Back to the Divide

There is a massive divide between the standard of play from the PDC players to the BDO players, most of us accept that. The top players from the BDO can compete with most of the players from the PDC, but most players from the PDC can't cope with the top players either. When players leave the BDO to join the PDC they usually do themselves justice, this doesn't always mean they have a chance of winning the PDC World Championship.
When Mervyn King moved to the PDC nobody predicted he would win their World Championship and he hasn't. He does well and earns a good living but he won't win it. When Raymond van Barneveld moved across we all knew his class - he was expected to win it and he has.
The 2 biggest moves this year were Ted Hankey moving back to the BDO and Stephen Bunting moving to the PDC.
Ted coming back was not much of a shock as he used to be one of the best in the BDO but was never near the top with the PDC. Ted wants to win so gave up with the PDC. It will be interesting to see how gets on.
Stephen is a great player and quite young, he has a chance to make it in the PDC.

Is it right to move freely between the two sides? I don't think so.Ted decides he won't win anything with the PDC so is allowed back into the BDO system. There should be an 18 month period where he can't enter major competitions. He should try to get back in through the county system to prove he is back for the BDO not just himself.
The way Stephen moved makes a mockery of the whole sport of darts. He won the BDO World Championship and then moved across to the PDC, leaving the BDO without a World Champion. I bet Barry Hearn loved that - he is the winner, darts is the loser.

Any player who enters either World Championship should sign a contract to stay with that side for 12 months.

We all love watching the Darts on Sky. Sky and the PDC made the sport interesting to lots of new fans, flashing lights, fireworks and commentators with personality along with usually excellent darts. The BDO competitions on Eurosport and especially the BBC are awful to watch for ardent darts fans like myself. There are some good games but many more awful ones backed up with mundane commentary. The one advantage the BDO has is they have a Women's World Championship but they cock that up by only showing it begrudgingly and not much of it.

Until the sides make up and become one darts will remain a laughing stock. It should be run like football with the best teams getting promoted to the Premier Division and teams automatically getting relegated. The top plays move to the PDC and the underperforming players relegated back down to the BDO. All could then enter one World Championship. This would stop the situation we have now where the PDC have 2 World Champions and the the BDO none