BDO World Pro - Day 6

Posted: 10.01.20 in Tournament Analysis Blog category

It was Ladies day at the O2!

 Thursday January 9th

Afternoon Session
Corrine Hammond (AUS) 2 v 0 Laura Turner (ENG) 
(2) Jim Williams (WAL) 4 v 0 (15) Ryan Hogarth (SCO) 
(3) Aileen de Graaf (NED) 1 v 2 (6) Beau Greaves (ENG) 

Evening Session

(1) Lisa Ashton (ENG) 2 v 0 (8) Lorraine Winstanley (ENG)

Dennie Olde Kalter (NED) 1 v 4 (11) Mario Vandenbogaerde (BEL) 

(2) Mikuru Suzuki (JAP) 2 v 0 (7) Anastasia Dobromyslova (RUS) 
(7) Martijn Kleermaker 2 (NED) v Paul Hogan 4 (ENG)

All Ladies 1/4 Finals were played yesterday at the O2. It was a bit of a mixed bag in terms of quality and the usual debate about Ladies darts sparked up again. Since Fallon's run at the PDC World Championships the discussion about ladies being able to play against the men in the BDO has come to the fore.

Darts is not like tennis, golf, rugby or football as it is generally accepted men are stronger than women thus giving men an advantage in these types of sports. In darts, physically anyway there is no reason why women can not be the equal of men (as Fallon proved).

Paul Nicholson piped up like a prospective MP dishing out his manifesto freebies calling for the Ladies to be given a longer format, I think he suggested best of 9 sets for the final! It is a great soundbite but my question time answer that I would demand is where is all the exttra time going to come from to cater for the tiered increase of sets?

Also, I don't necessarily think getting the women to play marathon matches is the answer at all. First of all they are not used to the longer format and may struggle to maintain their optimum level, just like in the Men's games sometimes.

There is also talk about the disparity of prize money, this would be addressed in some way if the Men and Ladies all played for one trophy. Also sponsors; there are probably potential sponsors out there that would look at the ladies game as good for their brand whilst not necessarily feeling the same way about the men's tournament. This could be vice versa too.

🏆WINNER🏆

Mikuru Suzuki speeds into semi-finals with straight sets win over Anastasia Dobromyslova. She now faces teenage superstar Beau Greaves in the semis!#BDODarts 📷 Tip Top Pics/@ProSportsImages pic.twitter.com/LxQ7Evcimm

— BDO Darts (@BDOdarts) January 9, 2020

So how about a stand along Ladies event? Everyone seems pretty convinced there is a great market for Ladies darts so why not go it alone? Any TV money, sponsorship etc could go in to a pool to get the prize money up to a higher level allowing more Fallons to be able to earn a living from darts without having to hold down a full time job. The more ladies able to practise full time, the higher the standard will be.

We still don't know what Uncle Barry has in store for Fallon over the medium term and whether he is interested in putting a Ladies Tour together. Despite the uncertaity this is still a good time for Ladies darts but it does need to be handled very carefully for it to keep the momentum going and move it forward.

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