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London (AP) - 20 years ago, the current Corona travel chaos for the Darts World Cup would have been no problem at all.
Almost without exception, the players came from the island anyway and could have easily traveled to their families.
In the meantime - and especially in this Corona year 2020 - the darts tour looks very different.
What used to be a smoky pub pleasure for the British is now colorful and international.
The chances that the new world champion will not come from Great Britain on January 3rd are extremely good.
There are plenty of examples of the Tour's new non-British stars.
As the “eggplant king”, Dirk van Duijvenbode is not only an excellent marketing gag, but also a great success story on the windscreen.
The Dutchman, who also works on an eggplant farm, defeated England's ex-world champion Rob Cross before the holidays and can hope for a World Cup coup if he continues.
When asked why he gives so few interviews, he likes to explain this with his main job: "I have a half-hour break - and then I have to eat too."
Prefers eggplants - which he likes to advertise.
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Since entry and exit in Great Britain are difficult or even impossible due to the corona, the internationals spent the holidays in the player's hotel.
The new cult figure van Duijvenbode dined relaxed with the world number one and compatriot Michael van Gerwen, who weakened this year and often lost to outsiders.
For other shooting stars such as Dimitri van den Bergh from Belgium or Devon Petersen from South Africa, there was a Christmas with colleagues instead of big family presents with loved ones.
But where did the exotics suddenly come from - and why did the Corona year 2020 shake the darts pecking order so hard?
Darts expert Elmar Paulke sees the pandemic-related breaks as an important reason.
«Corona changed the tour.
I think the biggest problem with the Top Guns is that they no longer have the usual tournament rhythm, ”Paulke told the dpa.
The lack of an audience, which usually creates additional pressure from the stands, has an additional negative effect on the previous world elite.
In addition to van Duijvenbode, it was also van den Bergh and Petersen who shaped the year.
The Belgian youngster spent several weeks on the farm of Scotland's World Champion Peter Wright in the spring because he couldn't make it home before the lockdown.
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When the game was over for four months, "The Dreammaker" van den Bergh furiously returned to the tour and won the World Matchplay, the second most important darts tournament ever.
With his casual appearance and his wild dance show on stage, van den Bergh has become a star of the scene - and more exciting than many Englishmen like Cross or Michael Smith, who failed at this World Cup before Christmas.
Van den Bergh, on the other hand, made it to the round of 16 on Sunday with a 4-0 win against Jermaine Wattimena (Netherlands).
Another interesting figure is Petersen, who as a good-mood bear wants to make the arrows sport popular in Africa.
After his maiden win on the tour in September, the 34-year-old is far from having enough.
«My goal has always been to become world champion one day.
I want to be the first African world champion, that would be monumental for the whole continent.
That would open so many doors, "said Petersen.
If he can do it, “others can do it too”.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201226-99-817779 / 4
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Information about the Darts World Cup 2021
Schedule Darts World Cup
Order of Merit
Details on the darts world rankings
PDC on Twitter
PDC profile Clemens
PDC profile van Gerwen
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Wright PDC profile
PDC profile Price
Notice of audience exclusion
PDC profile Petersen
PDC profile van den Bergh
PDC profile de Sousa
Data on Dirk van Duijvenbode