December 2011

MODUS celebrated a hat-trick of wins on Saturday as Paul Nicholson, Vincent van der Voort and Robert Thorton all earned places in round two of the Ladbrokes World Championship.

Nicholson came through a potentially tricky tie with Mensur Suljovic unscathed and Van der Voort hit many a maximum to beat Mark Hylton in the evening session. Thornton had earlier seen off the challenge of Ian White.

The Asset made sure he wasn’t going to be Suljovic’s latest scalp, and a characteristically ruthless performance ensured he never looked in danger of suffering a shock defeat. He beat the Austrian 3-1 to set up a post-Christmas clash with Alan Tabern.

Van der Voort lived up to his ‘Dutch Destroyer’ nickname in his 3-2 triumph over Hylton. He hit a sensational eleven 180s to ensure he will be at the Ally Pally after Christmas.

The Thorn showed flashes of his former self with some high scoring and neat finishing to set up a second round tie against defending World Champion Adrian Lewis.

By Chris Murphy

It’s the most wonderful time of year.

Whether you’re sat in front of the open fire munching a mince pie and sipping sherry, or down at the Alexandra Palace raising a glass of the more masculine variety, nothing gets you into the Christmas spirit quite like the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship does.

MODUS are helping serve up a real festive treat with a whole host of PDC stars aiming to be top of the tree. James Wade, Simon Whitlock, Mark Webster, Raymond van Barneveld and Paul Nicholson have all been mentioned by punters and pundits alike as major title contenders.

Webster is in opening night action against fellow Welshman Richie Burnett in a clash of former World Champions. Spider hopes to build on the good form he takes into the tournament after reaching his first major PDC singles final at the Players Championship Finals last weekend. He bids to go one better than last year when he made the semi-final, but lost to eventual winner Adrian Lewis, who is also in first night action.

On Friday evening Dutchman Co Stompe will be delivering the Christmas cheer as the two-time quarter finalist takes on youngster Michael Smith.

Saturday sees the first double session of the tournament and former World Masters winner Robert Thornton faces Ian White in the afternoon. The Scotsman is currently in the top 32 in the order of merit in a year that included a good run to the quarter-finals of the UK Open.

On Saturday evening The Asset is in action against last years surprise package, Austrian Mensur Suljovic. Nicholson though, won’t be gifting anything to his opponent having being in Scrooge-like form in an excellent 2011 as he made the latter stages of most of the major tournaments with some electrifying performances along the way.

Preceding Nicholson is The Fastest Player in the World as Vincent van der Voort begins his campaign against Mark Hylton. The Dutchman will be hoping to repeat or better his performance last year when he made the quarter-finals.

On Sunday evening the most famous Dutch darter takes to the stage as Barney begins his shot at a sixth World Championship success. Van Barneveld has made the semi-finals of the Premier League and European Championship in 2011 as a return to the darts that made him champion of the world in 2007 have coincided with a return to form. He faces James Richardson who made his first Pro-Tour final earlier this year.

Monday December 19th provides a trio of Christmas crackers as The Machine, The King and The Monkey are all in first round action. Wade, the second most successful player in the history of the PDC, will be hoping to add the World Championship to his growing list of majors. His opponent is yet to be confirmed as he faces the winner of a preliminary round match.

Mervyn King, who prepared for the tournament by beating Phil Taylor last week, takes on Geoff Kime while Arron Monk, who won the under-21’s World Championship last year, faces Players Championship winner Kevin Painter.

On the final day of round one (Wednesday 21st) John Henderson makes his PDC World Championship debut against 2003 & 2008 winner John Part. Simon Whitlock completes the line up when he faces Dennis Smith. The Wizard is aiming to go one better than his run to the final two years ago.

So the stage is set for everyone to get merry and enjoy a feast of tungsten tossing from the world’s finest in the greatest show on earth. One of them will be seeing in the New Year as World Champion, but the aim for now is to progress through round one as we sit back and enjoy what is undoubtedly the most wonderful time of the year.

By Chris Murphy

Leyland Paints will be throwing its name into the eyes of millions of sports fans across the UK, after unveiling a high profile darts sponsorship with two of the world’s best players.

Leyland has stepped up to the oche by agreeing to sponsor 2008 BDO world champion Mark Webster and 2010 PDC world championship runner-up Simon Whitlock for the whole of the 2012 season, as the pair bid to cement their statuses as household names in the sport.
With more than 200,000 sports fans inside the arenas along with a television audience of 12.5 million viewers in 2010 alone, the brand believes that the time has never been better to target the tungsten for a sustained period.

Marketing manager Sharon Hendry said: “The potential of our darts sponsorship is absolutely huge and we are thrilled to be involved with the sport.

“Aside from Premier League football, the darts world championship drew the biggest audience on Sky Sports last year, which underlines how powerful the sport is.

“Simon and Mark are firm crowd favourites already and we are thrilled to be working with from now on.”

Before turning professional, Simon was a builder by trade, while Mark Webster is a professional plumber and still likes to keep busy working in between tournaments.

Simon, known as The Wizard, said: “I am delighted to receive the support from Leyland. I have come across their product from my time as a builder, so it is great to be working even closer with brand from now on.

“I’ll be doing all I can to gain maximum exposure by winning as many tournaments as possible!”

Mark Webster, from Denbigh, Wales, said: “I have been in the Professional Darts Corporation for over two years now, and even in that time I have seen the sport grow so much.”

The current world number six added: “For me to be able to receive the backing of Leyland is the best news I could wish for. They are a huge paint brand and one I will be wearing on my shirt with pride.”

Mark Webster heads to the World Championship in good form after reaching his first PDC major final at Doncaster Dome on Sunday.

Webster defeated Dave Chisnall and Wes Newton on a demanding final day at the Players Championships, but was unable to brush off the challenge from Kevin Painter, who claimed the title.

The Welshman will now turn his attentions to the Alexandra Palace, where he faces compatriot Richie Burnett on the opening night.

He said: “I’ve got to pick myself up because I’ve got my first round game in the Ladbrokes World Championship to play on Thursday night. If I can become World Champion again this will be forgotten about.”

Webster dug deep to win a dramatic quarter final against Chisnall, winning a last leg decider for the second consecutive day to claim a 9-8 victory.

He then turned on the style in the semi as a display of high scoring and sharp finishing saw him ease past Wes Newton with a 10-7 win.

Webster outscored Painter on 140s and matched him on 100s in the final, but three ton-plus finishes from The Artist proved to be the difference.

As runner up, the Welshman collected a cool £24,000 but, more importantly, his run to the final could prove to be ideal preparation for the World Championships.

James Wade will now also focus on success at Ally Pally after suffering a quarter final defeat at the  hands of Scott Rand.

The Machine can count himself unlucky, having being eliminated despite scoring the second highest average of all the quarter finalists.

He said: “I didn’t play well enough to win and he did a good job to beat me. I’ll regroup from this and get ready for the World Championship now.”

Wade will play either Per Laursen or Petri Korte in his first round tie on Monday 19^th December.

THE second PDC World Cup of Darts will be held in Hamburg, Germany from February 3-5 2012, and screened live on Sky Sports.

The tournament was a huge success when first staged in December 2010, with the Dutch pair of Raymond van Barneveld and Co Stompe taking victory for the Netherlands.

They defeated the Welsh team of Mark Webster and Barrie Bates in the final, while Australia and Spain lit up the tournament in their runs to the semis.

Next year’s 24-team event will be held across three days from February 3-5 at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg.

Each team will feature the leading two PDPA members from each nation on the PDC Order of Merit at January 3 2012 following the forthcoming Ladbrokes World Darts Championship.

In the event that this does not produce 24 competing nations, further nations which have two players featured on the PDC’s Order of Merit* who are not full PDPA members shall be included.

In the event that this still does not produce 24 competing nations, further nations will be invited to participate at the discretion of the PDC’s Board of Directors.

The 24 nations will be seeded from 1-24 based on a cumulative total of the competing players’ ranking position, with the lowest total seeded 1 and the highest total seeded 24. For example, should Phil Taylor (1) and Adrian Lewis (2) represent England, their cumulative total would be 3.

The top eight seeds will come in at the second round stage, with the countries ranked 9-24 competing in the first round on Friday afternoon.

The Welsh left-hander, who won the 2008 Lakeside Championship, booked his place in the final at the Doncaster Dome with another assured display as he chases the £60,000 first prize.

He hit 180s in winning the first two legs before posting double ten in the third to leave Newton reeling at 3-0 down.

The Fleetwood ace hit tops to get off the mark in the fourth, and hit scores of 177 and 180 in the next to set up a potential nine-darter.

Although he was unable to achieve a perfect leg, he took out 86 for a 12-dart finish to pull back to 3-2.

Webster, though, hit a 168 to set up double ten in winning the sixth, and added tops to lead 5-2 before Newton posted two 180s and double 16 to reply.

The pair traded 180s in the ninth, with Webster’s maximum leaving 67 but only able to watch as Newton produced a 138 checkout on double nine to pull back to 5-4.

He was crucially unable to level, though, with Webster hitting double ten to edge away and 180 in setting up double nine to lead 7-4.

Newton hit double ten to win two of the next three legs, but a miss at tops for a 110 finish allowed Webster to move a leg away from victory at 9-6.

Webster would miss tops in the next, for a 106 finish, as Newton posted double eight to stay in the contest, but even a 180 from the UK Open runner-up was not enough to continue the fightback as the Welshman sealed victory on double ten.

“My finishing was pretty sharp and I’m delighted to be through,” said Webster. “I had a little bit of luck but I’ve not beaten Wes for a while so it’s nice to end that run.

“Hopefully I can go on to win the final now.”

Newton admitted: “It’s disappointing for me and I felt that the little things didn’t go my way and I wasn’t able to gain any momentum. I came back into it after the start, but Mark did well and never let me get on level terms.”

Wade earned a deserved victory over Steve Brown, while Webster disposed of top seed Justin Pipe in a dramatic affair.

Both players are back in action in the quarter finals on Sunday, when one of them could pick up the trophy.

James Wade 8 – 6 Steve Brown

James Wade progressed into the last eight of the Players Championship with victory over Steve ‘The Bomber’ Brown.

The UK Open winner showed only glimpses of his brilliant best, but still had too much for his opponent.

Wade was as deadly as ever on double ten to take the first leg, but Brown hit back, taking out 64 to win the second.

The next leg again went with the throw, as Wade put himself back in front. He then grabbed an early break, hitting double top to open up a two leg lead.

The Machine hit his first 180 in leg five, and went on to win it with a nice 106 checkout as he threatened to run away with it.

Wade almost took out a spectacular 170 in the next leg, just missing the bull, before Brown hit double ten to get his self back into the game.

Brown then managed to break back to reduce Wade’s lead to a single leg, but The Machine pulled off a stunning 142 finish to open the gap once more.

Wade’s lead quickly increased to 6-3 with a 60 checkout, before Brown hit double one to pull a leg back.

Wade then produced a leg of real quality, as he finished on double 12 in just a dozen darts. Brown earned a stay of execution when he hit double top to take the twelfth leg.

The Bomber threatened to make it more than just that by breaking the throw in the next leg, but Wade inflicted his punishment by breaking straight back to secure a fairly comfortable win.

Wade faces Scott Rand in Sunday afternoon’s quarter final.

Mark Webster 8 – 7 Justin Pipe

Mark Webster held his nerve to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against number one seed Justin Pipe.

Webster, seemingly undeterred by his opponent’s unusually slow style, won a nail-biting last leg decider and progressed into the quarter finals.

Webster suffered an early setback when Pipe broke his throw in the opening leg, but he took out 80 to break straight back.

Webster successfully returned to double ten to win the third leg before Pipe levelled things up.

The Welshman edged ahead again, holding his throw to take leg five before Pipe restored parity. It was Pipe who got the break, hitting bull to take a 4-3 lead.

Pipe then hit double 18 to open up a two leg lead for the first time, but Webster bounced back by taking out 64 to win the ninth leg.

Webster then inflicted a big blow on his opponent, a former boxer, by hitting eight perfect darts against the throw. He just missed out on a stunning nine dart finish, but cleaned up to level the score.

The world number six hit double top to win the next leg, but was unlucky to bust his score by hitting the wrong double when going for a break of throw before Pipe took out 101 to square the score at six all.

Webster missed four darts at double six allowing Pipe to break and leave himself throwing for the match.

Pipe then missed four darts at doubles and Webster duly punished him, hitting double five with the last dart in his hand.

In a tense last leg, Pipe missed two more darts for the match and Webster took out 60 to ensure that it was the Spider who claimed eight legs.

Webster will face Dave Chisnall in the quarter finals on Sunday afternoon.

Leyland Paints will be throwing its name into the eyes of millions of sports fans across the UK, after unveiling a high profile darts sponsorship with two of the world’s best players.

Leyland has stepped up to the oche by agreeing to sponsor 2008 BDO world champion Mark Webster and 2010 PDC world championship runner-up Simon Whitlock for the whole of the 2012 season, as the pair bid to cement their statuses as household names in the sport.

With more than 200,000 sports fans inside the arenas along with a television audience of 12.5 million viewers in 2010 alone, the brand believes that the time has never been better to target the tungsten for a sustained period.

Marketing manager Sharon Hendry said: “The potential of our darts sponsorship is absolutely huge and we are thrilled to be involved with the sport.

“Aside from Premier League football, the darts world championship drew the biggest audience on Sky Sports last year, which underlines how powerful the sport is.

“Simon and Mark are firm crowd favourites already and we are thrilled to be working with from now on.”

Before turning professional, Simon was a builder by trade, while Mark Webster is a professional plumber and still likes to keep busy working in between tournaments.

Simon, known as The Wizard, said: “I am delighted to receive the support from Leyland. I have come across their product from my time as a builder, so it is great to be working even closer with brand from now on.

“I’ll be doing all I can to gain maximum exposure by winning as many tournaments as possible!”

Mark Webster, from Denbigh, Wales, said: “I have been in the Professional Darts Corporation for over two years now, and even in that time I have seen the sport grow so much.”

The current world number six added: “For me to be able to receive the backing of Leyland is the best news I could wish for. They are a huge paint brand and one I will be wearing on my shirt with pride.”

Aside from the sponsorship itself, both Simon and Mark will be making a number of personal appearances for Leyland, while incentives throughout the year mean customers will get the chance to see the pair play at future televised tournaments.

Sharon concluded: “More than 20 per cent of the UK’s population were exposed to darts in 2010 and it is now regarded as the second most popular sport on Sky behind football.

“With all this in mind, we couldn’t be more excited to be involved with Simon and Mark, who we will be cheering on from now on!”

Leyland’s sponsorship of the two players will officially kick-off at the World Championships in December at the Alexandra Palace, London.

However, Mark Webster will be wearing the Leyland branding on his shirt even sooner than that, at the Players’ Championship from December 8.

James continued his support of various charites by completing a fun run on Sunday 4th December, this being just 5 days after he completed the Movember awareness campaign during November.