For many the BDO World Trophy signalled a new beginning at the organisation, the departure of Glen Durrant following his World Championship victory and the incoming of several new tournament officials meant there was a fresh feel around the walls of the King Georges Hall.
Having worked at the Lakeside World Championships in 2019, there was a vast difference in production and overall organisation. The ticket sales on Saturday and Sunday were sensational, and with a three-year-deal in place this will only improve.
The match quality was there to show as well. Major regulars such as Richard Veenstra and Jim Williams were joined by a fresh influx of talent, with the likes of Martijn Kleermaker and Scott Taylor making heir BDO major bows. There was even room for some former PDC top ten talent, both Wez Newton and Andy Hamilton took to the oche, with the latter nailing a 170 checkout in his last 16 loss to Wesley Harms.
We must also not forget the improvement in the women’s competition. For many years there has been a severe lack depth in the field, a clear top eight separated from the remainder of the field, the World Trophy was a different story.
Aside from the established names in the field there was plenty to rave about in the women’s competition. ‘Big names’ Fallon Sherrock and Deta Hedman were dispatched in round one, whilst qualifier Kirsty Hutchinson put in the highest losing average of the tournament in her defeat to Lorraine Winstanley.
Crowd engagement is key to the success of any darts event and the ladies final was possibly the loudest of the whole tournament. The entirety of Bolton seemed to decent on the King George’s Hall as they cheered on their home town girl Lisa Ashton.
The only slight issue that seemed to arise in the Ladies final was the miscount from referee Kerrie Crompton. In her first TV appearance of her career Cromtpon mistook a 180 for a 135 as Lisa Ashton rushed to retrieve her darts. This of course all happened in a split second, and the fact Crompton remained firm with her decision is strong showing of her character.
In fact the full refereeing team deserve a lot of credit, it would have been easy to show nerves with it being most of their first TV appearances. Paul Booth added extra flavour, keeping the crowd in tune as we waited for the next match to commence, there are plenty of elements that need to be smoothed over, but for a first attempt I believe this is better than anybody imagined.
The BDO will return to Eurosport for the 180 L-Style World Masters in late October, where I’m sure we will see a more streamlined, smoothened version of the product. I for one can’t wait to be involved.