Here come old double top
He come throwing slowly
He got dartboard eyeballs
He want treble 18
He got flares down below his knees
Grandma in your armchair can you feel his disease?
The whole thing stepped up a level last night with Gary Anderson seeing off qualifier Chris Dobey in an epic battle with some serious scoring, before Van Gerwen outmuscled Adrian Lewis. Lewis played very well in patches, but MVG averaged 108 without really getting into top gear.
The bottom half of the draw is wide open, with Rob Cross odds-on favourite to make the final now (I've not checked with the bookies, but if he isn't then lump on). Anderson has been patchy in his last two games, although Chris Dobey was fantastic last night, and he's the only player with the game in the top half to beat an on-form MVG. With that being said, if they do meet in the semi-final (as expected) then you can see Anderson taking it up a notch. I hope he does, there's something about watching MVG fail in the World Championships every year that I find very therapeutic.
Bit of a damp squib in some ways, with MCG head and shoulders above the rest. Interesting to see Michael Smith's reaction in the final - clearly he felt he wasn't there just to make up the numbers and his devastation was clear to see, hopefully he can use that as motivation to kick on next season.
Smith bottled it - he can beat himself sometimes and in the 3rd set he started shaking his head. Knew then he wasn't going to win, even though he did well to win those two sets on the spin. Any other top player would have fancied themselves against MVG in the final, but such is life.
Lakeside starts today with Mark McGeeney against Derk Telnekes. McGeeney missed a championship dart last year against Durrant, so should come through unscathed, but Telnekes is a decent up and comer from the Netherlands, so a shock can't be fully ruled out.
The FA Cup of darts starts today with the UK Open on ITV4.
I love this event because the draw is open, with seeds coming in at different rounds. It means the MVG could well be drawn against Gary Anderson in their first match. Also, you have the Riley's Pub qualifiers - a lad who plays on my pub team has been to the UK Open twice - which usually throws up the odd shock.
I'm looking to Glen Durrant and Jamie Hughes as my outside bets for good runs. Both have started their PDC careers well and, on their day, are as good as anything at the top end.
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