Grand Slam

Devastator

Starts on Saturday, be very tough for any of the BDO players to get through their groups, wish them the best of luck, all except wolfie, I hope he's absolutely slaughtered on the oche

GROUP A (1) Michael van Gerwen Kim Huybrechts Steve West Mark Oosterhuis
GROUP B
(8) Ian White Jelle Klaasen Steve Beaton Martin Adams
GROUP C
(5) Adrian Lewis Michael Smith Wayne Jones Andy Fordham
GROUP D
(4) Peter Wright Dave Chisnall Mervyn King Scott Mitchell
GROUP E
(2) Gary Anderson Raymond van Barneveld Andy Boulton Larry Butler
GROUP F
(7) James Wade Keegan Brown Mark Webster Michael van der Horst
GROUP G
(6) Robert Thornton Terry Jenkins Jonny Clayton Geert De Vos
GROUP H
(3) Phil Taylor Rowby-John Rodriguez Robbie Green Martin Phillips


POOL 2 – PDC AUTOMATIC ENTRANTS
1 BARNEVELD, Raymond van
2 BROWN, Keegan
3 CHISNALL, Dave
4 HUYBRECHTS, Kim
5 JENKINS, Terry
6 KLAASEN, Jelle
7 RODRIGUEZ, Rowby-John
8 SMITH, Michael

POOL 3 – PDC QUALIFIERS
1 BEATON, Steve
2 BOULTON, Andy
3 CLAYTON, Jonny
4 GREEN, Robbie
5 JONES, Wayne
6 KING, Mervyn
7 WEBSTER, Mark
8 WEST, Steve

POOL 4 - BDO AUTOMATIC ENTRANTS/QUALIFIERS
1 ADAMS, Martin
2 BUTLER, Larry
3 FORDHAM, Andy
4 HORST, Michael van der
5 MITCHELL, Scott
6 OOSTERHUIS, Mark
7 PHILLIPS, Martin
8 VOS, Geert de

wilhelm roentgen

Good to see Andy Fordham back on the scene, true gent

alan partridge aha

Devastator wrote: »

Starts on Saturday, be very tough for any of the BDO players to get through their groups, wish them the best of luck, all except wolfie, I hope he's absolutely slaughtered on the oche

I would agree it will be tough for BDO players, I think Wolfie has the best chance of getting through and unlike you I hope he does. Far nicer fella than PT.

sc86

wofie got a very nice draw, rest are ****ed lol

ArmaniJeanss

Always a bit wary of the way Barney gets into these things. Off the top of my head he'd won nothing or been placed in nothing all year and his ranking is plummeting so how is he in here.
Remember that new non ranking comp 'The Masters' that was on ITV4 in January? Limited to the Top 16, pure exhibition job really. Suddenly thats a path to the GSOD and the runners up spot that RVB got is enough to get him in here.
I'm deeply suspicious unless someone can show that they announced the gsod qualification procedure in advance of the Masters.

Devastator

I've always felt the grand slam was a bit of a hand picked tournament, each year I would see the qualifiers and usually what tournament they won/runner up in or whatever but sometimes it just didn't make sense. I dunno about Barney or what way he got in this year but it can't be in connection with that masters tournament I don't think because the finals for that are in 3/4 weeks time

ComfortKid

Devastator wrote:

I've always felt the grand slam was a bit of a hand picked tournament, each year I would see the qualifiers and usually what tournament they won/runner up in or whatever but sometimes it just didn't make sense. I dunno about Barney or what way he got in this year but it can't be in connection with that masters tournament I don't think because the finals for that are in 3/4 weeks time

The Masters was a 2 day tournament on in February, MvG beat Barney in the final.
The World Series of Darts is the finals thats on in a few weeks, thats a continuation of the Summer tour in Japan,Aus and NZ.

ComfortKid

ArmaniJeanss wrote:

Always a bit wary of the way Barney gets into these things. Off the top of my head he'd won nothing or been placed in nothing all year and his ranking is plummeting so how is he in here. Remember that new non ranking comp 'The Masters' that was on ITV4 in January? Limited to the Top 16, pure exhibition job really. Suddenly thats a path to the GSOD and the runners up spot that RVB got is enough to get him in here. I'm deeply suspicious unless someone can show that they announced the gsod qualification procedure in advance of the Masters.

You're spot on. The qualification criteria was changed in June, 4 months after Barney reached that final. I'm sure this kind of thing will get much worse when Phil Taylor stops qualifying automatically for tournaments.

sc86

shame the bdo number 1 hasnt got in

Devastator

ComfortKid wrote: »

The Masters was a 2 day tournament on in February, MvG beat Barney in the final.
The World Series of Darts is the finals thats on in a few weeks, thats a continuation of the Summer tour in Japan,Aus and NZ.

I thought they were calling that tour the world masters or something.

ComfortKid wrote: »

You're spot on. The qualification criteria was changed in June, 4 months after Barney reached that final. I'm sure this kind of thing will get much worse when Phil Taylor stops qualifying automatically for tournaments.

Well that depends on whether Taylor keeps his word and retires or not like he's promised us he will. I'm sure they'll fire money at him to keep him going but I don't think he would play on that long if he wasn't playing at the top. Sure thats all way off anyway because of his new best mates at target who have made him darts that hes playing his best ever with(said in interview at weekend lol)

mdwexford

No way Taylor will plummet down the rankings the way Barney had, as soon as he feels he cant compete vs the best he'll be gone.

Cant wait for the Grand Slam, my third fav tournament of the year now.

ComfortKid

I can't see Taylor falling as fast as Barney either, I think Phil has a big major left in him, but when the time does come, I think he will be too stubborn and greedy to pack it in, he will keep trying to prove himself in my opinion.

Really looking forward to it this year now that its a ranking title and that we get to see Wolfie Adams get some serious stick from the crowd.

ArmaniJeanss

Maybe Wolfie will win them over like Ted Hankey did, if he responds good naturedly to the booing from the start. He may not have it in him though.

ComfortKid

ArmaniJeanss wrote:

Maybe Wolfie will win them over like Ted Hankey did, if he responds good naturedly to the booing from the start. He may not have it in him though.

Thats exactly whats exiting me, how will he respond. Going by past interviews and clips, he hates the PDC circus with a passion and he can't play if the crowd are singing. It'd be a great if he went deep, he got a handy draw.
Scott Mitchell has the toughest group I think 3 of the top 16

Devastator

hehe Wolfie up 2nd last on Saturday night so a full days drinking for the crowd to get geared up to welcome(ahem) him

TBH I wouldn't be surprised, even at this stage, if he pulls out for some reason and they get a replacement for him

Devastator

Fordham stating the obvious about Taylor
http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Darts-don-t-like-Phil-Taylor-person-says-Andy/story-28107454-detail/story.html

Snakebite replies to Wolfie
http://www.skysports.com/darts/news/12040/10055812/peter-wright-tells-martin-adams-that-hes-a-clown-in-a-bigger-circus

shockframe

Wolfie might come out all guns blazing too.

Don't forget that he has played in Blackpool and Dublin even though it's before Darts took off.Ted hadnt played PDC before the Grand Slam and even he could do anything on the quieter BDO nevermind the PDC circus.

The Strop this year aside Wolfie's a lot smarter than most in darts and isn't involved in many theatrics over on the BDO.Win the first game and it's going to get interesting.

Most of the crowd attending next week surely know by now that Adams is one of the best in the game.He has been in the business end of the majors for over a decade which i dont think is bettered by any other player on either side bar Taylor and most recently MVG.

His participation has been overdue a good few years. He has a reasonable draw but to me he's past his 2005-12 prime.Last 16 or last 8 would be my prediction.

Devastator

Wolfie - I didn't call Snakebite a clown
http://www.skysports.com/darts/news/12288/10056703/martin-adams-plays-down-clown-row-with-peter-wright-ahead-of-world-grand-slam


John Gywnn is commentating on Saturday :cool:

Does anyone else think the whole PDC VS BDO debate has quietened down over last few years? To me there seems to be less and less talk of it, have the PDC(hearn) finally moved on & accepted that they won't get to take over the BDO or has the PDC maybe outgrown needing the BDO.

Is that the reason behind youth development tour from PDC that they are trying to bring through their own players and also knowing every year they'll take a handful of BDO players across aswell?



edit;

"Barney - To be No 18 in the world is ridiculous for my status, I still believe I'm a top six player,"

lol he put more conviction into that 1 sentence than most darts Ive seen him throw the last few years! Top 6? naaahhhhhhhhhh, on a good day for him he might beat top 6 players but so could most of the top 32 if they play well against someone under par. He could write a book of excuses

mdwexford

The gap is ever increasing between the PDC and BDO. Especially when the majority of the good BDO lads switch when they get the chance.

It's really is like pro darts vs pub darts now when looking at the tournaments as a whole.

Talent wise Barney is still top 6 but it's been 5+ years since he played like that consistently. He can pop up with a win every year or two but his heart isn't in it enough any more.

sc86

theres no debating the bdo vrs pdc anymore
its boring and theres nothing that can be argued
bunting was cleaning up in the bdo, came across and has now settled as a top 16 player, thats it
hes a good player but not top 6 or consistant major winner the bdo heads were claiming he would do
glen durrant is current bdo no 1, i think hed struggle to get anywhere near top 16 and after that theres not many more players
and with pdc youth tour growing i think theres more pdc grown stars as years go by

monkey9

Only just found out that Martin Adams is in the tournament this year. That's great news, even though i can't stand him. Hope he gets hammered.

crasy dash

Great first game there Kong did well nice way to finish the game.

Devastator

Yeah Roby & Kong was a great game. Jenkins out against a tv debutant(apparently) in Johnny Clayton who played well.
Rob Thornton was pushed to final leg decider in his match.

Keegan Brown & Mark Webster was a piss take of a game with Brown's fall outs!! WTF like? Ive never seen as many darts fall out of the board in a single game before and it was happening all over the board too. It must be his darts at fault though rather than the board bcause Webster didn't have any fall. He needs to get down to the cobblers this afternoon and get his tips sharpened up.

I have a lot of respect for Webster after that game though for stopping to let Brown fix his broken dart, although the commentators said he was sharpening his tips?!? I though the shaft was broke into the dart and it nearly looked like Brown was so pissed off at the fallouts he was going to finish the match with 2 darts!



BORING BORING AUDIENCE SINGING "BORING BORING TABLES".....what a **** chant! Can't wait to hear the toure bros song :rolleyes:

Firewalkwithme

Devastator wrote: »

BORING BORING AUDIENCE SINGING "BORING BORING TABLES".....what a **** chant! Can't wait to hear the toure bros song :rolleyes:

Let me help you with that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3F02tz5oGk

Devastator

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

Let me help you with that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3F02tz5oGk

mdwexford

Taylor fuming over Fordham saying he doesn't like him

Devastator

Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
Groups E-H First Games
Rowby-John Rodriguez 3-5 Robbie Green (H)
Terry Jenkins 3-5 Jonny Clayton (G)
Robert Thornton 5-4 Geert De Vos (G)
James Wade 5-2 Michel van der Horst (F)
Keegan Brown 3-5 Mark Webster (F)
Gary Anderson 5-0 Larry Butler (E)
Phil Taylor 5-0 Martin Phillips (H)
Raymond van Barneveld 5-0 Andy Boulton (E)

mdwexford wrote: »

Taylor fuming over Fordham saying he doesn't like him

He's really pathetic isn't he? A 55 year old grandfather getting on like a nursery school kid! How the **** has he went 55 years without realising not everyone likes him(or pretends to his face)?


I wonder is this uncle Barry or the sky boys trying to hype up the tournament a bit with a bit of PDC/BDO rivalry? As said before the whole talk seems to have died to death. It would be too obvious for Adams to say anything probably so get the next biggest known BDO player to comment on PDCs most successful player

monkey9

mdwexford wrote: »

Taylor fuming over Fordham saying he doesn't like him

I'm just a humble man from Stoke, he said. :rolleyes:

Devastator

Great games so far tonight, now its time for the BDO boys! I'm betting against everyone of them Handicaps for Lewis & MVG

monkey9

Even though i don't hold out much hope, COME ON ANDY!!!

Kingp35

Fordham is just too nervous although even with the nerves he has thrown some good darts. It's great to see him back!

Devastator

Andy Fordham walks onto "I'm too sexy!" haha would have been better with a bit of shakin Steven;s he was that nervous.
Threw some good darts and I think he took Lewis by surprize in the 1st leg. Crowd gave him some good support during the match...I don't think that sentiment will last through for all the BDO players

Firewalkwithme

Kingp35 wrote: »

Fordham is just too nervous although even with the nerves he has thrown some good darts. It's great to see him back!

Yes it was great to see him back and it will be interesting to watch his next two games now that he's gotten that out of the way. Will the nerves be as bad? I don't think so and if not, who knows what could happen.

Fordhams biggest problem is his physical condition. He's just not going to be able to cope with long matches under the TV lights.

Devastator

Hulk Hogan can't claim to have the biggest arms in the world anymore

Kingp35

Some arms on him alright!

This lads nickname is "Mark Potter"! Awful!

Devastator

Kingp35 wrote: »

Some arms on him alright!

This lads nickname is "Mark Potter"! Awful!

lol any idea why? I wasn't listening at the start. His shirt's grim too. Think he's been on the yolks today! His jaw is all over the place when he throws

Devastator

Well he must be a magician because I just blinked and the game was over

Kingp35

Supposedly he looks like Harry Potter despite the fact that he doesn't!

Wolfie up next, wonder how the crowd will react?

Devastator

Think Wolfie's gonna be like a lamb to the slaughter with the crowd

statto25

Wolfie is playing grest stuff here. Crowd have gone very quiet too. He's just smiling away and not reacting.

Devastator

Well wrong about the crowd, they boo'd for his 1st 2 or 3 throws then it was basically cheers.

His checkouts were great, his jewellery is gaudy but I got to admit I didn't like his standing in front of the board when he took his darts out after a 180 in the 2nd leg. I think celebrate all you want but as soon as you take your darts out of the board you need to get out of the way for the other player

sid waddell

Great to see Wolfie silence the pdc boo-boys.

Awesome stuff from the all-time legend.

Kingp35

I have to say that Adams played great stuff and dealt with the situation very well. Got the crowd on his side. Very good performance.

Great performance from Mitchell too but got well beaten. No idea how!

Devastator

Sunday November 8
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
Groups E-H Second Group Games
Keegan Brown v Michel van der Horst
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Martin Phillips
Andy Boulton v Larry Butler
Terry Jenkins v Geert De Vos
Robert Thornton v Jonny Clayton
Phil Taylor v Robbie Green
James Wade v Mark Webster
Gary Anderson v Raymond van Barneveld

Ando & Barney should be v.good, both won 5-0 today but I'll be backing Ando for the win(or over 7.5 legs


Edit - Forgot evening

Evening Session (7.30pm-11.30pm)
Groups A-D Second Group Games
Steve West v Mark Oosterhuis
Ian White v Steve Beaton
Wayne Jones v Andy Fordham
Mervyn King v Scott Mitchell
Adrian Lewis v Michael Smith
Michael van Gerwen v Kim Huybrechts
Jelle Klaasen v Martin Adams
Peter Wright v Dave Chisnall

Few cracking looks games in the evening aswell

Firewalkwithme

sid waddell wrote: »

Great to see Wolfie silence the pdc boo-boys.

Awesome stuff from the all-time legend.

To be fair here, I don't think there are too many who really know the game who would not say that Adams isn't or at least was a top class player at his peak. The problem the "pdc boo-boys" as you put it have it that he was happy to be the big fish in a very small pond when all we really wanted to see was how he would shape up against the very best. Barney made the move and had success but he did it too late. Had he never done it, what would his legacy be? With Adams it will always be a case of "what if"? We just don't know how he would have fared in the long term against the best players week in week out. Hankey also left it too late and he was a disaster.

If Wolfie wanted to silence the boo-boys he had plenty of opportunities to do so long before now. He joined the PDC and then left. He was being given invitations to play in this tournament for years and kept turning it down so why only do it now? Does he need the money now he's 59? Who knows what it is but don't expect PDC fans in general to suddenly be in awe of a man who has time and again spurned the chance to test himself against the best just because he won one match.

How would he have done against Taylor, Wade, Lewis, Anderson, Barney, MVG, Part, Priestly, Harrington, Lloyd, Painter, Mardle and Manley? There are many more names and while he did cross swords with some of them at some point in his career we just never got to see where he would have settled in terms of rankings and titles had he been among that group.

He only began to have success in the BDO when the standard there dropped after Barney and a lot of the other top guys who were still there finally had enough and wanted to earn a living and / or test themselves against the best.

I think it's a shame Adams didn't do that because I think he would have had a very good career in the PDC and if Part could manage to win two world titles during his time there, well maybe he could have done that too.

Anyway it's all if's but's and maybe's now so all we can do is watch and see how he gets on in the rest of this tournament and who knows, maybe some success might yet change his mind (but I doubt it)

mdwexford

Adams was unreal tonight.

Ton of pressure on him and he delivered in spades.

Kudos to him.

Devastator

Mark Oosterhuis (Harry Potter....apparently) had an average of 67.

That is just truly abysmal! Does anyone know of any lower televised PDC ranking events that have had lower averages?
I know some of the world championship pre lims can be pretty awful so we'll just count full tournament(not pre lim).

alan partridge aha

mdwexford wrote: »

Adams was unreal tonight.

Ton of pressure on him and he delivered in spades.

Kudos to him.

Ya was delighted for Wolfie, he is a clever fella and knew to be respectful of the crowd and they will come round.

On a side note Taylor reminded me of David Brent in The Office, hit me with any jib I can take it. No you can't Phil you said you didn't care about the comment but still kept bringing it up long after the presenter had progressed to something else. Funny really.

Best player ever FACT but not a nice man.

Firewalkwithme

Devastator wrote: »

Mark Oosterhuis (Harry Potter....apparently) had an average of 67.

That is just truly abysmal! Does anyone know of any lower televised PDC ranking events that have had lower averages?
I know some of the world championship pre lims can be pretty awful so we'll just count full tournament(not pre lim).

It's possi ble that in the very early days of the PDC there were some awful averages floating around because there were quite a few journeymen out there just making up the numbers.

As for Oosterhuis, well what can you say really? It just amazes me that he qualified at all. He's BDO world number 92 IIRC!

Devastator

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

It's possi ble that in the very early days of the PDC there were some awful averages floating around because there were quite a few journeymen out there just making up the numbers.

As for Oosterhuis, well what can you say really? It just amazes me that he qualified at all. He's BDO world number 92 IIRC!

Ummmm yeah true, didn't really consider its nearly 25 years. Maybe say since 2000 onwards?

92? :eek: Thought he would be top 20 easy I'm sure theres a fair few pub players that could beat a 67 average.

I tried googling it last night to see if I could find anything but no lists. I did read that apparently Sholten around 2008 had a 58(I think) avg in a tournament but he apparently had shoulder surgery a few days before the match and only turned up to play to get a couple of grand appearance money lol.

Brown 5-4 vd horst
Rowby 5-2 Phillips

No fall outs from Brown today but a pretty dire match with mid 80 averages. Good performance from young Rowby, played solid throughout and had 50% checkouts. He wasn't pushed at all though.

Devastator

Boulton 4-5 Butler
Jenks 5-0 De Vos
Thorn 5-2 Clayton


Like the look of this little 180 double at little short of 3/1
Webster most 180s (6/5) & Ando 2.5+ 180s (8/11)

Webster is a decent max hitter and thats probably the weakest part of Wade's game and 3 or more for Ando doesn't sound like much of a struggle, he got 4 yesterday in 5 legs and he should have more than 5 legs in todays match.

FS Sly still hyping Taylor/Fordham rivalry :rolleyes: