Grand Slam of Darts 2009 – TTT Review
The Grand Slam of Darts is one of the most exciting tournaments on the calendar and it’s been a superb tournament yet again with loads of twists and turns, a few predictable results and some real shocks. There’s been dramatic comebacks, mesmerising drama and even a 9-dart shoot-out just in case you weren’t completely satisfied with the tension in the normal games.
There’s also been more than a fair share of controversy this year, with Ted Hankey being the centre of a lot of it and the PDC crowd coming in for a lot of stick as well, I’ll come to that later. So, on to the review...
Group Stages
The group stages come in for a bit of stick from traditional darts fans but I for one am a fan of the system. It’s good to have different types of tournament throughout the year, you’ve got the sets/legs set up of the World Championships, double-in at the Grand Prix, straight legs at the Premier League and groups at the Grand Slam. Variety is the spice of life as they say.
There were some superb games in the group stages this year, the two games that got everyone talking involved Vincent van der Voort; he was on both the winning and losing side of memorable games. Firstly he was beaten by an impressive Anastasia Dobromyslova 5-4 in an emotional match and seemed to take it badly by all accounts, according to Phil Taylor he was thinking of retiring! Then, in his very next match he hammered Taylor 5-1 in an astonishing game, ok Phil Taylor didn’t really turn up to the game and hit his lowest televised average for 11 years, but you can only beat what’s in front of you and no matter what he’s scoring it’s still a daunting sight to see The Power throwing against you.
Kevin McDine’s 170 finish was also a highlight of the group stages for me, there’s few things better than seeing a young player giving a scare to the more experienced pros. Although I think Kirk Shepherd needs to learn from his magic dance after beating Steve Maish, tone it down next time Kirk!
Of course then there’s the 9-dart shootout between James Wade and Andy Hamilton to add extra spice. Just like a penalty shootout in football the 9-dart shootout has its detractors within the game, but to spectators it’s pure tension and excitement. Although both shootouts so far have come to a bit of an anti-climax of sorts, they’re still gripping to watch, and in my opinion there’s very few bigger 180s than the ones James Wade hit this year, at that point he was just 4 points ahead of Hamilton but the maximum meant he was out of reach for the last throw and had won before his opponent reached the oche for the third time. I did feel sorry for Hamilton but both players knew the rules before the tournament started and that’s the way it goes sometimes.
Highs and Lows of the Groups...
For me the highlight was Anastasia’s win over Vincent van der Voort followed by van der Voort’s victory over Phil Taylor. Who’d have thought that Group A would hold the surprise results!
Another big high point for me was the performance of Tony O’Shea, he fit in with the PDC atmosphere right from the start, his walk on had the crowd in the palm of his hand and he never let go right to the end. I hope to see Tony and his friend Darryl Fitton playing in front of PDC crowds more in the future. As a fan of Madness, Fitton’s entrance is an absolute joy!
Of course a mention has to be made of Francis Hoenselaar, she performed bravely in front of a raucous crowd (most of whom were supporting her) and did herself proud, I can imagine how difficult it may have been playing against her fellow countryman Raymond van Barneveld but she gave herself chances to take more legs of the 5-time World Champ and was unlucky in the end.
The lows have to be Ted Hankey’s tantrums and his poor reactions to the crowd. Yes the crowd were out of order a few times, but some say Hankey brought it on himself with his interviews in the build up to the tournament plus his overall play was poor, his overall 3-dart average was around 83. More on Ted in a future article...
Another low point for me has to be the disappointing form of Adrian Lewis, a player who has been on the cusp of becoming a consistently good player for a while but never seems to make the step up when he needs to. I’d love to see Adrian step up consistently because he’s got a great natural talent for the game and his ability to get under the skin of his opponents is a real sign of a top player in the making. Here’s hoping for a big 2010 for Jackpot.
Second Round
Second round matches and results:
John O’Shea 10-9 Mark Webster
Kevin Painter 10-5 Kirk Shepherd
Phil Taylor 10-4 Colin Lloyd
Mervyn King 6-10 Raymond van Barneveld
Robert Thornton 10-9 Darin Young
Simon Whitlock 10-1 Steve Beaton
Terry Jenkins 10-9 James Wade
Gary Anderson 9-10 Scott Waites
The first match of the second round was possibly the game of the tournament. Tony O’Shea vs. Mark Webster, the current BDO #1 vs. The 2007 BDO World Champion, it certainly lived up to that billing. An absolute classic match that went the full distance, after loads of missed doubles it was the Silverback who eventually hit the winning shot and booked himself a meeting with The Power in the next round.
Both players deserved to go through to the next round but it was the BDO man who made it through in the end.
It was always going to be difficult to follow that classic but Kevin Painter and Kirk Shepherd tried nonetheless. While it was never going to be a true classic, Painter’s performance was a textbook professional job, he hammered at Shepherd until he eventually succumbed. Painter hit 50% of his doubles to take the game 10-5.
The next game had a bit of a fairytale possibility to it, Phil Taylor had just been beaten by Vincent van der Voort and Colin Lloyd was primed to kick him while he was down. Unfortunately for Jaws Taylor was having none of that and suddenly put his foot down after about five legs and started hitting the big scores consistently roaring to a 10-4 win with an average of over 107.
Next up came a meeting between the 2009 Premier League finalist Mervyn King vs. 2007 PDC World Champion Raymond van Barneveld. It had the makings of a classic and while it didn’t really reach the heights of the previous match it certainly didn’t disappoint, yes it was a bit scrappy in parts and Barney seemed to be struggling to consistently get a good lie with his stem/flight combo (for this tournament he elected to use his black titanium barrels with Sigma Pro stems - erroneously called Slikstiks by the commentary team on ITV4 - and flights) but he got there in the end, finally beating a below par King 10-6.
Day two of the second round started with the American Darin Young going up against Scotsman Robert Thornton. Another exceptionally close match with Thornton leading for most of the match Young would not let him get any breathing space, Thornton was two legs clear at 9-7 only for Young to win the next two to force a decider, which Thornton took with a tremendous 116 finish. A superb ending to a great contest.
Next up was The Wizard Simon Whitlock facing the in-form Steve Beaton. This one was a real puzzler for darts fans as Whitlock produced a masterclass performance hammering The Bronzed Adonis 10-1. Although leg-by-leg this game could have been a lot closer, Beaton missed a few doubles including an agonising 157 finish in the eighth leg before eventually winning that leg on madhouse. A promising display from the Australian which many felt would propel him into the next round full of confidence.
Another top 6 clash was up next with Terry Jenkins facing current Premier League Champion James Wade. Wade was full of confidence after winning the 9-dart shootout, Jenkins was also up for the game after finishing top of his group. The game was another close run one with some amazing darts thrown in. Jenkins’s tenacity kept him with Wade throughout the contest. Wade hit 7 maximums to Jenkins’s 3, but Jenkins hit the big finishes when he needed including a spectacular 121 finish on the bull in the final deciding leg to win 10-9. This was another game which could easily have gone either way. In the deciding leg Jenkins left 121 and Wade followed him leaving 126, piling even more pressure on The Bull. But Jenkins lived up to his nickname and hit the centre spot to progress to the quarter finals.
The final match of the second is my shout for game of the tournament. Gary Anderson vs. Scott Waites. Anderson hit 11 180s during this match, averaging over 100 and still managed to lose the game. Waites never gave up, no matter how much Anderson pelted the 60 bed he just kept pushing and pushing knowing he’d get his chances, and when he did he made sure to take them. Anderson led 9-7 and looked certain to book himself a place in the quarter finals but he couldn’t cross the finish line, unlucky not to win the match on a 122 finish the frustration started to get to Anderson as Waites levelled the game at 9-9 before winning the final leg on double 5 to stun the Dreamboy and move on to the quarters and a match with Simon Whitlock.
Check back tomorrow for part 2 of The Tungsten Times’ review of the 2009 PDC Grand Slam of Darts including my views on the final and a concluding thought on the tournament as a whole. Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed it.
‘Appy ‘Arrers
Bob
