World Matchplay Darts: What makes Blackpool's Winter Gardens so great
Thursday 16 July 2015 09:35, UK
The world's top darts players will descend on the seaside town of Blackpool this week for the World Matchplay Darts. But what makes the Winter Gardens venue such a fan and player favourite? Sky Sports Darts expert Wayne Mardle gives us his view...
The World Matchplay is special. It’s in the summer and held at darts’ best venue, which makes for a great tournament.
We’ve seen some incredible meltdowns at the World Matchplay before, so I can’t wait to see what happens this time around.
Years ago, I remember watching Peter Evison do an absolute number on Phil Taylor. Evison was just unbeatable all week, beating Phil 8-1 without making a mistake and hitting plenty of 140s and 180s. That was an amazing game.
I also remember Rod Harrington and Keith Deller going at it. They were kicking each other. You say you want to inflict damage but they literally were!
The 2013 final between Taylor and Adrian Lewis, and I uttered this during commentary at the time, was the highest quality final I’ve ever seen. Forget the 2007 World Championship final with Barney, this was the best. Lewis chased him the whole way but just couldn’t beat Phil.
The players love Blackpool. If you speak to them they’ll say this is their favourite tournament.
The Winter Gardens is a one-off because we play in so many amphitheaters and venues that I would describe as long and deep. Blackpool is a wide venue, so those in the seats furthest away are really not that far away at all.
What makes it is the balcony overlooking the oche. No matter where you look there are people watching you. It’s intimidating.
I used to love playing there because I’d wear my Hawaiian shirts and half the crowd would be wearing one too, it would feel like I had double the support.
Watch the World Matchplay Darts live on Sky Sports from July 18-26. Upgrade to Sky Sports or watch with NOW TV.
