BDO Chairman Jacklin promises big month ahead

The British Darts Organisation (BDO) Chairman Des Jacklin says that Febuary is going to be ‘one of the most important months of the year’ for the organisation.

Mr Jacklin was speaking in a statement released on the BDO website in the aftermath of this year’s World Championships at Lakeside, where Glen Durrant became a three-time champion after downing Scott Waites 7-3 in the showpiece final.

Having already delivered big changes since becoming the BDO chairman in the latter part of 2018, Mr Jacklin said that February would feature a number of decisions that would ‘put us back into the commanding position we were in 20 years ago and should impressive the most cynical of critics’.

In the statement, Jacklin said that he was in discussions with venue providers for the other major BDO competitions, the World Trophy and the World Masters, scheduled for the second half of the year.

According to the official BDO calendar for this year, the World Darts Trophy is due to be played from August 30th to September 1st and the World Masters will take its traditional place in late October, scheduled for the 25th-27th.

Over its five years thus far, the BDO World Darts Trophy has been played at five different venues. The 2014 competition, where James Wilson emerged victorious, took place in Blackpool, with subsequent editions being played in Manchester, Lakeside, Barry and Preston.

After the victory of Japan’s Mikuru Suzuki in the recent Women’s World Championship at Lakeside, it was suggested by professional darts player and commentator Paul Nicholson that the World Trophy should be played in Japan. Whilst there’s no indication that that’s what Mr Jacklin is pursuing, hosting a major tournament in Asia would be a ground-breaking move for the BDO.

The World Masters has also been played at a variety of venues over the years, with the last two being held at the Bridlington complex in Yorkshire. Adam Smith-Neale was victorious in the 2018 edition, beating Glen Durrant 6-4 in the final.

TV coverage is already sorted for both events, with both being covered by the three-year deal with Eurosport by Mr Jacklin in late 2018. That coverage, which was met with near universal praise by fans, was put together by Input Media, an organisation Jacklin was quick to praise in his statement.

He said, “The decision to use this company ultimately came down to me and it was a decision I made very nervously, but one I would make again in a heartbeat; the future collaboration between the BDO and Input Media is quite frankly a ‘no brainer’”.

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