Grand Slam of Darts

What a week itÕs been and ITV Sport have been delighted with the success of the event and the viewing figures have been terrific, so hopefully this all points to the Grand Slam of Darts taking place again in November 2008.

Viewing figures of over 700,000 on ITV4 compare to UEFA Cup football coverage and is a massive increase on normal programming the evening time slot.

So Kevin McDineÕs lucky socks didnÕt take him to the final but what a week for the virtual unknown, who was playing in his first big TV tournamentÉ.£15,000 in prize money should cushion the blow and we will be seeing a lot more of the young man over the next few years, on the big darting stages around the world.

A little tale now about ÔThe Three Dutch MusketeersÕ Michael Van Gerwen, Jelle Klaasen and Vincent van der Voort. The trio travel everywhere together, as part of the MasterDarts stable.

Well, earlier in the year they drove from Holland to Bolton for the UK Open Finals in a branded people carrier and they were hoping to use it again for the Grand SlamÉ.except that the vehicle went in for a service just before the Wolverhampton week and the next day, the garage burned down!

Van Gerwen isnÕt having much luck with cars, because a couple of weeks ago, having only recently passed his driving test, he crashed on his way to a Players Championship event in Holland. Thankfully, he came away from the accident unscathed.

The world of PDC darts never stops and next weekend 150 players will be making the trip to Halle for the German Darts ChampionshipÉ.but for someone, it will be well worth the trip. There is a total prize fund of 100,000 euros, with 25,000 euros for the winner, which is about £18,000, give or take!

The event has pulled in some great publicity Ð the latest in the sports section of the Daily Telegraph on Saturday, with a half-page feature.

World No.3 James Wade was forced to go to hospital the day after his shock exit at the hands of youngster Kevin McDine. Wade was suffering from a bad dose of food poisoning after eating a dodgy kebabÉ.the good news though Ð he is back home and feeling 100 per cent again.

Top snooker player Ian McCulloch is a huge darts fan and a good friend of Alan Warriner, who of course is working for ITV Sport at the Grand Slam. McCulloch was spotted on Saturday at the venue, enjoying every minute of the semi-final action.

Finally, it wouldnÕt be the Grand Slam blog without another tale surrounding top referee George Noble. On Saturday night, a dozen officials enjoyed a night out at Wolverhampton racesÉ.it came to the last race, when George suddenly announced he had been given a top tip by his bookie! So everyone had a punt on River Kirov on GeorgeÕs say soÉ..needless to say, the horse came in last! Poor old George Ð itÕs been a tough week!