DUBAI // The Dubai Tennis Stadium will play host to eight of the world’s leading darts players on Thursday May 28 and Friday May 29.
It is the third Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters, and Michael van Gerwen, the world’s No 1 player, will be back to defend the title he won last year. Paul Radley provides the lowdown on the event:
Tickets
Tickets are on sale now, for Dh180 for one night, or Dh299 for both, available to purchase at www.irishvillage.ae and Timeout Tickets www.itp.net/tickets.
Further information is available by calling the Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters Hotline +971 553 095 495 or by logging on to www.dubai-darts.com.
Venue
Dubai Tennis Stadium can be found on 31A St off D70 off Airport Rd, next to the Emirates Training College, before reaching Dubai Airport Terminal 1 in Garhoud.
*A map can be found below
When
Doors open at 6pm with the match starting at 8pm.
Who is likely to win
The challenge to Van Gerwen for the US$200,000 (Dh734,600) prize fund will be led by the world champion Gary Anderson, and the sport’s greatest player Phil Taylor.
It is the Dubai debut for Anderson, who beat Taylor to claim his first world title. “I can’t wait to arrive with the other players and be able to play for such a great title,” the Scotsman said.
The challengers
Apart from those three, some highly decorated players from the sport will be competing, in a competition which is the first leg of the Professional Darts Corporation’s World Series of Darts.
Van Gerwen’s fellow Dutchman, Raymond van Barneveld, the five-time world champion, will be back in Dubai again.
The two-time world champ Adrian Lewis is also returning, while James Wade, Stephen Bunting and Peter Wright are also scheduled to compete.
Round 1 Draw
Phil Taylor v Peter Wright Adrian Lewis v Stephen Bunting Gary Anderson v James Wade Michael van Gerwen v Raymond van Barneveld
What to expect
Weather. This is the only open-air tournament these players have, and that fact has elicit some peculiar excuses down the years.
The first time the tournament was held, some players complained that cross winds had affected the flight of their throw. And last time around the heat was so fierce that Lewis said he was sweating so much he could not grip the barrell of his darts, so he propelled them from the flights instead.
What not to expect
A quiet night. Darts is a raucous sport, wherever it is staged. Before the first staging of this competition, Taylor predicted a quiet crowd.
“They are going to be very respectful,” Taylor said. “I think it is going to be great and it will be a nice change for us because it is normally mental.”
It took him one night of competition to realise he was uncharacteristically wide of the mark, though: Dubai was just a voluble as anywhere else.
TV
The players will initially compete in four knockout quarter-final matches on Thursday May 28, before the semi-finals and final are held on Friday May 29. Both evenings will be shown live on Dubai Sports TV and OSN sports.
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