James Wade and Phil Taylor will clash head-on in the 2nd Round of the Players Championship Finals in Doncaster!
But World Champion Adrian Lewis fell at the first hurdle…..he paid the price for a slow start against Steve Beaton in his return to competitive action after his Alexandra Palace triumph.
Taylor, again with new darts, averaged 95.87 in his 6-2 victory over Steve Brown…..but Wade just couldn’t get going in his match against Mark Dudbridge, as he scraped to victory!
‘The Power’ took out 94 and 113 in his comfortable win over Brown….and it will certainly give him confidence for the clash with Wade….it will be the first time the pair have locked horns since Wade beat Taylor to win Championship League Darts last October.
The big shock was Lewis……he made an awful start and found himself 4-0 and 5-1 down against Beaton.
He finally some range and scoring power, hitting four 180s in three legs to get back to just 4-5 behind….and it looked like he would force a decider!
Lewis had left 61, while his opponent needed 72…..Beaton hit treble one with his first dart and left himself one at the bull, which he hit to end Lewis’ hopes of a famous comeback.
He will now have to get himself together for next Thursday at the O2 Arena and the first night of the Premier League and that showdown with Taylor!
Wade was far from his best in his victory over Dudbridge and he will have to show a huge improvement if he wants to challenge Taylor!
It was a strangely subdued Wade but he did enough to win and at this stage of the tournament, that’s all that matters.
In the end, one break of throw – in the first leg of the match – was enough for the World No.3….the next nine legs all went with throw but Wade made some silly errors along the way – missing big numbers on several occasions.
Dudbridge stayed in it with a 109 finish and a couple of 180s but Wade came up with a fine 96 finish to set up Saturday’s showdown with Taylor.
It will be some game…..that’s for sure!
Terry Jenkins was impressive in his victory over Vincent van der Voort….it’s the second year running that Jenkins has beaten the Dutchman in the 1st Round of this event and ‘The Bull’ always looked in control, despite being pegged back to 3-3 after leading 3-0!
He closed the match out in style – hitting a 12 darter to clinch victory, winning the 10th leg against the throw…..and will now face Beaton
Wes Newton will take on Mark Webster in the 2nd Round…..but the Unicorn star had to produce his best darts to see off Richie Burnett….and averaged an impressive 103!
The Welshman is enjoying a renaissance in his career at the moment, and he was 3-2 and 4-3 up, before Newton put his foot on the accelerator.
He levelled and then with perfect timing, came a third 180 to break the Burnett throw and another maximum in the next leg helped him across the finishing line.
Webster was impressive in his victory over Alan Tabern, while the No.1 seed Simon Whitlock hit five 180s in his comfortable 6-1 win over Tony Eccles.
And the Australian will take on Mervyn King in the 2nd Round……King produced a stirring fightback from 2-5 down to win a last leg decider against Co Stompe.
Friday 1st Round results:
Vincent van der Voort 4-6 Terry Jenkins
Mervyn King 6-5 Co Stompe
Wes Newton 6-4 Richie Burnett
Mark Webster 6-3 Alan Tabern
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Tony Eccles
James Wade 6-4 Mark Dudbridge
Phil Taylor 6-2 Steve Brown
Adrian Lewis 4-6 Steve Beaton
Saturday 2nd Round (best of 15 legs):
Afternoon session:
Jamie Caven v Andy Smith
Steve Farmer v Colin Osborne
Gary Anderson v Kevin Painter
Colin Lloyd v Dennis Priestley
Evening session:
Wes Newton v Mark Webster
Simon Whitlock v Mervyn King
Terry Jenkins v Steve Beaton
Phil Taylor v James Wade
By STUART PYKE at the Players Championship Finals
Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC