In terms of tinkering with the rudiments of a competition, it was always the view of this corner that nobody or nothing could get close to the GAA and their alterations to the National Leagues.
Until tonight. It hadn’t been noticed that the format for Premier League in darts had been re-jigged again. Just as it was a few years ago when Gary Anderson missed out through injury. The solution at the time was to give eight ‘cotenders’ a shot at advancing themselves on each night of regulation play.
This season, however, for reasons best known to themselves, the Brains Trust have decided to reduce the ‘field’ from ten competitors to eight, draws have been done away with and each week will, more or less, be a tournament all onto itself.
While the reasoning behind the change is still unclear, I will admit to having to cut a large slice of humble pie because, on first experience, the new format produced a terrific night of arrows action in Cardiff.
Perhaps fittingly, the final was the highlight as newly crowned World Champion Peter Wright and – strange as the following may sound – the form player at the minute, Jonny Clayton of Wales. That probably seems like a curios scenario given that the colourful Scot recently took a second helping of the big one. But the Welshman’s form, which has seen him annex 14 titles in the last year, has him, in a lot of ways, ahead of the field.
So wasn’t it only right, also, that, he who was until quite recently a part time darts player was in the curtain raiser for the new Premier League season. A proper season this time in the sense that the crowds – who do so much to make it what it is – back in situ. And equally, who better for him to throw in against than Joe Cullen just a week after the affable Bradford man captured his first Major title at the Labrokes Masters.
However, the Premier League is different gravy to anything else in the darting world. Not least owing to the short format of the matches – the winner being the first to six legs. Also, while the asinine decision to do away with a sharing of the spoils does make a mockery out of still titling the competition a league, offsetting misgiving about same is the fact that the victor on each night gets a €10,000 bonus.
Cullen got something of a rude awakening when – buoyed by a boistress home crowd that the Sky snowflakes again silenced – Clayton ran out an impressive 6-2 winner but, it being his first outing at the level, the vanquished ‘Rockstar’ more than proved his worth in the field and can take plenty from his maiden outing to leave him in a position to contend going forward.
Elsewhere in the opening jousts, James Wade did what James Wade always does – played well enough to put himself into contention but came away with nothing. Aside, that is, from producing the best individual display of the night in dispatching a particular off colour Gerwyn Price.
Then, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson produced their usual barnstorming battle, at the end of which the current king of the darting world edged through on a 6-4 scoreline before closing out a good night’s work by claiming Clayton’s scalp and quietening the locals.
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