LAKESIDE BDO DARTS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005

commentary by Andy Fairclough

Raymond van Barneveld took his fourth BDO World Title in a one sided final which really echoed the whole of the week. Some great performances, but far too many one sided matches. However there were a few gems and certainly this is the tournament to watch to see the best of the European (non English) Darts talent.

A welcome addition was the broadcasting of the whole tournament live via the interactive BBCi channel although the pre and post match discussions weren't shown on this channel, simply the matches.

FIRST ROUND (LAST 32)

Tony David looked like he was going to cruise past England's Tony Eccles as he took a 2-0 set lead. However the ever improving Eccles (he won the Dutch Open a few weeks later) took 3 sets on the trot to win the match.

Shaun Greatbatch against Scotland's Mike Veitch was a close affair that really could have gone either way, with Veitch scraping through in the tie-break. Both players had never previously won at Lakeside - so there was always going to be a bit of history made for one of them.

Andy Fordham didn't find his best form against Holland's Vincent Van Der Voort. "The Viking" took a 2-1 lead but the Dutchman turned it around to win 3-2, so as in many previous BDO World Championships, the reigning champ went out first round.

John Walton went through with a 91.5 average beating Dave Routledge 3-1 and Tony West overturned a 2-0 deficit to beat Rick Hofstra 3-2.

Martin Adams against Davy Richardson was a close fought  tie. Both players played quality darts with Richardson building a 2-0 lead with around a 96.0 average (Adams 91.0). "Wolfie" came back though and the scorebook and averages went the other way. 3-2 to Adams with around a 95.0 average (Richardson 92.0).

Hot favourite Raymond van Barneveld made light work of Scotland's Gary Anderson winning 3-0 and Darryl "The Dazzler" Fitton beat Gary Robson 3-1.

My favourite first round match featured two of European Darts brightest characters. "The Magician" Robert Wagner from Norway and "Smiley" Jarkko Komula from Finland. Two players in total contrast. Wagner is an exhibitionist and an entertainer whereas Komula is nicknamed "Smiley" because he rarely smiles. Both talented players and their game was a cracker. Komula took the first set and had already checked out a 130 with Wagner checking out a 161. Komula took the second set and as with so many of the other first round games that was the spur that Wagner needed to produce his best darts. He turned the match around and won 3-2 during a tiebreak in the final set.

Ted Hankey demolished the fancied American John Kuczynski 3-0 , Robert Thornton beat Martin Atkins 3-0 and John Henderson beat Stephen Bunting also 3-0. Simon Whitlock beat Tony Martin 3-1.

Tony O'Shea came into the tournament with an injured shoulder and though the Stockport man refused to blame his injury it must have had some impact as he lost 3-1 to Marko Kantele.

Another 3-0 this time for reigning World Master Mervyn King as he beat Wayne Warren.

Final match of the first round was the (first) battle of The Netherlands, the experienced Co Stompe against soft-tip master Andre Brantjes. It was a tight affair that went all the way with Brantjes just scraping through 3-2.

LAST 16

Mike Veitch could find no answer to Raymond van Barneveld's talent as the Dutchman cruised through 3-0 and Robert Thornton beat a disappointing Tony West by the same score.

Vincent Van Der Voort beat Tony Eccles 3-1 while former World Champion John Walton was brushed aside by Darryl Fitton 3-0. Fitton hitting an incredible 5 maximums in the first 4 legs.

Tie of the round was Robert Wagner against Ted Hankey. The Norwegian stormed to a 2-0 lead before Hankey found his game and with it a superb display of Darts. "The Count" threw a 12 dart leg to save the match and take it to 2 sets all. Despite Wagner continuing to throw well Hankey was not missing anything and he took the match 3-2. Both players averaged around 95.

One of the new faces at Lakeside this year who impressed was Scotland's John Henderson. He ran Martin Adams ragged in a match which "Wolfie" just scraped through 3-2. Henderson has a unique throwing style which sees him rock backwards and forwards. It worked though as he threw 12 x 180s in the match a new World Championship record for a 5 set match.

A big surprise was Dutchman Andre Brantjes beating Mervyn King 3-2 and Australian Simon Whitlock beat Marko Kantele 3-1.

LADIES FINAL

The Ladies World Championship was played earlier this year on the Tuesday with Trina Gulliver adding yet another world title to her name beating Francisca Hoenselaar 2-0.

QUARTER-FINALS

It was billed as battle of the Dutchman but to be fair Vincent Van Der Voort was completely outclassed by Raymond Van Barneveld who coasted through to a 5-0 win and finishing in style with a maximum 170 checkout.

One step too far for Robert Thornton who lost 5-0 to the "One Step Beyond" man, Darryl Fitton and Simon Whitlock played his best darts of the week to beat Andre Brantjes 5-1.

Two grand old darts masters clashed in the last semi-final - Ted Hankey and Martin Adams. Hankey took the first set and then it was "nip and tuck" as Adams kept in at 2-3. Adams took the next set to level the match and perhaps that was the spur he needed as he took the next two sets to win 5-3. Hankey had three darts at D20 to save the match but it wasn't to be.

SEMI-FINALS

Simon Whitlock was very disappointing as Martin Adams showed great form to win 5-0.

A better match saw Darryl Fitton who had lost out to Barneveld a few times in big tournaments have a real go at the Dutchman. Arguably the two best players of the week, perhaps this should have been the final. It didn't start closely though with Barneveld cruising to a 3-0 lead. Fitton took the next set before Barney took the following to lead 4-1. Surely it was all over with the Dutchman needing just one more set. Fitton didn't give up though and took the next two sets to make it 4-3. However Raymond van Barneveld made sure there were no further slips and checking out 146 for a 2-0 lead in the 8th set steered him swiftly towards a 5-3 win.

THE FINAL

Did Martin Adams have anything in the tank to stop Raymond van Barneveld. At the start of the match it seemed he might have as he kicked off with a 180. Barneveld missed 6 darts for the first set and Adams capitalised taking an early lead.

It didn't last though as Barneveld surged to a 4-1 lead with a 116 checkout. A reasonable standard by both players with Barney averaging 94 to Adams 93 at that point. With the next set going to Barneveld and only one more needed it seemed that Adams first World final appearance was to come to a quick end. The England captain wasn't quite finished though as he brought  the match back to 5-2 with a 3 legs to 0 win in the 7th set. However Barneveld took the next and the match 6-2  and with it a fourth BDO World title, now just one short of Eric Bristow's five title record.

text copyright to Andy Fairclough/ Superstars of Darts

Superstars of Darts main website