The Present Day

And so to 2010, and another new dawn. A wider pool of potential players with an appetite for darts, a new venue and further technological advancements in scoring and statistic keeping. 2010 saw five ranking tournaments take place, each held at the current abode of The Butcher. The February Open replaced The Sultan Invitational; The Spring Classic replaced The Blacksmith's Arms Masters; The Summer Grand Prix came back and was joined by the inaugurals Autumn Masters and the calender highlight, Tour Championships which brought the old Richard Dunmall Darts Challenge Trophy back into the limelight. There was a new ranking system which some cynics may say is a shameless rip-off of the structure of the ATP Tour, and lots of new faces joining some of the old stalwarts.

The review of the 2010 season can be seen elsewhere, but it would be wrong to not mention again here the fabulous moment that Tiger Wilko delivered in the final of the Tour Championship on 4th December. After missing both the Spring Classic and the Summer Grand Prix due to hand injuries sustained in a bike accident, Wilko was rediscovering some form at just the right time, and in the first leg of the sixth set of the Tour's show-pice event he was for a few moments at least, undeniably the best player on the planet. A 180 followed by a 121 check-out gave him an unprecedented 6 dart leg. No one, not even Phil Taylor could have beaten him for that leg, and that makes him the best darts player in the world. We have greatness on The Tour, and the levels of performance just keep rising.

The 2011 season will start on Saturday February 19th, and there will be great things ahead, of that there is no doubt. Will Tiger Wilko win the February event for the third successive time, or will Pugh complete a 'Butcher Slam' and get to hold all five titles at once? Or will King roll back the years and get on the winning trail? Could the ever-competitive Berry Brothers make that next step to the winner's circle? Or will one of the unkown quantities show themselves to have what it takes.We will know in a few weeks.