Our regular lighthearted look at who’s hot, and who’s not, in world darts. This time orginally published in Darts World Extra (Issue 10) for June 2023. Small incidents can have big consequences. Players and even companies and codes come from nowhere, suddenly move up a level or even dramatically collapse. The signs were there if you’d known where to look.
Team Wales – To win one world cup could be classed as rather good, to get to another final with the same team a couple of years later might be said to be impressive. But, to go all the way and win it again, the following year, is outstanding. If Price and Clayton go on like this the Taylor & Lewis records might be under threat.
Gary Anderson – The Flying Scotsman has found a new lease of life and, if rumours are true, we have Chris Dobey to thank for Ando’s resurgence. Pro Tour wins and finals as well as a run to the World Cup final with Peter Wright suggest that we won’t be bidding Garyy farewell for a while yet!
North American Darts – The PDC’s return to Madison Square Garden was a resounding success with many witnesses saying it has been transformed even from 2022. MVG adding crown to his Premier League won’t have done any harm and nor will Jeff Smith’s run to the final of the Masters.
Leonard Gates – The extrovert American’s decision to forgo the usual route and move straight to a hybrid of WSDT events and other opportunities away from the hugely demanding Pro Tour seems to have worked a treat. The ‘Soulger’ bagged back to back TV crowns with Senior World Masters victory last weekend
Fallon Sherrock – By her own standards it had been a slightly lean spell for the Queen of the Palace but after a strong performance at the MSS recently she seemed to thrive on her MBE award and immediately bagged a Women’s Series title and heads to Balckpool seemingly in fine spirits
Bounce Outs
Brian Raman – Only a couple of years ago The Riddler was WDF number one, was winning large scale opens regularly and had made a very good impression o n his MODUS Live League appearances.Then he won a PDC Tour Card. The evaporation of his confidence, winning ability and thus his results is verging on unsurpassed.
Belgian Darts – The fact that the pairing of van den Bergh and Huybrechts will be better remembered for their hostility and antics than for their superb run to the later stages says all that is needed about this sorry affair. Other nations with similar issues seem to manage them with a touch more discretion…
Ryan Joyce – Relentless has stumbled into another of his poor patches and cannot seem to get out of it. 2023 has yet to reward Ryan with more than a L32 on the Pro Tour and very little else to write home about. 3 years ago he was winning a Players Championship taking out Dave Chisnall in the final.
Paul Lim – Could it be that the light is finally fading from the Singapore Slinger’s unparalleled career? He failed to make this year’s PDC World Championship; we shall not see him in the 2023 WDF event either. He seems to have chosen to opt out of most WSDT events as well. His recent performances have looked lacklustre. Possibly he is tiring easier, rather than getting worse in general. His recent Bronze level WDF win offers some hope…
Richie Howson – It may seem harsh to land a serial TV finalist with the bounce-out tag but Richie really must win one of these events soon. His PDC career could be summed up as one of missed opportunities, and unfulfilled potential. It would be a shame if his WSDT adventure was remembered for multiple runner up spots.
—–ENDS—–
Images: Darts World Magazine
