Rest in Peace Keith Shone - Pure Darts

I received very sad news from Nicola Shone that her father, Keith Shone, passed away on Monday 19th April. Many players would have known Keith over the past fifty-plus years as a player but also a legend in the sport of darts.

If you were unlucky not to meet Keith, you might well have had business dealing with him via Tommy's Darts International, Pure Darts or the Darts Super Store. Keith started his very successful darts distribution business in the 1970s and has thousands of loyal customers. His business supplied darts equipment to amateur, professional players, many clubs, bars, pubs across the UK and around the World.

Keith was a true darts fan and encouraged everyone that picked up an arrow. He was a workaholic even when his health didn't permit such exertion. He was also a big supporter of Darts501.com / Darts-UK.co.uk and Darts01.com as these sites give unbiased darts information, which mirrored his love for the sport.

Keith would be proud to see his business left in his daughter Nicola's excellent and capable hands. Nicola has worked with her father for over twenty, and she has informed me she will be continuing to run and develop the family business for years to come. The one thing I can assure readers that the work ethic Keith installed into his family will continue, and I wish you all to support Nicola and her small dedicated team in the years to come.

Pure Darts is open for business, but due to the COVID restrictions, phone orders are currently not being taken. Please use their online order form, and if you can not find what you are looking for, please send them an email.

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I wish to convey my condolences to Keith's family.

RIP Keith, a true dart legend and friend.

PDC Premier League Darts & Super Series 2021

The Players Championship rounds 9-12 continues in the Super Series Three. Follow the matches live via PDCTV or online scoring via DartConnect. Who will make their move, and who will come out triumphant?

Due to Government COVID Restrictions, the PDC 2021 Unibet Premier League Darts will be played behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.

The Premier League will feature ten players across nine nights from April 5-9 and April 19-22, before the bottom two players are eliminated from the league following ‘Night Nine’.

The eight remaining players continue from night ten-sixteen, with the top four competing in the play-off finals. The new dates May 5-7, 24-27, with the Play-Off finals now scheduled for May 28.

It was hoped that some of the Premier League would return to the initialled scheduled arenas. But it is clear now this will not be the case.

James Wade has replaced Gerwyn Price after the World Champions, and World No.1 tested positive for COVID-19

Due to most events being postponed or cancelled for April, the featured events list has temporarily been removed.

Postponed, Cancelled and rescheduled event details are currently changing by the day. Fans that may have purchased tickets or are looking to attend events should first check with the event organisers for any changes that may affect the scheduled event.

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Professional Dart Players Nicknames & Walk-on Music

An increased number of visitors have contacted me about players walk-on music and nicknames. Some of you have kindly supplied me with more information; therefore, I have updated both the players' nicknames and walk-on pages on this site. I hope to add a few more in the near future, but in the meantime if you know anymore or if any player has since changed either their Nickname or walk-on, please let me know via my contact page.

The revised nickname and walk-on music pages now include several WDDA players.

I do realise there several missing of missing nicknames and walk-on. However, I add more to the lists all the time.

 

A Brief Introduction to Professional Darts

The game of darts is played and enjoyed by millions of people in UK pubs and clubs and by millions more across the World. The game has come from the humble roots of the tap and public rooms of the traditional English pub on to the international stage and is regularly televised to millions across the World.

In 1978 the first World Darts Championship was organised by the British Darts Organisation and sponsored by Embassy tobacco. The winner, Leighton Rees from Wales, received a trophy and a cheque for the sum of £3,000.

Prize money has since increased considerably in the game of darts, and the winner of a major competition can expect to pick up a vast amount of money. Take for example the 2019 PDC World Championship, and a losing first-round player receives £7,500, the competition winner £500,000. One of the biggest contributors to the rise in prize money in such competitions has been as a result of increased lucrative sponsorship deals.

Since 1978 the game has grown into one of the best-loved and viewed sports on television. It has made many darters into household names here are just a few:

John Lowe three-time world champion, John Part three-time world champion, Martin Adams three-time world champion, Eric Bristow five-time world champion, Raymond van Barneveld five-time world champion, Micheal van Gerwen three-time world champions, and Phil Taylor sixteen-time world champion.

In March 2005 the 'game' of darts was recognised by 'Sports England' as a sporting activity which could pave the way to the sport featuring in future Olympic Games. However, I still feel we are a long way from that day.

Darts is one of the fastest-growing sports in Holland, Germany, China and Asia. Over a third of the Dutch population watched Raymond Van Barneveld become the first Dutch player to take the world darts title in 1998; he has since won the title a further four times 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007 (PDC World Darts Championship). Raymond beat the reigning champion Phil Taylor 7 sets to 6 and a sudden-death leg in the final set. The famous Bull up for the right to throw first will long be remembered as Phil hit an outer Bull Raymond asked for the dart to be left in as he used it to push his own dart into the centre Bull. Since then the Bulling up procedure in the PDC events has changed. All darts are removed before the opponents throw. Raymond now equals Eric Bristow's achievement but still trails Phil Taylor's staggering sixteen world title victories.

The prize fund over the years has steadily increased, with players playing for £500,000 first prize in 2019/2020 PDC World Darts Championships. It is a far cry from the first World Championships prize of £3,000. The sports prize money continues to grow, making a few of the current player's millionaires.

In December 2007 PDC World Darts Championship moved to the Alexandra Palace. The Alexandra Palace is affectionately known as the 'Ally Pally' and was the stage set for the world-renowned 'News of the World Individual Darts Tournaments'.

The New of the World Darts Tournament was probably one of the most challenging dart events to win with a best of three legs format throughout the competition, including the final. Legendary dart player Bobby George managed to win this event twice, and on one occasion Bobby didn't lose a single leg throughout the tournament.

In 2001 the BDO introduced a Ladies World Darts Championship which was won by England's Trina Gulliver MBE. Trina has won this event for seven consecutive years and made the final yet again in 2008 and 2009 but only to lose to a new up and coming star Anastasia Dobromyslova from Russia in 2008 and Francis Hoenselaar from Holland in 2009. In 2010 Trina again regained the title beating Rhian Edwards from Wales 2-0 she then repeated this feat in 2011 again beating Rhain Edwards by the same margin 2-0. In 2016 Trina won the World Darts title yet again making her the most successful ladies darts player in the World, a record-breaking Ten World Titles. Trina has been awarded the MBE for services to darts and charitable fundraising.

In 2008, Ladies dart player Anastasia Dobromyslova moved away from the BDO to the PDC. Anastasia played in a preliminary qualifying round for the PDC World Darts Championship 2009 but lost to Dutchman Remco van Eijden 5 legs to 3. She also tried to qualify for the 2010 championship but failed. Anastasia moved back to the BDO late 2010 / early 2011, and in 2012 she won BDO / WDF Ladies Worlds Darts Championship for the second time and then again in January 2013.

In 2007 the PDC introduced the first Youth World Championship. This event was won by Arron Monk who beat Michael van Gerwen 6 - 4 in the final. However, it wasn't until 2015 when the BDO followed suit and introduced its own Youth World Championship. It was sixteen-year-old Colin Roelofs from the Netherlands who became the first victor beating seventeen-year-old Harry Ward from England 3 - 0. Harry, unfortunately, didn't win a single leg in the final however I am sure we will see a lot more from all of these youth players in the future.

Lisa Ashton from Lancashire has since been a dominate in the ladies game, winning in 2014, 2015, 2017 and again in 2018. However, in 2019 Lisa was sensationally knocked out in the first round by the Japanese soft-tip star, Mikuru Suzuki. Mikuru went on to win the 2019 Lakeside title beating Englands Lorraine Winstanley. Mikuru followed this up by winning the Dutch Open the following month. Mikura retained her title in 2020, gain beating the tournament favourite, Lisa Ashton.

During the 2019 Lakeside World Championships calls for a significant review of the ladies' prize fund and short match format were called into question. The winning prize for women was just £12,000 compared to the men's £100,000. The chairman of the BDO at the time said this would be reviewed.

2019 also witnessed a number of the top BDO players move to the more lucrative PDC. With a £14M annual prize fund, and with the BDO contract restrictions taken off, players flocked to win a PDC tour card.

Glen Durrant who had just won his third consecutive BDO World title, and former BDO No.1 Mark McGeeney, were among the thirty successful players to win a two-year PDC tour card. They were joined by a few others that featured the BDO World Championship event, thus depleting the BDO's main contenders. With the main BDO stars at the time moving to the PDC, the BDO was left with the old ageing guard to re-established the once firm grip the BDO held in World Darts.

In 2020 with a new chairman on-board Des Jacklin, the BDO moved their world darts championship away from the Lakeside venue to the O2 Arena. The move was not met with overall approval from the loyal BDO darts fans as they decided to not attend in their thousands. The BDO world championship will go down in history for all the wrong reasons. The change of venue and the recent loss of professional darts referees all added to the BDO misery. Promised prize money was slashed, and the conversation turned away from the players and was directed to the chairman. The poor management left the BDO in debt, and the future of the organisation in 2020 looked in dought. Des Jacklin later resigned as chairman but was later reinstated following a narrow county representative vote victory. However, Jacklin was not able to convince all, and there was a challenge to the BDO dominance in the UK. The BDO had lost its status as it didn’t represent a Country within the WDF and lost its vote. The respective organisation had finally lost its support, and in 2020 several challenges were made to take over the running of the Inter-County Championships. Following a vote, the UK Counties voted for a new organisation UK Darts. The 2021 British Inter-County Championships will now be known as the UK National League. The WDF may now introduce a World Darts Championship and World Masters. The PDC now firmly run the professional side of darts with more players competing to join each year.

In 2019 John Lowe the former three-time World Darts Champion was awarded an MBE in the UK Queens New Year's honours list. John became the second male dart player to be awarded the MBE. The late Eric Bristow was the first recipient in 1989. The only other player to date to receive such an award is Trina Gulliver, the ladies ten-time World Darts Champion.

Dart fans may question the above because Phil Taylor was appointed an MBE in 2001. However, he didn't receive the award medal as this was annulled because he was found guilty on an indecent assault. Taylor denied the charges but had to pay £2,000 as a result of his conviction.

In 2010 Russ Strobel submitted to the Darts Australia a new recommended dartboard height for Wheelchair users. The height Russ has come up with is 137cm to the centre Bull. The height based on the perceived origins of the standard hanging height of the standard clock dartboard. It said the average height of a man in the England UK was 5'8" around the 1920s, the height of the centre bullseye of a standard board. Modern adjustments make that 173cm. Russ took this analogy and worked out what the height would be should a man of 5'8" (173cm) be sitting in a wheelchair. His exact figure came out to be 136.5cm however, as Russ explained the addition of 0.5cm would make the recommended wheelchair dartboard height easy to remember 137cm (wheelchair) - 173cm (Standard). The concept of the new height for Wheelchair uses was accepted by Darts Australia, and in 2012 it was also accepted by the World Darts Organisation. More about Disability Darts can is featured on this website.

On this site, you will find a brief history of this intriguing sport along with all the information you will need to set up the dartboard and organise darting events. You can also learn how boards are constructed using sisal (a material used in rope making) and how dart weights, lengths, shafts and flights can alter the flight of the dart.

The site also features traditional games played on today's standard dartboards and UK Regional dartboards; The Yorkshire and the Manchester log-end to name just two. You can download rules and many games from here as well as those all-important checkouts.

You will also find Practice routines to improve your accuracy and scoring consistency, as well as information about maintaining your dartboard and darts. There are also many dart related links to professional dart organisations, manufacturers, suppliers, professional dart players. My thanks go to them for their help and support in building this site.

I hope you enjoy the website your feedback is always welcome, and if you like the site, please inform others.

Darts501 was established in 2004 and from its humble beginnings and a few makeovers the website has had over well over 14 million viewers, and the increasing trend continues. In 2019 the website attracted a conservative 1.6 million. However, with more people opting not to have their visit to this website recorded this figure is vastly undervalued. Thanks to all that visit and keep calling back to see regular updates.

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Now is the time to improve your game with Pure Darts

Although our sports is mainly played in the pubs and social clubs, if you don’t have a home setup now is the time to purchase one. Mainstream suppliers sell a cast array of darts equipment and including training aids, barrels, stems and flight and if you are looking to upgrade to a professional set of darts now is the time to make that purchase. Use the ‘Darts501’ discount code for purchases over £25.00 at Pure Darts, one of the country’s leading dart suppliers.

Pure Darts stock leading brands Winmau, Unicorn, Harrows, Target, Datadart, McCoy’s, Ruthless, Tommy’s and Pure Darts own brand. Fast delivery and you can attract up to 11% discount by applying the discount code ‘Darts501’ to any orders you make over £25.00. Terms and conditions apply so see the Pure Darts website for further details.

Please Note: Pure Darts have taken steps to protect their staff during the virus epidemic, and cannot currently take orders via the phone.  Please place your orders using the online order form or if you have a query email Pure Darts via sales@puredarts.co.uk