New Blood Rising

Over the past year in the PDC it has really struck me just how hard tournaments have become to call. Maybe a year or two ago, you could look at sections of a PDC tournament and pick players who would advance - but now you really can't, with the exception of Phil Taylor that is!

We have seen top players struggle to retain their high standing. Roland Scholten, Peter Manley, Colin Lloyd, Ronnie Baxter and Mark Dudbridge all spring to mind as players to fall from the Premier League. They all have the talent to rise again and one or two are showing signs of doing so, but with what seems like a conveyor belt of promising youngsters it's only going to get tougher to do so.

On TV we have seen the emergence of James Wade as one of the 'Power Three', Kirk Shepherd's fantastic World Championship run, McDine's demolition job at the Grand Slam of Darts, Adrian Gray's World Grand Prix victory over Taylor and then there's the exciting Adrian Lewis capable of beating any player on his day, the youngest World Champion Jelle Klaasen and the Dutch sensation Michael van Gerwen. It's amazing at their young ages that they have already achieved so much in the world of Darts.

Those names are what I would call the original New Blood, but now more New Blood is rising. Here are the guys that I think we should be looking out for:

First up is a recent addition to the PDC, Stuart Bousfield. Believe me when I say a lot of people are impressed with him. I even heard Rod Harrington singing his praises at Brentwood. This is the guy who embarrassed 'The Bristol Flyer' Justin Lee Collins on his show JLC 180 - and already in his short PDC career has two last 32 runs on the Pro Tour with scalps such as Paul Nicholson and Mark Dudbridge to his name. Those of you that watched the BDO tournaments on Setanta last year may also remember his BDO Gold Cup run to the Semi Finals, losing to eventual winner Scott Waites. Bousfield really is one to watch, and a player I expect to take many more scalps in the coming months.

Second on my list is the Bradford youngster Joe Cullen. Some of you might remember his great run to the Third Round of the UK Open last year, when he put Smiffy to bed before falling to SOD's very own 'Mace The Ace'. I watched some of his games in Brentwood this weekend, which saw him, take out Adrian Lewis, have a real battle with Rocky Jenkins, and I have to say that the lad looks a danger to anyone already. There are a couple of last 32 performances already this year from Cullen, which includes amongst them defeats of fellow more established youngsters, Greebe and McDine.

Joe Cullen was also the Runner Up on the PDC's New Kids on the Oche show which featured a number of impressive youngsters, namely Michael Smith and eventual winner Aaron Monk. Smith like Cullen has already featured in the UK Open, defeating Alan Caves before falling to Rocky Jenkins - but in recent times on the Pro Tour Smith has had two runs to the last 16, and beaten players of the calibre of Matt Clark, Johnny K, Wes Newton and Michael van Gerwen.

This year Aaron Monk has been extremely impressive with probably the best run of all of the young guns, a last 16 spot in Irvine taking out John Part and Colin Osborne en-route. Monk of course has the inaugral New Kids on the Oche title to his name which pays for all of his entries on the Pro Tour this year - but hopefully someone will come in and give the likes of Monk, Bousfield, Cullen and Smith a helping hand sponsorship-wise as these boys are super talented.

A player who has already had big problems paying to play the PDC Tour is the last guy I am going to mention, and the player who I feel is closest to having all of the tools needed to make a real impact. I'm talking about Toon Greebe. OK he's played at a PDC World Championship already in a close match against Peter Manley, but he really is mixing it up more often than not now and looks as focused as anyone. Already this year Wayne Jones has been on the wrong end against Toon on two occasions, whilst Mason, Ayres and Caven have also gone down to the young Dutchman. Now trimmer than ever, I think Toon is going to be making real headway in the PDC.

So, next time you look at a draw or follow a tournament on SOD or the PDC's official website take a little look at the players I have mentioned. I promise you that they won't just be making up the numbers.