BDO Lakeside World Championships

Posted: 01.01.11 in Anthony Urmston-Toft Blog category

BDO player Anthony Urmston-Toft gives an `insiders` view in his darts blog of the BDO Finals

Greetings and a very Happy New Year to all our readers.

First apologies for the time it’s taken to write this, I have been somewhat busy with the arrival of my son, George (2030 darts champion).

Well today sees the start of the Lakeside World Championships.

The Order of play is as follows|:

1:00pm Dave Prins (16) (Eng) v John Walton (Eng)
1:50pm Willy van de Wiel (9) (Neth) v Alan Soutar (Sco)
2:40pm Mark Barilli (12) (Sco) v Martin Phillips (Wal)
3:30pm Ross Montgomery (7) (Sco) v Alan Norris (Eng)
6:00pm Martin Adams (1) (Eng) v Tony West (Eng)
6:50pm Gary Robson (13) (Eng) v Steve Douglas (Eng)

The ones marked in red are my pick for winning. I’ve watched a few play at some of the competitions I’ve been to recently and Alan Norris is a very good player indeed as is Steve Douglas. I expect some seeds to be leaving early today. The game that I will follow with the most interest is Ross vs. Alan, both somewhat stable mates with A180 who are also one of my sponsors. So a lot of bragging rights here.

Now my pick for champion.  Well this is wide open as in my opinion the players are all roughly at the same standard, experience will not be a major factor. Younger players do not seem to be intimidated by more experienced players, so I would expect to see some of them in the quarters at least. Overall I would say Scott Waites. The form he is in is amazing, winning the Grand Slam obviously makes it easier for him. There are already rumours about him jumping but I take them with a pinch of salt. A player with an outside chance would be my good friend Stephen Bunting, a great player with power scoring capabilities. I would consider him to be a contender.

Anyway, I’ve got nappies to change and the practice to do. I think checkout matrix today.

Enjoy the festivities

AJ Urmston-Toft

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