For years, every November Barry Hearn would win a KotW award for his qualifying system for the Grand Sham of Darts. You would think after so many years this situation would have been sorted, but No, in fact it still goes on under Matt Porter despite the obvious flaws, which sees countless fans, players, and media personalities call out this inadequate system. Lets look at how flawed this system is, as the following players now miss the Grand Slam
Clayton (1)
Aspinall (2)
Price (3)
Heta (4)
Dobey (6)
Searle (8)
Cullen (9)
The 5th & 6th Seeds, Noppert and Wade went through. The results in many ways will be fantastic news for them both and others just inside the top 16 who can take advantage in the rankings of others said failings.
But for the viewers, how is this improving the quality of the Grand Sham, when you have a players that have won actual proper full PDC competitions this year not be in the event, whilst lesser players who done nothing all year can rock up win 3 games in a completely depleted field , reach a last 8 and they are in the slam.
I have no issue with these players themselves, fair play to the likes of Barry, Mansell and Lukeman on doing what they did, my issue is with a system that allowed this happen, where far better players are missing out, players like Dobey and Clayton who only the day previous was in the final of a full PDC ranking event,losing in said final with a 106 average.
I personally believe every PDC comp winner, even if it is a Floor comp should be in the Grand Sham. All winners of any form of PDC comp need inviting. In fact I would extend it so that not only do every tv finalist make it, I would include semi finalists of the 4 big majors , the Worlds, Matchplay, Grand Prix, and Uk open.
Here's a novel idea, how about rewarding those players who go far in TV majors, showing they are good enough for another TV competition.
How can a system that sees multiple players who won PDC events be left out and guys that won nothing in the entire year, some who hardly ever make a tv comp be included improve the overall quality and field of a TV title.
I am not even a Clayton or Dobey fan in general, but as a fan of the game, leaving out the elite players that won events in favor of lesser players only weakens a comp and not improve it.
Gerwyn Price who previously announced he would not attend, and wanted a break , changed his mind and rocked up and Mickey Mansell made sure he got that break whether he wanted it or not, but the bizarre thing was so many people wanting Mansell to win, I have no issue with Mansell who did what he was suppose to do,he not only beat a former quarter finalist in the slam he also beat a former semi finalist in Barney, and cannot begrudge him but Price in a tv comp would garner more interest in my opinion. The causual viewer would rather watch Price and his antics over Mansell and his slow plodding style
Then there is Noppert who had to go through the qualifiers, and he is seemingly now a seed in the competition. If he is so good to be a seed why was he in a qualifier. The whole system is fucked up, and the blame for this lies with Twat Porter.
4 out of the Worlds top Ten are missing the event,
Aspinall and Barney, 2 semi finalists from 2022 who are defending 50k miss the event and will be hit hard in the rankings.
Cullen & Price 2 quarter finalists from 2022 were defending 25k and both of them out.
It will not be a surprise if any of those 4 players will at some point complain about the format.
The biggest winner of the day was James Wade, who not only qualified, and lost just a single leg in the entire event, and averaged, almost a ton for all his games but he is defending nothing, whilst a lot of those around him in the rankings either failed to qualify and/or were defending large sums. As a fan of Wade that is good news but it does not alter how ridiculous these whole qualifying criteria is.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
I was delighted to see Ritchie Edhouse win the event, and lets be honest, the media can rabbit on about shocks and surprises but the reality is Ritchie was the best player. He beat a solid Van Veen, beat 2 ex World Champions in Bellyboy and Gando, took care of Woodlouse with ease and then battered Wattimena , winning 11 of the final 12 legs. Wattimena had rode his luck, in getting a woeful performing Wright, Wade who fucked it away and to his credit took advantage of a Humphries who did not perform anywhere like he has on tv or the last year.
Sadly for Ritchie he will not be in the Premier League, just like Gilding, Cross, Smudger and Nicholson who won a PDC TV ranking event, he won the event on ITV and Sky and the PDC in their bias almost always ignore ITV comp winners. I say almost because last year the european championships suddenly mattered again because Krusty Wright won it, a guy that consistently gets preferential treatment, despite him finishing bottom of the Premier League that year, and in the following year after his invite finished bottom of the PL yet again.
So any cunt that says there is no bias in the game or favouritism must be either blind or completely devoid of the capability of independent thought. If ritchie does little else in the slam and worlds watch how he will be neglected for the PL.
CHRIS MASON
Here is an ex-con who is lucky to have a job in darts where the bulk of his weekly income comes from being a panelist and commentator giving his opinion, but has an issue with others giving theirs. He has history of acting the wannabe hard man on social media, insulting people and threatening people, there is no shortage of people on line who have spoken how they were threatened by him, and like that journalist from the sun newspaper he claimed he wanted to thump, this week he started his usual bullshit. The sad part is I like him on comms, its not that he is brilliant, but in comparison to others like Nicholson, Mardle, Studd, Rawling, Pyke he seems almost decent, and makes a lot of valid points but spoils it all with this mental defect he obviously has. Here is a guy in his 50s who should be getting wiser with age, instead wants to promote this image that at his age he is some sort of hard man, its the mentality of a mentally stunted adolescent with insecurity issues who craves attention. If Mason was as tough as he pretends he would not have needed 2 buddies and hammers for the 3 of them to beat up one old guy, which got him the prison sentence. That is not a hard man, that is a scumbag.There is a difference. Another thing I laugh at, do these wannabe hard men think those people they threaten will just stand there, accept it and not fight back? I have no problem with him calling people cunts, I do that all the time, but when you threaten people and demand journalist be banned, its pathetic..
This week he got his little feelings hurt and wants the Sun, Star, and Mail banned from Ally Pally, because he did not like what they said, is he going to threaten them journalists too. Then he had a pop at the people on social media who are not journalists but fans and some lad who was at Modus. The audacity of this hypocritical wife beating, dole fraud cunt to lecture others on behaviour is something else. I do not like the nonsense those papers write, but banning them from the media room at Ally Pally is something only Mason could conjure up.
PDC WINMAU WORLD MASTERS
This was the big announcement from the PDC and actually claimed this was some sort of revival of the original Masters that took place pre the split.
I am delighted the Masters which was always a non ranking glorified exbo, is now open to the top 24, and is ranked, and will have prelims that will come from a field that will include other tour card holders, Dev and Challenge tours, the CDC, JDC, Munter Series etc, but lets not bullshit the fans and pretend this is some continuation of the former Masters. Is the Masters James Wade won the same comp as the one Bristow won ? Of course not.
Just because a competition has a certain name it does not automatically give it history, credibility etc. For example, the WDF call their yearly jobber jamboree a "World Championships" but no one only mentally ill people believe it is a valid World championships. Likewise the old farts have a slopfest they call a World Championships and no normal rational person believes that either.
Yes the PDC Winmau Masters is a vast improvement on the shit comp it was, and the start of the year was badly crying out for more ranking TV comps, but do not let the PDC bullshit you into believing it is a continuation of the old comp.
OTHER SHIT
Its good to see James Wade playing well again,and to beat him you must be playing even better, because in just in the last few weeks alone
In the Grand Prix Wade lost each set in a deciding leg to de Decker in the Grand Prix -De Decker won the comp
In next event PC 27 Wade lost to MvG - who went on to win the event
He then lost in the European Championship , a game he should have won, to Wattimena - he made the final
In PC 29 he lost to Menzies- who went on to win the event
In PC 30 lost to a brilliant Josh Rock - Rock wins the event
Whoever beats Wade in the Grand Sham, lash your money on them to go far
The challenge tour wraps up this weekend and will give us the last entrant for the Grand sham with the draw being held on Monday. The business end of the season is well and truly underway.
I tried to watch some Modus this week in the evenings and it was a dismal week,
