Darts keeps the sporting show on the road
This is how innovation kept dart players playing during lockdown!
Darts has led the way during the coronavirus pandemic, keeping the sporting show on the road with an innovative series of events.While the world's major football leagues, horse racing including the Grand National, tennis, rugby, cricket, golf, Formula 1 and many others around the globe all put up the shutters as Covid-19 impacted continent to continent, darts stood out as a beacon of light.
Yes, tournaments were having to be cancelled. But the nature of the game - a one-on-one battle between two individuals - meant innovation was possible. And during the lockdown in most corners of the world, the darts bandwagon has rolled on.
Quickly, tournament organisers realised that there were options to keep lovers of darts in touch with their favourite sport. It was decided, quite rightly, that matches don't need to be played on the same darts board or with the two opponents stepping up to the same oche. They could play while social distancing.
What happened next? We got to inside the living rooms and kitchens of players worldwide as they took each other on from the comfort of their own home while in lockdown. Skype or video calling cameras were used to film each player in action, and despite being in separate locations miles apart they had a match.
Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld got the ball rolling with a virtual head-to-head without leaving their homes as they contested a charity fundraiser.
A whole host of virtual leagues followed including the Modus Icon of Darts, A Night at the Darts, PDC Home Tour, Remote Darts League and even the Czech Premier League Darts to give us almost wall-to-wall darts across the weeks.
The Icon of Darts has featured Martin Adams, Darryl Fitton, Scott Mitchell, Paul Nicholson and Fallon Sherrock, while sister event A Night at the Darts saw Van Barneveld, Taylor, Adams and Sherrock in the line-up.
The PDC Home Tour has been the headline event through the coronavirus pandemic with Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price, Dave Chisnall, Michael Smith, Gary Anderson and Rob Cross among a star-studded field competing from their own homes.
It hasn't all been plain sailing, however, for the Home Tour - and in particular two-time world champion Anderson. As with any new initiative where new technologies are concerned, there are going to be teething problems. That was certainly the case for Anderson, who had to withdraw from an early event, not due to injury but because of WiFi problems.
The Remote Darts League has included James Richardson and Tony O'Shea among the entrants and has also contributed heavily the success of darts during the lockdown - particularly with all of the tournaments being streamed live online.
With darts from home one of the few sports taking place worldwide, it has resulted in new darts betting sites popping up with odds, promotions and live streams of the action. Where darts was once a lesser light in the sporting hierarchy, it has taken prominence during a strange time for the world.