World Darts

Klaasen against Van der Voort at the Ally Pally deserves to rank with Bristow v Jocky Wilson in the Embassy Final, Brissy against Taylor at the Circus Tavern in 1997 and Barney against Taylor in last year’s World Final.

I will try to paint you the start of this Dutch masterpiece….two lean, hungry young men finish their practice and bound in predatory fashion onto the biggest stage in world darts. Klaasen twists like a viper and seems to have the edge….in the end, he has 10 darts to win the match. But the heavy shouldered blonde Van der Voort slugs it out with total concentration and when he gets his one and only chance, he swoops to victory (I will get a lurid cover made up and print this like Micky Spillane used to!)

Four gentlemen, including a director of the hotel, were discussing the nursery school arrangements for their kids in the bar, until they saw this Geordie yelling at the TV. I explained the fantastic situation and pretty soon they were giving it as large as any regular fan.

18 180s was the feast of tungsten…..believe me, it really was THAT good!

Stuart Pyke and John Gwynne came over from the comms box like two space cadets pulled into the orbit by a completely new orange planet!

COURAGE QUICKIES:

The Daily Express has a special two-page spread in the feature section, quoting my assessment of Taylor, as “up there with Babe Ruth and Magic Johnson as the man who has completely transformed this sport.” The gospel according to Saint Sid is certainly spreading.

Nigel Pearson had his first commentary with the legend that is Eric Bristow and came out shaking in appreciation of Brissy’s laser beam analysis of the action….and Nigel also tried to bring a touch of the Wheeltappers and Shunters Club to the commentary box! He told a joke on air, which went something like this: “Andy Hamilton went to the barber’s the other day. The barber said – Andy you’re losing your hair mate. Andy replied – well, you better hurry up then!” Nigel then said on air – “if you are offended by that joke, my name is Stuart Pyke!”

The Pie-Man Andy Smith arrived at the Ally Pally on Thursday evening….he wandered into the press office to be told the player’s buffet is free….He did 150 yards to the players lounge in 12.3 seconds! Don’t forget this is the man who got kicked out of a Chinese all-you-can eat buffet, protesting “I haven’t had my pudding yet!”