Phil Taylor sent out a post Christmas message to his rivals, as he brushed aside the challenge of Denmark’s Per Laursen to reach the last 16 at the World Championship.
And team Unicorn stablemate Adrian Lewis was also a convincing winner at the Alexandra Palace.
But all eyes were on Taylor after his poor 1st Round display and this time, he didn’t disappoint. He will now face the unseeded Peter Wright in round three.
“I felt under pressure but nobody knows what I’ve been going through. I felt very humble with the crowd reaction. They gave me a great reception and I was so grateful,” he said.
An average of 102 spoke volumes as he turned up ‘The Power’ once again when it mattered. There’s no doubt that he had a point to prove and Taylor did just that.
He took out 80 and 100 in breezing through the opening set, but Laursen certainly gave Taylor a game. The second set went to a deciding leg and Taylor had to find his best finishing to win the third set, as the gritty Dane threatened again…a 107 check-out certainly helped!
And Taylor wasn’t going to let it slip from there and he hit his first 180 (only his second of the tournament) and sealed the win on ‘tops’ – a check-out success rate of 60 per cent, from 12 doubles in 20 attempts.
The crowd loved it – they gave him a fantastic reception and Taylor didn’t disappoint.
His rivals are still queuing up to try to take his World Championship crown, but Taylor has showed that he is in no mood to let it slip – that’s for sure!
You could sense the relief from the performance. Taylor needed that and he is most definitely in the tournament now!
Lewis was a convincing 4-1 winner over Mark Dudbridge, but was still critical of his performance.
“I lost concentration for a while and I simply cannot keep doing that,” he said. “I should have won 4-0 but let Mark back into it and if he had come back to make it 3-2, I really would have been concerned.”
He now plays Scotland’s Robert Thornton in the last 16. “If I lose focus against Robert, I will lose,” was his stark assessment. “So, it’s up to me to be at my very best.”
For three sets though, Lewis was ‘Darts Mr Entertainer’ as he produced some of the best darts of the World Championship so far.
To be fair, Dudbridge didn’t do a lot wrong but he couldn’t live with Lewis in that mood. The Unicorn star lost only three legs in those three sets, averaged 99, hit five 180s and the crowd were on their feet!
In the second set, he averaged 114….and there were finishes of 94, 111 and 84.
The Bristolian came back to take the fourth set after Lewis’ lapse in concentration and Dudbridge actually missed two darts to win the fifth set before ‘Jackpot’ nailed ‘tops’ to take his place in the 33rd Round.
There will be tougher tests ahead but Lewis will be a major threat at these World Championships – that’s for sure!
Elsewhere on day nine in London, the Unicorn duo of Andy Hamilton and Paul Nicholson suffered from nightmare performances, as the pair crashed out of the World Championship.
Nicholson missed 35 darts at doubles, as he slumped to a shock 2-4 defeat against Peter Wright, while Hamilton missed 32 shots at a double in his 0-4 defeat to Thornton.
Mark Hylton stunned Colin Lloyd with a 4-2 win, as he won six consecutive legs to clinch the victory to set up a clash with the in-form Mark Webster. The Welshman had produced another virtuoso performance to whitewash Ronnie Baxter 4-0.
Monday 2nd Round results:
Colin Lloyd 2-4 Mark Hylton
Adrian Lewis 4-1 Mark Dudbridge
Phil Taylor 4-0 Per Laursen
Ronnie Baxter 0-4 Mark Webster
Paul Nicholson 2-4 Peter Wright
Andy Hamilton 0-4 Robert Thornton
Tuesday 2nd Round schedule – afternoon session:
Mark Walsh v Alan Tabern
Wayne Jones v Vincent van der Voort
Terry Jenkins v Steve Brown
Evening session:
Wes Newton v Brendan Dolan
Simon Whitlock v Denis Ovens
James Wade v Mensur Suljovic
By STUART PYKE at the Alexandra Palace
Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC