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When it’s cold and dark with Christmas rapidly approaching, Britain’s true athletes take centre stage. Not the overpaid prima donnas with shin pads and hair-bands, but real men you might find down your local with one additional talent – the precision of a surgeon. The holiday period means but one thing to avid sports fans – it’s time to get down to the Circus Tavern in Purfleet for the World Darts Championship.If you want to learn about darts, there’s only one man to speak to – Phil Jones, the Master of Ceremonies for the PDC, who has been involved in every PDC World Championship since 1993, and who celebrates 30 years in top class darts in 2007. We asked Phil for a run-down on why this event is so special and what to expect this year. The Circus Tavern in Purfleet might sound like any old pub to some, but to darts players and enthusiasts, it holds a special place in the heart. Why is this? It was where it all started for the PDC in 1993 and has been the home of the World Darts Championships since then. It’s a bit like darts itself: an unpretentious, down to earth, working-class venue where the fans are close to the action. It’s brash, bawdy, and loud. Darts is a pub sport, and in many ways the Circus Tavern is the nearest thing to a real pub atmosphere of all the PDC championship venues. However, it can be a daunting place for the faint-hearted, so previous experience of the unique atmosphere is a distinct advantage. When I introduce each player onto stage, I can tell those who are revelling in the occasion and those who, quite frankly, at that moment might prefer to be somewhere else. So look for a proven ‘Circus Tavern’ track record. Phil Taylor, obviously, Peter Manley, John Part, Kevin Painter and Dennis Priestley are the Circus ‘Lions’ waiting to feed on any nerves shown by their opponents. Even non-darts fans recognise the name Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor. That must lift the profile of the sport significantly, but is it good for darts to have one player so dominant for so long? 
Without any doubt, Phil’s dominance has attracted major sponsors, new fans, and younger players hoping one day to emulate him. Phil is recognized for what he is, a true champion of his chosen sport. Not just by those within the sport, but by many champions of other sports. He has demonstrated time and time again that darts is a game of immense skill - the millimetre perfection of the coordination between the arm and brain. Personally, I think that not only has Phil Taylor elevated darts to a sport which now commands respect instead of derision, but he has actually increased the standard of other players who simply have to play better to even keep pace with him. However, it is probably very true that part of the massive fan base that darts now has do watch, or attend live events, to see if Phil can be beaten. More often than not they have been disappointed. Taylor has won an incredible 13 World Darts Championships – is there anyone capable of knocking him off his perch this year or is he nigh on invincible? While Phil will start of a very warm favourite for the 2007 title, he is, by no means invincible. The inclusion of Raymond Van Barneveld, the 4 times BDO World Champion from Holland will attract a lot of smart money. Raymond holds victories over Phil in two major championships in 2006, the UK Open and the Las Vegas Desert Classic. An in-form John Part (Canada), who beat Phil in the 2003 final, is always up for a match against the Master. World ranked No.1, Colin ‘Jaws’ Lloyd, though not having a particularly good track record at the Tavern, is not No.1 for nothing. His consistency could see him go all the way to the final, if not win the whole thing. The very first PDC World Champion, Dennis ‘The Menace’ Priestley is in a rich vein of form at the moment and cannot be discounted. His remarkable resurgence to No.3 in the world rankings is testament to how well he is playing. The super cool Yorkshireman will fix his steely eyes on the treble 20 and not even notice the crowd. Betfair punters love to bet in-play, and darts is ideal for it. What sort of things should they be looking for during a match? 
Body language, pure and simple. Some players can throw a bad dart, score a low score, miss a winning double by a whisker, but you would never know their disappointment or their annoyance with themselves. They are in control. There is no way they are going to give their opponents a psychological advantage of seeing them anything other than in full control. Others, Adrian Lewis and Kevin Painter for example, live and breathe every single dart as though it is the be-all and end-all. When things are not going as well as planned, you can see it in their body language. With some players, a missed opportunity does not just last for that single brief moment. They carry their disappointment into the next leg, and even the one after that. Also, throwing first in a set is a big advantage. It means that in the best of five legs per set, he throws first three times against his opponents two. He is expected to win that set. However, if he loses it, psychologically he knows that he has to win the next set against ‘the throw’, or find himself two sets adrift. Think of it in exactly the same way as serving first in a Tennis set, and the importance placed on ‘losing your serve’. The standard is now so high that any player is capable of pulling out that big, match-changing out-shot, but Taylor is the obvious master at retrieving ‘hopeless’ situations with huge out-shots. This not only wins him vital legs, but wears down his opponents’ confidence. |
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