PDC World Championship Day 7 8 and 9

Posted: 23.12.16 in Tournament Analysis Blog category

After a few days break we look back and forward at what has been going on at the Palace.

We’re back! We have had a little break as our darts shop in Hampshire has been over-run by darters and their families acquiring darts kit for themselves and their family and friends. It is easy to forget (especially during the high profile, high prize money event on at the moment) what a great game darts is for all the family to play together.

We have had numerous Mums and Dads – Sons and Daughters combinations all in and looking forward to some festive darts all playing together and having a good time. There aren’t actually that many sports when you think about it that this is the case. Hurrah for darts!

We have still had an eye on the Ally Pally action of course and here is a quick catch up. Tuesday was a fairly quiet night compared to what we have seen. Robbie Green barely put up a whimper before losing 3:0, Whitlock hit a 170 out and Kist was pretty awful too allowing Dolan to wander whimsically into the next round.

On Wednesday Mensur lurched his way through and Ron Meulenkamp was left to rue missed opportunities. Now if you think Rod has been banging on about not missing the fat number we would like to stake our claim for trying to spread the word too. It is such a fundamental part of the game that I reckon a lot of players don’t even think about practising it. That is a big mistake.

The star of last night was Max Hopp. We were given early notice of his skills by our friend Charis from Global Darts a few years ago now. I remember at one stage there was a rumour he may pack in darts and follow another route. Lucky for us he didn’t and Max is a fantastic player and a brilliant ambassador for German darts.

No after timing I promise but Vincent V der V is considering retirement after last night. The match had all the hallmarks of a player with a pain killer that wore off as the game went along and his performance deteriorated were my thoughts after the match. We also bang on about technique as well as hitting the fat number and the other reason for this other than giving you the best chance of hitting what you need on the board is to ensure your posture is correct too.

In general people don’t associate darts with sports injuries but the back and shoulder are particularly vulnerable. Throwing without leaning and doing a proper warm up. All the muscles used during a game of darts should be primed before any game. So after your turkey I want to see some stretching exercises before the household king (or queen) of the oche is proclaimed in the festive round the clock championship!

We have a double header today:

Friday December 23
Afternoon Session (1pm)
Ian White (4/7) v Jonny Clayton (7/4)
Michael Smith (8/15) v Mervyn King (15/8)
Benito van de Pas (8/11) v Terry Jenkins (5/4)

Evening Session (7pm)
Darren Webster (6/11) v Simon Whitlock (7/4)
Gary Anderson (1/16) v Andrew Gilding (25/2)
Adrian Lewis (10/29) v Joe Cullen (13/5)

Some crackers today. The “Old Boys” Merv and The Bull in action and Webster v Whitlock will be a close encounter.

Tips:

Webster/Whitlock Over 5.5 sets (8/11) and Anderson 4:0 (11/10)

Today is your last chance to get your predictions in to Global Darts for a £25 darts shop voucher. You can enter here: Global Darts

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