Colin Lloyd
Darts Expert & Columnist
PDC Home Tour: The story so far....
You can follow all the action across the weekend on the Sky Sports app - beginning at 7.30pm every evening; Michael Smith headlines on Saturday with Nathan Aspinall Sunday's star turn
Last Updated: 25/04/20 2:01pm
Colin Lloyd runs the rule over what's happened so far in the first week of the PDC's Home Tour, which has had nine-darters and big-name exits.
Jamie Lewis, Luke Woodhouse, Dave Chisnall, Geert Nentjes, Nick Kenny, Ryan Searle and Jelle Klassen have topped the groups but world champion Peter Wright, James Wade and world No 3 Gerwyn Price have fallen at the first hurdle.
Despite a couple of teething problems, and some internet issues, the innovation has been well received and the big names - WiFi permitting, continue to join the field.
The Darts Show podcast spoke to PDC chief executive Matt Porter, opening night winner Jamie Lewis and the PDPA's top brass Peter Manley and Alan Warriner and alongside Lloydy picked out the talking points from an opening week of action
Welcome back darts!
I think it's been very impressive. Whenever you try anything new, you are going to get some teething problems, but they seem to have sorted that all out.
From what I've seen so far, it's been really good, Jamie Lewis played really solid [darts]. Luke Woodhouse played fantastically all night and hit a nine-darter!
Dave Chisnall does what Dave Chisnall does, plays extremely solidly and hit the big shots.
Geert Nentjes played fantastically. He's another new young face coming up, who we don't get to see very often, is starting to make a name for himself.
It's great that darts is back and that people can watch a bit of darts!
A more level playing field?
Some people get that adrenaline buzz and rush from a crowd.
When you are on your own board, you can try out some new things and keep that little bit of sharpness but sometimes you can lose focus a bit.
Yes, you basically just tick your own arm over.
In the last episode I said that it was alright practising, but you need to keep match sharpness.
I think this PDC Home tour is something people need to take seriously as it will keep their match sharpness and there's something at the end of it as well.
PDC Home Tour - The Winners
| Group One | Jamie Lewis |
|---|---|
| Group Two | Luke Woodhouse |
| Group Three | Dave Chisnall |
| Group Four | Geert Nentjes |
| Group Five | Nick Kenny |
| Group Six | Ryan Searle |
| Group Seven | Jelle Klaasen |
| Group Eight | Jonny Clayton |
Big names falter
Things sometimes catch your eye and you lose your concentration a little bit. I'm not taking anything away from how the players played [Gerwyn Price & Peter Wright]…sometimes your mind drifts a little bit.
Were they focused enough? Probably not. They were probably thinking of bigger and better things dare I say it.
They competed in it; they've had a go. Unfortunately, we will not be seeing them in it anymore as they've been knocked out but that's not taking away anything from anybody else.
Their heart might have been in it but not as much as it would have been if there was £20k up for grabs and a bundle of ranking points.
PDC Home Tour - latest confirmed groups
| Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Smith | Nathan Aspinall | Simon Whitlock | Max Hopp |
| Martijn Kleermaker | Steve Brown | Mike van Duivenbode | Mike De Decker |
| Harry Ward | Simon Stevenson | Kirk Shepherd | Keegan Brown |
| Matt Clark | Ryan Joyce | Alan Tabern | Conan Whitehead |
Next steps
We used to do a thing years ago at Crondon Park Golf Club, like a Champions League, and we got paid £50 for each leg that you won.
Now I know that you can't throw away fortunes because that dips into the resources which are available for big major events.
But perhaps there could be that incentive for players, you might be a little bit behind in a leg and think about focusing on the next one. Instead, though they focus on that leg to try and win it for the incentive at the end of it.
Special mention for Snakebite (and Mrs Snakebite)
Fair play to him. Peter is always one for recognising something and again he's done it using his hair style.
Peter and Jo are absolutely fantastic. They're still looking after Dimitri van den Bergh because he couldn't get home and they're having him stay with them. Fair play to them.
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