It’s probably fairly safe to assume that, for players and/or their entourage and next of kin, waiting to ‘tog out’ for your seasonal debut in the World Darts Championship must be the same as what it’s like prior to a club or county championship match.
For them, it may be butterflies in the stomach whereas yours truly can’t be any more than about three feet from the W/C for about three hours before throw in.
But as a result of same, I can confirm that once the ball is thrown in and the match is on you do enter something of an exclusion zone mentally. Enveloping you away from all outside noise. Fixated on the desired outcome.
If there is a time when that focus is likely to get distorted, it will be the period heading towards home. Going into injury time in a GAA match, from the back of the last obstacle in a horse race or when a contestant in a darts match goes within a leg of victory.
It wasn’t so much in evidence during the first afternoon session of the Championship as Niels Zonnoveld, Ryan Searle and Rob Cross recorded the expected comfortable enough victories.
The only one of the early Friday fixtures to get any way close was the clash of well travelled warriors Ian White and Mervyn King. Diamond (White) edging out his fellow grizzled contemporary. Just how deep into the tournament he goes remains to be seen.
One man who won’t have to wonder about much other than how exactly he lost is Ross Smith. ‘Smudger’ got his copy book well and truly blotted out as the hitherto unknown Swede, 50-year-old Andreas Harrysson manufactured one of the great Ally Pally debut stories.
The vanquished, though, can have very few complaints after coughing up six match darts before the typically languid Scandanavian closed out the deal.
Now, in a musical sense, you will no doubt have heard of R and B (rhythm and blues) being paired together but, in the context of Friday night at the darts, it was a case of R and V – Ricky Evans and Giann Van Veen grabbing the headlines. In the case of Evans, he was always going to do that, even if he never threw a dart. Between his hilarious attire, eye-catching walk-ons and, as the entire world currently now knows, his utter indifference to Christmas and disdain for gravy!
I’ll tell you what though, whether they like it or not, the sporting world will have to show his ability at the dart board a bit more respect too. Yes the rapidity with which he flings the tungsten is a huge part of what draws people towards the affable character, but equally, it’s when he’s travelling at the speed of light that it makes a supersonic man out of him. Don’t stop him now.
Which, conversely, of course, means that opponents have long twigged that slowing the anything-but-angry ginge is the way to upset his apple cart. Players naturally go to do exactly that.
And, truth be told, it was only when his Asian opponent – quite deliberately as they tend to do – slowed down the pace of play that Rapid Ricky appeared to be in any bother. Though luckily for him, and for the sake of the entertainment of the rest of us, he had enough done to ensure, regardless of what he thinks of Christmas dinner, we’ll see him after it!
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