World Matchplay 2016 - 5
Big Hands
Has anybody till now ever researched which kind of hands are the best for playing darts? Or whether there are differences between players with big hands and players with small hands? I can imagine like many other areas of the sport of darts, this area which might be really important never has never has been investigated.
That big hands of course are an advantage for a football goalkeeper probably no one will deny. A goal keeper with remarkable big hands (that is mentioned everywhere) was born on 26. December 1913 here in Blackpool: Frank Swift. Swift not only had big hands but was big too and almost filled the goal. He was able to catch the ball with one hand as well and his big hands he owes the nickname "Frying Pan Hands"
Swift started to play football in the local clubs till in 1932 he was signed by Manchester City were he stayed throughout his career as a professional football player. In 1933 the amateur went professional and in 1934 he started to play for the first team - more then 200 matches in a row though not always without mistakes. Already in his first year in the first team Manchester City won the FA Cup. The young man was so exited he fainted after the final whistles. During the summer break Swift always offered together with his brother Alf pleasure tour cruises before the Blackpool coast.
During World War II Swift stayed with Manchester City and played some representative matches as well. After the war Swift played for Manchester City till the season 1948/49 and for the English national team till 1949. His successor in the goal of Manchester City was the German Bernd Trautmann.
Swift always drew diagrams of the goals he couldn't prevent. He wanted to examine whether it had been his fault and to learn from it.
After the end of his career Swift for some time worked for a local caterer before he turned a Journalist. As a Journalist he worked mostly for the News of the World but always stayed in contact with football. 1958 he accompanied the Manchester United team to a Europe Cup match against Belgrade and was one of the passengers in the plane which crashed in bad weather when trying to start from the airport München Riehm. Swift was still alive when he was rescued from the wreckage but died a short time later. Together with him 22 other passengers died - most of them players of Manchester United.
Swift till today is known as one of the best ever goalkeepers of England.
After there had been a morning thunderstorm in Blackpool it had cooled down a little bit and was no longer as hot in the Empress Ballroom either. The other four second round matches were played in the evening and the evening started with the match between Mervyn King and Brendan Dolan. First it was a rather close match and it was 5:5 at the second brake. But afterwards Dolan more and more got under pressure and was no longer clinical with his doubles. Due to some mistakes of King he managed to draw 8:8 but after that Dolan's scores were just not good enough to keep up and King won deservedly 11:8.
The second match between Steve Beaton and Michael Smith was surprisingly dominated from the beginning by Steve Beaton while Smith seemed not really to be motivated. It was Beaton who won the first two legs and who was in front most of the time. Smith always was left to try to catch up. At some time - I think it was when Beaton was 8:7 up - Smith seemed to lose interest altogether. Beaton hindered by a 180 and the double 16 that Smith could draw and played the match confidently to the end. It was the first time since 2010 Beaton has reached a quarterfinal of a PDC Major.
In the third match Phil Taylor stood again at the Oche and after his close win over Robbie Green I wondered how his second round match against Mensur Suljovic would go. Suljovic was no easy opponent and played well but this time he was just not good enough for Phil Taylor who was clearly more convincing then in his first match. All in all an easy win for Taylor.
And then we had Gary Anderson against Terry Jenkins. I didn't believe Jenkins really would have a chance as Anderson just is too strong at the moment. But Jenkins is no one to give in and he managed to win five legs. More was just not possible on this evening against this opponent.
I though the second second round evening was more interesting as the first one despite it had as clear winners as the first. But the losers offered more resistance and played better. And it was more interesting as we had with Steve Beaton and Mervyn King two players no one had bargained for while there were no surprised at all on the first evening when all those players won whom one had awaited to win. Till now no match of the World Matchplay went overtime and there were not many averaged over 100 and no nine-darter - to be sure there is still some room for improvement.