The draw for the 2011 Players Championship Finals has thrown up an incredible scenario!
Team Unicorn’s stars Gary Anderson, Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, Paul Nicholson and James Wade are all in the bottom half of the draw for the tournament which starts (live on ITV4) on December 8 at the Doncaster Dome.
The withdrawal of Australian SimonWhitlock with his broken ankle has changed the draw completely! Scotland’s John Henderson comes into the event, as he was 33rd in the PC Order of Merit, but the ‘new’ line-up sees the big guns on a collision course next weekend!
Phil Taylor’s back-to-back victories in the Players Championship tournaments at Wigan catapult the Unicorn star up to the No.7 seed….and that now means an all Unicorn 1st Round match with Terry Jenkins.
And if the seedings go to plan, Taylor and Gary Anderson would go head-to-head in the quarter-finals! Remember, Taylor beat Anderson 13-12 in the last final at Doncaster.
Anderson’s 1st Round opponent is Michael van Gerwen.
Barney now plays Ronnie Baxter, Nicholson takes on Steve Brown and Wade faces Andy Smith, with Jamie Caven also in the bottom half, against Scott Rand.
And incredibly, in the same section of the draw, there will be an all Unicorn showdown between Colin Osborne and Kevin Painter, with the winner possibly taking on Anderson in round two.
It means the players in the top half of the draw have a great chance to make a big impression!
Wes Newton is the only Team Unicorn player in the other half of the draw and he opens up against Richie Burnett, as he bids to reach his second ‘Major’ Final of the year.
Gary Anderson though, must be regretting his decision to sit out the Wigan double-header…..he had been No.1 seed all along until last Sunday, when Justin Pipe’s run to the final saw him overtake the Scot and claim pole position and as it happens, a spot in the easier half of the draw.
Pipe now plays Henderson in that 1st Round.
The draw in full (in bracket form):
Justin Pipe (1) v John Henderson
Mark Webster (16) v Steve Beaton
Vincent van der Voort (8) v Co Stompe
Dave Chisnall (9) v Alan Tabern
John Part (5) v Wayne Jones
Mark Walsh (12) v Mark Hylton
Wes Newton (4) v Richie Burnett
Peter Wright (13) v Denis Ovens
Gary Anderson (2) v Michael van Gerwen
Colin Osborne (15) v Kevin Painter
Phil Taylor (7) v Terry Jenkins
Mervyn King (10) v Colin Lloyd
Ronnie Baxter (6) v Raymond van Barneveld
Jamie Caven (11) v Scott Rand
Paul Nicholson (3) v Steve Brown
James Wade (14) v Andy Smith
By STUART PYKE
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC