Darts

A few days ago I was talking with some players that are fairly new to the game, and issue off accuracy came up. We talked about the importance of being able to have your darts consistently land in a tight group. I told them that working on having good groups was more important for someone looking to improve their game than hitting a specific target when you are just starting out, because it shows you are able to consistently repeat your throw. Then the big question came out: "Why can't I consistently group my darts no matter how hard I try?"The answer is simple... most folks move their bodies too much! You throw the darts with your arm and hand... nothing more nothing less! Then I suggested that they have a look at this interview with Cali West!

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN continued his incredible run of success by claiming glory at the European Darts Open, defeating Simon Whitlock 6-2 in Sunday night's final at the Maritim Hotel in Dusseldorf. Van Gerwen followed up Thursday's McCoy's Premier League Darts triumph by romping to the £20,000 first prize in the PDC European Tour event in Germany, winning six matches during the weekend to take the title - his eighth tournament win this year. Having travelled from London to Dusseldorf on Friday, the Dutch ace overcame Germany's Andree Welge in the first round and then saw off Wayne Jones before claiming four victories on Sunday. However, after defeating Terry Jenkins, Gary Anderson and Peter Wright to reach the final, van Gerwen saved his best display for the decided as he gained revenge over Whitlock for a defeat in a Speedy Services UK Open Qualifier final recently. Van Gerwen kicked off the final with a 13-darter which included the first of three 180s, and though Whitlock took out 70 to level, van Gerwen won the next four legs without reply to move 5-1 up - hitting a 124 finish, an 11-darter and a 12-dart leg. Whitlock fired in a 180 and hit double ten to keep his hopes alive, but van Gerwen was not to be denied as he landed a maximum and finished 64 for a 14-darter to take the title with an average of 106.68. "It's been a brilliant few days," said van Gerwen, who takes home £20,000 following his first European Tour win. "I'm a bit tired at the moment but winning is the most important thing, and I'm very glad I saved my best game for the final. "Simon beat me the last time we played in a final and I knew I needed to play a proper game to beat him, and I think I showed my class with a very good performance tonight." He added: "The crowd was amazing and even though they were cheering for Simon in the final, they were very nice. "Darts is growing in Germany and the crowds are very good here. Every ticket's sold out and you want to see that." Van Gerwen will now travel to Dubai on Monday for next week's inaugural Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters, and he added: "I'm so happy with my game at the moment and I hope I can continue this form in Dubai as well because I want to do well there. "I fly to Dubai on Monday and I'll have a couple of days off when I get over there but I'll be preparing for the Dubai Masters. I'm looking forward to it and it's very exciting." Whitlock picks up £10,000 as runner-up, and had enjoyed a fine weekend as he won through to the final to delight the vociferous Dutch crowd, who cheered the Australian to the rafters. Whitlock had overcome Tomas Seyler and Arron Monk to reach Sunday afternoon's third round, where he saw off world number four James Wade 6-3. He then fired in eight 180s and a 170 checkout in a thrilling 6-2 quarter-final victory over Justin Pipe before ending Jamie Caven's hopes in the semis with a 6-4 win. "I'm happy to make the final and I've done really well," said Whitlock. "I'd have loved to have won it, but Michael's the best player on the planet right now, and fair play to him, he played brilliant. "He was absolutely awesome in the final. I beat Michael in the last two times I played him before this final and I expected to win, but the man is so good and he plays great darts. "I had some tough games and I'm happy with my performance to make the final." He added: "I also want to thank the crowd because they were great - it's the best crowd in the world for me. I don't get support like this anywhere else and I'm so grateful to have such a great crowd." Whitlock will join van Gerwen, and the likes of Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis, James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld in heading to the Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters, and he added: "I'm looking forward to every tournament I play right now and hopefully I can win in Dubai." Runs to the last four for Wright and Caven saw them clai

Michael van Gerwen continued his incredible run of success by claiming the European Darts Open title, defeating Simon Whitlock 6-2 in the final at the Maritim Hotel in Dusseldorf and streamed live on LIVEPDC.tv. Photo courtesy of Carsten Arlt, www.pdc-europe.net Van Gerwen followed up Thursday’s McCoy’s Premier League Darts triumph by romping to the £20,000 first prize in the PDC European Tour event in Germany, winning six matches during the weekend before lifting the trophy – his eighth tournament win this year. The … Read the full story >>

Michael van Gerwen remained in unstoppable form as the newly-crowned Premier League champion won the European Darts Open in Dusseldorf.

Kim Huybrechts continued his challenge to win a maiden European Tour title with a thrilling 6-5 victory over Raymond van Barneveld in the European Darts Open on Sunday afternoon. The third European Tour event of 2013 is being held in Dusseldorf and streamed exclusively live through www.LIVEPDC.TV. Belgian ace Huybrechts had only dropped two legs in his wins over Steve Maish and Stuart Kellett earlier in the event, and was averaging 110 as he moved 3-1 up against van Barneveld. He retained that advantage as he took a 5-3 cushion before van Barneveld punished two missed match darts to hit back and force a deciding leg – only to miss one dart for the win himself as Huybrechts returned to land double ten and reach the quarter-finals. “It was a very close game and I did get a bit nervous at the end when I had a couple of match darts,” admitted Huybrechts. “Raymond missed his chance and I took mine, so I’m very happy to be through.” Huybrechts will now face Jamie Caven in Sunday evening’s quarter-finals as the £100,000 tournament reaches its conclusion at the Maritim Hotel in Dusseldorf. The quarter-finals on Sunday night will be followed by the semi-finals and final, with a £20,000 first prize on offer for the champion. All matches are being screened exclusively live at www.livepdc.tv. Read the full story >>

European Darts Open – Sunday Finals Day Results Anderson popular with the fans in Germany Lots of great players still left in the European Open in germany, but one big name will be missing; as Phil Taylor was well beaten by Mervyn King last night.  Merv is a player who will never be scared of playing Phil, in fact he always seems to raise his game against his old foe. The players have already won £2,000 for their two days work, but things get serious now, playing for the £20,000 top prize for winning later tonight. It kicks off again at 12 noon UK time, and I’ll be updating scores and watching live on my laptop.  How?… Watch Live! The action is available to watch (I’ve been watching, and it’s sharp and smooth, with multi-camera viewing and commentary).  It’s only STREAMED LIVE on the official livepdc service (subscribe here for just £2.99 the month).  Live Scores can be followed through the PDC Live Scores Website at live.dartsdata.com. Third Round Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm) Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Terry Jenkins Gary Anderson 6-1 Brendan Dolan Robert Thornton 4-6 Peter Wright Colin Osborne 1-6 Andy Hamilton Simon Whitlock v James Wade Justin Pipe v Adrian Lewis Raymond van Barneveld v Kim Huybrechts Jamie Caven v Mervyn King Evening Session (6pm-10pm) Quarter-Finals Michael van Gerwen v Gary Anderson v v v Semi-Finals Final Prize Fund Winner £20,000 Runner-Up £10,000 Semi-Finalists £5,000 Quarter-Finalists £3,000 Third Round Losers £2,000 Second Round Losers £1,000 First Round Losers £500 Total £100,000

Mervyn King knocked World Champion Phil Taylor out of the European Darts Open with a 6-2 victory in the second round of the £100,000 event on Saturday night, but big guns Michael van Gerwen, Raymond van Barneveld, Adrian Lewis, James Wade & Simon Whitlock all progressed to the last 16 in Dusseldorf. Taylor, who lost to van Gerwen in Thursday’s McCoy’s Premier League Darts final, had been bidding to bounced back in the £100,000 European Tour event. Read the full story >>

European Darts Open – Saturday Round 2 Updates Justin Pipe on the live stream Mrs Krispy did a great job updating the site last night while I was at my darts league presentation evening.  I’m back on the keyboard durty now though.  The second round of the European Darts Open takes place on Saturday afternoon as the Last 32 players battle for places in Sunday’s final stages in Dusseldorf. The £100,000 European Tour event is being held at the Maritim Hotel, with Friday’s first round winners returning to compete across two stages on Saturday. Follow scores and match information below throughout the day. Watch Live! The action is available to watch (I’ve seen some, and it’s sharp and smooth, with multi-camera viewing).  It’s only STREAMED LIVE on the official livepdc service (subscribe here for just £2.99 the month).  Live Scores can be followed through the PDC Live Scores Website at live.dartsdata.com. UPDATE:  Rod Harrington, talking on the live stream comentary, says that there will be even more money in PDC darts next year, with it raising up to around £7,000,000 available on the tour in 2014. European Darts Open – European Tour Event Three  Saturday May 18 Second Round Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm) Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Stuart Kellett Peter Wright 6-3 Mark Webster Ronnie Baxter 3-6 Terry Jenkins Dave Chisnall 3-6 Jamie Caven Justin Pipe 6-2 Mark Cox Ian White 3-6 Gary Anderson John Part 0-6 Brendan Dolan Robert Thornton 6-4 Alex Roy Evening Session (6pm-10pm) Paul Nicholson v James Wade Wes Newton v Colin Osborne Andy Hamilton v Andy Parsons Adrian Lewis v Richie Burnett Raymond van Barneveld v Kevin Painter Phil Taylor v Mervyn King Michael van Gerwen v Wayne Jones Simon Whitlock v Arron Monk

Michael van Gerwen swept past Germany’s Andree Welge to reach the second round of the European Darts Open, and will be joined by Premier League Play-Off rivals Phil Taylor, James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld, who all returned to winning ways. The Dutch ace claimed the biggest triumph of his career on thursday night by taking glory in the McCoy’s Premier League Darts, and began his bid to win the £20,000 PDC European Tour event in Dusseldorf just 24 hours later. Welge took the lead in their first round … Read the full story >>

Nicholson, who reached the European Championship quarter-finals on the Maritim Hotel stage two years ago, dropped just one leg as he swept past Stephen Hardy, sealing a 6-1 win with a 127 finish. Belgian ace Huybrechts laid down the gauntlet to brother Ronny - who plays Peter Wright - by winning through to the second round with a 6-1 romp against Steve Maish, hitting four 180s and a 170 checkout in a fine display. March's UK Masters European Tour winner John Part was another 6-1 winner as he defeated Holland's Jerry Hendriks, with Mark Webster and Wayne Jones winning by the same scorelines against Darren Johnson and Bobby Biemans respectively. Scotland's Gary Anderson averaged just over 100 in his 6-1 defeat of youngster Shaun Griffiths, while Dave Chisnall - last year's European Darts Open runner-up to Raymond van Barneveld - won in the same fashion against Chris Aubrey. Wes Newton, a European Tour winner in Stuttgart last month, began his bid for back-to-back titles with a 6-3 win over Holland's Mareno Michels, while Terry Jenkins saw off Mark Jones 6-2. Mervyn King, meanwhile, hit back from behind to edge out popular Prakash Jiwa 6-5 in the afternoon session's closest game on the main stage. Brendan Dolan also took victory in an 11-leg thriller on Stage Two, with Jelle Klaasen hitting a 180 to leave 36 in the decider only to see the Northern Irish ace finish 125 with bullseye, 25 and bullseye. Bristol's debutant Andy Parsons came from 5-2 down to cause an upset with a fine comeback win over Colin Lloyd, who missed five match darts as he exited in the first round. Andy Smith was another seed to be knocked out on the opening afternoon as he went down 6-2 to Swindon's Mark Cox, while Ian White saw off Kevin Dowling by the same scoreline and Kevin Painter hit a superb seven 180s in his 6-3 defeat of David Pallett, with Jamie Caven seeing off Paul Amos in the same style. European Darts Open - European Tour Event Three Friday May 17 First Round Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm) Main Stage Dave Chisnall 6-1 Chris Aubrey Wes Newton 6-3 Mareno Michels Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Steve Maish Paul Nicholson 6-1 Stephen Hardy Terry Jenkins 6-2 Mark Jones Gary Anderson 6-1 Shaun Griffiths Mervyn King 6-5 Prakash Jiwa Kevin Painter 6-3 David Pallett Stage Two Wayne Jones 6-1 Bobby Biemans Ian White 6-2 Kevin Dowling Brendan Dolan 6-5 Jelle Klaasen Mark Webster 6-1 Darren Johnson Colin Lloyd 5-6 Andy Parsons Andy Smith 2-6 Mark Cox John Part 6-1 Jerry Hendriks Jamie Caven 6-3 Paul Amos Evening Session (7pm-12am) Main Stage Robert Thornton 6-5 Kurt Van De Rijck Andy Hamilton 6-5 Mensur Suljovic Adrian Lewis 6-1 Keith Stephen Justin Pipe v Max Hopp - live scores Richie Burnett v Steve Beaton Phil Taylor v Matt Clark James Wade v Jyhan Artut Michael van Gerwen v Andree Welge Simon Whitlock v Tomas Seyler Raymond van Barneveld v Adam Hunt Stage Two Arron Monk 6-5 Kevin McDine Mark Walsh 2-6 Alex Roy Peter Wright 6-2 Ronny Huybrechts Colin Osborne v Terry Temple - live scores Ronnie Baxter v Maik Langendorf Stuart Kellett v Dennis Smith