Anastasia watch: PDC World Championships
By Carrie Dunn | 22 December 2008, 01:52
After the griping from Wayne Mardle and Eric Bristow, Anastasia Dobromyslova made her PDC World Championships debut today, losing five legs to three to Remco van Eijden (but still finishing with the third-highest three-dart average of any player in the preliminary round).
I was pleasantly surprised to hear the crowd’s huge support for her (shockingly, to the extent where they were booing every dart van Eijden threw).
I wasn’t so pleasantly surprised to see that Dobromyslova still had to walk on to the stage with pretty lady models accompanying her, albeit both carrying banners (one reading “Girl Power” decorated with a flower, and one reading “Women Rule” written in glitter).
Nor was I surprised to hear the television commentators tying themselves in knots about how best to describe her - through cliches about her sex (what with the darts terminology of “legs” and “lipstick”, they were in their element)? About her nationality (Sid Waddell compared her eyes to those of a Siberian sea-eagle at one point)? Or about her name (there were lots of references to being “regal” and “a princess”)?
And, sadly, nor was I surprised to see Wayne Mardle’s nauseatingly gleeful television interview after her defeat. Maybe he should take a leaf out of former world champion John Part’s book - when asked how he’d feel if he lost to a woman, he looked a bit puzzled and answered that he wouldn’t care; he’d feel the same if he lost to anyone, male or female.
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Martyn said:
I didn't see it, (all darts like most sports leave me feeling a bit wobbly), but I followed the coverage of Dobromyslova over the last week or so. Some of the comments from the male players were totally predictable, as too were the means by which commentators on the sport described her, particularly in relation to her appearance. You never hear anyone ever to any random darts bloke refferred to by how he looks...'his shiny garish shirt resting seductively over his 64 inch waist, sweat glistening in his grubby beard, what a player..the fat bastard.'
It's a bit bonkers that there should be sex segregation in darts. It's like having it in dominoes or whist. It's more about the men's club environment out of which it emerged I think. It's a place where badly out of shape men can prove their virility. Women competing and beating them throws that out of kilter.
Posted on 22 December 2008 at 10:48 AM