General Chat

US2 wrote: »

Barry Hearn hinting at a couple of wildcard picks for the World Championship for people with no tour card. Fairly sickening for people on the tour grinding all year. I assume if it happens it will be Barney and or Sherrock

Disgraceful if that happens

Imagine the soccer WC and the Faroe Islands being included as a wild card just for the craic

Cheapens the tournament

TbL

Sultan of Bling

That's a joke if it happens.

Deeper Blue

What a ridiculous idea. It's grand having wildcards for a glorified exhibition like the premier league but for the Worlds you should have to qualify.

As someone else said they're probably looking for a way to get Barney and Sherrock in since they were too lazy/not good enough to get there on merit

Ridiculous if it does transpire. Definitely a way to get Sherrock in. Justin would have a coronary if he were here.

ArmaniJeanss

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Disgraceful if that happens

Imagine the soccer WC and the Faroe Islands being included as a wild card just for the craic

Cheapens the tournament

TbL

In fairness sponsors invites or committee invites do happen in other sports - you just happen to have picked soccer as an example where it doesn't.

But it's definitely a thing in golf for regular tour events, and in tennis it happens at the Majors with the likes of Wimbledon using the wildcard system to shoe in high-profile players (usually former finalists) who haven't made it via the normal route, and to get extra British players in.
Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon on a WC.

I'm not saying it's right or anything, and it does seem a bit late in the day to be doing it.

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

In fairness sponsors invites or committee invites do happen in other sports - you just happen to have picked soccer as an example where it doesn't.

But it's definitely a thing in golf for regular tour events, and in tennis it happens at the Majors with the likes of Wimbledon using the wildcard system to shoe in high-profile players (usually former finalists) who haven't made it via the normal route, and to get extra British players in.
Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon on a WC.

I'm not saying it's right or anything, and it does seem a bit late in the day to be doing it.

Maybe for events, but I’m struggling to think of a World Championship event that does it, Rugby, Snooker, Cricket, Squash etc.

Tennis, the Davis Cup, you have to qualify

Golf World Champs there are qualification criteria (I’m pretty sure)

It’s bonkers

TbL

ArmaniJeanss

Well in golf The Masters (a bona fida Championship event) has a life-time exemption for previous champions, which would get Barney in it. It's why we see Sandy Lyle hacking it round for 36 holes every year. The British Open has similar but it expires at age 60. I'd actually like if darts had something like this.
Obviously golf has no overriding 'World Championship' but the US Open considers itself the de facto worlds biggest event, and reserves the right to give 'special exemptions'.
And as said Wimbledon (which would be many peoples idea of the biggest event in tennis) gives out discretionary wildcards.

I don't think your references to Cricket & Rugby or the Davis Cup are relevant as they are team sports, it seems to be an individual sport thing. I know nothing about squash, but I know in snooker Barry gave discretionary tour-cards to the likes of Jimmy White to enable him to continue to enter the likes of the World Championship at the L128 stage.

Look I agree it's a bad idea to do it this late in the day, but I think it's a bit of an overreaction to say it cheapens the event. Unless we feel the Masters or Wimbledon are also cheapened when the same thing happens.

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Well in golf The Masters (a bona fida Championship event) has a life-time exemption for previous champions, which would get Barney in it. It's why we see Sandy Lyle hacking it round for 36 holes every year. The British Open has similar but it expires at age 60. I'd actually like if darts had something like this.
Obviously golf has no overriding 'World Championship' but the US Open considers itself the de facto worlds biggest event, and reserves the right to give 'special exemptions'.
And as said Wimbledon (which would be many peoples idea of the biggest event in tennis) gives out discretionary wildcards.

I don't think your references to Cricket & Rugby or the Davis Cup are relevant as they are team sports, it seems to be an individual sport thing. I know nothing about squash, but I know in snooker Barry gave discretionary tour-cards to the likes of Jimmy White to enable him to continue to enter the likes of the World Championship at the L128 stage.

Look I agree it's a bad idea to do it this late in the day, but I think it's a bit of an overreaction to say it cheapens the event. Unless we feel the Masters or Wimbledon are also cheapened when the same thing happens.

We’ll have to politely agree to disagree

I think the WC should be played by the players who have qualified through a predetermined qualification process.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that it would be the first time this has happened

Looks tacky, commercially driven and cheap

TbL

How would it even work considering there appears to be qualifying criteria for all 96 players? Maybe he set that out in the podcast, i didn't listen to it.

Maybe there are players who can't travel due to Covid perhaps. Or re-introducing a preliminary round?

Kingp35

Some of the International qualifying events haven't taken place due to covid so there could be additional spots open.

they should go to players with a Tour Card though, especially given the year that's in it with players making so little money.

Scoundrel

Ciaran Teehan takes the last qualifying spot from the UK qualifier beating Joe Murnan

Jamie Lewis beat Thornton to qualify now which loses Thornton's tour card I think

Dillonb3

Teehan, Jamie Lewis, Matthew Edgar and Nick Kenny make it through the uk qualifiers.

Thornton and Van der Pas missed out and will have to go to Q school in January

US2 wrote: »

Jamie Lewis beat Thornton to qualify now which loses Thornton's tour card I think

That’s a surprise, Thornton’s been bad but Lewis has been abject lately

TbL

SketchyPrince

Happy for Ciaran Teehan qualifying, has had a difficult first year on the tour definitely. Worst case scenario the £7.5k will push him up the rankings a bit.

boomdocker

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

That’s a surprise, Thornton’s been bad but Lewis has been abject lately

TbL

Saw him a while back in a Euro tour event I think it was, pure brutal

Kingp35 wrote: »

Some of the International qualifying events haven't taken place due to covid so there could be additional spots open.

they should go to players with a Tour Card though, especially given the year that's in it with players making so little money.

All 96 players updated on Wikipedia now so that should be an end to the wildcard craic hopefully.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_PDC_World_Darts_Championship

boomdocker

Degag wrote: »

All 96 players updated on Wikipedia now so that should be an end to the wildcard craic hopefully.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_PDC_World_Darts_Championship

Looks tasty
First impressions - Peter Wright looks to be in a tricky section
MvG shouldn't have much problem getting to the QF's
Section 2looks like a minefield
Gerwyn price won't have it all his own way - likely to come up against some in form players early on

Deeper Blue

boomdocker wrote: »

Looks tasty
First impressions - Peter Wright looks to be in a tricky section
MvG shouldn't have much problem getting to the QF's
Section 2looks like a minefield
Gerwyn price won't have it all his own way - likely to come up against some in form players early on

Sections 2 and 3 both very hard to call I think

Section 1 looks to be the weakest quarter by a distance

Keane Barry interview in tomorrows podcast, will be interested to hear what he makes of his draw

https://twitter.com/WeeklyDartscast/status/1336645544245137411?s=19

Big changes for Q school in January. Bit complicated but basically only 500 entrys allowed. People who lost their tourcard or did well in Development/Challenge tour will get a free pass in to the final 128.

Interview here explaining it all

https://twitter.com/phillbarrs/status/1337677826233950208?s=19

Brilliant blunder in yesterdays Independent newspaper

Thank God the WDF are still going to organise tournaments and basically taken over the gap left by the BDO.

I was getting worried it was said Steve Browns MAD was taken it. He did a good job with JDC but MAD is ridiculous. It's honestly so stupid you'd think it was a joke. I'll give them a year at most.

https://twitter.com/DartsWDF/status/1340026548506779650?s=19

Kingp35

MAD darts are certainly living up to their name, a truly ridiculous idea.

SketchyPrince

Is there any notable names that will have to take part in the first stage of Q School? I could be wrong but from what I can see Mark Webster will have to because he didn't play any challenge tour, assume the same for Barney.

Porthallian

SketchyPrince wrote: »

Is there any notable names that will have to take part in the first stage of Q School? I could be wrong but from what I can see Mark Webster will have to because he didn't play any challenge tour, assume the same for Barney.

John Part

Believe i was listening to Webster commentating the other day and he confirmed not going to Q school. Happy with his media work.

John Part has been there a few times in recent years.

Would love if Barney went and was destroyed.

Today is the starting day for lakeside. I know it's been a **** show the last few years but I really will miss it. 3 of tonight's 4 semi finalists have played in a lakeside final.