Tagged: BDO

Comedians Take To The Dart Board In Aid Of Comic Relief

Lets Play Darts For Comic Relief starts tonight and features the top names in comedy battling it out on the dart board to raise money for great causes.

Each comedian has teamed up with a professional from the BDO in the knockout tournament. They will create their own darts persona complete with a nickname and walk on music. Darts is an incredibly hard game for beginners meaning that many of the comedians taking part are avid darts fans.

Lee Mack, who plays in the first quarter final tonight, had ambitions of becoming a professional darts player in his teens and the one-liner King, Tim Vine, routinely plays a leg of 501 every morning, his challenge to hit the final double before the kettle boils. Vine and Mack have worked together on numerous projects including Not Going Out and the Sketch Show. On the darts board however, they are rivals, contesting an annual charity match.

 “Me and Tim are quite competitive at darts. We play a comedy competition every year… and I’ve won it more than him, but whatever!”

Also competing is 8 out of 10 cats panelist Sean Lock, all round comedy legend Bob Mortimer, Pointless co-host Richard Osman, Impractical Joker Roisin Conaty, TV and radio presenter Liza Tarbuck and former England Rugby player Martin Offiah. Richard Osman shed some light on what it was like to play in the tournament in the Radio Times.

The pros elected to help the celebrities to comic relief victory include the biggest names in the BDO. Bobby George, never one to shy away from the camera, joins three time BDO World Champion Martin ‘Wolfie’ Adams, The Viking Andy Fordham, the bad guy of darts Ted Hankey, Darryl ‘The Dazzler’ Fitton and Richie George. The women’s game has not been ignored with three time champion Anastsia Dobromyslova and World number two Deta Hedman also taking part.

The BBC have released a behind the scenes video.

Gabby Logan will host the show which takes place at the home of the BDO World Championship, Frimley Green. The first programme starts tonight at 9pm on BBC 2 and then every night next week at 10pm except from the final which airs at 9pm on Sunday. The BBC have a darts guide which I recommend reading if your not clued up on darts.

The main objective of the show is to raise money for Comic Relief and this is a great way of doing it. The show is a guaranteed laugh but deep inside the celebrities will want to win the comic relief trophy.

The Grand Slam

It’s Grand Slam time this weekend. The only tournament where the PDC meets the BDO. The majority of darts fans, myself included, follow the PDC players far more than their BDO cousins. The tournament has only ever been won by a BDO member once, Scott Waites in 2010. Mr Phillip Taylor, unsurprisingly, has been dominant, winning it five times since its inception in 2007, the only other winner being Barneveld and Scott as already mentioned. The favourites heading into this weekend are, as always, van Gerwen and Taylor but could it be won by a BDO player? Let’s look at the prospects.

Scott Waites , having won the tournament previously, has to be a strong prospect. Winner of the BDO World Championship in 2013, there were many who thought he would make a move to the PDC, as he clearly showed he had the attributes to challenge the best. Currently ranked 10th in the BDO order of merit, his form has been indifferent in 2014. He has an aggressive style of play, a quick throw and a gutsy attitude. Hailing from my own home town of Halifax, I will be sure to cheer him on as the BDO’s strongest chance in this tournament.

Tony O’Shea has a decent shot at the title. Despite being a crowd favourite, he has never been as successful as he could have been, reaching the final of the BDO World Championships three times. He has had success previously in the Grand Slam, reaching the quarter finals in 2009 and 2013. His form in major championships seems to be going in the right direction, so lets hope he can go a few steps further this year.

Robbie Green is a beast of a darts player. Although he only has a BDO ranking of 17, I fancy him to do well in this tournament. He had a decent run in the BDO World Championship earlier this year, losing to Stephen Bunting in the semi final. He has had a successful 2014, winning the Isle of man open, Gwynedd open and the Scottish open. He’s showed this year that he can maintain high averages and win tournaments on the BDO circuit, the question now is, can he mix it with the best on the big stage. This tournament is a great chance for him to showcase his game.