Phil Taylor is out of the Las Vegas Desert Classic.
The favourite and four-times Vegas Champion was sensationally toppled 6-5 by Mark Dudbridge in the 1st Round at the Mandalay Bay Hotel….the first time he has been beaten in the 1st Round of a TV ‘Major’ since he lost to Andy Callaby at the World Grand Prix in Dublin three years ago.
He was well below-par – averaging just 91.69 and missed countless doubles. It was a bad day at the office for Unicorn’s 13-times World Champion – but take nothing away from Dudbridge, who hung on in there and punished Taylor’s mistakes.
It didn’t start well for Taylor, who missed three darts at double 12 in the first leg and Dudbridge took out 95. In fact, the first four legs went against the throw…the next six were won on the throw and we went into a nail-biting decider.
When Taylor started the 11th leg with 180, he looked on course for a scrappy victory but he just wasn’t firing at all. Taylor was first to the double but missed a shot at double 16 for the match to open the door to ‘Flash’. Dudbridge kept his cool.and nailed double 18 to send ‘The Power’ packing in what was a huge upset.
Taylor struggled throughout and will be angry at one of the worst TV performances of his career but Dudbridge took his chances and Taylor didn’t…..it was as simple as that.
It was an honest Taylor afterwards. He said: “I wasn’t good enough and didn’t deserve to win. I will put this behind me and start preparing for the World Matchplay in Blackpool – simple as that.”
In another shock, World No.3 Colin Lloyd lost a thrilling all-Unicorn clash against Wes Newton. It is the second consecutive year that Lloyd has fallen at the first hurdle in Vegas but Newton, who averaged 100, loves this event and played brilliantly.
The Lancashire Lad has reached the semi-finals in Vegas for the last two years and he was simply too good. Newton won the first leg with a 120 finish, then produced an 11-darter for a 3-1 lead. That soon became 4-1 but Lloyd wouldn’t go down without a fight. He got back to 3-5. Newton though, wasn’t to be denied and a double top finish broke Lloyd’s resistence.
Defending Champion John Part avoided being another casualty on a night of shocks in Vegas. He was forced to dig deep before finally overcoming Steve Maish 6-4. The Essex qualifier pushed the Canadian all the way but Part’s experience told in the end. From 5-4, Part bullied Maish in the 10th leg and a clinical 64 finish won the day. Maish had come up with terrific 128 and 100 finishes to stay in the contest but class told in the end.
The tournament got off to a cracking start, with the all-Unicorn duel between James Wade and Colin Osborne, which went all the way to a dramatic last-leg decider.
It was Osborne who booked his place in the 2nd Round, after Wade missed five darts to win the match at double four and double two. It was a topsy-turvy affair….Osborne raced into a 4-1 lead, before Wade then reeled off four consecutive legs to lead 5-4, as both players averaged close to the 100 mark.
Five out of the first six legs went against the throw….Osborne hitting three 180s to two from Wade. There was an 11-darter from ‘The Wizard’ and an 81 finish on the bull. That was the signal for a Wade comeback…..at 5-4 in front, he saw Osborne hold his throw to take it to a decider and then blew his big chance.
Wade will be kicking himself, because he had the match won. Osborne though, took his chance when it mattered, with a match-winning double four and the fairytale year for the man from Derby goes on.
We saw the good, the bad and ugly from Andy Hamilton, who crashed out of the Desert Classic, as his poor run of form continued. ‘The Hammer’ has found it a real struggle over the last few weeks and he wasted a great opportunity, as he lost a last-leg decider to former World Champion Steve Beaton.
Hamilton is going through a bad patch at the moment but he has the ability to bounce back and he must target the World Matchplay later this month.
He was 3-1 and 5-3 in front…..a brilliant 161 finish on the bull won him the 3rd leg and he followed that up with a 104 check-out to take the 4th but that was as good as it got. He missed two darts to win it 6-4. Hamilton had left 30 but instead of going for double 15, he went single 14 and then missed double eight and double four.
In the decider, Hamilton missed the bull for a 91 finish and victory and Beaton made him pay – finally nailing double two to beat ‘The Hammer’.
It was a case of what might have been for Unicorn’s American ace Ray Carver. He hit six 180s but missed far too many doubles against World No.5 Terry Jenkins. Carver certainly proved that he has the ability but lacked the consistency. It was there for the taking if Carver had nailed his finishes and a 6-3 defeat will be hugely disappointing.
Day one 1st Round results:
James Wade 5-6 Colin Osborne
Gary Mawson 6-2 Stuart Holden
Andy Hamilton 5-6 Steve Beaton
Phil Taylor 5-6 Mark Dudbridge
Colin Lloyd 3-6 Wes Newton
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Ray Carver
Wayne Mardle 6-3 John Ferrell
John Part 6-4 Steve Maish
Losers - £2,000
Thursday’s 1st Round matches:
Gerry Convery v Mervyn King
Dennis Priestley v Dennis Smith
Darin Young v Tony Eccles
Peter Manley v Vincent van der Voort
Raymond Van Barneveld v Kevin Painter
John Kuczynski v Alan Tabern
Adrian Lewis v Steve Smith
Roland Scholten v Andy Smith
Temperatures in Las Vegas topped 120 degrees but the tungsten was red hot on day one of the Last Vegas Desert Classic VI and Mark Dudbridge was the star of the show.
BY STUART PYKE