Sporting Life
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Phil Taylor featured in all three World Seniors events

Did the World Seniors Darts Tour capture the imagination and how can it grow in the future?

By Paul Nicholson
Darts
Wed July 06, 2022 · 4y ago

The inaugural World Seniors Tour is over for 2022 so Paul Nicholson reflects on the highs and lows of the three-tournament season and whether it’s a promising venture that can grow further in future years.

Framework established but fields must change

After all the speculation about which players would take part in the World Seniors major events, how the events would look and whether they’d capture the public’s imagination, it was important for them to dip their toe in the water with a basic framework and now that’s established, there’s certainly potential to make next year’s four majors even better.

However, I do feel they are in the same place that the PDC were in about 20 years ago in the sense that virtually all the players are English – even though the three events were won by Scotland’s Robert Thornton (x2) and Canada’s David Cameron! There were four players in the Matchplay draw who weren’t from England and for the World Seniors to grow I do feel there needs to be much more representation from different countries around the world.

The growth of this isn’t necessarily in England but it is understandable that they wanted to kick off the inaugural tour by inviting the old English legends from the past such as John Lowe, Bob Anderson, Keith Deller and Peter Manley regardless of their current ability level.

The organisers needed familiar names on that stage to sell tickets and get a TV deal so they’ve played it as well as they could have possibly done for a first attempt.

Sadly the standard produced by many of the old favourites wasn’t really good enough to keep the crowds and viewers at home entertained once the novelty and the nostalgia wore off and it’s essential for future seasons that players should have to qualify for these events rather than rely on invitations based on what they did in years gone by. I don’t know how much Peter Evison has even played in the last 10 years or so but averaging 53 over eight legs in the Matchplay suggests it can’t be much. Some players had complained about not being invited to the World Championship and he was one of them from what I hear.

There will be more qualifying events and a better standard of players coming through to earn their place in the fields, and as a result the standard in 2023 and 2024 should improve significantly. The need for the legends won’t be as great as it was at the start and they can’t be seen as a part of the Tour’s future if they aren’t good enough to entertain and challenge anymore. We can’t have players averaging in the 50s and we can’t have players in the quarter-finals averaging 68! Even the players will admit that if they care enough about the promotions future.

We need to find more players like the relatively unknown Colin McGarry, who proved just what a talent he was by qualifying for the Matchplay and then posted three 90+ averages during his run to the quarter-finals.

One thing they certainly don’t need to change are the trophies – they are magnificent. When I turn 50, the only reason I’d want to enter is to get my hands on one of them!

Don’t judge too soon

When we started the Live League in 2020, some people laughed and said it wouldn’t work. Well, they’re not laughing now. Two years on and there’s a big queue forming of players who want to take part because the product works.

So anyone laughing at the World Seniors at the moment might just want to wait a couple of years because these new projects take time and work will be put in to make these events even more appealing for both the players and the fans.

Taylor made for Seniors?

When Phil Taylor was eliminated by Kevin Painter at the World Championship in February, it was potentially bad for the rest of the field because whenever he suffered setbacks earlier in his career, he’d always come back stronger.

This time he struggled to find another level in terms of performance but he has rediscovered the ability to win more matches and managed to reach the final of both the Masters and the Matchplay, albeit losing both to David Cameron and Robert Thornton.

He does do a few exhibitions so it’ll be interesting to see how much that changes in the next six months ahead of the 2023 World Championship if he seriously wants to challenge for winning these titles. He’ll be annoyed that he lost these two finals – especially after having a match dart in the Matchplay final and that might really whet his appetite to up his activity.

Robert Thornton will compete heavily in the Live League and then go for a Tour Card at Q School so he might not even be at World Seniors next year but the likes of Kevin Painter and Martin Adams will be present and will be as sharp as they were this time around.

Prime Cameron

David Cameron qualified for the BDO World Championship several times but never embarked on a lengthy run so it was relatively surprising for many fans to see him go all the way at the Masters event at Lakeside and beat Taylor in the final.

I was really chuffed for him to achieve the crowning moment of his whole career and in doing so he proved what this World Senior Tour is all about players who can get up on stage and produce high calibre darts regardless of their reputation.

Richie Howson and Colin McGarry were among the other lesser-known players who were playing to a much higher level than those who enjoyed headline-making careers but the key difference between them now is that they play a lot more competitive action – even if it’s just locally.

They have constant exposure to little bits of pressure and that shines through. You don’t see the likes of John Lowe playing Super League once a week and although Bob Anderson still keeps his hand in every now and again, he is in his 70s. The fact he can still average in the 70s at his age is still pretty good! Martin Adams is in his 60s but his standard is still very high because of the amount he still plays competitively.

Why were Peter Manley, Alan Warriner-Little and Peter Evison not reaching an acceptable level of performance? Because they simply don’t play competitive darts on a regular basis. Exhibition work just doesn’t cut it in the same way.

Life begins at 50

There are obviously world-class players over the age of 50 currently operating at the highest level – including Peter Wright and Gary Anderson – but obviously PDC stars will only be eligible for the World Seniors unless they lose their Tour Cards, like Robert Thornton did.

The likes of Steve Beaton, Glen Durrant and John Henderson (50 next May) are all struggling to keep their cards so they could potentially be three new familiar names on the World Seniors Tour in 2023. Only time will tell.

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