It has been a year to forget for Jamie Caven.
And it ended in the worst possible fashion for the Team Unicorn man, as he crashed out of the World Championship on the opening night at the Alexandra Palace.
Caven was beaten 3 sets to 1 by Dutchman Roland Scholten in the first match of the tournament.
“To be fair, I was never really in it. I felt good enough but it just didn’t happen. Roland was the better player,” admitted Caven.
He went on: “I started this year with such high hopes but the last six or seven months have been a real struggle for me, especially in the TV events, which has been a big disappointment. I have to look ahead to 2012 and hope for better things, but despite this loss, I am determined to enjoy Christmas with the family.”
To be honest, Caven never looked comfortable on the biggest stage in world darts.
He fell a set behind but then appeared to be finding his feet, because he raced through the second set to level the match, including two dart finishes of 76 and 97.
And he could have pinched the third set, but it was another match of missed chances for the man from Derby.
Remarkably, Caven actually hit seven perfect darts in the fourth set but missed the T19, although he did win the leg in 11 darts to stay in the hunt….it was only a temporary reprieve though, because Scholten nailed a superb 138 finish to win the match.
There were 11x180s in the game, with the Dutchman hitting seven of them.
It was an amazing opening night at the Ally Pally – arguably the most dramatic first night in the history of the World Championship.
We witnessed 55x 180s and World Champion Adrian Lewis survived by the skin of his teeth.
Lewis was two sets down against outsider Nigel Heydon and looked to be heading out, but he somehow found a way to win in a final set tie-break!
But no such luck for Mark Webster….the semi-finalist here for the last two years was beaten in another tie-breaker by fellow Welshman Richie Burnett.
Of course Phil Taylor’s bid for that amazing 16th World Championship title starts on Friday night at the Alexandra Palace, when he faces one of the overseas qualifiers – either Haruki Muramatsu of Japan or Sweden’s Dennis Nilsson.
“I can’t wait,” he said. “The whole year has been geared towards this and I feel good.”
The Unicorn star added: “Obviously it was disappointing to lose at the Players Championship Finals but since the summer, I have played really well. I want to get the 1st Round out of the way, enjoy Christmas, and come back after the break to give it a huge go to win back my title!”
Wes Newton has been heavily backed as a good each/way shot at the Ally Pally….he plays Belgium’s Kurt van de Rijk on Friday, knowing a good World Championship could win him a prized place in the 2012 Premier League.
Thursday World Championship results:
Jamie Caven 1-3 Roland Scholten
Mark Webster 2-3 Richie Burnett
Adrian Lewis 3-2 Nigel Heydon
Wayne Jones 3-1 Scott McKenzie
Friday schedule:
Preliminary Round:
Haruki Muramatsu v Dennis Nilsson
1st Round:
Justin Pipe v Sean Reed
Co Stompe v Michael Smith
Wes Newton v Kurt van de Rijck
Phil Taylor v Murumatsu/Nilsson
By STUART PYKE at the Alexandra Palace
Photo courtesy Chris Sargeant