Time flies when you are having fun – and for the thousands who have already trudged, sung, staggered and serenaded their way up Muswell Hill, this year’s PDC World Championship has been exactly that. A riot. A circus. A beautiful, chaotic blur of tungsten, fancy dress and festive madness that has already steamed past the halfway point of round one.
For the players, it has been the full emotional spectrum. Ecstasy at one end. Existential dread at the other. For the rest of us, it has been exactly why this tournament sits in a league of its own. Shocks. Surprises. Head-scratching moments. The kind of weirdness that only Ally Pally can serve up without apology.
Because while the darts have delivered, the sideshow has been in peak condition too. We have had trousers splitting under pressure. Tables punched in frustration. The now-traditional Ally Pally wasp making guest appearances, prompting a young Dutchman to arrive on stage armed with insect spray like he was about to fumigate the oche. Just another day in North London in December.
As we head into Wednesday evening, a remarkable 27 nations have already been represented on the Alexandra Palace stage. Of those, just six remain unbeaten so far: Latvia, Singapore, India, Northern Ireland and Austria. Yes, in all those cases that is played one, won one, but a 100 percent record is a 100 percent record and nobody ever puts an asterisk next to those.
When it comes to casualties among the elite, Ross Smith currently holds the unwanted honour. The world number 12 was sent packing by Sweden’s Andreas Harrysson, marking the biggest seeding shock of the opening exchanges. He is joined on the early flight home by Dimitri van den Bergh, Ritchie Edhouse and Cameron Menzies as the only other top-32 names to fall at the first hurdle so far.
Others have come perilously close. Fourth seed Stephen Bunting was dragged into deep waters by Polish youngster Sebastian Bialecki before eventually finding a way through. A reminder, if any were needed, that reputations count for nothing once the walk-on music fades.
Quality-wise, the big averages have been surprisingly thin on the ground. Just two ton-plus efforts so far. Unsurprisingly, Luke Littler leads the way, his 101.54 whitewash of Darius Labanauskas setting the early benchmark. Dutch prodigy Wessel Nijman also cracked three figures against Karel Sedlacek. And that, remarkably, is it. Expect that list to grow rapidly as the rounds progress and the brakes come off.
At the other end of the spectrum, only three players have dipped below the 80 average mark – Lisa Ashton, Oskar Lukasiak and Adam Gawlas, all of whom bowed out without being able to truly impose themselves.
Back to nation watch – and it throws up a few predictable trends. England, with sheer weight of numbers, lead the win column with sixteen victories so far. That dominance comes at a cost, though, with nine English players also already eliminated. The Netherlands sit perfectly balanced, five wins and five losses from their ten representatives to date.
Scotland, however, can look on with a quiet smile. Only five Scots qualified, although two of them – Peter Wright and Gary Anderson – have lifted the trophy twice each. Both safely negotiated their openers, as did Alan Soutar and Darren Beveridge. Only Cameron Menzies fell by the wayside. An 80 percent success rate from north of the border is not to be sniffed at. And we are still only getting started.
There are twists yet to come. Turns yet to be taken. More madness waiting just around the corner. Round one will finally draw to a close on Friday night when Keane Barry and Tim Pusey put the lid on the opening chapter.
Until then, buckle up. Ally Pally never does calm.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
