Thanks to bookmaker Paddy Power, darts fans are going to be able to see a big clash between two legends of the sport on Thursday night.
An old rivalry between Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld is happening, even though both have now retired from the PDC.
Paddy Power streaming darts match
They have set up a Darts From Home match which Paddy Power is going to be showing on their social media channels:
Paddy Power’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube channels.
Famous old rivalry renewed
There have b between the two down the years, including twice having met in the final of the PDC Darts World Championship. The honours were even from those two previous meetings .
Van Barneveld’s success over Taylor in the 2007 Final was the only time that the Dutchman won the top honour. Barney retired from the PDC after the 2020 PDC Darts World Championship.
As for Phil Taylor, his career has been staggering, having won the PDC World Championship 14 times before hanging up his darts after the 2018 World Championship.
Charity match for NHS
The two players will be playing on their own boards in their own home locations. Each will be filed with a smart phone.
It will all be put together digitally as they play on an interactive Target Nexus electronic dartboard. That is the one with the soft-tip darts and the match is a best of 13 legs affair, with a traditional 501 double-out format.
This is for charity and Paddy Power are donating £1,000 for every 180 hit during the match which will go to the NHS charity Heroes.
Last week Paddy Power did a similar match as former footballers Wayne Bridge and Jamie Redknapp met for a Darts From Home match.
This week’s big action between Phil Taylor v Raymond van Barneveld starts at 7.00 pm on Thursday night.
Keeping fans entertained
A Paddy Power spokesman said: ‘The whole world has been lamenting the loss of top-level sport to keep us entertained in these strange times.
‘Well you don’t get much more top-level than Taylor and Barney when it comes to darts, and both players will be really going for it.
