BDO To PDC

Posted: 22.12.17 in Darts Performance Centre Blog category

Who are the Best Players to Make the Switch from the BDO to the PDC?

With so much money available in the PDC today, it is no surprise to see so many players make the switch across from the BDO. The majority who do make the swap, struggle to advance beyond the early stages of the major tournaments, such is the standard of play.

Here is a look at those who have made a success of it and are fighting it out for some of the big prizes in the sport today.

Michael van Gerwen

Undoubtedly the biggest success story to make the jump from the BDO to the PDC in recent years is Michael van Gerwen. "Mighty Mike" became the youngest ever winner of the World Masters in 2006, when at the age of 17, he defeated Martin Adams. The Dutchman then went into the BDO World Darts Championship as the favourite to lift the crown that year; however, he was upset in the opening round by Gary Robson.

Credit: Express Sport via Twitter

Since switching across to the PDC, van Gerwen has won 26 major titles, including two PDC World Darts Championship crowns. He is not only the world number one in the game today, but he has taken the standard to a level that has never been seen before. Mighty Mike is the favourite to win his third world title on January 1 where he is odds-on to do so for those who bet online on the 2018 PDC World Championship.

Gary Anderson

Gary Anderson spent nine years with the BDO before moving across to the PDC in 2009. The Flying Scotsman never lifted the BDO World Darts Championship but he has since made up for that disappointment as he has won two world titles with the PDC in the last three years.

Anderson has benefited from playing the likes of Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and van Gerwen on a regular basis, which has helped him reach new heights with his own game. The man from Musselburgh is arguably the most clinical player in the sport when it comes to 180s.

Peter Wright

World number two Peter Wright played on the BDO circuit between 1995 and 2004 where he struggled to get beyond the early rounds of the big tournaments he was entering. Snakebite took a risk in 2004 by switching to the PDC and it took a while for him to gain the rewards of that move.

Credit: Sky Sports Darts via Twitter

Wright is now of the most consistent players on the circuit and he recorded a new landmark in his career earlier this year with his first PDC major title win coming in the UK Open at Minehead. The Scotsman also got to the final of the Premier League, World Matchplay and Grand Slam of Darts in what has been a fantastic season for the 47-year-old. Snakebite is one of the players who are right at the top of the betting for the 2018 PDC World Championship where he is a former finalist at the Alexandra Palace.

The 2018 BDO World Darts Championship begins on January 6, after which there is likely to be another flurry of players set to make the move to the PDC through their qualifying school.

Main Blog Photo credit “Lawrence Lustig/PDC”