It turned into a calamitous post Christmas 2nd Round at the World Championship for the Team Unicorn duo of Andy Hamilton and Paul Nicholson.
Unfortunately, it all went horribly wrong for Nicholson, who was totally devastated by his shock defeat to Peter Wright at the Ally Pally, while Hamilton was whitewashed by Robert Thornton.
Wright won by 4 sets to 2 with an average of just 85, but he hit his doubles – simple as that….Nicholson’s finishing was woeful and such a contrast to what we saw in the 1st Round.
Against Steve Farmer, he nailed nine doubles from only 11 attempts, but against Wright, the Unicorn man missed an incredible 35 darts at the doubles.
And his exit at the World Championship could signal the end of Nicholson’s hopes of a place in the 2011 Premier League…..it was a bad day at the office and he left the building swiftly after his defeat – clearly angry at the way he played.
Hamilton’s finishing was even worse, as he was hammered 4-0 by Thornton.
But what a missed opportunity for Nicholson….a year that started so well with that famous win at the Players Championship Finals at the Circus Tavern, has ended in darting disaster for the Geordie.
When he comfortably won the opening two legs of the match, there were no signs of the trouble that was to come.
Nicholson imploded – missing six darts at D4 and one at ‘tops’ to win the opening set and Wright pinched it with an average of 79…..it set the pattern for the match I’m afraid.
‘The Asset’ levelled the match at one set apiece and despite all the missed doubles, he was still in the hunt at two sets all…..he won that fourth set after hitting six perfect darts in a deciding leg and we all thought those back-to-back 180s would spark Nicholson into life.
But not a bit of it…..he continued to miss double after double and Wright won six legs out of seven to take his surprise spot in the last 16.
Wright won the 6th set to wrap up the match in three straight legs, but Nicholson missed darts to win all three of those legs and that summed up his woes….in the end nine doubles from 44 attempts – not good enough on the biggest stage in world darts.
Andy Hamilton hit only six doubles from 38 attempts….he crashed out in straight sets at the hands of Thornton.
Incredibly, ‘The Hammer’ missed 15 darts at double in the opening set alone and lost it despite three 180s….and it just got worse
The Scot raced through the second set and then Hamilton missed three darts to get back into the match by winning set three. He missed the bull for a 167 and then blew shots at D8 and D4.
And despite hitting two 14 darters and a 125 finish in the fourth set, he lost it in a deciding leg – despite having the throw.
Hamilton and Nicholson will both be kicking themselves! World Championship dreams over in torturous circumstances.
In the other match on Monday afternoon, Mark Webster again put in an impressive performance as he brushed aside the challenge of Ronnie Baxter.
A 4-0 whitewash for the Welshman, who is a potential quarter-final opponent for a certain Mr Taylor, and a 97 average – hitting 13 doubles from 26 attempts. Webster looks in good nick at the moment!
On Monday night, sadly there won’t be that Phil Taylor/John Part showdown after the Canadian was beaten by Per Laursen in the 1st Round.
Taylor takes on the Dane and it will be interesting to see how ‘The Power’ plays after his 88 average in that 1st Round win over Gary Mawson.
Adrian Lewis is also in action, when he takes on former World Championship finalist Mark Dudbridge.
Monday afternoon 2nd Round results (best of 7 sets):
Ronnie Baxter 0-4 Mark Webster
Paul Nicholson 2-4 Peter Wright
Andy Hamilton 0-4 Robert Thornton
By STUART PYKE at the Alexandra Palace
Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC