darts

Phil Taylor has predicted "a cracker" against Stockport's Tony O'Shea after booking his place in the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts. Taylor, the PDC number one, will face O'Shea, who is top of the BDO rankings, in Wolverhampton on Saturday. "Tony's played really well," Taylor told BBC Radio Stoke.

He's come here under a lot of pressure and he's come here to enjoy himself.   -Phil Taylor

 

THE world's finest bowls players will once again descend on Potters Leisure Resort in Hopton in January when it plays host to the Potters Holidays World Indoor Bowls Championships. Broadcast live around the globe, the event attracts 75 players from around the world, including the UK, South Africa, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and the USA, ranging in age from 18 to 54. The BBC has confirmed that coverage of the championships, hosted and sponsored by Potters Leisure Resort, will be  

Barry Hearn has said that progress is being made in the Professional Darts Corporation's bid to take over the British Darts Organisation. Hearn's offer of £1m for the BDO was rejected in October. But the PDC chief told BBC Radio Stoke: "I'm awaiting a letter from their lawyers requesting further information.

It's a step forward. It's not a no and it's not a yes. It makes me feel slightly positive, but clearly there's still a long way to go.   -Olly Croft

 

A DARTS team abandoned their match — after two women supporters were refused entry and told to do their knitting. Halliwell Superleague Darts team hired a minibus to Heywood for a league game at Hopwood Unionist Club. But when the group arrived they were told their female companions — Joanne Williams and Jamie Butterworth — would not be allowed into the games room. Wayne Taylor, a spokesman for the team, which plays across Lancashire, said: "We went to the bar area to find out where the darts match wa  

Pride of Yorkshire Graham Elvidge has already won the battle of Trafalgar - and now for the battle of Hastings. Scarborough's Elvidge, 38, became the first man to qualify for the John Smith's People's Darts quarter-finals when he won the Yorkshire regional final, in Leeds. Elvidge will represent his local pub, The Trafalgar, and was presented with a £1,000 cheque for his nominated charity, St Catherine's Hospice in Scarborough.  

Pembrokeshires young hockey players have excelled themselves, with 11 being selected for the South West Regional Academy in Swansea which starts this month. Nine girls were selected in new Performance Development Centre (PDC) competitions run by the Welsh Hockey Union (WHU). They are U15s Charlotte Harries, Chloe Sinnott, Sarah Martin, Meg Evans and Hannah Lewis, and U17s Sophie Rees, Llawela Scale, Ceri Jenkins and Stacey John. Goalkeepers Angharad Jenkins and Zoe Daye have been invited to attend a  

Raymond Van Barneveld came from behind to defeat Mervyn King in the second round of the Grand Slam of Darts. The Dutchman, ranked second in the PDC Order of Merit, fell 4-2 behind early on, but responded superbly to see off King 10-6. King had gone ahead 3-1 hitting 13 and 12 dart legs, which also included a 121 checkout.

Mervyn played great but I felt the 161 checkout was key for me.   -Raymond Van Barneveld

 

Hello Anastasia and how are you on this crisp Autumnal morning? I'm fine thank you for asking. Are you ready to step up to the metaphorical oche with Small Talk?  

Shropshire darter Ted 'The Count' Hankey has crashed out of the Grand Slam of Darts at Wolverhampton. The BDO world champion and No 2 seed was the highest profile casualty of the round-robin stages which completed last night. Telford's Hankey needed to beat Australian Simon Whitlock by a margin of 5-2 or better to keep alive his hopes in the tournament, and looked on course to do that when he led 3-0 and 4-1.