There were no shocks at the Alexandra Palace, as all the seeded stars booked their places in the 2nd Round of the World Championship.
Mervyn King, Dennis Priestley, Mark Walsh and Andy Smith were all comfortable winners to complete the last 32 line-up.
‘The Pie Man’ finally broke his Ally Pally hoodoo! After three consecutive 1st Round defeats, Smith managed to beat Australian Shane Tichowitsch by 3 sets to 1.
It would have been much closer if the Aussie had hit his doubles….as it was, Smith averaged a respectable 93 and hit six 180s.
He’ll now take on Mervyn King….the No.6 seed was too good for veteran Swedish star Magnus Caris, winning in straight sets, and he clinched victory in style with a terrific 136 finish, after his opponent had hit a 180!
Dennis Priestley lost only two legs in his straight forward victory over Germany’s Bernd Roith…..the 60-year-old will now take on Gary Anderson in what’s sure to be a cracking 2nd Round tie.
Meanwhile Walsh came through a tough test to beat Justin Pipe by 3 sets to 1 and he’ll now play Alan Tabern on Tuesday afternoon.
The tournament takes a break for Christmas, but returns with a bang on December 27.
Four Team Unicorn stars will be bidding for a place in the 3rd Round….Phil Taylor’s back in action against Denmark’s Per Laursen, who of course beat John Part.
If Taylor wins, he could set up a tasty showdown with Paul Nicholson! ‘The Asset’ plays Peter Wright. Adrian Lewis takes on Mark Dudbridge, while Andy Hamilton plays Scotland’s Robert Thornton.
Thursday results – Preliminary Round (best of 7 legs):
Magnus Caris (Sweden) 4-3 Dietmar Burger (Austria)
1st Round (best of 5 sets):
Andy Smith 3-1 Shane Tichowitsch (Australia)
Mark Walsh 3-1 Justin Pipe
Dennis Priestley 3-0 Bernd Roith (Germany)
Mervyn King 3-0 Magnus Caris
2nd Round schedule – Monday December 27:
Ronnie Baxter v Mark Webster
Paul Nicholson v Peter Wright
Andy Hamilton v Robert Thornton
Colin Lloyd v Mark Hylton
Adrian Lewis v Mark Dudbridge
Phil Taylor v Per Laursen
Tuesday December 28:
Mark Walsh v Alan Tabern
Wayne Jones v Vincent van der Voort
Terry Jenkins v Steve Brown
Wes Newton v Brendan Dolan
Simon Whitlock v Denis Ovens
James Wade v Mensur Suljovic
Wednesday December 29:
Colin Osborne v Jamie Caven
Gary Anderson v Dennis Priestley
Mervyn King v Andy Smith
Raymond van Barneveld v Kevin McDine
All that remains is for everyone at the Unicorn darts team to wish all of YOU a very Merry Christmas and we will be back at the Alexandra Palace on December 27, as the race for that prized World Championship crown continues!
Will it be Taylor? Will it be Wade? Will it be Barney? Will it be Lewis? Will it be Anderson? Will it be Whitlock? Or will someone come from left field to win it on January 3?
All will be revealed over the next 10 days!
By STUART PYKE (Twitter @stuartpykesport)
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lusti / PDC