To Hull And Back - 6, Phew!
Sunday in Hull at Finals day!
Sunday 11 October
Dear DiarySo we made it to Finals day. I was up bright and early as I was covering the WDDA final first of all before the Men's ¼'s . Then there was a break scheduled followed by the semis for the Mens and Ladies and then the Finals
. The WDDA Champion was Vinny from Belgium, he beat a sportsman, Ricky Chilton who said afterwards "the best man won". What a great start to the day that match was!
There was some unrest on Twitter when BDO fans discovered that the ¼ final games were not being shown on UK Eurosport despite viewers outside the UK being able to see them on the stream. Fans react in different ways. Some become media and contract experts, incredulous that the BDO hadn't thought to ask for the games to be shown!
The truth is Eurosport buy the rights to the tournament and, from a business point of view, I can see why they won't allow anyone else to muscle in on the live games. They had other live broadcast commitments, cycling and something else in the afternoon.
I'm a darts fan so understand the frustration. It put me in a tricky position trying to explain the scenario without upsetting anyone! Anyway, tec prevailed and videos were streaming instead of tears and the games were watched, albeit via the back door.
Twitter went mad for a while during the Larry v Wolfie game and it was great to get so many tweets and Facebook messages with a lot of love for the BDO and maybe helping the PDC fanboys realise how vital and important having the BDO as an alternative darts career move is. There was of course a lot of love for Larry and Martin too. Adams demonstrating what a great sportsman he is by looking more pleased than Larry when Larry hit the winner. What great ambassadors to send to the PDC Grand Slam these two are.
Durrant was a very popular winner on Twitter of the well polished trophy but there were some great posts coming in from the United States with some photos of "Young Larry".
Talking of winners David the BDO photographer got me several more times without reply. I did get a shot of him on the stage but it was not very good quality. I accept defeat in this private "Masters Tournament"
That was it then. The 6 day party was over. I didn't make too many mistakes! You do get told immediately if you do! I posted that 3 legs had been won in 26 darts, that would have been some darts shooting- I meant 2 legs! After calling Larry, Barry when grabbing a photo earlier in the week I was on the verge of sending out a tweet calling him Larry White! It has been a long week.
A small group of us went for a curry and then back to the hotel. I was exhausted, the fun of Saturday night had caught up! But, it has been a brilliant tournament, working with some great people-Team BDO, Winmau, Little Richard and the refs, David and Jackie on the cameras etc. I bumped into so many friends, made some new ones and loved every minute of it.
Back home to Mrs Darts Centre tomorrow and my girls, phew!