The Modern Era - 2004

2004 was the year that Darts Came Back. The appetite for a new tournament was there, so the wheels were set in motion. In a break from traditional convention, the event was not to be held in any of the participant's homes, but in a pub. This presents certain problems, as there is always the possibility that the board would not available, as well as other disruptions. The chosen venue was The Sultan, a well-reviewed pub down in Colliers Wood. Its dartboard was located in a second bar, which after several scouting missions, was seen to be very quiet most of the time. The landlord didn't seem to mind the idea of us laying claim the board and that side of the bar for the afternoon, so the tournament was given the green-light. Veterans Dampier, Fisher, King, Martin, Pugh, Snelders, Williamson took the oche for inaugural Sultan Invitational on a February Saturday, with a new trophy up for grabs. More importantly, this event was to be the first of several across the year, so ranking points were also available - the vision of a fully-fledged Tour was becoming a reality.

A round-robin group saw matches played over best of 3 301 legs, and after the completion of the fixtures Williamson secured top spot by virtue of leg +/- difference from King after the two finished with identical 5-1 records. The newly monikered Tiger Wilko's only blemish was a 2-1 reverse to King, now known as The Grocer; who himself saw his only defeat at the hands of Pugh - now reinvented as The Butcher. Other name changes saw Dampier drop his Assassin tag for Skeggy 301; Snelders hang up his Coat for Doubles Dutch and Fisher say au revoir to Mr Darts, in favour of The D'Artoistist. Wilko would play Fisher in the first semi final, while The Butcher would get another test of his character against The Grocer.

The best of 5 leg semis got underway with Tiger Wilko beating The D'Artoistist 3-1, and King easily defeating a seriously underperforming Pugh 3-0. The best of 7 final therefore saw a repeat of the Millennium Darts final those 4 years past, and served further notice that even as the years go by, the class of the players remains. It was Tiger Wilko though who ushered in the new era with a 4-2 win and a highly respectable 42.34 average.

The Sultan Invitational saw new levels of data collation, with all statistics for averages, high scores, finishes and best legs (in terms of number of darts thrown) all being noted, saved and tabulated. One tournament however, does not a tour make.

April 24th saw The Blacksmith's Arms Masters take place at the Blacksmith's Arms pub in Rotherhithe. A regular haunt of Ted "Doubles Dutch" Snelders, the venue again offered a cosy back room and a dartboard not often used by the drinkers in the saloon bar. Snelders had excelled himself in the production of a fine trophy, and seven players turned up to fight for it. Martin was unable to attend, but the return of Christy "The Prawn" Howard was well-received. The group-stage started in controversial fashion, as Pugh was docked a point for late-arrival. Harsh perhaps, but justified after he made such a song and dance about others being there on time.

The first game saw the #1 seed Tiger Wilko beat Howard, and the first upset came in match 4 when The D'Artoistist secured a decent victory against The Sultan Invitational winner. The field was certainly very evenly matched, and it became clear that bonus points, awarded for clean-sheet wins and one-leg defeats, would be vital. As the group-stage approached its conclusion semi-final spots were still up for grabs, and as Fisher beat Pugh to move in to 4th spot on the ladder, he consigned Williamson to 5th and out of the running for a second tournament win. Howard topped the group after winning four matches on the spin; the omnipresent King grabbed 2nd, with Pugh getting 3rd despite his deduction.

The D'Artoitist took on The Prawn in the first semi-final and ran out a 4-1 winner to reach is first final since that event back in 1992. In the second semi-final the simmering rivalry between The Butcher and The Grocer was back on, and in what was the overcoming of a huge mental hurdle for Pugh; King was denied the chance the keep up his perfect record of appearing in every tournament final as The Butcher exorcised some ghosts and won 4-2.

The final became something of a watershed moment for The Butcher, who finally managed to hold his nerve and record a victory and a 41.82 tournament average. While the darts on show demonstrated that new levels of quality were being attained, this event was probably most memorable for the fact that The D'Artoistist was sporting an exceptional moustache that
everyone agreed made him look like a 70's West Brom fan. The tournament was also the first to see players wearing darts shirts, so it was clear that progress was being made in every area.

The third event of the year took place on Saturday 12th June, and saw 12 players arrive, each intent on being the first to hold aloft the glorious new trophy that would be awarded to the champion of The Summer Grand Prix. Two groups of six would utilise two boards and group games would be best of 5 legs. The venue was the then abode of Pugh, and his two housemates Danny "The Cavalier Peace" and Iain "The Saint" Ogilvie joined other newcomers: Richard "The Artful Dodger" Dodd; Simon "The Hobo" Clemson; Andy "The Snake" Miller and Craig "The Fire" Fryer in making up the field. Regulars King, Williamson, Martin, Fisher and Snelders completed the excellent turn-out.

From the outset it was clear that this tournament would become the new benchmark for organisation and performance. Group A saw the newly ranked #1 The Butcher set off in great form, winning his first 4 matches 3-0 to secure maximum points. Tiger Wilko, after his disappointment at The Blacksmith's Arms, was also on a mission of redemption. He lost his first leg of his first match against Doubles Dutch, but wouldn't drp another until his quarter final; a run of 18 consecutive legs including a whitewash win over Pugh in the final group game. This was particularly noteworthy as Pugh himself had set a record of 17 straight legs including those which saw him overcome Fisher in the Blacksmith's Arms masters final. Tiger Wilko, looked like the man to beat.

In Group B, the newcomers were making their mark, and for the second successive event, a finalist from the previous tournament would not make it through to the knockout stages. The D'Atoistist fell to defeats against Dodd, Fryer and King to find himself in 5th place, and miss out on a quarter-final spot. The group was topped by The Grocer, with Rod "The Judge" Martin in second. Both Fryer and Dodd got themselves through to join Wilko, Pugh, Snelders and Ogilvie in the last 8.

The quarter finals all went with seedings with the exception of an epic encounter between Doubles Dutch and The Judge. This was attritional darts, and went all the way to a nerve-jangling deciding 7th leg in which the former tournament winner Snelders rolled back the years and clinched for a place in the semis and an appointment with Tiger Wilko. The other semi saw a renewal of the Butcher/Grocer rivalry.

King had gotten to the semi by virtue of a 4-0 win over The Saint, but it may not have been quite so one-sided if it weren't for an occurrence that is possibly unique in any form of darts the world over. The crowd present round board 1 thought they had seen the first 180 of the tournament when Ogilvie slapped a third dart into the treble twenty bed. However, scorer Snelders had to point out that he had actually burst his score because he had stepped up to throw with 178 remaining. As The Saint was not on a finish, Snelders was under no obligation to inform the payer of what was required, and so the unfortunate chain of events was set in motion. The maximum didn't count and surely Ogilvie must be the only player ever to bust from 178. In another quarter final, The Butcher managed to fire a legal 180 versus The Artful Dodger, to record his second tournament max.

In semi-final 1. Wilko saw off the challenge of a revitalised Doubles Dutch to record a 5-2 win, while in the second, The Butcher again managed to keep his decent recent record versus Th Grocer and won 5-3. The final was set to be a close one, with the two form players facing off, but The Butcher was in a focused world of his own and Tiger Wilko couldn't get in the game, and an 11 dart leg set the seal on a 6-0 win for the #1. Again, the bar of performance had been raised, and the 44.85 tournament average represented a new high; as did the final average of 53.64.