Darts: Top 5 pre-Christmas matches

Steve 'The Bronzed Adonis' Beaton, back to winning ways with a first round victory over Fallon Sherrock
(photo from PDC)

Yesterday saw the last action at the World Darts Championship before the Christmas break, with the final second round matches being held. Play will resume on the 27^th, but before then it is worth looking at the best games we’ve seen in the tournament so far.

I’ve ordered these matches from the earliest to most recent and chosen them both on the standard of darts and the entertainment they provided. Of course, any list like this is bound to be subjective – everyone will have their own favourite matches. With that said, though, here are my picks:

 

Willie Borland vs Bradley Brooks (17 December)

Following on from a lacklustre start to the evening session by Joe Murnan and Paul Lim, Willie Borland and Bradley Brooks would produce perhaps the greatest first round game the World Championship has seen. The first two sets were one-sided affairs, with Brooks taking the first 3-0 and Borland taking the second 3-1 to level the game. From there, however, the two could not be separated, with all subsequent sets going to a fifth leg. In the fourth set, Borland was leading 2-0 and required one more leg to win the match, yet Brooks would fight back to win the set 3-2. The fifth and final set appeared to be going a similar way, with Borland going two up, then Brooks bringing it back to 2-2, leading to a final leg shootout. It was in this last leg that Borland produced quite simply sensational darts, hitting a nine-dart finish to take the match (180, 177, treble 20, treble 20, double 12). With this, there was wild celebration from the crowd, with beer flying and 180 signs being waved frantically. And quite right, too, for these two youngsters put on what will undoubtedly be regarded as a classic. It shows the future of the game is in good hands – who knows, maybe one day Borland vs Brooks will be a World Championship final?

 

Steve Beaton vs Fallon Sherrock (19 December)

One of the main talking-points going into this World Championship was the return of Fallon Sherrock, styled by pundits as the ‘Queen of the Palace’, who two years ago became the first woman to win a match on the world stage. Indeed, such was the discussion surrounding Sherrock that her opponent, Steve Beaton, was almost overlooked. This was despite Beaton, a veteran of the game, making a record 31^st appearance at the World Championship. And, when the match began, although Sherrock was the firm crowd favourite, Beaton made it clear that this would be no procession. On the contrary, the ‘Bronzed Adonis’ was ahead from the beginning, taking the first set in a deciding leg. The game definitely had its moments, with both players averaging around a ton in the first few sets (although this trailed off somewhat towards the end). In the end, the match would go to a fifth set, and it was hear that experience told, with Beaton checking out 68 to avoid a last-leg decider and take the win.

That Beaton is still in a fighting mood should delight any darts fan. Although he would go on to lose to Kim Huybrechts in the second round, the ‘Adonis’ will be back next year for an incredible 32^nd appearance. As for Sherrock, this loss will no doubt be a disappointing end to an otherwise successful year. Nonetheless, with further experience (the next target presumably being a tour card at Q-School) we can expect more from Sherrock in the future.

 

Jonny Clayton vs Keane Barry (19 December)

Of the ‘big four’ in today’s darts (Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen, and Jonny Clayton), all have had something of a scare in their opening games, except for Wright (who secured a straightforward 3-0 victory against Ryan Meikle). Of these, Clayton’s was arguably the most nerve-wracking, as, after taking the first set, he soon found himself 2-1 down against the young Keane Barry. Taking the first leg of the fourth set, Barry, needing only two more to take the match, may have fancied his chances of producing an upset. But Clayton, who has been the standout performer in darts this year (winning four televised titles in the space of twelve months), would fight back, taking six consecutive legs to turn the game around and win 3-2. It was a brilliant performance from both players, and the statistics speak for themselves. Clayton averaged 103.70, Barry averaged 95.85, and between them the two hit ten ton-plus finishes, a record for a single match. In the end, Clayton secured a hard-won victory to get his World Championship campaign underway, and ‘The Ferret’ will meet Gabriel Clemens in the third round after Christmas.

 

Florian Hempel vs Dimitri Van den Bergh (21 December)

Yet while Clayton found a way out of trouble, world number five Dimitri Van den Bergh would not be so lucky. Since his breakthrough last year in winning the World Matchplay, Van den Bergh has been a consistent challenger in major tournaments. And although having had a relatively anonymous second half of the year after losing to Peter Wright in this year’s Matchplay final, ‘Dancing Dimitri’ was still tipped to do well at Ally Pally. Indeed, the bookies put Van den Bergh as fifth favourite, behind the big four, to win the world title. But when the game commenced, it became clear that the young Belgian had a challenge in his opponent, Florian Hempel. Hempel won the first set 3-2 with an eleven-dart leg, and while Van den Bergh bounced back after the break to level the game, taking three legs without reply, he seemed unable to build on this. Hempel took the third and fourth sets quite convincingly (3-1 and 3-0 respectively) to win the match, knock Van den Bergh out, and pull off the biggest shock of the tournament so far. For a man making his World Championship debut, it is a highly impressive performance for Hempel. Keeping this form, it is entirely possible that he will go even further, with a quarter-final spot looking like a real possibility.

 

Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Boris Koltsov (22 December)

Darts has a great history of characters. From Bob ‘The Limestone Cowboy’ Anderson walking on accompanied by an actual horse, to Steve ‘The Muffin Man’ Hine giving out muffins during his walk-on, to Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright’s iconic dance across the stage, players have always entertained the audience. And the match between Dirk van Duijvenbode, ‘the Titan’, and Boris Koltsov, ‘the Viking’, very much followed their tradition. Before a dart was even thrown, the adrenaline was pumping after two high-energy walk-ons, and throughout the match both players were feeding off the atmosphere, to the delight of the crowd. While the quality may not have been sensational (van Duijvenbode averaging 88.69 to Koltsov’s 86.34), it was made enjoyable by the two characters on stage and the closeness of the game. In the end, it was van Duijvenbode who made it to the third round, closing out the final set in extra time to win the match 3-2.