Phil Taylor’s bid to win the Players Championship for a third time is over!
‘The Power’ was switched off by Mervyn King on another dramatic night….8-5 the score, with King finally winning it on his 10th match dart.
Taylor was far from happy with the behaviour of a small section of the crowd, but he will surely also know that he missed far too many doubles, and ultimately that cost him.
And Gary Anderson was also sent packing from the tournament, failing to fire and outgunned in the all Unicorn clash by Kevin Painter.
So Painter will now face King for a place in the semi-finals!
But Taylor’s surprise defeat will grab all the headlines.
He wasn’t at his best – simple as that….but it will be onwards and upwards to the World Championships now…..
King broke to lead 2-1 and there were several key moments…..Taylor missed three darts at ‘tops’ and D10 to level at 4-4….he then bust his score – going for D7, hit D16 – to make it 5-5.
But there was more agony to come.
At 4-6 down, two more darts at ‘tops’ went astray and D8 for King took him to the verge of victory.
However, that wasn’t the end of the darting drama….King wired four darts at D16 to win the match 8-4 and Taylor got a leg back.
A second 180 from King set up another victory chance, but he blew more darts, before finally nailing D5 at the fourth time of asking to secure a famous win over Taylor.
Taylor missed 13 darts at doubles and that tells its own story.
But Kevin Painter has given himself a great chance of winning a first TV Major after sweeping aside the challenge of a disappointing Anderson.
Painter went 2-0 up after Anderson missed seven darts at doubles and the Scot then hit 121 on the bull to make it 2-2….it was one extreme to another.
The fifth leg was a big turning point, because needing 59 Anderson somehow hit single 3 going for single 19 and then hit a single 7 so didn’t actually get a dart at a double!
Painter wasn’t complaining though, and took control with a nerveless 86 finish and he led 5-2….he was steady and he outscored Anderson – hammering in 14x140s.
It was a professional performance – very much a case of job done for ‘The Artist’ who was in a good mood anyway after his beloved Ipswich Town won earlier in the day!
He averaged 92 to Anderson’s 86….the Scot missed 16 darts at doubles, while Painter boasted an impressive 50 per cent check-out success rate.
Painter said: “Gary didn’t play, he didn’t bring his ‘A’ game and I knew I had to be spot on when it mattered. That is a bonus for me and let’s see what happens now, but I have given myself a chance!”
You always got the feeling Painter was in control and he won it on D6 after three more Anderson misses.
Elsewhere on Saturday night at the Doncaster Dome, Mark Webster missed D12 for a 9 darter and then won a dramatic last leg decider against No.1 seed Justin Pipe.
Pipe missed six darts to win the match and the Welshman pinched the win and will now take on Dave Chisnall in the quarter-finals.
In the afternoon session, Wes Newton came from 0-4 down to beat Peter Wright….James Wade was below par but still managed to get past Steve Brown, but Raymond van Barneveld suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Scott Rand.
2nd Round results:
Co Stompe 2-8 Dave Chisnall
Justin Pipe 7-8 Mark Webster
Phil Taylor 5-8 Phil Taylor
Gary Anderson 4-8 Kevin Painter
Wes Newton 8-6 Peter Wright
Wayne Jones 3-8 Mark Walsh
Steve Brown 6-8 James Wade
Raymond van Barneveld 6-8 Scott Rand
Sunday Quarter-Final line-up (best of 17 legs) – 1pm:
Mark Walsh v Wes Newton
Scott Rand v James Wade
Kevin Painter v Mervyn King
Mark Webster v Dave Chisnall
By STUART PYKE at the Doncaster Dome
Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC