BULLY BOYS
New breed coming to KO the old guard of the oche
®
BARRY HEARN has warned darts’ old guard that a new breed of stars are coming after them.
As the William Hill World Championship came to a close last night with the final between Phil Taylor and debutant Rob Cross, PDC chairman Hearn was savouring where the sport is heading.
“The level of excellence we are going to see over the next few years, with the youngsters, will be amazing,” said Hearn. “They have no fear.”
That has been proved to the world over the past three weeks at Ally Pally, with Belgian Dimitri van den Bergh, 23, making the quarter-finals, Welshman Jamie Lewis, 26, reaching the semis and Cross, 27, making the final.
The rise of darts goes on and Hearn, 69, has no worries that the loss of the retiring Taylor will see the bubble burst.
He said: “One word I hate in business is complacency. I am relentless and I am never complacent about darts.
“If I thought there is a weakness, I would be looking to cover that weakness – I don’t see one.
“When we went to Las Vegas last year, Phil Taylor withdrew because he had a sickness problem in Shanghai. Not one person in Vegas asked where he was.
“It is not disrespectful towards Phil. They were there for the party, the atmosphere, they knew they were going to see some great players.”
Such is the demand to watch darts that 100,000 tickets for the Premier League, which starts next month, have already been sold. “And we have not spent a shilling on marketing,” said Hearn, who also revealed that PDC China is being launched this month in Beijing.
“You watch someone like Van den Bergh. He is 23 and he lives like a professional.
Strongest
“A lot of players are taking the easy route. They do more exhibitions and their tournament play goes down and that is where they make their living.
“But the younger boys are coming in, like Jamie Lewis, and they don’t play exhibitions.
“The game is in the strongest position we have ever seen, with the abundance of talent we have coming through.
“They are professional sportsmen and they have followed the code of ‘King Phil’. All you have to do is practise all the time, dedicate your life.
“These are working class people, ordinary people with extraordinary ability, and they are getting the rewards they deserve.
“I have 12 sports that I look after. I am quite experienced after 40 years, I am not a muppet, but I don’t know another sport that has ever been in this position.”