Brilliant "Rags to Riches" Story in World Darts

by user Alex Holowczak

The BDO World Darts Final of 2007 will be one of the most story-filled occasions of the year in sports so far.

It will pit two 50 year old Englishmen, Martin Adams and Phil Nixon against each other.

Adams is the World Number 1, but is one of the sport's premier chokers. He has frequently led matches only to lose in comebacks. He led 5-2 against Mervyn King in the Semi Final, only to be clawed back to 5-5 before holding on. He has never been World Champion, and has reached the Final only once before, but the England captain will look to improve on this record tomorrow. He is one of the most popular players on the circuit.

Conversely, Nixon was completely unknown outside his native County Durham tomorrow. He was made redundant and became a house-husband, only playing darts in between taking his eight children to school, and other household jobs. Twenty years on, he has reached the Final of the World Darts Championship, a real "rags to riches" type story. He led 5-1 in his Semi but missed 8 darts for the match before eventually hitting the winning dart to win 6-4. He is also popular for looking distinctly like one of the great players of the 1980s, Jocky Wilson.

The Final tomorrow will be a great one for the veterans of the game, with over 100 years experience in the game. The week has shown that the old players can still play. In Nixon's case, it was his debut in the World Championship.

I personally don't know who I want to win tomorrow. I have always wanted Adams to win, but now Nixon is in the Final, it would be a great story for him to win. Adams always seems to miss out... so I'm torn as to who to root for. It should be a great game.

Both are better starters than finishers, so it could be a tense conclusion tomorrow evening.