World Seniors Darts Championship Preview
The time has almost arrived for one of darts most anticipated events, the Jennings Bet World Seniors Darts Championship. The tournament brings together some of the most iconic names in darts for a one-of-a-kind event that has never been seen before in the sport.
The competition will see a star-studded line-up that includes the likes of Phil 'The Power' Taylor, Martin Adams and John Lowe compete at the renowned Circus Tavern Arena as they all look for a chance to regain world champion status once more. Team Target legends Paul Lim, Tony O'Shea and Darryl Fitton will also feature alongside Phil Taylor, a line up which holds over 85+ world championship appearances between them.
It isn't just the big names competing in Purfleet next month, 2 qualifying spots were made available in Reading last November which were taken by local lad Richie Howson and the accomplished Dave Prins. The duo will now have the opportunity to mark their stamp on the darting world. We spoke with the winner of the first qualifying event Richie Howson who resides just 10 minutes from this year's venue, he told us "It was absolutely brilliant to qualify, I feel like I'm playing the best darts I have ever played so I cannot wait to get going."
The event will kick off on 3rd February and will run across 4 days until the finals night on Sunday 6th February. The competition is entirely knockout based with each game being best of 5 sets until the semi-finals where it moves to a best of 7 format. 16 players will be competing in round 1 for their chance to play one of the 'big 8' in round 2 - take a look at the event's schedule below;
THURSDAY 3 FEBRUARY @7PM
Robert Thornton v Bob Anderson
Peter Manley v Deta Hedman
Tony O'Shea v Kevin Painter
Darryl Fitton v Richie Howson
FRIDAY 4 FEBRUARY @ 1PM
Les Wallace v John Walton
Paul Lim v Dave Prins
Alan Warriner-Little v Larry Butler
Terry Jenkins v Roland Scholten
FRIDAY 4 FEBRUARY @7PM
Wayne Warren v Kevin Painter
Martin Adams v Richie Howson
Phil Taylor v Peter Manley
Trina Gulliver v Robert Thornton
SATURDAY 5 FEBRUARY @7PM
Quarter-finals
John Walton v Terry Jenkins
Dave Prins v Robert Thornton
Phil Taylor v Kevin Painter
Martin Adams v Larry Butler
SUNDAY 6 FEBRUARY @1PM
Semi-finals
Kevin Painter v Robert Thornton
Terry Jenkins v Martin Adams
SUNDAY 7 FEBRUARY @7PM
Final
Robert Thornton v Martin Adams
It's going to be a terrific few days so make sure you tune into the action live on Thursday 3rd February from 7pm, here is where you can watch it:
UK:
BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport Website, BT Sport 1 and 2.
Ireland:
Virgin Media 3
Germany:
Sport 1
Good luck to everyone participating this weekend.