The View From V2 Magazine April 2014 | Page 50

ON THE OCHE: BRIGHTEST TALENTS

by Tarriq Ibrahim

Aden Kirk

Aden Kirk will forever be known as the man, or should that be ‘boy’, who rocked the darting world at the UK Open who after beating an out of sorts Phil Taylor & showed a similar killer instinct when despatching of then Premier League leader Peter Wright.

What immediately struck us darting fanatics about the player ranked no.141 in the PDC field was just how cool, calm and collected he was on the big stage, taking to it like a duck to water. Completely unfazed by the occasion, he soaked in the atmosphere and embraced the opportunity to cause an upset that would send shockwaves throughout the darting world.

However, if he is to continue his progress through the PDC ranks he will undoubtedly need to up his 3-dart average which only teetered close to the 90+ mark in both games.

‘The Times They Are a-Changin’: Welcome To The New Breed Of Darting Hotshots

The recent world championship wins of Michael Van Gerwen and Stephen Bunting have arguably heralded a changing of the guard and new era for the game of darts; the young guns are taking over!

Whilst MVG and The Bullet’s victories were certainly no flash in pan and as predicted, with each major tournament comes a new name ready to upset the odds, whilst countless well-established darting figures find themselves struggling to qualify for events, slowly slipping down the rankings, or faced with no option but to revert back to their original home alas Ted Hankey and Co Stompe.

Players like Baxter, Beaton and Walton are increasingly finding themselves on the periphery as they’re no longer assured the TV exposure that they so enjoyed for the past two decades, largely due to the ‘new kids on the block’ with their insatiable appetite for destroying long-held reputations.

Michael Smith’s shock victory over Phil Taylor at in December personified everything you need to know about the young modern-day darter where he displayed coolness under pressure, quickness of throw and most importantly, total fearlessness.

Put in a nutshell, Smith and his fellow fledglings are scared of nobody, not even the 16x world champ, and are ready to take on the world.

They may not all be household names now, but we’ve put together a list of the baby-faced arras assassins we believe will climb up the darting ladder and be the new kings of the oche.