Chatting Bull with Dan Dawson - Issue #016

In set play, taking your chances at the right time can render periods of being utterly useless and utterly irrelevant. All your previous shortcomings can be wiped out by a relatively small spell of brilliance.

James Wade famously won a set at the World Championship against MvG, when the Dutchman nearly hit back-to-back nine darters, and those two legs where he nearly made history were worth nothing in the final reckoning of the set (he did still beat Wade in the match though). Set-play creates more moments, it makes some legs worth more than others, and it makes the viewing spectacle as a whole more dramatic.

Does it mean that the best player overall wins less often? Yes… but it depends on how you classify who the best player is. Is it the one who scores better, finishes better, and wins more legs?

In leg-play it certainly is. But Van Gerwen was outperformed by Callan Rydz at Ally Pally in December in all those metrics, yet still won his quarter-final 5-3, because he performed well in the big moments. That’s what counts in the set-play format.

Which is why the revamped PDC Masters was a huge success. Not only is it set-play, but it is best of three legs per set, meaning that at least 50% of legs played in a match can decide if a set is won. It is brutal, it is dramatic, and it is compelling.

I had previously argued that the Masters be made into a double-start tournament like the World Grand Prix, seeing as that change in format also provides a point of difference from the leg-play darts that dominates the PDC calendar, but this works even better. Set play helps create upsets, it facilitates fightbacks, and it adds excitement to an already dramatic sport.

Is there room for another tournament with set-play in the PDC calendar? The Matchplay does not seem fitting - it is about assembling the very elite in the sport to determine who is best, and leg-play is the best way to do it. It would be strange for the European Championship, World Series or Players Championship Finals to compete in sets, when their respective tours are all leg-play.

The UK Open would be too unwieldy and time-consuming for set-play, with so many games crammed into a single weekend, but the Grand Slam?... that seems perfect to me.

Even if set-play were introduced from the knockout rounds onwards, I think it would enhance the event. The Masters has been successfully revamped, and there is now an opportunity to do the same to the Slam - I hope it is taken.

Issue #016 Quiz Answers

1) Gerwyn Price
2) Luke Littler, Rob Cross, Stephen Bunting, Chris Dobey, Nathan Aspinall
3) Rob Cross

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