.
  41. Colin Lloyd was once the number one ranked player in the pdc.
  42. County and Superleague darts. The fact that you can go down to your local in Market Deeping, Cambridgeshire, and see the great Martin Adams play. The BDO is for the people, of the people and by the people.
  43. Maroon blazers. They never go out of style.
  44. Lakeside classics™.
  45. The strength in depth. It’s deeper than a room of philosophy Professors debating the meaning of life.
  46. The fact that the pdc world number 1, Michael van Gerwen, never won a match at Lakeside.
  47. The pleasing “thud” when a dart hits a Winmau board.
  48. The self-policing nature of the Lakeside crowd. There are never any troublemakers, but even in the hypothetical event there are, they’ll be given a talking to by one of their peers and the matter dealt with in a firm but quiet fashion.
  49. The Official World Darts Championship for each year is actually played in that year, not in the previous year, like the fake one. For example, the 2016 World Championship started on January 2nd, 2016, not December 14th, 2015.
  50. The famous old trophy. As familiar a sight to us as the FA Cup or the Sam Maguire.
  51. Sid Waddell’s famous commentaries. The loquacious, idiosyncratic Geordie remained loyal to the BDO after the split in 1994 before retiring shortly afterwards but his commentaries played a huge role in popularising the game up to that.
  52. The classic BBC theme music by The Doug Wood Band.
  53. “Don’t You Worry Child” by the Swedish House Mafia. The signature tune as the players walk off for a break.
  54. “They’re all here.”
  55. Wolfie’s infectious laugh.
  56. Rob Walker. What a thoroughly nice guy he is.
  57. Scotty Waites beat the best pdc could muster up a stick. And then he said “No” to them.
  58. The very best of order. Always.
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I suppose in the same way that a Tom Humphries would pen a 50 reasons that the GAA is better than soccer piece the main reason it is better is that there appears to be less money and less public interest in it

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The TV ratings for the BDO are consistently about three times higher than those for the pdc, pal.

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Sure they are.

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Fucks sake

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Splendid list, @Sidney. On a similar theme, I enjoyed the below article in The Independent and bolded the key paragraph:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/bdo-world-championship-traditional-home-of-darts-at-peace-after-years-of-civil-war-a6801286.html

There is no longer a battle for the soul of darts, rather an accommodation with the way things are. After the ticker-tape, razzmatazz of Gary Anderson’s PDC world title success on Sunday, the preliminary rounds have continued at the BDO’s annual congress at the Lakeside in Frimley Green in an atmosphere of raucous charm, a festival of ancient pub rhythms minus the bells, whistles and ring-card girls.

My arrival on Monday coincided with a bunch of bananas – three women and two men decked in yellow representations of that epic fruit. Also in the foyer was the BDO’s biggest sponsor for the past 30-odd years, Lakeside owner Bob Potter, arranging tickets for guests. It might have been 1986.

The walls of the entrance hall pay homage to Potter’s gift for the extravaganza. You might think he was on first name terms with the house of Windsor, pictured as he is with Princes Philip and Charles, as well as Princess Margaret. Should you want to marvel further at his life and times there are at reception copies for sale of a certain tome, Bob Potter OBE, One Man’s Dream, essential reading for the darts devotee.

The lobby feeds into the main arena where old favourite John “Boy” Walton, champion in 2001, was making short work of Australian debutant Rob Modra. It was Walton’s first appearance since 2013, the two-year hiatus forced upon him as a result of an injury to the vertebrae in his neck, a consequence he said “of looking right all the time.” His victory in the first match of the day was met with universal applause, and celebrated with a pint.

“Surely the days of drinking at the World Championship are done,” I suggested. “I never drink before I go on that stage,” he said in stout defence of a disciplined approach. “And it tastes better than lime and soda at £2.70 a pop.” Yes, that’s another tradition fiercely defended by the BDO; the players pay for their own drinks here. And there I was with a lunch voucher in my pocket issued with my accreditation. “I pay for my own food, too,” Walton said, pointedly.

This is the World Championship as we have always known it, a celebration of a pastime that began in the pub and is loath to leave it. A sense of time standing still envelopes those privileged to access the backstage grandeur of old dressing rooms and warm-up bar. The unmistakable aroma of cigarette smoke woven into the carpets and paintwork assails the olfactory nerves years after the habit was extinguished in Britain’s public places.

And on the walls portraits of crooners from another age glory in big hair and bling. Engelbert Humperdinck is a personal favourite, and Elvis, of course, though I’m not convinced the Potter magic, not to mention chequebook, was ever persuasive enough to place the King on the oche at his Lakeside emporium.

The BDO quite rightly celebrates its role as the custodian of darts. Unlike the elite circus of professional players that is the PDC, the BDO is responsible for every dart thrown in authorised competition, as well as setting and safeguarding the rules and regulations. In this a comparison between the Football Association and the Premier League is apposite, the former responsible for the administration of the game as well as the national team, the latter a money-making machine concerned only with the top 20 clubs under its wing.

BDO chairperson Sue Williams accepts the financial supremacy of the PDC but there is no envy or desire to emulate owner Barry Hearn’s template, though it is a given that the BDO would like to augment a World Championship prize fund that stands approximately at one-third of the PDC pot. The £100,000 winner’s cheque compares negatively with the £300,000 Anderson took home, and that is a figure set to rise to half a million quid by 2020. “Barry is a very good businessman. He has great contacts,” Williams says. “We have started to move forward. We have new events coming on board, new sponsors, so we are in a very good position. I’m confident about the future. We would like to improve the prize-money, of course, and that is something under discussion with all our partners.”

Hearn offered to buy out the BDO three years ago for ÂŁ1m and was told ever so politely were he might place his arrows. Should he return with an improved offer the answer would be the same, but that should not be interpreted as a hostile gesture, according to Williams.

“As far as we are concerned we are friends. They do what they do, we do what we do. The days of hostility are finished. We are closer together than we have ever been but there will always be two halves. Yes we talk. They have been here all week. We go to their events. There is a working relationship. Things have changed.

“We now no longer view the situation as a division. They are different things. They are only dealing with 128 players. We deal with youth, ladies and men. We start off at super league championships, county, country, all the way up. It’s totally different.”

The great advantage the BDO enjoys is the greater visibility guaranteed by the long relationship with the BBC. Though the contract with the BBC ends after Sunday’s final, negotiations are nearing an end. Indeed, BBC executives were at the Lakeside this week for further talks. Williams does not look like a matriarch in fear of what the future might hold. “Watch this space,” she says.

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Today’s Schedule:

14:30 BBC TV
Men’s Semi-Final: Scott Waites v Jamie Hughes

16:30 BBC TV
Ladies’ Final: Deta Hedman v Trina Gulliver MBE

18:30 BT Sport TV
Men’s Semi-Final: Jeff Smith v Richard Veenstra