Q & A February 2021: FDI
For the monthly Q & A February 2021, we have a great monthly guest, it’s the FDI (Faria Darting Index). The FDI is an index which has it’s own way of using rankings based on the form of dart players. Our twitter followers have asked him questions, and he has given the answers! Enjoy the Q & A of february!
1. How did you get into darts? (Henry Cheal and SaintMT)
That was, as with most dart fans in the Netherlands, when Raymond van Barneveld won The Embassy in 1998. I started playing darts myself and started to follow it intensively.
2. Where does the FDI system come from? Did you thought of it yourself? (Bianca)
It started with the curiosity about how good the BDO players were compared to the PDC players. You can't compare points and prize money, so I started looking for other ways to rank players. Then I found the Elo system in chess. I tried to use those formulas 1 on 1 in darts, but that was hopeless. I even remember that one time that a certain Sascha Stein from Germany was suddenly number 2 in the world! So the formulas didn't work for darts, but because of my background as a mathematician, I could write my own formulas That turned out pretty good and eventually became FDI (and now Darts Orakel Form Rankings). Not perfect, but nothing in life is.
3. Favourite darts moment in 2020? (Weekly Dartscast)
Durrant winning the Premier League group stage. That achievement says more about Glen as a player than winning the play-offs itself.
4. Most surprising darts moment in 2020? (Weekly Dartscast)
Dimitri van den Bergh winning the Matchplay. Dimitri has always had the talent for it, but had not achieved good results in a while. And he hasn't really done so since that day, although he sometimes has a magistical performance every once in a while.
5. Dutch players to watch for at Q-school? (Dartsfan03 and Till)
Kevin Doets. He is a very good player who has done well at the second level of the PDC recently and he has won the Online League of DartsActueel. Then you have to be good at darts!
6. Which three players do you think can win their maiden majors this year? (Henry Cheal)
Michael Smith, Joe Cullen and Devon Petersen. All three are great players to watch at a nice pace. Smith, of course, should have had one long ago. Maybe with Michael Smith and majors it's like a bottle of ketchup, once it comes out a lot comes out too.
7. Which Dutch players will have a disappointed year? (Till)
That is difficult to say, but I think that Klaassen and De Zwaan should be very careful that they will not drop too far in the rankings. Jelle in particular runs the risk of losing his TC at the end of 2021.
8. Do you think this will be Danny Noppert’s year, will we see him really push on and get into the top 16 and/or make a big tv-ranked semi-final/final? (Weekly Dartscast)
No, I think it will be a year of consolidation. Danny is a good floor player who never really has an outlier on TV, if that happens then a top 16 might be there.
9. Best possible Dutch World Cup of Darts duo atm? And another World Cup question: who would be the Dutch World Cup team if it would be held in june, and who would be the Dutch World Cup team if it would be held in november? (Weekly Dartscast and Dartsfan03)
Best duo would be Michael van Gerwen and Dirk van Duijvenbode. Duo in June Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert, duo in November Michael van Gerwen and Dirk van Duijvenbode.
10. Will Jelle Klaasen have to attend Q-school 2022, or will he safe his tourcard? (Till)
I hate to say it, but I think Jelle will lose his TC this year.
11. Is MVG’s best still to come? What’s your guess? (Dartsfan03)
No, his best time was in 2016. That dominance will never surpass anyone again, I think. I do think that Michael will one day be number 1 in the world again.
