The Men's Draw for the Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship 2014

The finals of the tournament are played at Lakeside starting on Saturday 4th January and finishing on Sunday 12th January.

As usual there are some interesting games, starting with the prelims.
The 2012 winner Christian Kist (Neth) has been drawn against Shimizu Hiroaki (Japan). The winner will go on to face the No2 seed, James Wilson (Eng). It isn't often the No2 seed could face a recent champion in the first round of a seeded tournament.
Paul Hogan (Eng) has a tough one against Karel Sedlacek (Czech). Karel won't be well known by a lot of the TV audience but he is known on the darts circuit having been a finalist in the 2011 Austria Open and knocking Darryl Fitton out of the 2013 Romania Open.
Another past champion in the prelims is Martin Adams (Eng), who will face up to David Cameron (Can). The winner of this one will have a match against the runner-up from the last 2 years - Tony O'Shea (Eng).

In the first round there are also some interesting matches.
Richie George (Eng), the son of the runner-up from 1980 and 1994 Bobby George, will play Robbie Green (Eng).
Darryl Fitton (Eng) has been drawn with Tony Eccles (Eng). These two have never met in the World Pro but out of the five top event games they've played Tony leads by one.
Another all England first round match is between last years winner and No7 seed Scott Waites and Alan Norris.

For the full draw:

http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/TournamentDetails.aspx?TournKey=2

The Prize Fund

The prize fund has increased this year by £13,000 to £329,000 between the Men and Ladies events. The winning man will receive a cheque for £100,000 and the money pays all the way down to the losers of the prelims who will receive £2000.

Full prize fund:

http://www.bdodarts.com/2322/22-10-2013/Lakeside_2014_Prize_Funds

Ticket News

Tickets are still available but are selling fast: 

http://www.lakesideworlddarts.co.uk/

Future Blogs:

In the future I hope to interview Sue Williams the Chair of the BDO and also have a feature on Ladies Darts - to include their World Professional Championship. 

The 2014 Lakeside World Darts Championship, a Players Perspective

Interview with a Player
In May 2013 many darts players across the UK started on the journey to the World Championship. Among them was Jason Mold a county dart player who lives in Norfolk. Jason represents Suffolk A in the British Inter County Championship (BICC), he previously represented Norfolk.

GH - When did your World Championship start?

JM - I entered the Suffolk playoff in the second week of May at our county venue - The Kesgrave Social Club. I played and won 6 games to become the Suffolk Representative.

GH - What was the next stage?

JM - Preparation. I had to get the dates and the location for the next round and book time off work - this is a 2 day, mid week event. I then booked a hotel. I also had to let my wife know as I have to balance darts around my family life.

GH - and then there was the actual event....

JM - The playoffs were held in Hull, there were over 500 representatives from around the world. I was lucky enough to get a bye in the first round so was straight through to the last 256 where I played Peter Schoenauer from Switzerland. I beat Peter 2 sets to nil. In the last 128 I played and beat Dylan Sinclair from the Republic of Ireland, again 2-0. In the last 64 I lost to John Clayton from Wales, I did take a set off him.

GH - What was the standard of darts like?

JM - There was a varied range. Some playoffs are easier than others to get through so there are some weaker players but on the other hand, there are some players of a very high standard. One of the four men who got through to Lakeside was Paul Hogan, a Berkshire county player who recently won the BDO (British Darts Organisation) Gold Cup. There are a lot of people who you have never heard of from other countries as well as players you have seen or played on the circuit before.

GH - Keith Deller won the World Championship in 1983 from being a qualifier. Could you see this ever happening again.

JM - Yes, it's very possible. There are players who are on the brink of turning professional just looking for the break. All the top BDO players enter the Gold Cup and as mentioned earlier it was won by a player who has qualified for the final stages this year.

Jason (right) with 1996 World Champion Steve Beaton

GH - Is it difficult to maintain your standard of darts with your family life?

JM - Definitely. County darts takes up 9 whole weekends a year, some of these include travelling on a Friday. There are lots of other days taken up with competitions. To even stay at this standard I need to play for local pub teams during the evening and to represent Suffolk the selection is from the Suffolk super League. I have a wife and 2 children, I don't want to miss out on my family life so I have to balance home, work and darts.

GH - So why do it?

JM - I enjoy it. There is the thrill of competition. I have won the "Most 100's" for the county 2 years running. To display the trophy at home with some great names on it means a lot. There are some top players on it like Keith Deller and Mervyn King but also for me it means a lot to put my name on one my Dad won over 20 years ago.
To win the Man of the Match at county games means a lot, you know the standard you have to get to to do this.
I enjoy winning tournaments, no matter how big or small. Even getting to the semi-final of major tournaments - such as the Lincoln Open is a feat.

GH - Thanks Jason. Good look for the future.

Who Will Be The First Sporting World Champ of 2014?

The two Darts world championships will have their champions in January 2014.The PDC event sponsored by Ladbrokes will crown their champion on 1st Jan 14.
We're 3 months away from finding the BDO world champion for 2014 but the competition has already dropped from thousands of entries to a few hundred. By the end of the week we will be down to 40 men and 16 women.

The Lakeside Darts World Champions will be crowned on the weekend of 11/12 January 2014 but when did this tournament start? The majority of the entrants come from the county players from England, Scotland and Wales. These entered there county players in May/June 2013. These qualifiers join qualifiers from around the world in play-offs in Hull this week to fight through to the finals that start in December and finish in January. The finals are all to be held at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey, the home of this event since 1986.

The TV audience is predicted to beat last years 4.5 million across the world, with live games being shown in many countries including the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. All games are live in some countries via the "red button". Tickets for the event are on sale now but selling fast. It will be a sellout, as it is every year.

So why is the British Darts Organisation's main event so popular?

It is the original Darts World Championship, it started in 1978 with a competition for men. The first champion was Leighton Rees from Wales who beat England's John Lowe in the final at the Heart of Midlands Club in Nottingham. The following year the event moved to Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke on Trent where it stayed until it moved to its present home. The ladies championship started in 2001and was one by England's Trina Gulliver. Trina won the next 6 finals before losing the next 2 to Anastasia Dobromyslova (Russia) and Francis Hoenselaar (Netherlands) respectively.

The youngest winner was the Netherlands' Jelle Klassen in 2006, he was 21 years and 90 days old. Martin Adams was the oldest champion when he won the following year at 54 years and 224 days. Martin was the England captain when he won.

The most memorable win was by a relatively unknown qualifier in 1983. The Ipswich born, Keith Dellar was a name on the county circuit as he represented the successful London team. Keith had to face the world number 3 in the quarter-final, John Lowe. He next beat the world number 2, Jocky Wilson in the semi-final. His opponent in the final was the world number 1, Eric Bristow. With 1 dart to throw, Eric required 50 - a one dart outshout using the bull - to win the match. With Keith requiring 138, he chose to throw an 18 to leave 32. He hoped to have 3 chances to hit double 16 on his next throw. Keith had other ideas. He hit treble 20, treble 18 and double 12 to win the world championship.

Not every final has been as exciting as that one but every year there are exciting matches.

My next blog will include an interview with the Suffolk qualifier, Jason Mold.

Why Darts?

I've been interested in darts for many years. We had a board up at home when I was young where me and my brother used to have a throw but not as well as my Mum and Dad. When I was a teenager my mum played darts for the local pub - The Rose of Lancaster, in a ladies league. I occasionally went to watch but not very often.

I left home to join the RAF Regiment in 1984 and often met my Mum and Dad in the Rose for a game of darts when visiting at a weekend. It was during these visits that I started to learn different games and different rules. Singles, pairs and team games. As well as games there were challenges and bets using dart skills. I married a girl who lived about 8 miles from where I was brought up. When I visited pubs near her house they were using a totally different board, the Manchester Board, smaller, no trebles and only a single bull.

 

The Manchester "Log End" Board

I played for my first team when I moved to Germany with the RAF. I represented my squadron in the RAF Bruggen Inter-Section League. This was where I won my first trophies - individual 180 medals, pairs champions trophy and team league winners. By now I was truly gripped.

I started organising darts marathons for charity in Germany and in the Falkland Islands. I started a service league in the Falklands as well as playing a couple of games for the Globe Public House in Port Stanley.
On returning to Germany I was selected to represent RAF Bruggen in the Super League, I'd gone up a level.
My next posting was to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, I played for the Osprey there in a local league.
Wherever I went, I played darts. If I was in a town I'd never been in before, I could walk into a pub and throw some darts. People would challenge me and win or lose I'd made new friends. If others were on the board when I walked in, I could play the winner and again - new friends.

By the time I was posted back to Germany I was captaining teams and organising leagues. I had played Eric Bristow in an exhibition. I won the player of the night against Bobby George in another exhibition, I had 32 left when Bobby checked out on 140!

After leaving the RAF I settled in Norfolk. I played in pub leagues three nights a week. I took over the administration of one of those leagues. I later played super league and eventually took charge of my super league team.

The highest I got in the darts world - up to now - was to be asked to take the position of General Secretary for Norfolk darts. A role I did for five years and one I had to give up due to moving to London for work. I was selected and represented Norfolk at darts 3 times.

 

 At Rileys Norwich - The Home of Norfolk Darts

My son and daughter both represented Norfolk Youth darts and played super league. My son was also selected as a Norfolk reserve. My brother played for his local pub. My wife has played up to super league and won a holiday competition.

Darts has played a big part of my life and it will for a long time to come. In the weeks to come I will share my interest with you. from pub darts to internationals, the fun of darts and the politics.