The Team Unicorn trio of Kevin Painter, Colin Osborne and Jamie Caven have all booked their places in the last 16 of the Players Championship Finals.
On a dramatic opening night at the Doncaster Dome, Painter and Osborne won thrilling last leg deciders, while Caven was very impressive in winning the all Unicorn clash against Barrie Bates.
Painter will now face Gary Anderson after a nail-biting win over Wayne Jones, in a match which saw 9 of the 11 legs won against the throw!
‘The Artist’ hit two 180s in winning the opening leg in 12 darts against the throw, but every time he won one against the Jones throw, he lost the next leg…..it was hugely frustrating.
He actually led 5-3 but Jones fought back to level the match, but only after Painter had missed darts at D6 and D3 to win the match 6-4…..Jones had the darts in the decider but credit to Painter, who held his nerve and won it in great fashion, taking out 90 on the bull.
“I deserved that,” he said. “I thought I played well but some missed doubles nearly cost me. Now I can enjoy the tournament and let’s see what happens.”
Caven averaged over 100 in thrashing Bates 6-1…..he raced into a 4-0 lead in double quick time, including a 122 check-out on the bull….the Welshman nailed 96 to get a leg on the board but Caven was just too good and he nailed a terrific 114 to clinch the win.
It was arguably Caven’s best performance in a TV ‘Major’
He will now face Andy Smith in the 2nd Round after ‘The Pie Man’ hit six doubles from six attempts in beating Ronnie Baxter 6-2.
Colin Osborne fought back superbly to take his place in the last 16 against Steve Farmer….the Unicorn man was 5-3 behind against Denis Ovens and looked to be out for the count!
But not a bit of it!
He broke the Ovens throw to get one leg back and then took out 80 to level the game…..Ovens had the darts in the deciding leg though, and looked to be on his way, but he missed two darts at D12 and D6 for the match….up stepped Osborne to hit D8 to win a dramatic match.
When he hit the winning double, it was the first time that Osborne had been ahead in the entire game, but he won’t be complaining!
But Andy Hamilton was left wondering just how he fell at the first hurdle, after losing a last leg decider to Dennis Priestley.
In a match of seven breaks of throw, the Unicorn man looked comfortable when he was 5-3 in front, including a great finish of 121….but back came the local hero!
Priestley lives just eight miles down the road in Mexborough and the crowd kept him in it. He won the last three legs to pinch the win, hitting two 180s and a 115 finish…..but Hamilton came agonisingly close to winning it himself.
‘The Hammer’ needed 142 and hit two T20s, only to wire his shot at D11 to win the match and Priestley nailed D10 to snatch the victory.
Elsewhere on Thursday night, Gary Anderson had to produce his very best darts to see off Justin Pipe, while Colin Lloyd took eight match darts to finally see off Jelle Klaasen.
Friday will be a big night…..Taylor, Lewis, Wade, Whitlock et all in action!
Thursday 1st Round results:
Denis Ovens 5-6 Colin Osborne
Andy Hamilton 5-6 Dennis Priestley
Mark Walsh 1-6 Steve Farmer
Jamie Caven 6-1 Barrie Bates
Ronnie Baxter 2-6 Andy Smith
Wayne Jones 5-6 Kevin Painter
Gary Anderson 6-4 Justin Pipe
Colin Lloyd 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Friday 1st Round schedule:
Vincent van der Voort v Terry Jenkins
Mervyn King v Co Stompe
Wes Newton v Richie Burnett
Mark Webster v Alan Tabern
Simon Whitlock v Tony Eccles
James Wade v Mark Dudbridge
Phil Taylor v Steve Brown
Adrian Lewis v Steve Beaton
By STUART PYKE in Doncaster
Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC