2022 PDC World Darts Championship

For what it's worth I though it was a good final

Not poor or not brilliant but I'd near watch any darts I used to enjoy the BDO darts and enjoy it just as much. It isn't all about 100 + averages a good close game with some decent finishing can be just as exciting.

There's a hell of a lot more to it than just the averages. It's pure nonsense to just decide one figure is poor and the other is excellent. You have to look at why the averages are what they are. You need to look at the stage and any issues, the crowd being nasty will affect players too. A 96 average on one day could be way more impressive than a 102 on another day

As for Phil Taylor, he is still playing darts and making lots of money doing it. They have a Seniors World championship now and he's top man on that. Lots of legends playing it. Rumours of a mini seniors tour starting as well.

Eric Bristow was employed by Sky for a while as a camera director. He would tell the camera operator exactly where to focus or whether to pull out and show the whole board etc.

I remember seeing a clip of Bristow doing this. As well as knowing every possible finish he was also aware of what each particular player favoured.

eg. For a 108 finish Barney who loves double 18 would probably start on treble 18. (Shanghai on the 18s =108).

Somebody who prefers double 8 or 16 would probably start on treble 20.

In the clip I saw, Bristow was constantly calculating and directing. eg. If 102 required and the 60 is missed Bristow would shout "bull" if single 20 was hit but "treble 17" if single 1 was hit or "treble 19" if single 5 was hit etc. etc.

It's a skill that I don't think a general camera operator would generally have; particularly the knowledge of the preferred finishes of the top players.

That's very interesting, always wondered who told the camera men where to focus. Must be a tough enough job for whoever is operating the cameras. Was once or twice where Mardle seemed to get a bit annoyed with the cameras for not being focused at the right number/double etc

Not that I’ve ever heard of.

Why would anyone want that. It’s the different format that makes the Worlds so interesting.

Who can handle the pressure in those key deciding 5th legs. Also allows for some big comebacks when you can work your way back into a game set by set.

We get to see leg format in every other tournament bar the Grand Prix which has double start.

Yeah, i wouldn’t like to see it change, was just curious if there was any talk of that happening.

That's it! "Spotters"

I knew there was a word for that job.

This year's spotter made a few mistakes alright. I play a bit of pub league darts at a fairly low standard but like yourself I'd know all the outshots. The only thing I'm not up to scratch with is the combinations coming down from the high 200s or 300s to leave a finish (eg. don't leave 163 or 159 etc) but I'm nowhere near a good enough player for that to matter. Having said that, if I'm sitting on 188 with 1 dart left in hand, I will of course aim for 18s ... you never know 😄

I think that was coming from 70 wasn't it. Single 20 left bull and treble 20 left double 5. Smith hit the treble but the spotter must have thought he hit the single so called for bull, it's hard to tell sometimes.

There seems to be more very fast players out there than there used to be, the likes of Smith, Ricky Evans, Keane Barry as well. They switch so fast that it must be an absolute nightmare for the spotters to keep up.

Not so much of an issue with someone like Wright but the spotters definitely have a tougher job now with the faster players coming through.

sporting life have the total as 859

Many thanks! Much appreciated!

question is will sherrock get a tourcard and why are the pdc delaying the premier league annoucement of players ;)