Ricky Evans
If you think Vincent van der Voort has a ‘rapid’ throw then think again. That’s why Ricky Evans has been christened with that exact nickname and labelled ‘the quickest player I’ve ever seen’ by Wayne Mardle. It really is a case of blink and you’ll miss it.
Evans first made the darting fraternity stand up and take notice at the last Ally Pally where he whitewashed the aforementioned Ronnie Baxter 3-0 before narrowly losing out in the 2nd round 4-2 to perennial last 16 contender Mervyn King who consequently described him as ‘the future of our sport’ and it’s hard to disagree.
He would however be wise to take heed of Jelle Klassen, who has noticeably slowed down his throw since his 2006 Lakeside triumph over RVB.
Whether such a speedy action proves to be the making or undoing for Evans remains to be seen, but from what we’ve seen so far we can only see his game going from strength to strength.
Richie George
Reaching the Lakeside World Championship semi-final at the first attempt at the famous old venue showed that there’s definitely something in those George genes.
Though he doesn’t possess the flamboyancy, pantomime persona and unique throwing arm of his father (who does?), Richie at just 24 years of age is slowly beginning to step outside of Bobby’s shadow and making a mark on the game all of his own.
It will be interesting to see if becoming a father gives him further incentive to start making regular inroads in major events and whether he can cope with the pressure that comes with being the offspring of one of darts most iconic figures.
Continuous practice with the likes of family friends James Wade and Colin Lloyd should hold him in good stead and enable him to take his darts to the next level as it could be argued that he currently lacks the killer instinct to finish off players or as his dad would put it ‘to beat em up’, metaphorically speaking of course!