Category Archives: News

Andrew ‘Goldfinger’ Gilding is delighted to confirm a fantastic 3 year sponsorship deal with Red Dragon Darts.

Red Dragon are passionate about offering the very best in darts equipment through technical research and innovation, underpinned by great customer service.

Andrew is confident that with the support of Red Dragon and his management team UK Sports Management, he will continue his ascent within the rankings. Current ranked world number 28, the Norfolk born player is aiming at a top 16 position over the next 12 months.

Andrew visited the team in Cardiff to perfect the new design of his distinctive gold darts ahead of his appearance at this year’s World Matchplay in Blackpool. These will be on sale in due course…..

To browse Red Dragon’s fantastic product range visit www.reddragondarts.com

Follow Goldfinger on Twitter @goldfinger180

Darts favourite Jamie Caven is refusing to take for granted William Hill World Championship opponent Jason Hogg despite his first round foe’s lack of major experience.

Hogg booked his place at Alexandra Palace for the sport’s biggest competition by winning a PDPA qualifier in Coventry, toppling Scott Mackenzie to avoid a preliminary clash.

Although he is yet to become a familiar face on the PDC circuit, Hogg is no stranger to UK Sports Management’s Jabba after the pair met in the semi-finals of August’s Granite City Open.

With Caven having won that encounter just 5-4, the Unicorn Darts user said he will not be taking Hogg lightly when they clash tomorrow, drawing attention to the Scot’s successful run to the 2013 UK Open when he beat Brendan Dolan, Kim Huybrechts and Andy Hamilton.

Listen to Jamie’s exclusive preview interview…

“I’ll still be fighting when many of darts’ brightest lights have faded” is the defiant message from one of the PDC’s most experienced and determined characters.

A professional for more than two decades, there isn’t a great deal in darts that Kevin Painter hasn’t seen. An appearance in a World Championship final that went down in tournament history, a major victory and Premier League stint – The Artist has made sure he has been at the sport’s top table every step of the Professional Darts Corporation’s incredible evolution.

When the familiar strains of Kaiser Chiefs’ I Predict A Riot drift over the partisan Alexandra Palace crowd, it will signal the start of a staggering 14th consecutive appearance at the biggest oche of them all for Painter.

Although this year has brought mixed results for the 47-year-old who first threw a competitive dart as a teenager, Painter still boasts UK Open and World Grand Prix quarter-finals as well as a European Tour semi-final for 2014 as he sits a solid 20th in the Order of Merit.

With the likes of Michael van Gerwen, Adrian Lewis and 16-time World Champion Phil Taylor – the victor of the aforementioned unforgettable 2004 final – fighting for top billing, Painter has continued to be another instantly recognised, respected and formidable character on the circuit.

“I say this now and again to people who tell me ‘you haven’t done much, you haven’t a lot’ – I may have won a televised major, but what a lot of people don’t realise is that I’ve been doing this 20 years,” said Painter.

“And I’ve spent most of that time in and around the world’s top 16, or very close to it. I’ve seen players come and go. I’ve seen players go past me in the rankings to numbers seven or eight, before a couple of years’ later I’ve seen them bypass me and disappear into nothing.

“But I’m still about and that’s what keeps me going and what people seem to forget. I’m not going to name names, but there are a couple of people in the top ten that I don’t think in a couple of years will be anywhere near there.

“They’re just having purple patches and some of these players that have been around years haven’t just turned up and played well, they’ve been consistently doing that for years. Some players are just having a purple patch and a bit of glory at the moment.

“I’ll still be there when they’ve gone because although I may not be a Michael van Gerwen or Adrian Lewis with incredible leg-on-leg potential, I can still play the game and be there or thereabouts – I’m pretty consistent in that way. I’m hopeful of sticking around for a good few years more.”

Painter is in no doubt as to what is keeping his darting fire burning, adding: “Personally, it is my competitive instinct and my determination to do well.

“I still look forward going to the events, but maybe not so much actually being there. It’s a strange one, you do get fed up of seeing the same old faces week after week when these tournaments coming at you thick and fast.

“But it’s the same as any job, if you work in an office you see the same people every day. I still believe I can win things, I still believe my form can be better and I’m still working hard to improve.

“I don’t think you ever stop learning and improving in this game if you have that determination. After 20-odd years it would be easy to say ‘I’ve had enough, I can’t be bothered, it’s all over’ but I’m nowhere near that now and would like to think I’ve still got plenty left.

“I don’t like losing and I think that helps, with the grit and determination keeping me going.”

Whilst he may be dismissive of some of the top ten players’ ability to keep performing, Painter is in no doubt that the ever-growing crop of emerging talent can produce genuine stars of the future.

The ardent Ipswich Town supporter has experienced at first hand the quality of 21-year-old Dutchman Benito van de Pas.
Painter has met the hotly-tipped youngster just twice, but has ended both Players Championship clashes on the wrong end of a 6-3 score line.

Unicorn Darts’ user Painter has also echoed the many backing Michael Smith to be a future World Champion, the Gary Anderson-backed protege having already beaten Taylor at Ally Pally and reaching September’s European Grand Prix final.

Painter said: “There seems to be someone new come along every month with the youngsters. Recently we’ve had Benito van de Pas and from what I’ve seen of him, he’s a great player.

“I’ve been on the receiving end of a couple of thrashings from him when I’ve been playing really well. If he can carry on the way he is going he could be the next one people are talking about.

“We’ve already got Michael Smith, who in my opinion is going to be a multi-World Champion in the years to come. When the likes of us old’uns have been and gone, he will still only be in his late 20s or early 30s, so he’s got a lot of glory ahead of him.

“There are a few others dotted around. I wouldn’t say there are millions, but there are a good few. There are a couple, obviously, who you also think should’ve done well and haven’t.

“The more and more publicity that darts gets with the more and more money that comes into it, the more youngsters are going to want to play.”

With the PDC also recently taking darts to Australasia and Southeast Asia with the World Series – and a string of global events planned for 2015 – Painter said that now was the time for those breaking into the game to seize their chance.

“When I first joined the PDC I knew that it was the move and the way to go forward,” he said. “I was playing BDO darts, which was going nowhere fast.

“I had an idea that the PDC would be the place to play, but no idea it would be as huge as it is now. Since Barry Hearn and Sky Sports have come on board the rest has become history.

“It’s great for the youngsters – they’ve got something to look forward to and can be millionaires. When I was their age there wasn’t any money in the game, I was just doing it for the enjoyment.

“Now you can make a career and a living out of it, so these young kids have got a lot to look forward to.”

Picture by Lawrence Lustig/PDC

Record prize money of £700,000 will be paid out in next year’s Betway Premier League Darts following the agreement of a new three-year title sponsorship deal.

The commitment from the online betting and casino company follows a successful partnership with the PDC’s widest-reaching event in 2014, where Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld lifted the title in front of a 10,000-strong crowd at London’s O2.

More than 100,000 fans from Exeter to Aberdeen will experience the ever-popular event featuring ten of the sport’s biggest names after the 2015 series kicks off in Leeds in February.

PDC chairman Barry Hearn said: “We’re delighted that Betway have extended their sponsorship of the Betway Premier League Darts for a further three years and the increased prize money is both a reflection of the growth of the tournament and the incredibly standard of darts which our players produce on a weekly basis.

“The 2014 Betway Premier League Darts season was the most exciting and competitive yet, with the race for Play-Off places going all the way to the last league night before the dramatic finals night in London.

“This event has been a phenomenal success in the past ten years and has been one of the major catalysts of darts’ boom in popularity, with fans across the UK and Ireland able to see the biggest names in the sport live in fantastic arenas.”

Betway’s commitment sees prize money increase by £150,000 from this year’s total for 2015, executive director Bob Dutnall adding: “Betway Premier League Darts was hugely successful for Betway in 2014, our first year of sponsorship, so we are delighted to have secured a long term sponsorship deal in a sport that is increasingly growing in popularity.

“Betway believes in bringing the thrill of sports action to the fans and the Betway Premier League Darts is perfect as it creates a lively and fun atmosphere. Darts betting is a tremendously exciting market for customers and the personalities of the game’s players add to that interest.

“Last year’s champion, Raymond van Barneveld, was available at 28/1 on Betway.com at the start of the tournament so it really shows what an open and competitive tournament it can be.”

Following the opening night in Leeds, the action continues in Bournemouth, Liverpool, Belfast, Exeter, Nottingham, Glasgow and Dublin before “Judgement Night” in Manchester sees the bottom two players relegated

Six-time Premier League Darts champion Phil Taylor said: “Betway Premier League Darts is the sport at its most exciting – the game’s best players in the best venues around the UK and Ireland. Barney had better watch out, because in 2015 I want my title back.”

The ten-player field for the 2015 Betway Premier League Darts will be confirmed early next year, with the top four players from the PDC Order of Merit following the World Championship final on January 4 joined by six Wildcards who will be selected by the PDC and Sky Sports.

See Betway Premier League star Gary Anderson at one of the biggest darts events of the year!

Apocalypse 2014 sees the return of one of last year’s most popular exhibitions. Anderson will be joined by UKSM trio Justin Pipe, Kevin Painter and Ian White, along with Keith Deller, Eric Bristow, Wayne Mardle, Steve Beaton and John Lowe.  MC Russ Bray will again host the event on Saturday 6 December at the Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre.

Tickets for the titantic tungsten tussles are selling fast and are available now from our online shop.

Picture by Lawrence Lustig/PDC

Adrian Lewis will partner darts legend Phil Taylor for a third successive year when England aim for a third bwin World Cup of Darts crown next month.

Jackpot and the 16-time global champion lifted the title in both 2012 and 2013, and will target glory again in Hamburg, Germany between June 6-8 as a bumper 32 nations battle for £200,000 prize money.

Two-player teams from Norway, France, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and India will all make their debut in the PDC tournament alongside the established entrants.

World Champion Michael van Gerwen partners Raymond van Barneveld for a second year in the Dutch team.

Betway Premier League Darts debutant Peter Wright returns to the World Cup stage for Scotland alongside Robert Thornton, whose recent Players Championship double in Wigan saw him jump back into the top ten and secure a place ahead of Gary Anderson.

Welsh duo Mark Webster and Richie Burnett link up once again, with Brendan Dolan and Michael Mansell continuing their partnership for Northern Ireland and Ireland seeing Connie Finnan and William O’Connor travel to compete in Germany.

Simon Whitlock and Paul Nicholson once again represent Australia – having been the beaten finalists in 2012 – while three-time World Champion John Part is joined by emerging prospect Shaun Narain in the Canadian team.

Experienced duo Darin Young and Larry Butler will spearhead the American challenge, while last year’s beaten finalists, brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts, will again compete for Belgium.

The growth of top-class darts in Scandinavia is shown with the inclusion of Norway – represented by Robert Wagner and Vegar Elvevoll – alongside last year’s semi-finalists Finland and their rivals Sweden and Denmark.

Germany are again represented by Jyhan Artut and Andree Welge, with Mensur Suljovic joined in the Austrian team by Rowby-John Rodriguez, the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship finalist.

World Championship star Devon Petersen will be partnered for South Africa by newcomer Graham Filby, who has been a strong performer on the domestic circuit, while Japanese pair Morihiro Hashimoto and Haruki Muramatsu team up once again.

The draw for the bwin World Cup of Darts will see the 16 seeded nations drawn against the other 16 teams for the knockout first round, with the tournament then progressing in a bracket format. The draw will be made on Thursday.

See bwin World Cup star Adrian Lewis at one of the biggest darts events of the year!

Jackpot and Betway Premier League Darts colleague Dave Chisnall top the Lock, Stock and Three Smoking Arrows bill at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena on Saturday 27 September that also boasts darts legends Eric Bristow, Keith Deller and Bobby George.

Hosted by leading darts firm UK Sports Management, current PDC professionals Justin Pipe, Kevin Painter, Colin Lloyd and Steve Beaton will also appear alongside Sky Sports’ Wayne Mardle – all introduced by MC Russ Bray.

Tickets for the titantic tungsten tussles are selling fast and are available now from our online shop.

Picture by Lawrence Lustig/PDC