PDC William Hill World Championship Day 5

Posted: 17.12.19 in Tournament Analysis Blog category

The Ally Pally show rolls on - we are on Day 5 already!

It was a night of contrasts at the Palace last night with Kantele and Dolan putting in poor performances but on the other hand Keane Barry and Gary Anderson lightened the mood with some great darts.

Keane Barry, the diminutive 17 year old who looked like he had been plucked from a school prefect meeting played some great darts and his manner and stage presence belie his young age. He did go out to Vincent van de Voort but a memorable debut all the same.

WINNER!

Vincent van der Voort made to work my youngster Keane Barry, but shows his experience to clinch it in straight sets. #WHDarts pic.twitter.com/CJsdDBl6VV

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 16, 2019

Talking of diminutive dart players, Wayne Mardle pointed out Mikuru Suzuki had a very long and deliberate follow through, as did Keane Barry. Whether this has been coached into them is another discussion but it is more likely developed through trial and error and the realisation if you are on the short side you need every centimetre of follow through to get the dart to the board. The other option is a heavy dart but the development of a long smooth flow through should be a staple of every player’s skill set.

Gary Anderson over the past few years has been vying with Barney as to the most unbackable player in a darts match due to their erratic performances from time to time. But Anderson did show up last night and that is good for the tournament and will keep MvG on his toes as the tournament develops.

The cricketers were in the house too, former England captain Nasser Hussain and fellow pundit Rob Key were in the commentary box to promote the forthcoming cricket tour of South Africa. A few people on Twitter were moaning but I think it is good for darts.

Nasser, suited and booted for the occasion admitted he had never been to a darts match before and was concerned the casually attired Rob Key had turned up under dressed for the occasion. “I came in with 3 traffic cones and a super hero so I thought I was over dressed” retorted Key. Good banter and it can only be good to have high profile broadcasters from other sports enjoying the ambience of the palace.

It is a double header today and this is what is happening and the odds:

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT) - 3x First Round, 1x Second Round

Ryan Searle (2/9) v Robbie King (9/2) (First Round)
Cristo Reyes (10/17) v Lourence Ilagan (17/11) (First Round) 
Rowby-John Rodriguez (1/1) v Noel Malicdem (1/1) (First Round) 
Krzysztof Ratajski (2/7) v Zoran Lerchbacher (3/1) (Second Round)

Evening Session (1900 GMT) - 3x First Round, 1x Second Round

Ritchie Edhouse (4/6) v Boris Koltsov (11/8) (First Round) 
Jose De Sousa (2/5) v Damon Heta (9/4) (First Round)
Ted Evetts (1/10) v Fallon Sherrock (9/1) (First Round) 
Jeffrey de Zwaan (2/9) v Darin Young (4/1) (Second Round)