Talking Points is a regular area of the Darts World Website and involves important or smaller pieces of news or those stories which may need longer exposure than the 24hrs cycle usually allows. Here are those from Darts World Extra 11

Wrong Target

One frustrating thing about the darts commentariat is that they can find a problem in anything if they are bored enough. The fuss and bother about the effect of the Ally Pally on the rankings is a case in point. 

The World Championships is the pinnacle of our sport and our showcase to the world. If you shine there, you should be paid well and it should give you other opportunities for fans to see you again. It should make a huge difference and trying to neutralise it is just plain daft.

Try looking at the actual issues instead of picking one that makes headlines. The UK Open is grossly undervalued. Andrew Gilding is ranked only 22 in the world after winning it and more than once the holder has not made the Premier League whereas the rather lame Masters has become a defacto qualifier, despite not being a ranked event!

Solve that issue and you might have a better balanced system overall.

Cool Hand and the Aubergenius

With the top names falling like flies Blackpool was surely the moment for one of these two to grab a major crown. Both have played superbly in certain formats for a couple of years now. Both have won at Pro Tour (inc. European Tour) level and both reached major finals previously.

Luke Humphries produced some super darts over the last couple of months and would have been amongst the favourites regardless of the collapse of the top echelon, he also managed to remove Dirk relatively early on. 

Again, Cool Hand was out gunned in the final stages of a vital game. For a player who has worked his way up to the top through winning at every non TV level Luke needs to find that end of tournament accelerator and a ruthlessness at the big moments. 

It’s a similar story for the Dutchman, he has missed many darts for titles and not truly troubled his opponent both times he reached a major final.

Will one of this mercurial duo break through and if so who’s first?

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Talking Points proved so popular that it is now the opening section of every issue of Darts World Extra

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