Lakeside Review
With one World Championship over another begins, with 2013 promising to be another busy year for the world of darts.With back-to-back televised tournaments our great sport is given unprecedented coverage and it helps the game continue to reach a wider audience.It helps our sport to continue in its present state of rude health, with exciting players playing to packed audiences and long may that continue.
With the dawn of a year it’s congratulations and happy birthday to the BDO as 2013 sees the 40th anniversary of the launch of an organisation we have worked closely with over our own 50 year history. The highlight of a busy BDO calendar is of course the Lakeside World Championship, with the Surrey leisure and entertainment complex now established as something of a mecca for darts fans around the globe.
Lakeside became the host to the World Championship in 1986, following the closure of the previous venue; Jollees Cabaret club in Stoke, Jollees having been the venue for seven years following a one year stint at the Heart of the Midlands club in Nottingham. Such is the magic of Lakeside; it is hard to imagine the tournament being played elsewhere.
As well as hosting the darts, Lakeside has since 1999 also been the tournament headline sponsor and as a co-sponsor and supplier of the dartboards that will grace the big stage – we are proud to be part of an iconic tournament which sees our great game watched by a TV audience aroundthe globe.
As usual an array of established stars and exciting newcomers will take to the stage and Winmau / Red Dragon are proud to be sponsoring more players in their quest for glory than any other darting brand. The players are the bedrock of the game and we will always be first in line to help where we can and we wish all our sponsored players well.
Both the Men and Ladies titles look as wide open as they ever have, with no real clear favourite in either competition. Only three of the 32 men: Martin Adams, Christian Kist and John Walton and two of the eight ladies: Anastasia Dobromyslova and Winmau’s very own golden girl Trina Gulliver have tasted Lakeside glory. Could new champions be crowned this year? Time will tell…..
All that remains is for the players, officials and darts fans to rally to the clarion call from Master of Ceremonies Martin Fitzmaurice; "Ladies and Gentlemen, Let’s Play Darts…….”