Polly: Tears to girl power and Iceman cheers

WOW, what a week!

Tears of the Rockstar, Premier League line-up announced, Women’s World Matchplay, PL starts as does the World Seniors.

There have not been as many emotional finals to match Joe Cullen dedicating the Ladbrokes Masters win to his mum Pam. And then his dad Frank getting up on stage to hold up the trophy. I was close to tears at home, I think everyone was.

I was also gutted for Dave Chisnall, he so deserves a major title as well.

But the Masters has once again proved it’s the breeding ground for the underdog. It worked for Jonny Clayton a year ago, now it’s elevated Joe into the Premier League. 

Surely he can’t repeat the feat of Jonny and win it?

This is modern day darts though. There are so many players in the top 15 or 20 who can win titles on their day. That sort of unpredictability is what makes the sport so absorbing. And we love it.

But we also love a bit of emotion. Nowadays some sports have just become so corporate, just about the millions of money earnt. Darts definitely isn’t like that.

To see Joe start to cry was so heartbreaking. Same as Wrighty and Michael Smith at the Worlds, it’s great to see sportsmen genuinely care.

It’s hard to pick a winner from the Premier League. The new format is awesome. I reckon that Gerwyn will be desperate to win after missing out last year, he’s my slight favourite because he’ll be fired-up more than anyone else.

The thing that will be interesting is that no player can relax ever. You can’t afford to have an off week. 

If that wasn’t enough this week, then came the first PDC Women’s TV tournament World Matchplay. That is just out of this world.

It is amazing how quickly women’s darts has taken the spotlight at the PDC after Fallon’s wins at the Worlds in 2019. Hats off to the PDC for sticking to their word and giving the women this golden opportunity. 

The great thing is that it gives more women more TV time on stage to show their ability. All eyes will be on Fallon yet again. But I’m sure Lisa Ashton, Mikuru Suzuki, Deta Hedman, Laura Turner will all want to make their point that Fallon’s not the only successful woman.

Lisa and Mikuru have been multiple world champions, they will want to show that experience is importance. But they’ve all got to qualify first, maybe there will be a few shocks. 

Lastly, at the other end of the scale, it’s the World Seniors. OMG. The GOAT Phil Taylor back on TV. It could be against Peter Manley on Friday. That will be so fascinating. No one has even considered that Phil might not win it, it’s just presumed he will.

But the likes of Lisa, Robert Thornton, Paul Lim and many others will be capable of causing an upset. They’ve all won titles before.

Big shout out to my Sky Sports buddy Keith Deller also featuring on the line who I know is so excited for this tournament and has been practicing very hard! Geaaan Del Boy! 

I don’t think I’ll be leaving the sofa for four days. Feet up; curry, pizzas, a few beers. Wall-to-wall darts. So lush!

Images by Taylor Lanning