Golden chance for Ireland's darts stars to make their mark
There are times when watching the almost superhuman stars of the PDC Premier League that I wonder where they can take the game of darts to next.
Last night's latest offering in Aberdeen was a case in point.
Not long after Gerwyn Price had hit the latest nine darter - the fifth in this year's Premier League already - the two Lukes, Humphries and Littler, began tearing strips off one another.
The elder Luke - Mr Humphries - hit an eye-watering 110.01 average over nine legs and still got slaughtered by his teenage adversary, who himself averaged 115.96 for a 6-3 win.
It's pretty much as close to perfection as you can get.
There was a moment in the game when commentator Wayne Mardle - a pretty decent professional player in his own day - was literally lost for words when Humphries hit two 180s in a row and still didn't even get a shot at a double as Littler took out 324 in six darts.
Despite those heroics, Littler got brought back down to earth in his semi-final when he was beaten 6-5 by Chris Dobey, despite averaging over 100 again.
Dobey, for his part, was then beaten in the final by Nathan Aspinall, a player I have immense admiration for and believe has at least one world championship in him if he can keep his Dartitis under control.
For the average Irish darts player, they must be looking at this and wondering just what they have to do to compete in the game.
Yet I often think the sensational standards from Littler & Co skews just what a high level many are now playing the game at here in Ireland.
And players of all levels will get the chance to show just what they are all about at the Great National Hotel in Ballykisteen, Co Tipperary, for the Irish National Darts Organisation's new three tier Players Championships.
This unique year round competition will be split into three divisions, with the third tier for players who average 54 and under, to give players a chance to compete at their own level.
The top two players in each division at the end of the season will all gain a spot at the WDF World Masters, an opportunity normally unthinkable for a player averaging in and around 54.
Meanwhile, the INDO Gold Cup will be up for grabs at Ballykisteen this weekend, too, as the first of this season's INDO ranking events gets underway.
The ranking events are used to pick the Ireland teams that will compete at international tournaments, with the two players who excelled at the INDO Gold Cup last year, Waterford's Paddy Quinn and Monaghan's Shane McGuirk, earning their spots on the Ireland team for the WDF Six Nations competition in Wales next month.
It shows how a good start can make all the difference and why dozens of players will be desperate to make their mark at the INDO Gold Cup this weekend.
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