News & Reviews...
 

News & Reviews Last updated May 2008.... For regular on-line darts news click on the Oche! Other darts news can be found on the following web sites. 'Dr Darts' is made Research Fellow Following Patrick's award of PhD by the Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Cambridge, in December 2006 and his formal graduation in November 2007, Dr Patrick Chaplin was absolutely thrilled to announce that his work has been further recognised by the University. On 21st April Dr Patrick Chaplin said he received a letter from Professor Monika Pruetzel-Thomas, Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences at ARU confirming his designation as Research Fellow in History.  This designation gives Dr Patrick Chaplin a formal affiliation with Anglia Ruskin University and, although it is a nominal title, it does give him the authority of the University; the value being that when he visits libraries, archives, etc., it provides him with serious academic credentials. Dr Patrick Chaplin will also be able to use his new title in the ‘blurb’ on the back of his book, Darts in England 1900-1939 – a social history, which will be published in the Spring of 2009 by Manchester University Press. The designation of Research Fellow in History is for a period of two years in the first instance, until 31st May 2010, but it can be extended by mutual agreement. Clearly the title of Research Fellow in History will enable Dr Patrick Chaplin to continue his darts research at the highest level (whilst also pursuing his research at a more ‘local’ level too). This will not only raise his personal profile within his area of research but also - and perhaps more importantly – the profile of the sport of darts. Visit Dr Darts Website click here   Legends of Darts.... New Darts tournament Starts May 2008 click the banner for further details THE BARBADOS DARTS FESTIVAL  - A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE, A SUPERB LOCATION AND INSTRUMENTAL IN THE GROWTH OF DARTS IN THE REGION Many of those who watched Anthony Forde’s thrilling match against reigning World Champion Raymond Van Barneveld at the recent Ladbrokes World Championships might have been surprised by the Bajan’s performance in the most demanding of arenas.  However, the entire darts playing population of the Caribbean and South America have been raising their standards since the very first Barbados Darts Festival in 2002 and it was now time to show the rest of the world just how far they have come. Certainly, the odds of 11 – 4 against him winning a single game verged on the dismissive but the fans in attendance and those darts celebs who have hosted the Barbados Darts Festival like John Lowe, Eric Bristow, John Part,  Colin Lloyd, Cliff Lazarenko and Deta Hedman knew better.  These PDC darts members, the committee of the PDC, The Barbados Tourism Authority, The Tourism Development Council of Barbados and the corporate sponsors have all made a major contribution to raising standards and setting new goals for darts players in the Caribbean and South America - and they would have been well aware of just how talented players like Anthony really are.  It was a case of Anthony’s ability to cope with the occasion that was at stake – and he passed that test admirably. Perhaps it was Forde’s experience at the event in 2004 and his familiarity with the venue and the vast stage set gained in his earlier match against the qualifier from Japan, Akhiro Nagakawa, that enabled the port worker from Barbados to play so well against Barneveld. Now darts players from the UK can continue to contribute to the growth of the game in the region by participating in this year’s Brydens Barbados Darts Festival which takes place from November 6 – 17 and again will be hosted by three times World Champion John Lowe and his wife Karen.  Anthony Forde will be taking part, as will a host of other players from Barbados and other countries in the region – including previous participants at the World Championships and qualifiers such as Norman Madhoo from Guyana, Vivekanand Dyall from Trinidad and another Bajan, Winston Cadogan. But the Festival is designed to attract darts players, both men and women, of all standards and the itinerary caters for that - a mixture of social darts, tournament darts with decent prize money on offer and a social programme designed to give everyone the opportunity to enjoy all that Barbados is justifiably renowned for.  It is certainly not all darts – more a holiday with a darts theme! You will have the opportunity to go on a cruise on a catamaran where you can snorkel over reefs and a wreck as well as swim with the turtles, take to Land Rovers for an island safari off the beaten track, have a day at the races, play golf, see a spectacular show at the Plantation Theatre, and engage in a whole range of water sports. John and Karen Lowe are superb hosts and you can be sure of a very warm and generous welcome from all those associated with darts in Barbados.  The first part of the itinerary is designed to introduce you to the Bajan darts community and to enable you to explore the island and enjoy the azure blue Caribbean sea, the white sandy beaches and the climate that rarely dips below thirty degrees. Your base will be the Rostrevor Hotel, in St Lawrence Gap on the south coast, within walking distance of all the amenities you need – restaurants, banks, supermarkets, entertainment and opposite The Ship Inn, the usual meeting place for social darts. Just ten minutes drive away is Almond Bay Conference Centre, where most of the darts events will take place.  It is superbly appointed.  The bar and dining area overlook the sea and the room allocated for the darts tournaments is air conditioned.  Darts players from other countries in the Caribbean and South America arrive to participate in the Festival for the last four days and you will have the chance to play against them on the Friday and the Sunday.  On the Saturday the tournament to produce the qualifier for the PDC World Championships takes place – with entries confined to those who hold a passport and are resident in Caribbean and Central and South American countries. It will be a memorable trip as those who have experienced it will testify.  John & Karen Lowe are great fans and a number of darts players who were first introduced to Barbados through the Festival return at other times of the year to Barbados on a regular basis to enjoy the island and the company of those Bajans they have met playing darts at earlier festivals. The Brydens Barbados Darts Festival takes place from November 6 – 17, 2008 and prices for the 11 nights in Barbados begin from £890 per person.  Fourteen nights can also be arranged.  Further details contact ABTA and ATOL regulated Tour Operator, Sun Living on 01623 795365   Trina Gulliver 'GOLDEN GIRL’ The Greatest Ever Ladies' Darts Player - Review After two years in the making the first autobiography from a lady dart player will be available on Monday 7th January 2008. Trina Gulliver is, without doubt, the best female dart player the World has ever seen and it is fitting that the first autobiography from a female dart player is hers. Trina has won the Ladies World Darts Champions held annually at the Lakeside, Frimley Green, since it first was conceived in 2001; a total of seven consecutive wins. Trina begins her eighth defence of the title in January 2008, a victory here will equal Phil Taylor’s greatest consecutive World Championship wins of eight. Trina Gulliver, born Catrina Elizabeth Jones, entered this world on 30th November 1969. The daughter of Muriel and Geoff Jones and one of five children.  Her early school days seemed to be pure hate as she struggled with academic work but excelled at sports. A self confessed tomboy sees Trina eventually gaining a placement at Mid-Warwickshire College in Leamington Spa one day a week to undertake a general building course. In her last year of school, pupils had the option of going on work experience placements and with a little help from her brother Trina gained a placement at ‘Silverstone’s Builders’. After leaving school Trina continued working for Silverstone’s and went to college to gain a qualification from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). (A truly hard pursuit as she was the only girl within the group). This was no easy ride but as you will read in her book, she manages to overcome many adversities. At the early age of sixteen Trina first met her future husband Paul known by friends as ‘Gully’. Although it would be over a year before she asked him out! Paul and Trina eventually buy a house together but devastation arises one day after Paul is taken seriously ill with Guillain-Barre Syndrome a form of Multiple Sclerosis. Paul previously a fit athletic rugby player is reduced to being nursed 24/7 for two years. By this time Trina had begun to play some serious darts. She was playing for the Warwickshire Ladies B team and later in 1988 the Ladies A team. In 1994 Paul and Trina marry. Trina was working as a fully qualified carpenter but her regular work begins to interfere with her pursuit to gain world ranking points. With Paul’s blessing Trina gives up her regular employment relying on contacts to provide her with carpentry work that she can undertake around her darting commitments. After a year it seems despite achieving a World Ranking of 10th Trina’s dream of becoming No1 will not be fulfilled. Trina at this point either had to again a sponsor or give up the professional darts circuit as she had exhausted hers and Gully’s savings in her pursuit. After mailing hundreds of requests to companies for sponsorship with either little or no reply she manages to gain full support from a friend Graham Reeves of Reeves Boatbuilders purely by chance. Later she manages to gain a number of other sponsors including the World renowned Winmau Dart Board Company. Ladies darts is still yet to see the rewards that are on offer to the men’s game. It still fails to gain the TV and press coverage it surely deserves as the general standards can be on a par with their male counterparts. The costs to participate and travel are on a par with the men’s game but despite this the financial awards are far from equal. It wasn’t until 2001 that the first Ladies own World Championship was conceived by the BDO. It seemed to take an announcement by Tommy Cox the PDC Tournament Director to offer a place in the PDC World Darts Championship to a lady dart player to prompt the BDO to take action. The top eight ranked ladies players were invited to battle it out for a place in the Championships. Although Trina initially agreed to take part she wanted to consult the BDO first. As we have come to expect from this organisation they were not happy and threatened any lady that took part would lose their ranking points for the year! Trina could not afford to lose her the points therefore didn’t accept Tommy Cox’s offer.     The route to success is far from easy for Trina and after the third defence of her World Title she and Paul separate and eventually divorce. The long time spent away from her husband had taken its toll and it was time to move on. The book is far from a blow by blow encounter of games and matches but it does cover many of Trina’s wins as well as her losses. There are many funny extracts including dares from darting exhibitions to the marriage of Crissy Howart and Peter Manley.  Above all this is not a book just aimed at the ladies. It shows the true difficulties to overcome to pursue a dream. Trina gives a very open account of her feelings of events that have taken place in her life from the good the bad and the ugly. ‘Chuffin hell’ Trina it was a good read, you know what I mean….  Dart501.com 'GOLDEN GIRL’ Review by Sid Waddell One thing stands out in ‘Golden Girl’, Trina Gulliver’s pacy and at times racy life story; the lass hurled herself at a career in darts with a total Olympian ideal.  Trina craved the pure glory and the self fulfilment that becoming a champion darter would bring. This attitude is admirable; in my experience the male greats, from Alan Evans down to Phil Taylor, were always carefully watching the cash flow as well as the gong collection.  They were as proud as anyone in their achievements, but were helped as television and sponsorship cash came flowing in to bulk up the rewards of the early exhibition circuit and money races. Trina makes plangent pleas for more money in the ladies’ game but in her heart I reckon she knows the brutal truth; the men are at each other’s throats on the oche day in day out and the standard and entertainment value have gone through the roof. The furnace of ladies’ darts is not hot enough to provide great entertainment. Now if there were 23 more Trinas on the go…. I particularly enjoyed the vivid details of our heroine’s early steps in darts and woodwork.  At age two somebody stood her on a stool in her parents’ pub and she let fly at a board. By the age of six she was fascinated by real hammers and nails when other girls were preening Barbies. In her early teens she was making greenhouses and chairs from gash bits of plywood.  And what did this practical hand-arm dexterity do? Same as it did for toilet chain handle maker Phil Taylor and master joiner John Lowe – spawned a rare talent for controlling tungsten. Trina did football and sprinting, and netball and javelin to county level, at school, but admits openly that she had little time for books. Now it was time for another Trina talent – dogged determination. She got onto a work experience course with a building firm and spent hours tea-making and doing ‘miles of priming’. At woodwork classes at college she got ribbed by some lads and clocked one bloke quite severely.  After three years she qualified as a carpenter/joiner with flying colours. All this is told in jaunty style and with humour. It is very reminiscent of Bobby George’s colourful account of his time as a tunnel-digger, builder and bouncer in his book. For instance, Trina is allergic to certain kinds of wood and comes out in rashes when handling it. Nice career choice, love! The fortitude is highlighted by her account of playing darts, working 12-hour shifts humping and working wood and caring for her partner Gully when he got Guillain-Barre syndrome and had to be lifted about the house.  The disease struck when Trina was only 19 and Gully was still in a wheelchair on her 21st birthday. From 1988 Trina was a top darter. She played county darts for Warwickshire and was capped by England in 1994. But that was not enough. She played Super League darts against men and won her first four matches. Then it was off on the road with Kevin Painter and Martin Fitzmaurice on the ‘Beauties and the Beast Tour’ (Answers on a postcard…) with Trina knocking up the stage setting in her shed! And did she have fun while conquering the world of women’s darts. At her wedding to Gully in 1994, her dad took his false teeth out before making his speech ‘in case they fall out when I get emotional’.  And accounts of boozy nights with other top lady players make lively reading. One mammoth session on ‘Orgasms’ (Cointreau, Baileys and Tia Maria – even Jocky would have poured that down the netty) matches any of the great beerfest stories of the men’s game in the 1980s. Trina’s account of her seven Ladies World Championship wins is fascinating as is her pride in coming 12th out of 20 male players in the 2001 Pentathlon. And even her beef against all the money and publicity the blokes get is leavened with humour. At the 2001 Lakeside world championship a female streaker got more publicity than she did as the champ and she took it on the chin. That’s darts/show biz. Overall, Golden Girl is a funny, inspiring look at a classy sassy lassie in a bloke’s world. We all appreciate her talent, and after this read, I for one, really dig her style. Sid Waddell - January 2008 The long awaited autobiography of Trina Gulliver ‘Golden Girl’ The Autobiography of the Greatest Ever Ladies’ Dart Player - Trina Gulliver (with Patrick Chaplin) will be available from 7th January 2008. John Blake Publishing - Website Book is available from Amazon.co.uk. and other leading book sellers Author: Trina Gulliver Details: Hardback, John Blake Publishing ISBN: 9781844545001 Release Date: 7th January  2008 Price: £17.99   Web Links   Patrick Chaplin - Darts Historian Trina Gulliver    - Seven Times World Ladies Darts Champion 'MURDER ON THE DARTS BOARD' by Justin Irwin Review Justin Irwin’s background is far from the normal dart player we see on the World Stages of Darts and he was conscious that he may not fit into the darts community. However, Justin found very quickly that dart fans and players couldn’t give two hoots about what people did for a living as long as he could play. Yes, headlines good or bad always raise the profile of the game one way or another and the Times apparently quoted Justin saying “I’ll be World Champion” and with only a 12 month quest to fulfil his boyhood dream this was a tall order. Needless to say this brought a raised eyebrow to many in the sport and I must admit I myself thought he was nuts! Justin, with out any experience what so ever, wanted to fulfil a childhood dream of becoming a sports man: a darts player. Justin’s darts experience at this point was playing a few legs of darts in a pub with a few friends and watching World Darts Championship. To my surprise Justin hadn’t even played pub league darts or seen the format of organised darts events.  He hadn’t come across a dart sharpener or know how to turn a board to give it even wear. Hitting a one-eighty was not a regular occurrence and in fact a thirty dart leg would have seemed good at this stage. Therefore his decision to give up a well paid and respected job to pursue his dream without any experience into professional darts seemed even more bizarre. Justin felt he had the skill and with enough practise he would be able to hit a 180 and wanted to see how good he could get in a year. His aim was to try and qualify for the World Championships! Justin thought by giving himself the time to practise that he could build what he calls his muscle memory. Steady girls, he means his throwing action. That’s why we don’t use the word toss in darts. But it seems his muscle memory had a touch of amnesia when it came to playing competition matches. Joining a couple of pub league teams gives Justin much needed competition practise and from there he then pursues and attends a number of competitions held all over the Country. After five chapters of Murder on the Darts Board I was still unsure who the book was aimed at: Dart players, his friends, ex colleagues or his mother? Was this book about extending his 15 minutes of fame, trying reluctantly to put the record straight on the misquoted headlines or cynically another dream to write a book? The book contains too much padding and if you really don’t know how many segments are in a dartboard then I suggest you count them. A large portion of the book covers areas of the game that have been written about time and time again but in this case with no new angle. As a regular darts player I found overall the book a bit nauseating and patronising to read.  The strong points however in my view have to be given to Lionel and Caroline Sams who seem to have take Justin under their wing and help him with his dream. They show despite misquotes which boarder on the point of arrogance, the hand of friendship is always extended in our wonderful sport of darts. David King - Darts501.com Justin’s book is available from 7th January 2007 Additional information 'Murder On The Darts Board' is published by Portico Books RRP £9.99 Paperback Ref: 9781906032043 An interview with Justin can be found on Dartz.com click here Justin’s website click here. Amazon on Line retailers 'Doctor Darts' launch's a new website... Dr Patrick Chaplin the renowned darts historian (and long-time casual pub dart player) has launched his new website early due to recent sustained media interest into his PhD and love of darts. Patrick’s new site will feature over 170 pages of facts, myths and reviews about the sport of darts. Ever wondered why darts players play 501?  Do you know who invented the dartboard numbering system? Well, you will find all this and lots, lots more, at the new, improved www.patrickchaplin.com . There is a wealth of new material, including three downloadable pod cast interviews of Patrick talking about darts with the landlord of the Brit and Yankee virtual pub (based in Chicago). It will also have a feature that can quickly translate this unique darts site into twelve languages, truly spreading the word of darts and darts history across the globe. Patrick, whose research work is currently part-sponsored by the Winmau Dartboard Co., Red Dragon and the Nodor company, said “This is a site that will be of interest to everyone who is interested in knowing more about, probably, the most popular participation sport in the world.“ Patrick's new site is now up and running. So far the reviews have been positive. The Sun Darts Quiz Book... If you think you know about the sport of darts then the Sun Darts Quiz Book, due to be launched on the 1st October 2007, is a must. Chris Bradshaw, the author of the book has spent his time researching the sport to test any dart player’s knowledge of the game. Packed with over 2,000 questions about our wonderful sport the book will test your knowledge on the Rules, BDO & PDC tournaments, Darts on TV, Nicknames & Music, plus extensive sections of general knowledge and for the experts among you there is also an Extra Hard section! The questions, neatly divided into 169 sections of 12 questions each, make it an ideal pub quiz book as well as book just to test your own knowledge or that of your mates.  So if you think you know the sport and believe you can answer questions about players, dart venues, commentators, World Championship results, winners and losers then this book will test you. But like any book of this nature there will be one or two questions with answers that are wrongly recorded, misprinted or disputed. Page 10 Question 7 from the ‘easy part’ asks if you scored a Shanghai of 54 what number have you scored on. The answer should be 9 but is recorded as 19! Page 17 Question 7: What is the highest possible score from three trebles? Well you may be forgiven saying 180 (three treble twenties) but the answer given is 171 (60+57+54). Maybe the question could have been phrased differently by asking what is the highest score that can be achieved by hitting three different trebles? These are the simple questions however here is one to whet your appetite: Which Anglo–Irish milkman won the first series of Indoor League? Do you know? To find out if you are correct buy the book! I am sure avid experts will find a few more misprints but that said the book is a must have for anyone that loves the sport of darts. The book is available via online retailers and should be widely available from all major book sellers from Monday 1st October 2007. It is published by Collins at a cover price of £5.99 ISBN 9780007264520 Web Links: Collins Publishers Amazon online book retailers Dartitis..... 15th December 2006 I am please to say after gaining the required evidence the OED has now entered 'DARTITIS' into the dictionary. Don't rush out to buy the latest version here is the definition.   DARTITIS (a state of nervousness which prevents a player from releasing a dart at the right moment when throwing) More about Dartitis & Dartitis views Darts is a sport - it's official... Sports England recognises darts has a sport Sport England has officially recognising darts as a sporting activity. The decision was approved at a recent Sport England Main Board meeting and paves the way for recognition from other sports councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. More info from Sports England Read the BDO & PDC reports Do you know?... Do you know all games and rules on this site are free to download in either MS Word or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) If you need an Adobe reader you can download it for free using this link. Golden Web Awards...   Darts501.com receives recognition from the Golden Web Awards. Darts501.com was first recognised by the Golden Web Awards in 2003, it still receives reorganisation for its design and useful content.   The Darts501 - FORUM CLOSED... Due to changes to be made on this site during 2008 the Darts501.com forum as been removed and now closed. During the last four years the forum served it's purpose bring many darters together throughout the World but due to it's recent inactivity the decision has been made to close the forum. Thank you for your support over the past four years. David King March 2008