With not much sport on at the moment I have turned my attention to the Worlds Darts Championship being held in the UK and it has been exceptional entertainment. I love all sports and will watch almost anything besides squash and hockey as that would be pushing the boredom barriers a bit too far.
Last night we had the defending and current World Champion Luke Humphries playing 2 x World Champion Peter "snakebite" Wright who absolutely thrashed the defending champ 4-2. In the build up to the match Humphries was asked if he was worried about playing a 2 x World Champion and he said no. His reply that followed was so disrespectful he deserved to lose. He said that he is a world champion and is only one behind his opponent and when he wins this year he would still have 25 years to win more titles compared to his opponent. Humphries has so much to learn about what being a champion entails and you cannot un your opponents down and think you are that much better.
The other match I watched was actually so far different as these guys are not quite at the peak of the sport. Ricky Evans is ranked 45 in the world and his biggest problem I have noticed is he has the attention span of a lettuce. He is very talented yet you know he could implode at any moment due to his errors. When someone has talent and is not using it properly it is so frustrating too watch. Last night he played Robert Owen who only got into the tournament due to someone being sick and has no world ranking. He is a delivery driver by day so amateurs are also playing in the WDC. This does not mean he is no good and just needs a break in life.
I this match which was being dominated by Evans until he made a massive mistake and was abut to go 3-1 up with one set to play. He messed up his second dart and because he throws so quickly he just threw the 3rd with no particular target in mind were he could have made life easier if he had selected properly. He realized his obvious mistake and that his temperament had let him down.
Owen went on to clinch that set and eventually win 4-2 with Evans not doing anything with that obvious mistake still bugging him. If you are a professional in any sport you need to be tough mentally and this guy is a cup cake. He may have the talent to succeed, but he is his own worst enemy as he at that particular time was already thinking of victory because he was dominating his opponent.
Owen went on to win 4-2 and clinch a professional darts player tour card for 2025 and has already guaranteed himself £35K from this event. Who knows he may last another round or two, but highly unlikely as he is in the last 16 now. I still cannot believe what Evans did last night and was almost as bad as the one player checking out on a double, but had miscalculated and needed a double 18 and not a double 16. He went on to lose that set and that match all because of a lapse of concentration. This is the difference between a top player and a player who will always be on the fringes.
Over the next few days I will be watching as there is nothing else n at this time of night and it is seriously good fun. The atmosphere is kind of festive with all the alcohol flowing amongst the supporters. I would love to know how much alcohol is consumed over the course of the tournament as it must be a huge volume. I just Googled and it states around 600K pints of beer.