Power Failure Opens Up World Darts Championship

Phil Taylor crashed out of the PDC World Darts Championship at the last 32 stage last night after a 4-1 defeat against Dave “Chizzee Rascal” Chisnall. Without trying to take anything away from Chisnall’s achievement Taylor was far from his best – he uncharacteristically hit the 5 and the 1 a number of times and his finishing on double top was pretty woeful by and professionals standard, never mind the extremely high standards we have come to expect from Taylor over the years.

The departure of Taylor who was around evens to win the tournament has well and truly opened the door for a new World Champion. Of the players left in the competition only John Part and Adrian Lewis have won the world championship in the past and based on the performances of Lewis against Nigel Heydon and Robert Thornton I’m not convinced he has what it takes to retain the crown this year, if you disagree Lewis can be backed at 11/2. Part meanwhile is more of an outsider (currently best priced 40/1) and has so far beaten John Henderson and Richie Burnett en route to the last 16. Part has a tough task on his hands if he is to make the semi-final – he faces the in-form Kevin Painter in the round of 32 and then could meet James Wade in the quarter final.

Following his shock win over Phil Taylor last night Dave Chisnall has come in to 9/1 to win the championship, before the tournament began he was 66/1 – what a difference a couple of weeks can make. Chizzy will face Andy Hamilton in the third-round before a potential clash with Paul Nicholson in the quarter final, also in this half is bookies favourite Gary Anderson (4/1). In Anderson, Chisnall, Nicholson and even Simon Whitlock I believe we have four men who could genuinely win the World Championship.

My pick to win the crown from here however is James Wade. Priced at 13/1 at the start of the tournament Wade is now 5/1 – he faces Steve Farmer next before a match-up with Part or Painter, crucially I feel if he can get to the semi-final he’ll have an easier route to the final than whoever triumphs in the other half of the draw. If he makes it that far his semi-final opponent will be one of Wayne Jones, Adrian Lewis, Justin Pipe or Terry Jenkins and while these players all have ability I feel Wade on top of his game is better than any of the other players listed when they too are at their best.

Whatever happens from here we are guaranteed an exciting climax to the tournament, I for one am pleased Phil Taylor has gone out as the programming will no longer be 90% Taylor hype. A number of players will now feel this is the best chance they’ve ever had to win the title, Wade at 5/1, Painter at 22/1 and Chizzy at 9/1 are my picks from here. 

PDC World Darts Championship: Day One Preview

Let the singing and tungsten wielding begin... The PDC World Darts Championship is back!  

                                                    

Tonight marks the beginning of the 2012 PDC World Darts Championship as 2011 champion Adrian “Jackpot” Lewis begins the defence of his title.

The champion beginning his defence on the opening night has become a tradition and in Nigel Heydon Lewis is expected to have a simple route to the second round. Lewis didn’t compete in the Players Championship event in Doncaster last week and it is yet to be seen whether this time off has a positive or detrimental effect on his performance. While a lot of his rivals for the crown got some much needed competitive darts on TV under their belts Lewis did not. However the same can be said for Leamington Spa’s Nigel Heydon who isn’t expected to put up much of a challenge against Lewis. Heydon is a little known name to PDC darts fans but this isn’t the first time he has been seen on our television screens. He surprisingly reached the last 16 of the UK Open in 2010 defeating the likes of Mark Dudbridge before eventually going out to Wes Newton. Nicknamed “The Undertaker” due to his other profession Heydon also appeared in the Grand Slam of Darts earlier this year where he made something of an impact beating Gary Anderson in the group stage, unfortunately for Nigel despite that victory he failed to progress from group C. Heydon’s other notable appearance came in last year’s World Championship crashing out to Robert Thornton in round one. Tonight Lewis is priced at 1/7 with the bookmakers whilst Nigel Heydon is 6/1. In this best of five sets first round match Lewis is 11/4 to win 3-0 while Heydon to win with a +2.5 set handicap is 4/5. If you’re really expecting a shock then Heydon to win 3-0 is available at 20/1 with 3-1 9/1!

Elsewhere this evening Jamie Caven faces veteran Roland “Tripod” Scholten. It is generally agreed Scholten’s best darts are behind him. The Dutchman’s impressive history includes two Las Vegas Desert Classic semi-final appearances, a Premier League of Darts final appearance, a UK Open title and two World Championship quarter final appearances. His opponent tonight is 18^th rank Jamie Caven, Caven carries a unique story with him as he is actually blind in one eye due to a bee sting when he was young, he’s also a diabetic and requires up to four injections per day, this doesn’t stop Caven, nicknamed Jabba though as the 35-year old looks to make a career for himself in this highly competitive sport. Caven is the bookies favourite at 8/13 with Scholten best priced 11/8. The correct score market sees Caven 10/3 to win 3-0, Scholten 13/2 to win 3-0 and under 5.5 180’s to be hit an interesting 4/5.

Mark Webster faces Richie Burnett in what could be the match of the night. The welsh duo have been tipped to represent Wales in the upcoming PDC World Cup of Darts and I feel this one could be a tight contest. Earlier this week Webster reached the final of the Players Championship where he lost to Kevin “The Artist” Painter. It’ll be interesting to see if Webster takes confidence from his performance in Doncaster or if after being made the favourite to win the final his confidence has taken a hit after his defeat. Burnett has become something of a rejuvenated figure as of late reaching both the World Grand Prix semi-final and the Last 16 of the UK Open this year. Burnett also appeared at the Players Championship event earlier this month losing a tricky first round match to Wes Newton. Without discrediting the Players Championship too much I don’t feel this was the main priority of any of the players on show as the withdrawal of Lewis and the Second Round departure of Phil Taylor highlighted. Mark Webster is a 3/10 favourite for this one with Burnett 11/4. Personally I think this could be a closer match than odds would suggest but if you disagree and can see this being a rout Webster 3-0 is available at 7/2. Burnett with a +1.5 set handicap is 6/5 and I wouldn’t discourage anybody from backing that outcome.

Finally we will see Wayne Jones up against either Paul Barham or Scott MacKenzie. Barham is a PDC Youth Tour Qualifier. MacKenzie has a Scottish father and was born in Brazil but now represents Hong Kong, the country he moved to as a teenager, he is an International Qualifier. The bookmakers have this one as 11/13 Barham and evens MacKenzie but with literally no knowledge of these players I couldn’t pass a recommendation! Whichever way it goes Wolverhampton’s Wayne Jones is waiting and in the 46-year old number fifteen in the world a tough challenge awaits. Jones reached the 2006 World Darts Championship semi-final before losing to Peter Manley and will no doubt be hungry to replicate that success this year.

Schedule:
19:15: Jamie Caven vs Roland Scholten
20:15: Paul Barham vs Scott MacKenzie
21:00: Mark Webster vs Richie Burnett
22:00: Adrian Lewis vs Nigel Heydon
23:00: Wayne Jones vs Paul Barham/Scott MacKenzie 

Ten Footballers You May Have Forgotten Exist: Part One

From players once labelled as wonder kids to premier league regulars of the past a number of football players now find themselves plying their trade in the bottom two leagues of the English football league. In this post I will look at the first five of ten players who fans of premier league teams may have forgotten exist.

1. Nolberto “Nobby” Solano

Best known for: Being a Newcastle United and Premier League legend

Now playing for: Hartlepool United

Nobby Solano is an interesting character, his fame in his native Peru is so extreme that his wedding was shown live on TV. He came to England in 1998 aged 25 joining Newcastle thus becoming the first Peruvian ever to play in the Premier League. He played at St. James’ Park for six years before departing the club in 2004. At that stage he joined Aston Villa, during just one season he played 49 times for Villa in the 2004-05 campaign before returning for another two year stint at Newcastle, in total he played over 240 times for The Magpies. By his own request Solano, now aged 32 joined West Ham ahead of the 2007-08 season so that he could be closer to his family, he netted four goals in twenty-three appearances for The Hammers during the one season he spent at the club. Solano’s next step was to depart England and for a season and a half he went under the radar of most British football fans as he played in Greece for Larissa before then turning out for Universitario de Deportes in his home country of Peru. In January 2010 Solano was back, returning to England for a six month spell with Leicester City. He was on the move once again that summer re-uniting with Nigel Pearson at Hull City, he played eleven times for The Tigers during the 2010-11 season before a somewhat surprising return to the north east which saw him join League One side Hartlepool United. He has so far played eight times and score two goals for The Monkey Hangers, if you happen to find yourself in the north east on a day when Hartlepool are at home it may be a good idea to go to the game and watch one of the true midfield engines of the Premier League era in the twilight stage of his career.  

2. Steve Simonsen

Best known for: At one point being the most expensive goalkeeper in British football history

Now playing for: Sheffield United

Steve Simonsen was once believed to have the world at his feet, after forty-two appearances for Tranmere Rovers in all competitions the goalkeeper joined fellow Merseyside club Everton for £3.3 million, at that point both Everton and Tranmere were controlled by Peter Johnson making this something of a controversial transfer. Simonsen appeared four times for the England Under 21 team and was widely tipped for a great future in the game but unfortunately for Simonsen this never really materialised. After playing just thirty matches in six years at Everton the ‘keeper moved on to Stoke City for a free transfer deciding that he didn’t want to be a benchwarmer anymore. During six years at the Britannia Stadium Simonsen played one hundred and sixty six times in the league, his appearance figure slowed down after the 2007-08 season as he once again become second choice, this time to Thomas Sørensen. He rejoined Sheffield United in March 2010 on a one-month loan deal, after seven appearances Simonsen returned to parent club Stoke City. At the end of the 2009-10 season Stoke decided to release Simonsen on a free transfer which resulted in him completing a permanent transfer to Sheffield United on a two-year deal, Simonsen’s luck didn’t turn however as he suffered relegation in his first full season at Bramall Lane. He continues to play for Sheffield United now in the nPower League One where he hopes to keep as many clean sheets as possible as his side battle to achieve promotion back to the Championship.

3. Bradley Wright-Phillips

Best known for: Being regarded as a star of the future during his time in the Manchester City youth system

Now playing for: Charlton Athletic

Although never a Premier League regular Bradley Wright-Phillips was once tipped to have a brilliant career. Before the Middle Eastern billions appeared Bradley, the half-brother of Shaun Wright-Phillips played 32 times for Manchester City. His City career never really took off and in 2006 he signed for Championship club Southampton. Unfortunately for Wright-Phillips after three years with The Saints he suffered the pain of relegation as Southampton dropped to League One. At that stage he moved to Plymouth Argyle but in another turn of bad luck Plymouth hit financial problems and in January 2011 he was on the move once again this time joining Charlton Athletic who were battling for promotion back to the Championship. Although often in the shadow of brother Shaun I doubt Bradley, now 26 expected to find himself in League One at a time in his career which is often considered a footballers prime. He has been brilliant so far for Charlton hitting 22 goals in 39 matches for The Addicks. At 26 could he potentially play in the Premier League again? If he works hard and keeps up his current form then I don’t see why not.

4. James Beattie                     

Best known for: His time in the Premier League at clubs like Southampton, Everton and Stoke City
Now playing for: Sheffield United

For a fair long time James Beattie was an established Premier League name; after appearing four times for his first club Blackburn Rovers he moved on to Southampton where he eventually became an established Premier League striker. He stayed in Hampshire for seven season scoring 68 goals in his 204 appearances before a £6 million move to Merseyside and Everton, he stayed at Everton from 2005 until 2007 until he transferred to Sheffield United for a fee of £4 million, he scored 34 goals in 62 games for The Blades before another transfer, this time to Stoke City for a fee which had the potential to rise to £3.5 million. After just 9 goals in 38 matches for The Potters Beattie moved on to Rangers, unfortunately for him he failed to make an impression in Scotland as he didn’t score in any of his 7 appearances for The Gers. A loan to Blackpool followed in 2011 but once again Beattie failed to hit the net, this time in nine appearances for The Seasiders. After a short period without a club Beattie has now returned to Sheffield United where he hopes to lead The Blades back to the Championship.

5. Neil Mellor

Best known for: Two vital goals for Liverpool earlier in his career

Now playing for: Preston North End

Neil Mellor was once tipped to be a star of the future for Liverpool and England but unfortunately for him it hasn’t really worked out.  Mellor’s youth career was something special as he starred for Liverpool en route to the FA Youth Cup semi-final of the 2000-01 season, then aged 19. Mellor made his debut in the 2002-03 season and signed a 3-year contract in 2003 which would keep him at the club until 2006. Mellor’s next step was a season-long loan deal to West Ham where he scored two goals in sixteen matches. Perhaps Mellor’s most memorable moment came in November 2004 when he scored a screamer from thirty yards out to win the game 2-1 for Liverpool. However things soon went downhill for Mellow as he had to undergo surgery on both of his knees, after recovering Mellor went on loan to Wigan Athletic where he scored one goal in three matches. In August 2006 Mellor signed for Championship club Preston North End under the guidance of Paul Simpson, since that move he has played 127 times scoring 38 goals, with Preston in the Championship he went out on loan to League One side Sheffield Wednesday for the 2010-11 season where he performed reasonably scoring 13 goals in 33 matches. At the end of the 2010-11 season Mellor’s parent club Preston North End suffered relegation and so decided to hold onto him ahead of the 2011-12 campaign in the hope he can spearhead an attempt at getting back to the Championship at the first time of asking. Once a player considered a star of the future Mellor scored crucial goals for Liverpool against Arsenal and Olympiakos but since then it hasn’t really worked out for Mellor. At 29 his time is numbered and if he wants to play at a higher level than League One again in his career the fortunes of Preston this season could be vital.  

Football: Five reasons why Chelsea will still qualify for the Last 16 of the Champions League

1.       Chelsea are brilliant at the bridge

Okay so Chelsea have been considered underperformers so far in Group E of this year’s Champions League but this doesn’t tell the whole story. At home they have played two games; one against Bayer Leverkusen who have already qualified for the Last 16 and surprise qualifiers Genk, both of these matches resulted in wins for the London outfit – 2-0 against Bayer Leverkusen and 5-0 against Genk. Although they need a result against Valencia on match day six to qualify their home record suggests they have not been as bad as some parts of the media are making out.

2.       Valencia have been largely unimpressive away in this year’s competition

Valencia may have stuffed Genk 7-0, beaten Leverkusen 3-1 and grabbed a point in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea in the home group stage matches this season but away from home it has been a different story. They fell apart to lose 2-1 away to Bayer Leverkusen and somehow failed to hit the net against group minnows Genk in Belgium during a 0-0 draw, clearly they are not the best travellers by any stretch of the imagination. Add into the equation Chelsea’s brilliant home record and the signs are somewhat ominous for Los Che.

3.       Chelsea have the better squad

A few years ago Valencia could boast names like David Silva and David Villa but nowadays it is a different story. Financial problems meant that they had to sell and while they did replace these star players they were never going to be able to get a like-for-like David Villa or David Silva. Roberto Soldado has come in from Getafe and impressed many but I believe the majority of Valencia fans would rather be seeing David Villa line up than 26-year old Soldado.  Meanwhile while Valencia have been selling Chelsea have been buying, £50M for Fernando Torres and £25M for David Luiz have so far been expensive flops but in the likes of Raul Meireles, Juan Manuel Mata and the ever-improving Daniel Sturridge (who many people forget they splashed out an initial £3.5M to take from Manchester City) they have bought clever, if these players play to the best of their abilities during the group decider Chelsea should triumph.

4.       The pressure is on Villas-Boas

Some may feel this is a peculiar reason as to why I feel Chelsea will qualify but bare with me. When appointed Andre Villas-Boas received complete backing from his senior players and although this is not a rare occurrence to me it all seemed genuine, the likes of Terry and Lampard spoke of how delighted they were that a manager of his ability had taken over. Chelsea’s players undoubtedly want consistency and in Villas-Boas, who Chelsea paid Porto £13.3M to release him from his contract, they surely hoped they had the man to carry them into the future. As it stands if Chelsea do lose to Valencia on match day six Villas-Boas may well not even last the season, the media are circling but I don’t think anybody at Stamford Bridge want yet another manager to depart so quickly under the Abramovich reign.

5.       Chelsea could go into this game in high spirits

Chelsea have certainly underperformed so far during the Premier League campaign but in their defence they have faced Liverpool, Arsenal and Man United already. The home tie with Valencia takes place on Tuesday the 6^th of December and by then they could have a new spark of life, this Saturday they have a home clash with Wolves a game they really should be winning before they then meet Liverpool also at home in the Carling Cup on the 29^th of November. The last match between now and the game against Valencia is a tricky away tie against in-form Newcastle at St James’ Park (or whatever it’s called at the time you’re reading this!) three wins from these games and confidence would suddenly come flying back to Chelsea, I believe Villas-Boas will be able to turn it around between now and the crucial game in two weeks time, Los Che beware. 

Football: Doncaster's Bold New Approach

El-Hadji Diouf, Pascal Chimbonda, Carl Ikeme, Herita Ilunga and Habib Beye. What do these footballers have in common? They all now ply their trade at the Keepmoat Stadium as part of the somewhat bizarre revolution happening at Doncaster Rovers. When it was announced that football agent Willie McKay would come in and have a lot of power relating to future transfer dealings in response to the clubs poor start to the Championship campaign a lot of eyebrows were raised. This change in transfer policy also coincided with a management change as Dean Saunders replaced Sean O’Driscoll.

Saunders was an interesting appointment given the direction the club is going in. His only previous management experience was as the top man at Wrexham whom he was in charge of for three years. Although he did a good job in Wales a move to a Championship club clearly illustrated a huge step up the ladder. Personally I’m not sure this was the right appointment or indeed the right move for Saunders given what was to come; names like El-Hadji Diouf and Pascal Chimbonda don’t exactly scream easy to manage and so bringing in somebody like Saunders (who admittedly had a brilliant playing career at the likes of Liverpool, Aston Villa and Galatasary) may not have been wise on the part of Doncaster chairman John Ryan.

Any manager taking the Doncaster job was going to have to contend with this unique situation, Chimbonda, Ikeme, Diouf, Ilunga and now Beye will all be expecting to start every single match they are available for, this could spell problems for the new management team if they fail to perform to the standards which have seen all of these players perform consistently in the premier league in the past. Agent McKay pointed out upon taking this role that the wage bill at Doncaster was massive in comparison to another of the smaller sides in the Championship, Peterborough, he said that bringing in these players on low wages so that they are able to show to Premier League teams what they can do will help the club survive in the Championship but he did note that they will be paying these players some wages; surely with the wage bill already being so high the idea of bringing in these players isn’t as good as McKay wants people to think.

Diouf joined on a deal until January as did Chimbonda while Wolves ‘keeper Ikeme, West Ham’s Ilunga and most recently Aston Villa’s Beye joined the club on short-term loan deals. These deals have all been done with a view to the players moving on in January; this will hardly breed confidence amongst the Donny fans. The other names linked with the club have undoubtedly been more appealing to the fans – Robert Pires and Mahamadou Diarra are names recognisable to the more knowledgeable football fans and would have undoubtedly added a touch of class to the Yorkshire outfit. With El-Hadji Diouf lining up a touch of class wouldn’t have gone a miss. As it was these two big-name deals never came to fruition.

Whether or not McKay’s involvement at Doncaster leads to Championship survival or not is yet to be seen but with Dean Saunders record in charge so far seeing 3 wins 2 draws and 5 defeats from his first ten matches Donny fans can feel rightly uninspired. Add into that equation the very real possibility of the star names who have recently joined the club departing in January the omens don’t exactly look great for McKay, Saunders and Doncaster Rovers Football Club. 

Darts: Finals day in Wolverhampton

Today is the finals day at the Grand Slam of Darts and the question on every darts fans lips will no doubt be “Can Lewis, Anderson or perhaps even Walsh stop Taylor?”

In my last blog post I underlined who I feel has the ability to stop Taylor from landing his fourth Grand Slam title in five years. The names I gave then were Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, James Wade and Paul Nicholson. One thing is for certain today it will not be James Wade or Paul Nicholson stopping The Power. Wade left the tournament in the last 16 stage after a crushing 10-3 defeat to “The Flying Scotsman” Gary Anderson. Elsewhere Nicholson had a chance to get his revenge on Taylor in the quarter final stage but Taylor triumphed 16-7 to set up a semi-final clash with former protégé Adrian Lewis. I said previously that I believe Lewis has the skills to take down Taylor and I stand by what I said. He averaged over 100 in a surprisingly one-sided 16-5 win over Mark Webster. If Lewis was to beat Taylor this afternoon he would still have a mammoth task on his hands if he was to win the title. This brings me to the other semi-final. Gary Anderson faces surprise semi-finalist Mark Walsh in the first of this afternoons matches. Walsh has proved to be a fighter in this tournament battling past Dean Winstanley 10-9 in the last 16 before defeating Ted Hankey 16-14 in the quarter final. In these matches Walsh averaged 98.32 and 91.82 respectively and although he deserves respect for his performances so far that kind of average is not enough to beat Anderson. Anderson really has impressed so far this week averaging 100.45 in the 10-3 victory over Wade I mentioned earlier. He then averaged a cool 99.97 in a 16-12 win over an inform Terry “The Bull” Jenkins in the quarters. Betting wise I fancy the Anderson win with a -5.5 handicap at 4/5 with Paddy Power. For those unfamiliar that would mean Anderson winning 16-10 or better. I can’t look past Anderson winning this contest.

The other side of the draw sees Taylor (10-3 winner over Wes Newton and 16-7 winner over Paul Nicholson so far in the knockout rounds) face Adrian Lewis. This is a match between the 15-time World Champion and the reigning World Champion. Add to that the history between this pair and we have a potential classic on our hands. Lewis has been back to near his best in this competition averaging 100.30 in his quarter final win against Mark Webster while he managed to squeeze past a resurgent John Part with a 92.75 average in the last 16 round. Taylor is a massive favourite best priced at 2/7 with Lewis best priced 17/5. With that in mind it is the handicap market that best appeals. Taylor carrying a -5.5 handicap is priced at evens with Skybet and I’d say that is the best option here.

As for the tournament overall I am going to tip Gary Anderson to win the tournament best priced 3/1. Although Taylor is the clear bookies favourite Anderson has produced some brilliant darts and after winning the Premier League I feel he has the mature head on his shoulders required to win another major. Elsewhere the 9-dart finish is priced at 9/2 with Skybet and although it may well not happen I wouldn’t put it past these four great sportsmen on a finals day.

The action begins with the afternoon session at 14:30:

Phil Taylor vs Adrian Lewis

Gary Anderson vs Mark Walsh

And then comes the final at 20:00:

Taylor/Lewis vs Anderson/Walsh

Tips:
Gary Anderson to beat Mark Walsh with a -5.5 Handicap @ 4/5 (Paddy Power)
Phil Taylor to beat Adrian Lewis with a -5.5 Handicap @ evens (Skybet)
Gary Anderson to win the tournament @ 3/1 (Bwin) 

Darts: Can Taylor be stopped in Wolverhampton?

Phil Taylor confirmed his passage through to the last 16 of the Grand Slam of Darts at the Civic Hall, Wolverhampton on Monday night after battling past Steve Beaton 5-3.

Although Beaton did manage to break his throw early on Taylor showed the class which has seen him lift no less than fifteen world darts championships in his glistening career on his way to disposing of “The Adonis”. The question now is can anybody stop Taylor regaining the Grand Slam he lost last year?

I would suggest the answer is no; last year Taylor was simply not in his best form, he lost in the Quarter Finals to the same player he defeated in last night’s group stage match – Steve Beaton. At his best Taylor is practically unbeatable, and by looking at last year’s PDC World Darts Championship (which took place just a month after the Grand Slam) we can see how off form he was. The greatest of all time crashed out at the Quarter-final stage and although for most people that would be considered a great achievement this fell below the usual extraordinarily high standards Taylor has set himself over the years – he was a troubled man.

This year Taylor’s achievements include capturing the World Matchplay in July and the World Grand Prix in October. He kept his cool in a comfortable victory over potential banana-skin opponent James Hubbard earlier this week and battled through against the aforementioned inform Steve Beaton. The question now is who can stop Taylor from taking the Grand Slam for the third time in its four year history? A number of players have the raw ability but can any hold their heads when the pressure is applied by The Power?

Adrian Lewis – Lewis, Taylor’s protégé earlier in his career certainly has the ability to beat Phil, he captured the greatest honour in the game ten months ago defeating Gary Anderson to land his first ever PDC World Darts Championship title. If (or when) these two meet it is up to Lewis to hold his head and keep up with The Power. If he can do this while making and taking chances then we might see “Jackpot” causing a bit of an upset in the latter stages of this tournament.

Gary Anderson – 2011 World Championship finalist Gary Anderson has really broke through as one of the top players in the PDC in the last couple of years since reaching the UK Open final in 2010. Anderson is the reigning Premier League champion and if The Flying Scotsman does indeed meet Phil at some point during this event he could be a real contender to stop Taylor in his tracks.

James Wade – Probably the best left-hander in the game Aldershot’s James Wade isn’t far off being the complete darts package. The reigning UK Open champion has so far beaten Dave “Chizzy” Chisnall and Justin Pipe in group D and has been tipped to go far in this year’s tournament. Wade is another with the ability to beat Taylor but if the two do meet can he handle the pressure of taking on an inform Taylor?

Paul Nicholson – Finally I will look at a real underdog. Nicholson is currently 16/1 to win the Grand Slam and it’s fair to say the Aussie-Geordie has a history with Taylor. The 2011 UK Open saw Nicholson shock the darting world taking out The Power. He appeared to mockingly wave to Taylor after this match a gesture which resulted in a lot of media attention. The two met again at this year’s World Grand Prix a game which saw Taylor comfortably beat Nicholson and get a degree of revenge for his exit from the UK Open earlier this year. Nicholson has begun this years Grand Slam with wins over Barrie Bates and Wes Newton and it looks like he will face Steve Beaton in the next round. If he can get through that one a real possibility of the Nicholson vs Taylor feud continuing will exist and who knows Nicholson could yet be the man to stop the flow of The Power – the man who thrives on boos from the fans will certainly be up for the challenge. 

Taylor is rightly the favourite in the bookmakers eyes and his price of Evens shows just how confident the bookies are in him. I believe Taylor will do what Taylor does best – grind out tough matches and demolish opponents who are nervous or out of form without a second thought. He is undoubtedly the man to beat once again this year.

Darts: King to reign for one night in Wolverhampton?

Tonight 2-time BDO world finalist Mervyn King (pictured) has a chance to leave an impression on the Grand Slam of Darts when he meets 19-year old James Hubbard.

Hubbard made his TV debut yesterday picking up a lot of fans in a 5-1 defeat to living legend Phil Taylor.

The commentary team on the Taylor vs Hubbard contest frequently spoke of how this is Hubbard's first match on the big screen and how anything he gets will be a bonus. I agreed with that; he was naturally a massive underdog and against the greatest darts player ever nerves were natural. When he picked up a leg Taylor was clearly surprised; he had handled the pressure pretty well despite the final scoreline.

Tonight however I feel the thought of an upset could be sneaking into the minds of fans who watched yesterday’s match. King (1/6) comes into this match favourite but after his glistening display against "The Power" the young apprentice painter-decorator Hubbard (11/2) could well give King a good challenge. King lost his opening match in Group E 5-3 to Steve Beaton; he is clearly not in form.

Realistically King must win this match to have any chance of progressing to the last 16. Most will expect Phil Taylor to dispose of Beaton in tonight's other Group E match (which would take him to 4 points) while a win for King against Hubbard would put him on 2 points (the same as Beaton) however crucially I believe Beaton's victory over King will be decisive in this group; Beaton's final match will be against Hubbard while King will have to face Taylor; assuming nothing unexpected happens Beaton will defeat Hubbard and Taylor will defeat King leaving Taylor top of the group on 6 points, Beaton second on 4 points and King in third on 2 points, in this scenario Hubbard would be last place on 0 points.

King will want to leave some sort of impression on this competition and so will be hungry to demolish the young up-and-coming player. I fancy King to win 5-0 (11/2) or 5-1 (3/1) with minimal pressure on him with his likely exit from the competition coming. Comparatively Hubbard will once again be feeling the nerves of sharing the stage with a season pro of the darting world.

Even if my somewhat pessimistic prediction materialises for Hubbard, the young man from Norfolk, we will see him again. He reached the PDC World Youth Championship Final earlier this month which resulted in his qualification for this event and the dream match with Phil Taylor. By performing so well in this event Hubbard (alongside fellow finalist "Mighty" Michael van Gerwen) earned himself PDC Pro Tour cards for years 2012 and 2013. Even if he does not qualify for any TV events during these years we are guaranteed to see him again in May for the World Youth Championship Final where he will face van Gerwen who seems to have been on the darts circuit for years.

Introduction!

A quick introduction to my blog. I have created this so that I am able to write about my views on sporting events and have a place to store them. I will be writing about a number of sports but will be primarily writing about football. I created this particular post more as a test than anything so welcome to the blog!