I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but there have been upsets a plenty over at the Ally Pally. Sport is supposed to be somewhat predictable, hence why it is so heavily relied on by the gambling industry, with tried and tested stars handily swatting away the spunky challenges of less experienced performers. This is supposed to be particularly true in darts, where the top titles are generally shared between a handful of people. There have only been eight PDC World Champions in the tournament’s 25 year history after all, although Phil Taylor’s BATE Borisov-esque dominance skews that somewhat. But the first 10 days of Alexandra Palace action have been anything but predictable.

Of the tournament’s 32 seeds, 16 have been eliminated. What that means in theory is that 16 of the world’s 32 best players have fallen before their time. The Sky presenters and pundits are presenting (and punditing?) this as a major shock, but the truth isn’t quite as sexy. The only real shock is that Benito van de Pas won his first match.

Darts is no longer the lopsided sport is once way. The expansion of the PDC’s schedule means players in the outer reaches of the rankings (by which I mean those down in the 50s, 60s and 70s etc) come up against the top guns practically every weekend. The gap is closing, The technique and temperament nature of darts means genius isn’t as imperative when it comes to great performances. Perfection is within the grasp of those ranked in mediocrity. In many ways, that is the beauty of darts, that is why we’re all so enthralled by the sport. Perfection and tragedy are side by side, and you can always convince yourself that mere millimetres condemned you to the latter as opposed to the former.

Anyway, back to the 2019 PDC World Championships. Is the graveyard of seeds a real shock? Well, if you watch darts once a year, yes. But the reality is different. Earlier today, Jamie Lewis dumped Daryl Gurney out of the tournament, the 28 seed vanquishing a number five seed who won the recent Players Championship and was considered something of a dark horse for the title. A shock? If we take Ally Pally history into account, not in the slightest. Lewis was a semi-finalist last year and a perennial underachiever before that, and he looked far more comfortable than SuperChin on the biggest stage in sports.

But that isn’t the shock we’re on about, is it? No, we’re talking Aspinall over Price, Searle over Suljović, Joyce over Whitlock, Labanauskas over van Barneveld, shocks like that. Well, do you notice anything that ties the winners there? All four made their Ally Pally debut this year, and are emblematic of the brave new world that is the PDC. Fewer players view this stage with the trepidation of previous years. The reason Nathan Aspinall picked up a set of darts was for moments like the 140 check out that turned the tide of his match with Gerwyn Price. Ryan Searle will have dreamt of a comprehensive 4-1 win in the last 32 of the World Championships. These aren’t overachieving county pros that are in the headlights. These are professional sportsmen who are exactly where they will feel they belong.

But the freedom of inexperience is not the only reason for these results. With only a couple of exceptions, everyone in the tournament is capable of a blast of form that will beat most people on the planet. Set play helps, the comfort of being able to sit back from time to time, and no player worth his tour card can rest on an average below 90 in the modern world. Yes, you can certainly win matches with an 85 average, but everyone expects 90 and above. Shocks rarely happen when the average standard is so high. In the first round alone, there were seven losers with averages over 90 (Laurence Ilagen lost with a 95, and Simon Stevenson failed to pick up a set despite a 93 average). This number jumps to an incredible 17 in the second round, with a host of players losing despite averaging over 95. Jeffrey De Zwaan was out of the tournament within four hours of it starting, coming up short against Rob Cross despite an average of 106.09.

In short, the standard is incredibly high. These shocks are only shocks if you believe that darts is played on paper, and playing darts on paper is inherently stupid. There are no longer any certainties at the highest level of professional darts. Phil Taylor may have put the sport on the map, but the spotlight he hogged for so long now shines on the art itself. These are magical times to be a fan of darts. Roll on a Chris Dobey/John Henderson final.

John Bills writes books about Eastern Europe, tomes covering history, travel, booze and the rest. These magical pieces of literary competency can be purchased at this link, so get yourself over there and do the right thing.