James Wade cruised through to the 2nd Round of the World Championship, but there was a shock defeat for Kevin Painter in London.
Painter crashed out in the 1st Round of the World Championship for only the second time – stunned by Brendan Dolan, but Wade looked in excellent touch, losing only two legs in a convincing win over Spain’s Antonio Alcinas.
“You’ve no idea how nervous I was,” revealed Wade. “I think everyone is in the 1st Round, so I am very pleased to get through that!”
Wade’s finishing was exceptional.
He won the first set in style – hitting D18, D20 for 96 and two D18s for 92, as he totally dominated from the off.
To be fair, the Spaniard didn’t do a lot wrong! Wade won the second set thanks to a terrific 121 finish on the bull and D5 won him the match, as he coasted through the third set.
A 92 average was ok for starters but 9/15 on the doubles is what pleased Wade the most.
Asked yet again about becoming World Champion, he was diplomatic with his reply. “All I know is that one day I will win the World Championship. I can’t predict when that will be. It would be great if it was this year, but I must take one game at a time,” Wade said. “I know that sounds boring but I won’t get ahead of myself.”
Wade will play either Michael van Gerwen or Mensur Suljovic in the 2nd Round.
It was a great exhibition of finishing from the Unicorn ace, who now knows he can really get into the tournament and give it a real go, as he chases his dream of winning the biggest title in world darts.
Well, he will be hugely disappointed but in truth, Kevin Painter just never got going at the Ally Pally. ‘The Artist’ had gone back to a similar set-up he used when he reached the World Final back in 2004, but unfortunately, to no avail.
“I am totally embarrassed by that performance. It was just not acceptable,” Painter candidly admitted.
He won only two legs in the entire match.
“Not good enough,” he added. “Fair play to Brendan…he played well, but he must have thought his Christmas Day had come early.”
“I now know that I over-practiced and over-prepared. I got it horribly wrong. You can be sure that I won’t be practicing again. I am at my best when I just go up there and play – I didn’t do that here, and I got what I deserved.”
“It will go down as one of the worst performances of my career on TV,” was Painter’s honest assessment.
The opening set must be one of the worst in Painter’s long and illustrious career. He lost all three legs and averaged a mere 71.
We all thought he would spark into life in the second set – especially after he nailed a brilliant 156 finish to win his first leg of the match – but Dolan kept plugging away and the Irishman was far more consistent.
From two sets down, it was always going to be a big ask. Painter won just one more leg. An end average of 84 was never going to challenge Dolan, who averaged 96 and enjoyed a 60 per cent check-out success rate.
Even a first 180 of the game wasn’t enough and Dolan wrapped up the biggest win of his career, as Painter was left to muse over a big low in his.
Dolan will now face another Unicorn player in Wes Newton in the 2nd Round.
Elsewhere on day five at the Ally Pally, Alan Tabern came from two sets to one down to edge out former Lakeside Champion Richie Burnett, and veteran Denis Ovens hit 11 doubles from only 16 attempts in beating German Jyhan Artut.
Monday results:
Preliminary Round (best of 7 legs):
Jyhan Artut (Germany) 4-3 Scott Mackenzie (Hong Kong)
1st Round (best of 5 sets):
Alan Tabern 3-2 Richie Burnett
Kevin Painter 0-3 Brendan Dolan
James Wade 3-0 Antonio Alcinas
Denis Ovens 3-1 Jyhan Artut
Tuesday night’s action at the Ally Pally features the big all Unicorn clash between Terry Jenkins and Joe Cullen, while there’s a trio of Dutchman involved, as Michael van Gerwen, Jelle Klaasen and Vincent van der Voort kick off their World Championship challenges.
By STUART PYKE at the Ladbrokes.com World Championship
Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC