Which Online Darts Tournaments are currently taking place during Coronavirus pandemic?
PDCWednesday, 22 April 2020 at 11:24
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Darts like many sports has fell by the wayside with PDC, BDO and WDF tournaments having to be cancelled or in most cases rescheduled for a future date with no-one really being sure when that will really be.
As a result, darts as a sport has learnt to come together and adapt in these times and with multiple different home online darts tournaments being set up, DartsNews takes a look at what is available to fans during this time.
PDC Home Tour
The PDC Home Tour is the only online darts tournament solely organised by a darting organisation in particular. It comes off the back of the success of the PDC's Darts from Home which saw an initial run of the event played.
Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Daryl Gurney are three names who won't be involved after declining to participate. Despite that well known faces including World Champion Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price and James Wade have all be involved or are set to be involved in the coming weeks.
It is a nightly league format which will see all four competitors play each other once in matches played over the best of nine legs, with a winner crowned each night. Following the conclusion of the initial 32 nights of league phase action, the 32 group winners will advance to the second phase of the competition.
Elite level darts will be brought from the living rooms of the pros to fans worldwide through live video calls, with players set to make history as part of the PDC’s first ever home-staged event.
With each night’s action commencing at 1930 BST, darts commentator Dan Dawson will be on hand to talk through proceedings, which will also include live score graphics on screen.
All PDC Home Tour action will be broadcast live on PDCTV for free to all registered PDCTV users, regardless of whether you have a paid or free membership.
There has even been a nine-darter in the event already with Luke Woodhouse throwing a perfect leg during a 5-0 win over Gerwyn Price, the group favourite. Despite early criticism in terms of the streaming quality, it has improved and Dan Dawson has better streaming quality for integrity reasons meaning scores are correct.
Remote Darts League
The Remote Darts League was then set up with WDF/BDO players and former PDC players taking part with an independent promoter running the event.
The field for this event includes Alan Norris, Darryl Fitton, Dean Winstanley, Gary Robson, James Richardson, John Walton, Paul Hogan, Tony O'Shea and Wes Newton.
From Saturday April 18; similar to the Premier League, nine nights will be completed to complete the league phase with a draw possible due to it running off a best of 12 legs format. On Monday April 27, the finals will be completed with the four best players competing.
All matches can be viewed via this link . The broadcast starts every night at 9pm with Richard Ashdown, well known for his role as BDO Master of Ceremonies previously and being a PDC spotter providing interviews and commentary.
Icons of Darts League & A Night at the Darts
Darts management company and promoters of exhibition events, MODUS Darts were the first to integrate a league phase which has ran for the past three weeks. The Icons of Darts League was the first to be introduced followed by A Night At The Darts; with the latter incorporating the best from the initial league and some special names.
These events mainly see players who are involved in this management company. Players such as Michael van Gerwen, Vincent van der Voort and Danny Noppert are all tied to this management company but are not involved due to being PDC Tour Card holders.
However the likes of Raymond van Barneveld, Mark Webster, Andy Jenkins, Wessel Nijman, Paul Nicholson and David Evans are involved in these events.
As well as other well known dart players without a PDC Tour Card, such as Martin Adams and Scott Mitchell, also have been participating. Chris Mason and Mark Webster have also been providing commentary alongside this after there being a lack of this in the first week.
The scores are recorded during matches via a webcam with this then uploaded to various scoring services and bookmakers who are all showing the action. All matches are also streamed on the YouTube channel of organiser MODUS .
Participants Icons of Darts League
First week (April 6-11): Raymond van Barneveld, Mark Webster, Paul Nicholson, Wessel Nijman, Andy Jenkins and David Evans
Second week (April 13-18): Paul Nicholson, Andy Jenkins, Arron Monk, Jason Askew, Robert Collins and Jarred Cole
Third week (April 20-25): Diogo Portela, James Hubbard, Andy Jenkins, Paul Nicholson, Adam Huckvale and Arron Monk
Second week (April 13-18): Paul Nicholson, Andy Jenkins, Arron Monk, Jason Askew, Robert Collins and Jarred Cole
Third week (April 20-25): Diogo Portela, James Hubbard, Andy Jenkins, Paul Nicholson, Adam Huckvale and Arron Monk
Participants A Night at the Darts
First week (April 13-18): Raymond van Barneveld, Martin Adams, Wessel Nijman, David Evans, Ritchie Edhouse and Scott Mitchell
Second week (April 20-25): Boris Koltsov, Martin Adams, Wessel Nijman, David Evans, Jason Askew and Scott Mitchell
Second week (April 20-25): Boris Koltsov, Martin Adams, Wessel Nijman, David Evans, Jason Askew and Scott Mitchell
Other
There are also other various darts tournaments organised by both amateur and professional players including a large online event called COVID (Championship Of Various International Darters) in which everyone can participate.
Events like the ones mentioned show that even in these times of uncertainty, darts is a sport that can thrive and flourish albeit not under it's usual environment.
https://twitter.com/ModusDarts180/status/1251980614028398593
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