PDC US MASTERS Quarterfinals thru Finals Analysis
(warning: author has a tendency to go off topic! Just give him a gentle nudge back in the proper direction...)
Sidenote: Best announcer line of entire tournament "...this is not a golf crowd"(in reference to the costumes, noise, and general mayhem)
1st and 2nd Quarterfinal: Murschell and Richardson were the lone North Americans to break through to the quarters. Unfortunately, the competition there was a bit stiffer.
Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen were waiting. Murschell, the 21 year old Canadian was handled by Price and MVG does what MVG does. Richardson, who was the most solid of the North American darters ran into a Dutch meat grinder and was turned into so much hamburger. Shame is, if he had shot Price, he may have had a chance with an 85+ PPR Avg... I take nothing away from Murschell. Hell I couldn't beat him on my best days, but he does have some settling down to do and a nasty half jump when he shoots...
2nd and 3rd Quartefinals: Other action for the top 8 had two Scots taking on the world. Nothing new there, eh?
Gary Anderson put on a good looking exhibition against Barney. Raymond van Barneveld just just seemed off. Like he was just happy to be included, but he had not fire to ignite. Hope he decides to pack and bring it on the next trip. I love watching him shoot. Chalk one up for the Scot over the Dutchman. Peter Wright, that colorful snake-dragon headed, mohawk blaring walking fashion atrocity ran right into the Super Chin who I had not seen before. Daryl Gurney of Northern Ireland gave the Scot all he could handle. He's a strong darter with solid throw and pace and Wright blinked first on a double bull out late in the match. Then the Chin missed and left him back in in the 14th leg (first to 8 legs wins). really wasn't impressed with Gurney early on but he seemed to just gather momentum as the match wore on and put away Wright when he needed to.
At this point Kate Abdo comes on and interviews Barry Hearn--PDC Chairman and he keeps on leaning in closer and closer until you get that uncomfortable vision of a praying mantis about to but the head off of it's meal. And then you realize it's the cameraman's angle. I do really like what this guy is cooking. He talked about 300 million people in the US and 13 million played darts on a regular basis. Seems kind of high but okay, I'm in. His passion is to uncover that ordinary man in the street with an extraordinary ability to play the game, and put them on the world stage. Call on me, I'll throw!
Semifinal 1-- Picture this-- That dancing baby GIF from a few years back. Well put it in a yellow dart shirt and make him 7 feet tall and whattaya got? MICHAEL VAN GERWEN!
Pretty sure he has lost some weight and looking dapper. All the cuteness went out of him from the starting block. He hit Price, the ex-rugby hooker from Wales, hard and often. This is the first time I ave seen Price nervous and it didn't get any better. In a non-politically correct world this was the equivalent of Andre the Giant destroying 3 midgets in the ring before the big feature showdown. There was a peek at an out somewhere in the 7th leg for the Welshman, with a double bull out, a miss, and the shut down was complete with MVG walking into the finals... so painful I fast forwarded through the 8th leg and after interview. Sorry...
Semifinal 2-- Anderson and Gurney... Really not much stick out early on. In fact the announcers were talking about everything but the match.
They talked about the previous match and how Anderson will match up against MVG (the Scot had a good lead at this time--foreshadowing?!?). Also talked about the American dart scene, growth, how much the world's best made at this sport, the opportunity for some guy out there shooting for years in some sports's bar basement...
HOLD ON! 4-3 Anderson with Anderson on a 9 darter! The announcers snap back to the match at hand and stop shilling the script in front of them... Now Gurney call upon the Power of the Chin. Tied 4-4, race to 8 for a spot in the finals! Both players seem to have woken up and started exchanging blows (on the board). Long story short-- It's tough knocking out a guy with a super chin Gurney wins 7 legs in a row to win!
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Swansed