February 2013

Premier League Darts star Simon Whitlock has announced a deal to sponsor promising 20-year-old Keegan Brown.

Brown, who started 2013 ranked 86 in the PDC Order of Merit, is to be sponsored by ‘The Wizard’ with immediate effect.

The youngster has shown flashes of his ability since winning a tour card at the 2012 Qualifying School, winning a Youth Tour event and, perhaps more impressively, reaching the semi-finals of a Pro Tour event in the last twelve months.

Whitlock, the world number five, believes that Brown has the potential to become one of the sport’s top players in years to come.

“I am delighted to be in a position to sponsor such a promising young player,” said Whitlock, the reigning European Champion.

“Keegan has huge potential and is a great lad. He was the perfect fit for what I wanted to do.

“I know how important sponsorship is for a dart player so I wanted to help out and make sure Keegan is given every chance to achieve what I know he is capable of.

“I hope that my experience can help him become a full professional and go on to fulfil his ambitions in darts.”

Brown became the youngest ever male to play county darts when he made his debut for the Isle of Wight back in 2006.

He went on to play on the BDO circuit, qualifying for the Winmau World Masters, before going on to progress from Q-School comfortably.

By Chris Murphy

Image courtesy of Lawrence Lustig/PDC

Michael van Gerwen completed a brilliant double by winning both of the first two Speedy Services UK Open qualifiers in Crawley at the weekend.

‘Mighty Mike’, who has now won the last three Pro Tour events consecutively, defeated Dave Chisnall in Saturday’s final before seeing off Brendan Dolan in Sunday’s decider.

“This feels amazing,” said van Gerwen, who grabbed the £6,000 first prize on both days.

“Not many people have won two of these in the same weekend so I am proud of myself for achieving that.

“It was very tough but I played well on both days. My form is good and I want to keep it going.”

There was also success for reigning UK Open champion Robert Thornton, who hit a nine-dart-finish in his quarter-final defeat to Chisnall on Saturday.

Raymond van Barneveld reached Sunday’s semis but was beaten by Dolan, after ‘Barney’ had ended Simon Whitlock’s run to the last eight.

The draw for the first European Tour event of 2013 was also made at the weekend following the qualifier, which took place on Friday evening at the K2 Centre.

John Henderson’s reward for progressing through that qualifier was a first round clash against fellow Scotsman Thornton at the inaugural UK Masters.

Arron Monk, who also won through Friday’s qualifier, will face Ian White at the Minehead event in March.

Whitlock faces Finnish World Cup star Jarkko Komula, while James Wade was drawn against Adam Hunt.

van Gerwen will play Jelle Klaasen, van Barneveld is up against Tomas Seyler and James Hubbard will face Nigel Heydon.

Vincent van der Voort meets Tony West, Mark Webster will take on Simon Craven and Paul Nicholson will play David Pallett.

The £100,000 event takes place from March 8-10 at Butlins Minehead resort.

By Chris Murphy

James Wade and Michael van Gerwen produced brilliant performances to take victories in Bournemouth on Thursday evening, while Robert Thornton continued his unbeaten start in the McCoy’s Premier League.

‘The Machine’ and ‘Mighty Mike’ both recorded averages of over 100 in their respective triumphs over Adrian Lewis and Raymond van Barneveld, while ‘The Thorn’ won the last three legs to claim a draw against Wes Newton – a sequence of results that saw the trio all reach four points after three weeks of action.

Wade admitted that his 7-4 success against Lewis was his best performance for some time, despite his run to the semi-finals of the World Championships.

He said: “I’m pleased to have finally played like this. I felt it was coming because I have been doing it in practise but frustratingly not on the stage.

“I made it easy for myself against Adrian and it felt really good.

“I’ve been putting the hard work and effort in for the last few months and it is starting to show.”

van Gerwen averaged 104 as he claimed his first win in the tournament with a rampant 7-3 defeat of van Barneveld, who had beaten him in the final of the Grand Slam of Darts in November.

“This was a special win for me,” said van Gerwen, who has also made an unbeaten start to his debut season.

“It is a little bit of payback for the Grand Slam but the important thing is that I showed that I am still in form and that I can keep it going.

“To beat Raymond van Barneveld on a Premier League stage is something special, especially with an average like that.

“I have made a great start and now it’s up to me to keep it up.”

Thornton hit back from 6-3 down to earn a draw against Newton but there was disappointment for Simon Whitlock, who lost out to Phil Taylor despite averaging over 100.

Andy Hamilton saw off Gary Anderson in the evening’s over match.

Week four sees the ten players visit Exeter next Thursday, when Wade will face Taylor, van Gerwen plays Hamilton, Thornton meets Anderson and Whitlock and van Barneveld go head to head.

Raymond van Barneveld continued his impressive start in the McCoy’s Premier League with victory over Wes Newton in Aberdeen, while Michael van Gerwen and Robert Thornton played out an exciting draw to remain unbeaten after the first two weeks.

‘Barney’ averaged over 100 for the second consecutive week as he cruised to a 7-2 victory over Wes Newton.

van Gerwen and Thornton grabbed a point each in a high quality affair, which saw all twelve legs go with the throw.

There was disappointment for James Wade and Simon Whitlock however, as they lost out to Andy Hamilton and Gary Anderson respectively.

Phil Taylor defeated his World Cup team-mate Adrian Lewis in the night’s other match.

Week three sees the tournament reach Bournemouth, where van Gerwen and van Barneveld will do battle next Thursday.

Thornton faces Wes Newton, while Whitlock takes on Taylor.

Wade is up against Lewis.

By Chris Murphy

See some of the stars of Premier League Darts at THE BENFIELD NISSAN MASTERS, Sunderland – Tickets from £20

James Wade, Simon Whitlock and Raymond van Barneveld all got off to winning starts in the McCoy’s Premier League, while Robert Thornton and Michael van Gerwen both made impressive debuts at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena on Thursday evening.

Wade made Wes Newton pay for missed doubles as ‘The Machine’ took a commanding 7-4 triumph.

Whitlock’s superior finishing saw him defeat Adrian Lewis 7-3, while Thornton enjoyed a 7-5 win over Andy Hamilton.

van Barneveld posted the night’s highest average (102.02) in his 7-4 success over Gary Anderson.

van Gerwen looked like he might add his name to the winners list when he led Phil Taylor 6-4 but ‘The Power’ fought back to grab a draw.

Full reports available on the players’ official websites (click on names to be redirected).

By Chris Murphy