THE European Championship has always been something of an enigma. It has witnessed perhaps the greatest single tournament performance – Phil Taylor in 2009 – and has been a pathway to boost the careers of several lower ranked players. Yet, despite this, or perhaps because of it, it has always been deemed a ‘lesser major’ if one at all.
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Perhaps times are changing? Luke Littler’s failure to win the event after multiple attempts has generated an unusual amount of attention and the event is undergoing a makeover. This week’s edition should not be missed.
50 Darts Years Ago
John Lowe was collecting the first of Winmau World Masters titles. A glance through the records and coverage shows it to be something of a changing of guard year.
Players such as Lowe and Alan Evans were claiming more high level events and others such as Bill Lennard and the legendary Tommy O’ Regan were beginning to fade.
45 Darts Years Ago
By 1981 that entire old guard had been totally replaced by the generation who were busy making the game’s first golden era, among them: Jocky Wilson, John Lowe, Leighton Rees, Cliff Lazerenko, Bobby George and a first group of non UK stars in Nicky Verachkul, Stefan Lord, Bob Sinnaeve and Paul Lim.
Of course, being the 1980s, the event was won by Eric Bristow who claimed the third of five that he would collect overall.
15 Darts Years Ago
The early years of the PDC’s European Championship saw it held in the, then quieter, summer period.
2011’s hosting was in Dusseldorf and featured stunning performances from Phil Taylor , who ran out the winner, and Adrian Lewis. Both men were close to their very best and racked up 100+ averages throughout with the power registering 109.29 to see off Jackpot in the final.
This week in that same year we had a glimpse of what was to come from Eastern Europe. Darius Labanauskas claimed the Lithuania Open after edging out a certain Maders Razma in the semi final in a deciding leg. It was the second year in a row they had met in the latter stages of the event with Lucky D gaining revenge for his quarter final loss in 2010.
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These two Eastern European trailblazers would soon be playing each other on the PDC ProTour and later on the Nordic and Baltic tier tour. Their 24 encounters illustrate their impressive progress and that of their region in our game. Darius is 13-11 up so far!
How Did DW See It?
Meanwhile Darts World magazine was celebrating multiple recent major wins. Winmau World Masters Scott Waites and Lisa Ashton were the cover stars (Issue 467) sharing top billing with Phil Taylor who was surging to another of his peak periods.
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Images: Darts World Magazine and
