The World Seniors stole the show while the jury is still out on the new Premier League format, writes Paul Nicholson

There was about two hours on Thursday night last week when darts fans had the chance to watch three different tournaments at the same time via their difference devices.

The all-new Premier League was on Sky Sports, the World Seniors was available via the BBC and BT Sport and there was also the start of the new Online Darts Live League season going on.

And if that wasn’t enough, the first two Players Championship events of 2022 took place at the weekend. Paul Nicholson reflects on the key talking points of all four in this week’s bumper column:

Senior moments steal the show

As brilliantly as the leading players in the world have started the new PDC season, I think it’s fair to say the World Seniors Championship captured most fans imaginations.

After all the deserved hype, there was sadly some negativity on the opening night due to some production and sound issues, but by Friday they had all been ironed out and we were all treated to a fantastic tournament and it was a privilege to be a part of the commentary team.

I was there for the first two days before heading off to Barnsley for my ProTour duties at the weekend and I’ve never seen the Circus Tavern as full as it was on Friday night for Phil Taylor’s return.

However, although his entrance was spine-tingling, you could tell pretty early he wasn’t going to be at the level needed to challenge those who have put a lot of work in over the past couple of seasons and the bookies quite clearly got it wrong to make him favourite – even after his victory over Peter Manley.

I attempted to predict how the event would unfold in my last column and I actually did pretty well because I went for Robert Thornton and Martin Adams to make the final, with Robert to win it and that’s obviously what happened.

They were the best two players in the tournament – just ahead of Kevin Painter – and it’s no coincidence this trio were heavily active in the Online Darts Live League. Even Terry Jenkins played in some of those tournaments last year to gear himself up for this.

Phil will want to close the gap for the forthcoming events following his exit to Painter if he’s to stand a chance at walking away with any of the trophies, and while I’m not sure if he will go down the same competitive route of preparation, he will probably take part in more exhibitions, which have been hard to come by in recent times for obvious reasons.

Although the nostalgia surrounding legendary players was the greatest thrill for the vast majority of viewers around the world, it was great to see the lesser-known duo of Richie Howson and Dave Prins make their mark in their first televised tournament at this stage of their careers.

They will have subsequently inspired many other decent players who never made it to the big stage during their younger years, that it’s never too late to start dreaming about playing your idols.

John Lowe gave a tremendous speech praising Dave for beating him on Saturday and even said he’d even have lost to that performance during his prime. Imagine how that must have felt for Dave at such an iconic venue?

It was even special for a player of Robert Thornton’s stature to share the stage with a legend like Bob Anderson – his bow to the great man’s unforgettable 180 on Thursday night was a lovely tribute.

That moment has now been seen by 100s of 1000s of fans on social media since it happened and as a Bob Anderson super fan growing up, I was so privileged to be on commentary duty. It’ll take something special to top that moment this season!

There were obviously a few legends who struggled up there and they’ll have to assess if they enjoyed it enough and got a big enough payday to warrant wanting to do it again.

But I was so impressed with Les Wallace and his attitude. He may not have averaged very highly but boy did he dig deep – and he’s hardly played any darts in the last 20 years! Like many players, he’ll have realised there is something still there to build on if he puts in a bit more hard work.

As for Robert, he’s now banked £30,000, won a new major and is going to be hot favourite to win the other senior events in 2022. Suddenly not winning a PDC Tour Card doesn’t seem so bad – financially or career wise.

I think the tournament’s success – and Robert’s bounty - will also have caught the attention of those 50+ players lower down the rankings in the PDC such as Steve Beaton and Simon Whitlock that they would have something exciting to fall back on if they were to lose their cards in years to come.

There will be two more senior events this year – the Masters and the Matchplay – and the excitement is already building for both.

Don’t judge too soon

I did enjoy the Premier League format…for week one. But nobody should really make any snap judgements about it until at least week six or so.

I want to see how many times we have repeat fixtures and whether the recurring battles get a bit stale. I have heard from those who were at Cardiff that the reaction of the crowd did go a little quiet after the first four games even though Jonny Clayton got through to the final.

In previous seasons when the home favourite wins his match, the crowd are bouncing and will go home very happy. Now their player needs to win three matches in one night to give the fans that same sense of euphoria.

What happens if Gary Anderson beats Michael van Gerwen and James Wade in Aberdeen or Glasgow but, after all that, loses the final to Gerwyn Price?!

All that said, the quality of play was impressive, especially from Peter Wright, and I also thought the new Winmau dart board looked great on its first night and withstood everything that was thrown at them.

Regardless of how entertaining the new format was, there’s one thing for sure – these eight contenders are going to be playing a lot of darts in the coming months!

Race for number one hotting up

While the World Seniors continued to hit the headlines at the weekend, I did enjoy being in Barnsley for the Players Championship events.

I’ve always found that first morning of the Pro Tour season is one of the most exciting of the year. You’ve got all these new Tour Card holders and those who have earned themselves a place back on the tour – and one of the first things I did was have a laugh with Richie Burnett and tell him he’s home again.

The enthusiasm around the room was palpable but by about 1pm, there was a lot of disappointment from half of the field!

On Saturday I was delighted Luke Humphries finally won his first senior title and it was a culmination of all his hard work and brave decisions over the past year or so. He looks energised and healthy while the courageous move to change his darts at the end of November is paying off handsomely.

He’s never had that kind of trust in his equipment before, while he’s told multiple people, including me, that these new Winmau Blade 6 dart boards will be the making of him.

Humphries insisted he plays better on them than the Unicorns and the first opportunity he gets in a ranking event since the PDC made the switch, he wins it!

Even if it’s just psychological, it’s still a good thing because he’s becoming more confident. Wayne Mardle once said about me “Paul thinks he’s the best double 16 hitter in the world. Whether he is or not is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that he thinks he is.”

Ryan Searle also proved he’s here to stay by reaching the final and his average of 115 earlier in the day was the highest of the weekend. I’m sure we’ll see more Humphries v Searle finals down the line.

But on Sunday we saw the world number one and number two battle it out for the title - and the holder of those two positions could soon be flip flopping throughout the season.

There’s only £5,500 between Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright following the latter’s success in Barnsley: A situation we’ve not seen in the rankings for around 20 years!

Michael van Gerwen, meanwhile, is about £500,000 behind them and will be out of the picture for quite some time on current form. If anything, he could go the other way down the rankings.

He should never lose to Stephen Burton with an average of 89 – it just wouldn’t have happened a few years ago. There’s no fear factor surrounding him right now and even the new players on tour will feel like vultures circling him.

The turning point could come on the European Tour, which always used to be his comfort zone for picking up regular titles in front of crowds. He’s won 32 of them in total but it’s been almost three years since his last due to a combination of the calendar being decimated and also his loss of form.

It could be make or break for him this season.

Back Online

I couldn’t be happier for Josh Payne for being triumphant in the opening week of the Online Darts Live League because he’s had an awful 18 months professionally and personally.

He’s such a positive person, even when he’s having a bad time, so for him to have a crack at the first group, win it and qualifying for the Champions Group will really give him a boost he richly deserves.

Overall the standard was excellent and it will once again serve as a fantastic opportunity for all those players who don’t have tour cards. Everyone has proof of how important it is to stay sharp when you don’t have Tour Cards thanks to the success of Thornton, Adams and Burnett so we could be seeing the same with Josh Payne.

Obviously demand is high to get involved in the Online Darts Live League, which runs from Tuesday to Saturday, and the bigger names will always be invited back but the organisers are incredibly fair about who else is getting the chances.

There’s a nice mix of new players and existing players but if you get a crack early in the first phase of the Online Darts and do well, you will get invited back. If you don’t play well and don’t take your opportunity, you might not get invited back because there are other people knocking on the door.

Anyone looking to be involved will have to make sure they are sharp enough to hit the ground running. You get five games on a Tuesday and five on a Wednesday to try and get through the group so it’s not like you don’t get enough matches.

But take those chances, and the future could be very bright indeed.

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