Monthly Archives: October 2017

Team Unicorn star Kyle Anderson banged in a brilliant 9-darter at the European Championship. 

But he suffered heartbreak losing his semi-final 11-10 to Michael van Gerwen after the Australian missed two match darts to win in the deciding leg!

Van Gerwen went on to win a fourth consecutive European Championship title as he beat Rob Cross 11-7 in the final. Cross matched Van Gerwen dart for dart for 10 legs before the Dutch ace pulled away to win with an average of 109!

But in one of the most dramatic matches in the 10-year history of the tournament, Kyle Anderson played one of the best games of his career but just came up short. 

His second televised 9-darter earns him a £25,000 bonus to add to £20,000 in prize money, but missing out a place in the final will hurt Kyle. It would also have clinched him a spot at the Grand Slam of Darts. 

"I loved every minute of it," he

It is a first European Championship quarter-final for Unicorn star Michael Smith.

But he had to dig deep to finally see off Benito van de Pas in a last leg decider and he will now face Rob Cross on Sunday for a spot in the semi-finals. 

Smith led 6-2 and 8-4 and missed match darts before getting over the line in Hasselt on Saturday night. 

"It was a real battle," he said. "In the end it was all about sticking at it. I have managed to learn a lesson or two this year about keeping my head in deciding legs and now I have to use this as a platform to keep winning."

It looked like the St Helens star was on his way to a comfortable win against the Dutchman. From 2-2, Smith reeled off four legs on the spin to take control. Van de Pas kept in it but when Smith nailed a superb 90 finish to move 8-4 in front, it looked all over. 

However a few nerves set in as Van de Pas edged his way back

Kyle Anderson has reached the European Championship quarter-finals for a second consecutive year in Hasselt. 

The Team Unicorn star swept aside the challenge of Jelle Klaasen in style as he won 10-6 and he will now play Mensur Suljovic on Sunday afternoon. 

"My finishing was spot on when it mattered," the Aussie said. "Every time Jelle missed I punished him and I am getting better with each game here, so there is no reason why this run shouldn't continue."

The tone was set when Klaasen missed five darts to break in the opening leg and Kyle cashed in as he opened up a 5-1 lead. 

The Dutchman briefly threatened to hit back when he reduced the deficit to 4-6, but Anderson picked up the pace superbly, hitting six 180s in seven legs!

The Unicorn man missed a dart at 'tops' to win 10-5 and Klaasen took out 108 to stay in it but along the way he missed 20 darts at doubles and Anderson

Michael Smith is through to the 2nd Round at the European Championship. 

But the Unicorn man had to stave off a Nathan Aspinall fight back before winning 6-4. 

Elsewhere in Hasselt on Friday afternoon, Joe Cullen threw it away as he missed four match darts against Stephen Bunting and lost in a deciding leg. 

And there was also defeat for Dimitri van den Bergh as the young Belgian was beaten 6-1 by Jonny Clayton.

But Smith held his nerve to set up a 2nd Round clash with Benito van de Pas on Saturday night. The No.3 seed started superbly as he raced into a 4-0 lead against Aspinall, with three 180s and a 114 finish. 

Team Unicorn's Belgian brothers were both desperately disappointed after bowing out of the European Championship on the opening night. 

On home soil, Kim and Ronny Huybrechts both lost last leg deciders. 

But Unicorn duo Kyle Anderson and Ian White were winners on Thursday in Belgium. 

Kim Huybrechts went out 6-5 to Mensur Suljovic after hauling himself back into the match. 

The Austrian took out 94 and 76 as he went 3-0 up. Back came Kim to reduce the gap to one before Suljovic nailed finishes of 100 and then 118. The Unicorn man was sat on 32 to level at four apiece. 

Hi again! It’s been a while, but now seems like a good time for a new UniBlog to go with the new, sparkly, Unicorn Group website whose “PlayWithTheBest” title doubly resonates with me. Not only is helping players do just that my aim when designing a dart or recommending a set-up, but also, in my long-gone competitive racquet sport days, I was lucky to have had the chance to play with some of the best and most prodigiously talented individuals of the era.

I thus had the perfect opportunity to observe at first hand how “best” and “most prodigiously talented” were not necessarily coincident. Prodigious talent is obviously a gift, but I wonder if sometimes it can also be a hurdle to overcome. If playing a sport comes all too easily at first, is it more difficult later to knuckle down to the hours of potentially tedious practice (and, in many events, arduous physical training) required for even the very gifted to fulfil their ultimate potential?

It was good to see James Wade playing well and showing very encouraging signs for the future after a disappointing year. 

The Unicorn pair of Wade and Gary Anderson made it through to the quarter-finals of the German Darts Masters World Series tournament in Düsseldorf on Friday night. 

But Kyle Anderson was unlucky to lose a final leg decider with Mensur Suljovic. 

Wade took the first steps on his road back to the top with a brilliant performance against German qualifier Kevin Munch. 

The Unicorn ace was perfect on the doubles....6/6 and an average of 102 as he set up a quarter-final against Michael van Gerwen. 

"I have a big hill to climb," admitted Wade. "But it is a battle that I'm ready for and this was a good sign. I felt very comfortable up there."

He raced into a 4-0 lead, winning every leg on 'tops' including a 120 finish. Munch hit back

The best walk on in darts will be gracing the stage at the Alexandra Palace once again, because Devon Petersen is back where he belongs - at the World Championship.

Dancing Devon's spot has just been confirmed as he qualifies on merit for being the No.1 African darts player in the world. 

The Team Unicorn ace will return to the World Championship in December for a 5th time and he is guaranteed to make his mark at the Ally Pally.

And it will be just reward for Petersen after a tough year.

"2017 will go down as the hardest year of my career because my technique changes hindered my performances for a good six months. But many positives have come from all that with signs of progress and inevitable success."

He added: "My will to battle on and never doubting my ability