Auckland Darts Masters makes splash

Raymond van Barneveld in action during the Auckland Darts Masters. Photo / Getty

You know it's not going to be a typical night in Henderson when you see Batman and Robin stumbling out of a taxi near Trusts Stadium. Closely followed by a set of Crayons lugging six packs, and a gang of Stormtroopers being pursued by a bunch of bananas.

Welcome to the Auckland Darts Masters, the fifth leg of the PDC World Series. Most casual sports fans have seen the raucous televised scenes from the 'Ally Pally' and this was Auckland's chance to respond - and Kiwis don't need an excuse to dress up.

That is the genius of this sport - it's a spectator experience par excellence - as excuberant MC John McDonald told the 5000-strong crowd at the start - "tonight is all about you guys".

And it was. A casual visitor might have found it a bit strange - a large crowd watching a man stand 2.37m away from a board and throw darts at it - but the atmosphere was as good as any sports event you can imagine. That's what dragged punters from all over the country, and even a couple from Zimbabawe who follow the sport online and took the chance to see it live here.

"I'm really surprised with the crowd here," said world No 6 James Wade. "We are as far away from England as you can get and the fans have been so interactive, so polite and so loud - at the right times. I didn't think they would get remotely close to creating the atmosphere they have ... and done themselves proud."

To be fair, the action was riveting from the start. Wade was as clinical as ever to dispatch former world championship finallist Peter Wright 8-5. Wright, with his extravagant mohican hairstyles and showmanship was the crowd favourite, but was never really in the match.

Wade shows little emotion and barely made a mistake, the former mechanic living up to his nickname of The Machine, with seven of his eight legs finishing on a double top.
The match of the night was between the two Dutchmen, world No 1 Michael van Gerwen and five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld. Van Gerwen, known as Mighty Mike, blew a chance to take a near-unassailable 5-1 lead, missing two chances at a double eight.

Van Barnveld climbed off the canvas to take that leg and the next four in a row. Van Gerwen then missed two match darts at 7-6 before the match went to a sudden death 17th leg, with Van Barnveld nailing an impeccable bullseye to take the match.

"What a relief," said Van Barnveld after the match. "I got one chance ... the final dart with a bullseye and I took it. I've lost a lot of close matches recently ... 6-5,8-7 and, as we say in Holland, finally the coin flips my side."

Meanwhile, 16-time world champion Phil Taylor beat Australian Simon Whitlock 8-3 in the third quarter-final. Whitlock didn't play badly - and had some chances early in the match - but Taylor was in a different class.

As the fans sung his signature tune, "Walking along, singing a song, walking in a Taylor wonderland", the 55-year-old delivered what they had come to see. Among many moments, one example of his genius was the maximum possible check out of 170 while Whitlock, sat on 20, watched helplessly.