LETS WATCH DARTS!!!!

count me and meg in definately

here is the PDC ticket info:
http://www.planetdarts.co.uk/article.asp?id=154883&Nv=2

how does one get to purfleet then?

So Dave if we hire a car are you driving us?

Dave Board was into Darts too. He was into them. Or they were into him. Sometimes his darts were into other people. But that wasn't the darts' fault. It wasn't the Darts' fault either. It was Dave's fault. Dave wiped a warm tear from his cheek. He knew it was his fault. But he just couldn't stop hurting people. The thing was - he just didn't want to. He just didn't want to.

We have to book tickets by the 6th Sept, what day are we going?

What IS it with darts crowds and their attire? Are they drunk all the time?

dems da rulez. breathtest before you enter the lakeside:

"i'm sorry sir, but you're under the limit..."

Is Ted Hankey in The Sopranos?

tony would never comb over.

TS:
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00415/SNF08ANDY_180_415535a.jpg vs. http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00415/SNF08ANDY1_180_415536a.jpg

Neither. Left is unhealthy, but right is just looking sick. Somewhere in the middle, I guess.

i thought this was the thread i wrote this on, but -- two nights ago, ted hankey hit the bull to win a.. (leg?) and opened the next set with a 180

and i cried!

What about this Thornton-Adams match, eh? Phoar!

I wish they'd stop showing Adams' wife every 2 seconds though.

Oh, and that's it, he's through, but only just.

So then, Anastasia Dobromyslova, eh?

eastern bloc chin :(

She takes the stage to "Bring Me To Life". This is about as close as darts and emo will ever get.

Tony Green's analysis of Webster vs. Fitton:

"We've just seen some games. We've seen some games of darts through the years... but that was some game."

Don't tell me no-one's watching this?

It's looking bloody good thus far, and a very close call. Missed the first three sets - all Webster - Whitlock's been excellent the past couple sets, though, and I do believe the interval's after this set.

Whitlock is 1-0 up in the third. Seven legs on the spin. Game on.

They both look so young and skinny!

Studenty type vs. Norwegian black metal: fite!

Webster 4-2 up - I fancy him for this. Whitlock throws well, but Webster's a more consistent player. Came back from two legs down, made finishes when he really needed them.

The standard is much higher than last year's final, btw. Both players probably still averaging in the 90s, which is better than any final for a fair old while...

Anastasia Dobromyslova seen wearing black hoodie, cannot confirm if Bullet For My Valentine logo was on the front.

What in the name of hell is this montage? Bobby George is not wearing the kind of shirt that should be worn by a man who is sitting down.

Co Stompe's favourite checkout is, er, his own.

This montage is actually worse, though. I have a horrible feeling someone has commissioned some people who aren't Chas and Dave to do a theme song.

This is really, really appalling. I am not sure what the Black & White Minstrel show sounded like, but I imagine it may have been something like that.

And ANOTHER Bobby George special - is he the only legend who's still alive/on speaking terms with the BBC?

I'm going to grow my hair like Whitlock.

From the Beeb's board:

These are my 2 favourite Tony Green quotes of this year's Lakeside:

'He's a shedmaker...he makes sheds.'

'Simon Whitlock's favourite drink is apple juice.'

4-3 now. Not amazing darts from the two that set, both kind of edgy after the interval, but Whitlock's finishing got him over the line. Webster blowing three darts at double ten may have helped.

Chelsea pensioners there. Tony Green: "Well done lads, we're all proud of yer. They're well aware of the darts."

Marvellously, Simon lives in a place called Deception Bay.

Webster's on a nine-darter!

16 180s in the final already

He's not got it. In the event, needed six darts to get 41. 1-1 in the eighth set.

Do their girlfriends have to sit next to each other like that? That's great!

5-3 - inconsistent finishing from the pair again, but scoring pretty close to each other away from the outer ring. Webster finishes a bit better to take the set.

Not usually, no. There's a lack of needle between the two, though, not much competitive tension - they look pretty much like they're playing against themselves, like the other feller isn't there.

Whitlock averaging 94.4, Webster 91.5.

5-4 - Whitlock definitely looking stronger in the scoring right now, but his finishing... hmm. Still reckon Webster takes this, though - three 140s to start set 10...

OTM.

First three sets similar - Whitlock scoring OK, but poor checkout selection; he lost the second set by going for the bull for a set up for 86, ended up with 2 and missed the checkout.

6-4, Webster one set away, and he's not playing like he'll lose that advantage. This is very, very tight, but that set from before the interval will be crucial, I think. Whitlock might get this set... but I don't see him taking the next.

That final leg in the 6th was crucial - 3-3 or 4-2 depending. Webster took it, and they've traded legs and sets since then, overwhelmingly with the darts.

Winning rubbish legs like that one are crucial - players missing 6 doubles prays on the mind.

Jesus, that first leg lasted the best part of a year. Infinite darts at double for both, but Whitlock snaffles it to hold throw. Can Webster hang on to his finishing?

great stuff, this

6-5 but Webster with the darts for the next set. Great final.

6-5 - Webster was quite poor that set, finishing crap, but he got a 137 to get on a finish in the final leg - a resurgence, perhaps? A pair of 140s to start - but Whitlock's matching him!

AND WEBSTER RESPONDS WITH A 180! Finishes the 41, leads 1-0 in what could be match set!

It's like Hagler vs Hearns!

Two eleven dart legs to start the 12th set is bloody good going.

If only it weren't being reffed by Mr Siiiix-ty...

That bull fucked him. He lost a dart that gave Webster the in.

Yeah, do not get what the lad was going for there. Still, though, this could be it...

Webbay!

And it's his. Good job lad. Both of 'em, great final. Had Whitlock been against probably anyone else in the draw, he'd have won.

His preference for going for the bull or 25 to set up his checkouts cost him at least 3 crucial legs there.

What odds the BDO hang on to either of them?

And we're on, well we will be at 7 o'clock.

on telly?

sky sports fucking 1????? : ((((((((((

tht would have ruined my christmas were it not for the fact I can probly leech it on justin.tv

If you can find a working justin link, let us knoiw

: )

It's always on Sky Sports 1. It's the other one that's on the Beeb in the New Year.

xpost

I shall be rooting for Anastasia until she gets knocked out later on tonight, and think I'll plump for James Wade this year, because can't be arsed with more Phil v Barney.

oh, tht's why I was confused by p.taylor's inclusion

BDO in the new year, OK, of course; I got mixed up : )

'mon the Power

darts channel rickrolling with hollyoaks wtf

Darth Maple is an underrated sinister looking motherfucker

Your odds:

Taylor: 8/15
van Barneveled: 8/1
Wade: 10/1
Lewis: 33/1
Hamilton: 40/1
Jenkins: 40/1

Peter "One Dart" Manley: 125/1

Might have a wee e/w on Wade there (read: I won't bother my arse, and then he'll win, see every golf major since I stopped backing Padraig Harrington)

lol at Bristow not even bothering to remember Akihiro Nagakawa's name: "the Japanese gent"

Roland "The Tripod" Scholten
Intro music: "Chelsea Dagger" by The Fratellis

vs

Carlos "The Spanish Assassin" Rodriguez
Intro music: No official theme tune

Scholten looking a lot like a white nationalist there.

3:22joetje:painter on coke?

is tht dude matt clark's life partner?

decent stream

Anastasia on just now. Sid Waddell in full flow about suffragettes and Rasputin and shit.

She throws a 180, Sid nearly jizzes his pants at the historical significance of it all. Then makes some shit joke about Russians being good at things involving a red square.

And she's out. Some shonky doubles let her down.

haha, I saw that on soccer am last week.

Peter Manley patronising Helen Chamberlain, she asks him a question, he says something about how that was very clever of her for a girl, because girls don't know anything about darts. Twat.

And Manley goes out to Mensur Suljovic. lol and, indeed, roffle.

Soft-tip invasion.

Anyone watching tonight? Geordie ex-pat Paul "The Gobshite" Nicholson is playing James "The Epitome Of Aldershot" Wade, and Nicho's finishing is going completely to pieces at present, Wade's two sets up. Best of nine.

2-1, but Nicholson only took it by virtue of being least rubbish. Neither of them playing anything like they can.

3-1. Nicholson had about 9 darts to bring home a 147 outshot to make it 2-2 in sets, which turned into 6 for 56, which turned into 3 for 20. At no point did he look like making any of these. He does not currently look like a man who wants to be anywhere near a dartboard. Wade, for his part, just looks depressed. This is a very, very poor game of darts.

This is awful. I've been here all the way through, but no interwebs in parental home. This is the boring warm-up act. The one you head off for a fag and a pint and a pish rather than actualy watch. Stoked for the Barney v Klaasen headliner, but cannot see it being as exciting as Barney v Baxter, which was all kinds of entertaining.

(um, all the way through the tournament, not just this match. I have now returned to the land of internetz. And have forgotten how to type in the interim, by the look of it)

if chamberlain knew anything about darts she wouldn't be dating wade amirite

Oh, I didn't know that! I thought she was engaged to someone who isn't him (in fact proving she knows nothing about music by that someone being someone out of Level 42).

The fact that this match is still going and I am googling things about Helen Chamberlain's personal life says something about how totally fucking dull this match is.

It's a pity, cos I quite like Nicholson - he plays pantomime villain very nicely indeed, but he doesn't seem like that bad of a bloke really. Unlike, say, Mervyn King. Who is a knob.

3-2 now, btw, Nicholson playing some slightly better stuff that set but still looking rather unhappy about things generally. Wade looking disinterested.

Yeah, Nicholson took the crowd booing in very good heart vs Lewis the other day. Wade's an annoying git who needs a good slap.

(also want him to lose because I never put that fiver on him)

3-3! Good lad! Nicholson's definitely playing the better darts now, albeit nothing earth-shattering, but he's getting ahead because Wade... well, he looks bored, there's no other way to put it. It's a serious attitudinal failure he's undergoing here, and you were right not to put money on him - even if he gets through this, I can't imagine there's any way he'd go much further in this tournament given his next two opponents would most likely be Barney and Taylor.

Also quite entertained to see Nicholson's lip curl in disgust after bedding in the 1 while going for a 64 finish; don't think I've seen a look like that since my PE teachers witnessed me attempting to play basketball for the first time.

4-3 Wade, upper hand all the way through that set with a pair of back-to-back 180s in the second leg. Nicho can no longer rely on the door being open, and now he really needs to work to get back into the match.

And Wade struggles over the finish line. Ugh, that was dire.

Never in doubt - once Wade got his nose in front, Nicholson never looked like he had the wherewithal to do anything. Both men looked like they were set to announce their retirement from the game after the finish.

Jelle's packing a bit more muscle since his BDO days, isn't he?

Am sick of all this ooh, young, handsome, pin-up boy, looks like Cristiano Ronaldo bollocks though. He's not handsome, and he doesn't look like Ronaldo. Are all darts commentators blind and/or insane? He was throwing some awesome darts the other day though, this should be way better than that "no YOU win it" "no, YOU, I insist" shitefest that's just finished.

AH MAN! Klaasen goes 1-0 up against the darts! Speed and accuracy from both is blinding, Klaasen looks like he is on a MISSION - so far, it's just like their BDO final except they're averaging about 30 points more. This is gonna be sweeeeet...

And now 1-1! Barney decides to step shit up to another level, now averaging a sniff under 108 over the first two sets, Klaasen back on 92...

Some iffy doubles not going on there, but otherwise, stellar stuff. yay!

Barney now leads 3-1. Remember how, in the old BDO days, Barney would have these games where, no matter how well the other feller played, he simply would not give them an opening? That's how he's playing now, and it must be said that Jelle isn't wilting in the face of it, but he's not playing at his pinnacle. Which is where he's got to be at to get anything off Barney in this form.

You know upthread I said I was bored of Phil v Barney? I lied. Bring it on. King and Wade are just there for practice on the run-up to the final now, aren't they?

Dunno about King, but Wade looks beaten already. Barney 4-1 up, and he's simply a class above. To be fair to Klaasen, though, Barney would be a class above anyone other than Taylor the way he's playing right now. He just doesn't miss the doubles, at all.

The way Taylor's been playing, I can't see Merv bothering him at all, tbh.

OMG WOW! 9 darter! Sid has almost exploded!

amazing stuff from barney

James Wade must be shiting himself. If he seriously ups his attitude from earlier, he might sneak a set if he's very very lucky.

First time I've seen a nine-darter. I mean first time *ever* - I was on the edge of my seat before the match when they showed the replay of Barney's effort in 2006. To see it for real ... yeah! Also v impressed at the 161 outshot to finish the match off, cool as you like

I remember Paul Lim doing it years ago which is why I was a bit confused at them going on about no-one doing it at a world championships before - they're quite precious about THEIR championships, aren't they?

Hey, isn't YouTube great?

It's a bit confusing when neither Taylor, Barney nor Klaasen are reigning champs yet have about twenty world titles between them, and plenty of other guys have won one or two in the same period

still much prefer BDO to this lot tbh

Ach, that's like people who claim to be real football fans because they would prefer to be watching their kids tripping up their neighbours' kids down the park on a Sunday to watching Messi and Ronaldo and whatever :-)

Nice 'Smack My Bitch Up' sequence to kick off

Watched the semis in the pub last night, Barney worryingly un-awesome.

don't agree with that ailsa but w/e : )

That was a spectacularly underwhelming final, though Taylor was awesome, Barney seems to have peaked a couple of days early.

And we're back with the BDO now, Wolfie so close to going out there. Some staggeringly rubbish attempts at hitting doubles from both of them, but for a wee while in the middle, Dave Chisnall was on fire.

i love that this guy comes out to a pumping remix of Robin S 'Show Me Love'

now we're talking none of that other nonsense! : D

Is there some explanation why Simon Whitlock has such terrible hair and beardage?

None of these guys are getting an invite over to the real darts any time soon, are they?

Fitton v Whitlock is on NOW. Not a classic yet, but it might will wind up being. Both of these are just a bit good...

Not very good, just a bit :-) I don't like Darryl Fitton, mostly because he walks on like a twat to One Step Beyond.

Bollocks, these guys are playing quite well :-/

Also, the camerawork is fucking rubbish here, it's like when they always focus on people's faces on Strictly Come Dancing. Concentrate on the important stuff, camera dudes!

Having had my first proper exposure to Waddell's commentary last week, I'm kinda longing for him here.

umadd best thing about bdo is no bloody waddell to endure, inanity and homophobia only pls

Really excellent match, that was

It was, actually, but the crap camera angles and rubbish commentators annoy me. Also, their 3-dart averages were a joke, surely.

Whitlock fell away a bit in the end though, which was a little uncharacteristic - just not hitting treble 20 enough in the end.

c - it's not the Waddellisms, it's the analysis of the game - the BBC coverage is really lacking on that front.

Speaking of which, Alan Norris and Scott Waites are currently having the honour of being commentated on - sort of - by Tony Green and Bobby George. It's an odd experience, because Green has nothing at all of interest to say, but Bobby - who's just offered up "Well, he's not scoring heavy enough, Tony" - very rarely makes any kind of comment, and when he does it's usually in an Attenborough-level mutter. His insight level is basically sub-Shearer, but his utterly distracted approach is weirdly endearing. You can kind of tell Bobby's not done commentary before - it's almost like watching it with your dad, and him occasionally calling out the finishes or saying "He needs to be scoring more heavily".

You should probably watch this actually, it's worth being there for. It's not looking like a brilliant contest, Waites is playing much better than Norris and should probably whitewash him, but it's not often you get to hear someone commentating seemingly almost entirely to themselves.

"There he is, the man that started it all, Ollie Croft OBE - still awake!"

Bobby just let out a "Yessss..." that has left me feeling like I'm covered in a thin layer of silt.

4-0 it was, though Norris really picked it up towards the end - Waites might not be a bad bet for the overall title, actually, but this draw is still rather open. Also, for the first time possibly ever, Gary Anderson is actually playing like a man in form - it's meant to have been his year for the title for about five or six years now, he might even do it this time.

I'm sorry I missed that. Most excruciating bit of co-commentary I ever saw was Craig Brown one Sunday on Football Italia. He happened to be in the middle of some boring anecdote when Lazio (or whoever) scored quite unexpectedly. Brown just went for it: 'WHAT! A! GOAL! *slurp* IT'S A WUNNN-DER-FUL GOAL BY ROBERRR- TO MANCINI!'. Peter Brackley never got a look in. It had been excised entirely by the highlights reel at the end

I fell asleep straight after the Whitlock v Fitton match (no reflection on the darts, more on my inability to sleep at nights catching up with me). Swygart OTM about the commentators though, the Sky guys offer insight and analysis along with the humour, the BBC guys go for weak Waddellisms and stating-the-fucking-obvious.

I am considering going to a Premier League darts match this year for beer and giggles, if I can raise some interested peeps to come with me.

waddell is v.annoying and I can't listen to him for more than one sentence

the bbc guys are pretty inane but they sometimes come out with inadvertantly funny stuff + lots of funny cliches/malapropisms

but this is much of a muchness I just love the bdo 4eva : P

That Anderson-O'Shea match was total rubbish. Hoping for better here - Fitton was excellent the other night.

Keep on hoping, this is looking like quite the stinker...

should probably have kept watching that one, by the sounds of it

what was anderson up to? hopeless

beaten by a mediocre o'shea ow ow ow

probably one of the worst perfs by a top ranked player I've ever seen; certainly the most infuriating

why did the commentators keep saying anderson was still in w/a chance? were they only watching the stats and not the darts?

Possibly cos O'Shea wasn't really playing that brilliantly either - Anderson did come back from 4-1 to 4-3. However, his first three darts after that went haywire, and his confidence went with them. He really does seem to have a massive block when it comes to playing in front of the cameras.

he didn't really play any darts at all until the last two legs to take it to 4-3 and even then it was only something like a 61 and an 80 checkout which is a testament to the low quality of his game

heard he threw his darts into the lake afterwards loooooooooool

or maybe he just... tried to

amirite

Yeah, Anderson seems to feel the need to acknowledge the cameras all the time, shaking his head and looking sad after every wayward dart. Just concentrate on throwing the damn things, man! Late on, he was trying to check out 80 with two darts, went for double top with the first, no-scored - but then went for the double again with the last dart anyway. I think he actually won that leg, but he should've been disqualified for that alone in my view

If double top is his favourite double and he has 80 left with one dart in his hand then going for the double again is the only way he gets on his favourite double. Sure going for two double tops in the first place is a bit showy but isn't that what people want?

Flashy's good, but in this context it was bloody hopeless - he was basically throwing in the towel, shaking his head and just getting rid of the dart. O'Shea needed 16 or something like that and Anderson wasn't even going through the motions of putting pressure on. That O'Shea then missed the 16 and Anderson won the leg anyway summed up what kind of match it was

Managed to not watch any of today's action, but: Yay Francisca Hoenselaar!

Met my parents for a coffee this afternoon, with O'Shea-Fitton showing over my mum's shoulder. Not sure she was impressed with my lack of attentiveness. Hankey-Adams was pretty good too this evening

Ted Chokey

Ah well. He did his best to not win. I think he missed something like 8 darts to win it before he crawled over the line. He manage to fit two 180s into a leg and still lose it at one point.

ah, that was great

Fat man cries tears of joy!

If you put Ted Hankey in a linen suit, he'd look just like Roger Mellie.

Or Nicholas Soames.

Phil Taylor = still awesome.

I love darts.

WTF was I on earlier in this thread, supporting The World's Biggest Twat James Wade?

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/12/melbourne-has-second-thoughts-on-darts-championships-after-mini-riot

"The incident reportedly began when some in the crowd started trying to build a pyramid of plastic furniture. Witnesses said people were then body-slammed into tables and groups of attendees brawled with each other."

Know I'm late etc etc but Van Gerwen has been sublime...been watching him for the last couple of months and the checkouts are a thing of wonder.

The guy can't lose. The WC will be fascinating.

Let's smell darts.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/nov/17/stink-hits-darts-grand-slam-as-match-features-flatulent-end?CMP=twt_gu&__twitter_impression=true&__twitter_impression=true

This Littler lad, never seen anything like it. Racking my brain to think of a similar sporting breakthrough and coming up short.

Yeah he's quite something.

You usually see it in women's tennis where the odd teen wins a slam. Hingis comes to mind.

Closer to darts Ronnie had his breakthrough in the UK championship at 17/18, but did take a few more years to win that world title.

But it's all I can think of.

xp Boris Becker in 1985 is closest I can think of.

I guess...Emma Raducanu? Sweeping through the US Open in 2021, including qualifying, never dropped a set. Ranked 338 two months earlier, doing her A-levels. She'd been a good junior, but not world-beating. Don't know much about Littler - he's been playing on the "Development Tour", which I guess would be something like ITF third-tier tennis, or juniors? But not necessarily someone expected to be able to compete at this level yet (mid-90s avgs, and now he's throwing 106?)

I said Emma Raducanu earlier when we were discussing it, but I'm not even sure that comes close. It's just outstanding to keep this up and keep his nerve at this level against multiple former world champions.

Simone Biles? She won gold in All Around (and FE) at age 16 in her very first Worlds debut a few months after almost quitting the sport due to confidence issues. Caveat is that gymnastics (esp. womens) skews towards younger athletes. That said, she was dominant for another decade after and arguably the greatest gymnast ever.

This is a list where lots of individual athletes are mention. I wouldn't count Pele, as great as he was. Dynamics in team sport and all that.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/jan/03/how-does-luke-littler-rank-among-other-teen-sporting-sensations

It's slightly strange to see this debate. Don't think Raducanu had us all wondering about teen prodigies. It was incredible that she was a qualifier but she beat Leylah Fernandez, who was on her first slam appearance.

Maybe it's because Littler is so much younger. The average winner for a darts world title is late 30s.

Also where can I watch this illegally?

Can't watch it but 2-2. Looks like it's already Littler's toughest test.

It's a bit like dancing on the radio but it's on TalkSport.

LETS LISTEN TO DARTS!!!!

Pretty insane

humphries really got on a roll after littler missed that double 2 to go up 5-2

Lost in the end, but what a player. Littler will surely go on.

He'll be up against Humphries, who is only 28, for a long time to come though. That guy is great.

coming back from 4-2 down to win 4-7, bloody hell like.

Saw an item where his birth cert was released to prove he isn't 30