Sporting Life
Paul Nicholson's latest edition of his new tournament ideas
Paul Nicholson's latest edition of his new tournament ideas

Tournament ideas in darts: 1001 Shoot-Out and Pick your Pair are added to Paul Nicholson's list of must-do events

By Paul Nicholson
Darts
Thu October 22, 2020 · 4y ago

Paul Nicholson has two more new tournament ideas for darts - and one of them would see some players go home after playing just one leg!

In the third instalment of an ongoing mini-series, Paul Nicholson puts forward a cut-throat idea that would have fans on the edges of their seats for the full duration of a match, while he also believes another Pairs event is needed on the calendar.

1001 Shoot Out

We know how much the snooker Shoot Out is loved by the public. It's got a different atmosphere for starters and it doesn't take a great deal of time to have so many players involved across a weekend.

Why isn’t darts doing this already? We could get this done in possibly a day or two and it would be a great weekend spectacle. You could do it on a Friday night and then all day on the Saturday, for example.

You could have a simple structure of the players ranked in the top 64 of the Order of Merit at the start of the year. If any of them can’t make it for whatever reason, then you have reserves, but you’ve got to keep this qualification format simple as it’s so unique.

The player ranked one in the world would start against 64, second would play 63 and so on in a straight knockout format.

Each match is played over just one leg of 1001 so the eventual champion would effectively have to win seven legs in a weekend!

I personally think that this event could be ranked even though the format is so short. A lot of people would disagree with that but you do see some players get knocked out of ranked events in less than 20 minutes if they get thrashed so what’s the difference?!

It might be a bit cut-throat but so was the old News of the World tournament which was 501 best-of-three legs – and that was regarded as one of the most prestigious and toughest to win at the time.

Would this format suit the heavier scorers? Yes it would, but everyone would have to adapt and find their own tactics and put pressure on their opponents.

I believe this event would captivate the public and give them something completely different to stay on the edges of their seats. There would be no lull period in any match – you have to stay glued to it from start to finish. The format intensifies the standard game and will get everyone talking.

Although a nine-darter is obviously impossible, the perfect leg in 1001 would be achieved in 17. You could end up on 101 after five visits and then go 51-bullseye finish for the 17-darter.

That’s so difficult, you could get a bookmaker or sponsor to offer a prize of £1million as a publicity stunt because it really won’t be done!

Bob Anderson once did a 14-darter from 701, but this would be another level!

It might be a short-lived tournament for the losing players in the first round but at least – unlike the snooker shoot-out – they are guaranteed a few visits! Some players in the snooker version, which is ranking, might travel half the way around the world and not pot a ball.

You could also make the bull-off at the start of the match a best-of-three because it would be so crucial in a one-leg match.

Pick your pairs

We don’t play enough pairs events – which were a popular part of the BDO tour back in the day – and every time the World Cup comes around in the PDC, everybody gets really excited.

At the start of the World Cup, people said it’s a bit of a novelty, but look at it now?

The intricacy of playing pairs as opposed to singles is very, very different and that’s what makes it so fascinating and enjoyable for competitors and fans alike.

I would have a pairs event where the top 16 players in the world automatically qualify.

In terms of how they pick their partners, you could go down two possible routes.

Option one would be ‘Blind Pairs’. This is where the top seed – Michael van Gerwen – would draw out a number that corresponds to a player ranked 17-32 in the world, with the second seed drawing the next number and so on. That’s obviously pretty dangerous because you could end up with someone you don’t even like!

The other option intrigues me even more. In ranking order, the seeds choose their partner from anyone outside the world’s top 16. Can you imagine the excitement around that? It would fascinate fans as much as the tournament itself!

What if, for example, Michael Smith wanted the player that Peter Wright picked before him?! He’ll have to think of someone else.

There’s every chance that whoever is ranked 17th in the world doesn’t end up being picked – because players will make personal choices that aren’t to do with rankings.

MVG would definitely pick Vincent van der Voort because they are so close, Peter Wright would probably go for Mervyn King and Gerwyn Price would go Welsh with Jonny Clayton. But, who knows who James Wade would pick for example!

This whole process could be a 45-minute special on Sky Sports a week before the tournament and would make for fascinating viewing.

As for the format, it could be group stage or knockout – but whatever it is, we really need more pairs.

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