It was, in the words of Michael van Gerwen, no better than “OK”. And of course when you are the three-time world title winner and one of the greats of the sport you pitch your standards higher than most. Even so there was a vaguely stirring quality to this second-round demolition of Keane Barry, a 3-0 victory secured with just two legs dropped.
It’s hard to put your finger on what exactly. The roars and the fist-pumps were a little more bullish than usual, the gaze a little more focused. There was a sublime 167 checkout that was basically an act of pure will, eliciting an explosion of noise from the Ally Pally crowd and completely reversing the course of a set that the Irishman was threatening to nick.
And then there was the doubling: a 60% checkout rate, which allied to a 98.17 average gave this performance an air of authority and ruthlessness that has been conspicuously lacking in many of his outings this year.
“He’s a guy who can never show his best game on television,” Van Gerwen had said dismissively of Barry shortly after the draw was made. Barry himself had cryptically referred to “a few issues at home” by way of explaining his difficult couple of years since bursting on to the scene as the world youth champion in 2020 and securing a tour card in 2021. All the runes pointed to a humbling.
But here Barry, who is 21, did pretty much show his best game on television, or at least something close to it. He actually had more darts at double than Van Gerwen, hit more 180s, averaged a competitive 95.81. A little more poise on the outer ring would have made this a very different game. Instead Van Gerwen, supercharged by his 167, surged home by winning six successive legs.
“With the finishing I’m pleased,” Van Gerwen said. “The scoring isn’t there yet, so that’s a little bit disappointing. But the important thing is I won the first game. There’s a lot of pressure on me.”
We’ve now seen all four of the tournament favourites in action. What have we learned? Luke Humphries has probably shown the most frailty, wobbling to a sketchy victory against Lee Evans, and is no longer the bookmakers’ favourite. Michael Smith looked impressive in an epic test against Kevin Doets on opening night. Gerwyn Price was his usual imperious self against Connor Scutt. Van Gerwen, meanwhile, looked as consistently good as any of them. If his troubles with the doubles really are at an end, then he and Price are probably the players to beat.
But if one legend of the game looks to be strengthening, then another is listing. Are the lights slowly dimming on James Wade? Is The Machine on the blink? This was the second year in a row that he exited at his first hurdle, as he became the first seed to be pipped at this year’s tournament. And in his narrow defeat against Matt Campbell of Canada, the world No 13 demonstrated the same frailties and limitations that have led to his slow slide from the world’s elite. He’s never won this title, a source of enormous regret to him, and sad to say, it’s hard to see him ever doing so.
In truth, this had been coming for a while. Simply put, Wade no longer pounds the 60-bed in the industrial quantities that took him to 11 major titles and a place among the genuine greats of the sport. For a long time these were cracks papered over by his world-class finishing, the nerve and nous accumulated over a lifetime in the sport. But when you are consistently putting in 90-95 averages, somebody will eventually take you out.
For Campbell, a likable welder from Hamilton, this was by far the greatest win of his career. As for Wade, where he goes from here is anyone’s guess. He’s only 40, still hungry, and when it all comes together – as in his run to the European Championship final in October – he can still beat anybody. But this defeat will probably lead to him dropping out of the world’s top 20, and newer younger challengers are circling him like sharks.
On day five we saw a few of them in action: the heavy-scoring Mike De Decker of Belgium was ominously good in a destruction of Dragutin Horvat; Ricardo Pietreczko of Germany, one of the year’s breakthrough stars, ended the last female participation in the tournament by beating Mikuru Suzuki in straight sets. In the day’s first match was the latest blow for the international contingent, as Tomoya Goto of Japan beating the veteran Ian White.
Then there was the youngest, hippest swinger in town; albeit a swinger aged 59 who has just announced that next year will be his last as a professional. Steve Beaton began his 33rd consecutive world championship campaign with a raucous victory against Wessel Nijman of the Netherlands, flinging five 180s and setting up a second-round tie against Daryl Gurney. The Bronzed Adonis is – finally – leaving the building. But not before he’s played a few of the old hits.
