Et was on January 1st, 2014, when a certain Michael van Gerwen crowned himself world champion of the dart thrower at Alexandra Palace in London. After his 7: 4 in the final against Peter Wright, the Dutchman was £ 250,000 richer and the new number one in the world rankings.
With his first triumph at the all-out highlight of the season, the then 24-year-old took over the legacy of Phil Taylor, who had dominated the sport at will with 14 world championship titles in the previous 19 years. The birth of a new era.
Now, seven years later, the darts world could see a similarly remarkable turning point. When the 28th World Darts Championship opens on Tuesday at a traditional location, two competitors will try to wrest the baton that was taken over in 2014 from “Mighty Mike”: Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price.
The fact that the turning point cannot take place in front of the usual atmospheric backdrop, however, ensures the crooked frame of a sporty, extremely interesting picture that the sport will give in winter 2020. The costumed fans and the unique atmosphere that made the tournament a global event in recent years and that – as paradoxical as that may sound in view of the consistently high alcohol level in the hall – have pulled the sport out of the niche of the bar game will not do anything. The corona pandemic and its effects are taking the magic out of the event.
It is true that the organizing Professional Darts Corporation was successful in soliciting spectator approval thanks to an extensive hygiene concept. But shortly before the start of the World Cup, the government in London announced on Monday that the World Cup from December 16 to 23 could initially only take place in front of empty stands. The world association PDC announced this on Monday evening after a decision by the authorities.
Pictures from another time: A year ago Peter Wright celebrated his first world title with the fans
Source: pa / empics / Steven Paston
Accordingly, the British capital will be classified in a different corona category from Wednesday, which is why sports events in front of an audience are temporarily prohibited. The opening evening on this Tuesday with the appearance of defending champion Peter Wright can still be played in front of spectators. From Wednesday, there will be ghost games for eight days.
The first two rounds will be played in the “Ally Pally” until Christmas, and the third round will continue from December 27th. Whether spectators are then allowed to be decided in the coming week.
There was no run on the cards this time anyway. By the first weekend of the World Cup, more than half of the seats were in danger of remaining empty in each session. In five sessions up to Friday evening, more than two thirds of the places were free. The reaction of the PDC, which tried to counteract this at the weekend by offering tables for two at short notice, did not have the hoped-for effect. Even for the quarter-finals, 105 tables (in the afternoon) and 58 tables (in the evening) are still free. Of the 238 tables on Thursday afternoon, only 47 were occupied.
Without partying and grumbling, darts is apparently not attractive enough for many to pay £ 160 to £ 280 for a table of four. At least not at the beginning. In addition to the semi-finals and finals, only 19 December has been sold out so far. That evening session in which van Gerwen intervenes and wants to prove that he is back on track after winning the dress rehearsal two weeks ago in Coventry. The era is to be continued.
Wright has already passed van Gerwen
Much has changed in the past seven years. There is a rapid development behind the sport, it has become more professional and relevant, which can also be seen in the prize money. At 500,000 pounds, the new world champion will receive twice as much as van Gerwen back then on January 1, 2014. But one thing has remained the same over the years – the tournament victory has always been about three letters: MVG.
Well-known pose: Dominator Michael van Gerwen on stage
Source: pa / augenklick / firo Sportphoto / PSI
The Dutchman has shaped his sport and without exception won everything there is to win in darts. Double, triple, sometimes eightfold. Like other pins, he has won tournaments on the professional tour. There are now 135, 25 of them in the 2016 season alone. The year in which he managed to top himself and his already merciless dominance once again, and at the end of which he moved from the “New York Times” to “Michael Jordan of Darts ”.
All of that is a thing of the past and has faded a bit in this season that is special in many ways. After changing materials, van Gerwen slipped into a crisis at the beginning of the year and for a long time found no remedy for the disease that penetrated deeper into his head with each defeat: insecurity. Doubt is the greatest enemy of the professionals in the mental sport of darts.
With the bankruptcies, the lead at the top of the world rankings melted. Peter Wright, who dethroned MVG as world champion a year ago, is still 484,000 pounds behind in the ranking based on the prize money from the past two years. If you factor out the results of the 2019 World Cup, the Scot has already passed virtually before the start of the tournament.
Van Gerwen has to stay longer in the World Cup than Wright if he wants to fend off the attack by the Scotsman. The fact that with Gerwyn Price another player blows the storm in first place does not necessarily make things easier for the ailing Primus.
However, it is also quite possible that the trio will have long since started their journey home for the final on January 3rd. The list of candidates for the title this year with Dimitri van den Bergh, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall, Jose de Sousa and some outsiders is more than twice as long as in the past.
Germany is represented in London with Gabriel Clemens, Max Hopp and amateur Nico Kurz and is hoping for the first round of 16 participation. Is it helpful that Clemens and Kurz could already meet in the second round? One of many questions that will be answered over the next three weeks.
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