Phil Taylor produced one of his worst World Championship performances but he stumbled over the finishing line on the opening night at the Alexandra Palace.
But Team Unicorn stablemate Paul Nicholson looked in good nick!
‘The Power’ wasn’t even running at half-voltage as he beat Gary Mawson by three sets to nil, but that doesn’t even begin to tell the story.
He looked nervy and edgy and a man under pressure. His end average was a meagre 88.49 and he missed 25 darts at doubles.
It’s obviously been a tough time for Taylor after his grandson Jack was born two months premature and he has had family matters on his mind.
“It hasn’t been the best of preparation,” he revealed. “There have been some late nights and worrying times, so I am just glad to get the job done.”
“I just couldn’t get going and I just kept telling myself to forget how you are playing and win, whatever it takes.”
Well, it is fair to say that if his opponent had performed anything like, Taylor may well have been in trouble.
He can now look forward to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony on Sunday, Christmas at home with the family and try to come back refreshed ahead of a potential all Unicorn 2nd Round clash with John Part.
A 106 finish gave him the opening set and despite struggling throughout, a managed to find a 121 check-out to help him to win the second set.
Uncharacteristically, he missed five darts to win the match, while Mawson contrived to blow four chances to win the third set, before Taylor finally nailed ‘tops’ to claim the win and he was left breathing a huge sigh of relief.
“I can’t afford to dwell on that,” he said. “I have won and that’s all that matters right now.”
He knows he will have to improve. Taylor wanted to send out a message to the pretenders to his crown but that wasn’t the message he wanted to project.
However, it would be a foolish person to write off Philip Taylor.
Nicholson though, was really impressive.
It’s always difficult to be the first on the big stage at any ‘Major’ tournament, but ‘The Asset’ was outstanding in beating debutant Steve Farmer by three sets to nil.
His finishing was simply brilliant….Nicholson lost only three legs in the match and hit nine doubles from only 11 attempts!
“There’s a lot of relief,” he admitted. “I felt under a bit of pressure but when those doubles started going in, I knew it was going to be a good night.”
Nicholson now plays either Co Stompe or Peter Wright in the 2nd Round after Christmas.
He added: “After winning the Players Championship Finals at the Circus tavern in January, it has been a horrible year. I knew I had to work very hard for this tournament and I can see the rewards.”
He went two sets up against Farmer in the blink of an eye, including a 141 finish. In the third set, check-outs of 73 and 116 took him to the verge of victory.
Nicholson then missed one dart at ‘tops’ for a 115 and victory, only for Farmer to take the leg and follow it up with a great 160 finish to force a deciding leg.
The Unicorn man though, wasn’t to be denied and he won it in style with another classy finish – nailing 140 to win the match with a 97 average.
It was the best that Nicholson has played for some time. Let’s hope he takes this form forward.
Elsewhere on opening night at the Ally Pally, World Championship debutant Mark Hylton stunned Steve Beaton, winning a final set decider.
And last year’s semi-finalist Mark Webster averaged 99 and dropped only two legs in his easy win over Steve Maish.
Day one results:
Preliminary Round (best of 7 legs):
Gary Mawson 4-1 Juanito Gionson (phillippines)
1st Round (best of five sets)
Paul Nicholson 3-0 Steve Farmer
Steve Beaton 2-3 Mark Hylton
Mark Webster 3-0 Steve Maish
Phil Taylor 3-0 Gary Mawson
Friday schedule:
Preliminary Round:
Roland Scholten (Holland) v Veijo Viinikka (Finland)
1st Round:
Co Stompe v Peter Wright
Colin Lloyd v Andree Welge
Adrian Lewis v Tony Eccles
Ronnie Baxter v Scholton/Viinikka
By STUART PYKE at the Ladbrokes.com World Championship
Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC