With trophies currently arriving in Stoke-on-Trent as regularly as at any point in Phil Taylor’s twenty year reign at the head of the darting family, the battle for the epithet of second best dart player in the world appears to be lacking willing contenders. The two prime candidates, James Wade and Raymond Van Barneveld, have started to find the challenge a little more difficult than many expected.
The rivalry that is forming between the players currently ranked two and three in the PDC world is the most interesting in darts at the moment. Wade holds a 4-2 lead in their matches on British TV this year, but the Dutchman’s pair of successes were in the most recent, at the semi final stage of the Desert Classic in July, and the most important, the World Championship in January, also in the last four.
The two arrived at the World Matchplay in Blackpool last month with expectations, and seedings, of another semi final clash. That it didn’t happen backed up the PDC’s regular claims about strength in depth, but also highlighted ongoing problems that both players have been facing.
James Wade leapt out of the pack in 2007, in a period that saw him transformed from not qualifying for the Premier League to being victorious in the World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix in just a few months. A quarter and a semi final of the World Championships have since followed, as well as victory at the 2008 UK Open victory and the recent surprise Premier League triumph. His golden summer in 2008 cemented his position as world number two, with four consecutive major final appearances, in that period losing only to the indefatigable Taylor.
Since that summer, however, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Televised defeats to Eccles, Manley (twice), Anderson, Thornton and, most recently to Ronnie Baxter in the quarter finals in Blackpool, are not the form of a player aspiring to eventually take The Power’s place at the top of the tree. These are fine players, of course, and all dartists have an off day, but none are recent major winners, and of the six defeats only Robert Thornton was able progress to the final (in the least significant of all the events, the Players’ Championship).
Wade readily admits that he doesn’t like practicing. Indeed, he made a point of letting it be known he had barely picked up his darts for more than a fortnight prior to May’s Premier League finals – which he won. But that was his only major final in the last twelve months. He says that he wishes he had the dedication of some of the other players, notably Taylor, but he doesn’t, and he wants to live the life of any man in his twenties. With £293,336 in prize money banked in the last two years, something is clearly going right for the ex-mechanic from Aldershot. But it’s hard to see anything but a slide back down the rankings if his attitude, and practice routine, don’t change soon.
Van Barneveld could also use a significant change in attitude, but if Wade sometimes gives the impression of being a sulky teenager, hiding in his bedroom with Morrissey on repeat, then Barney has recently been coming across as Leonard Cohen’s number one fan – lacklustre, flat, depressed, with a sadness behind his eyes, shaking his head whenever perfection is not being achieved. His performance in the final of the Las Vegas Desert Classic was at best disappointing, and his self-belief appears in tatters – particularly as regards Taylor.
It is more than two years since the Dutchman won a major tournament, and those heady days when Sky Sports could insist that a true rival had emerged for Taylor are long gone. June 2008 was the last time Barney beat The Power on TV (June 2007 the time before), and three final defeats plus two Premier League hammerings since then have taken their toll. And the list of lower ranked players who ejected him from competitions continues to grow – Lewis (twice), Terry Jenkins (thrice), Painter, Mawson, Tabern, Mardle and Osborne have all put Barney to the sword since that last major success.
It’s sad to see any great sportsman losing their way during a match, let alone a career, and to be hoped that Barney recovers the resolve that saw him become PDC World Champion in 2007 – responding to Taylor’s opening 180 in the deciding leg with a maximum of his own were surely the bravest three darts anyone has ever thrown against The Power (who, spirit clearly broken, followed it with 20, 19 and 1). But something needs to change, and fast.
Two significant televised tournaments remain before the annual trip to Ally Pally over Christmas and New Year – the Sky Bet Grand Prix and the Grand Slam of Darts. It would be foolish to write off such natural talents, but if James Wade and Raymond Van Barneveld don’t get their heads in order by the end of this year, it may be time for another couple of contenders to take their turns scrabbling over Phil Taylor’s leftovers.