Paul Nicholson and Wes Newton wrote all the headlines at the Reebok as they hit the heights to reach the quarter-finals of the UK Open.
Reputations counted for nothing as the Unicorn pair dumped Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld out of the tournament in sensational fashion!
Nicholson beat Taylor in a nail-biting last leg decider, while Newton secured one of the best wins of his career – thrashing Barney 9-1.
‘The Asset’ beat Gary Anderson and Phil Taylor in the one day at the Reebok, but it doesn’t get any easier, because he faces yet another all Unicorn clash against James Wade in the last eight!
And Newton, who of course is chasing his first ‘Major’ title, will also have to do it tough….he has been drawn to play the in-form Dave Chisnall.
Both players were terrific…..Newton has now lost only seven legs in three matches, while Nicholson has beaten arguably the best two players in the world at the moment.
He said: “I am really tired mentally, but I will get myself ready for one final push. Beating Anderson and Taylor will count for nothing if I don’t go on to win the title. I have still got a big job to do.”
Newton was very calm after his win. “That was one of my best TV performances, but I have to keep it going. I have a great chance but it is in my hands now!”
Nicholson held his nerve to punish Taylor, as he raced 6-2 and 7-3 ahead…..finishes of 70, 81, 76, 81 and 84…..but he knew Taylor would fight back….and that’s exactly what happened!
A third 180 and back-to-back 12 dart legs, including an 81 finish on the bull and all of a sudden there was only one leg in it…..Nicholson then nailed a brilliant 100 check-out under enormous pressure to go 8-6 in front.
But back came Taylor again to level the match….it was nerve jangling stuff!
So, we went to a deciding leg….Taylor had the throw but couldn’t force home the advantage, as Nicholson banged in a fourth maximum and wired D16 to win it with a 105 finish…..but he wasn’t to be denied and D8 clinched another famous win.
It’s the second time that he has beaten Taylor in a TV ‘Major ‘ following his victory over ‘The Power’ on en route to winning the Players Championship Finals at the Circus Tavern.
And he showed tremendous character and courage to do it!
But what about Wes Newton?!
He blitzed Barneveld with one of his best ever performances.
Barney just wasn’t at the races after losing his throw in the opening leg and Newton came up trumps with an amazing display of finishing.
The Dutchman won the third leg but that was it….Newton reeled off seven consecutive legs with some lethal finishing.
He hit nine doubles from 14 attempts – a 64 per cent check-out success rate to add to four 180s and an average of 100.54
The night belonged to Nicholson and Newton…..are they now the men to beat?
Well, we witnessed another brave performance from Wade, who has now won five matches to reach the quarter-finals.
The 2008 UK Open Champion had to average close to 100 to win a thriller against Richie Burnett in what was a terrific 40 minutes of darts action.
Wade hit seven 180s, including five in the first eight legs! But Burnett just wouldn’t go away, as the Welshman rolled back the years and really should have taken the match into a last leg decider.
But it was good to see the way Wade coped with the pressure…..all positive signs that things are going in the right direction again for the Unicorn ace.
There was never more than two legs in it, with Wade forced to take out a couple of ton plus finishes to stay ahead of Burnett.
The former World Champion was playing at the top of his game…..with Wade 8-7 in front, Burnett missed flour darts at ‘tops’ to force that deciding leg and after wiring D8 for a 136 check-out to win, Wade didn’t miss the second time of asking!
“I am very pleased with the way that it’s going,” he said. “I am having to battle hard but to be honest, I am enjoying myself and that matters!”
Colin Osborne wasted a great chance to reach another UK Open quarter-final…..the Unicorn ace paid the price for missed doubles, as he lost 9-7 to Robert Thornton.
A former runner-up at the Reebok, but Osborne, who fought back from three times being behind, missed a trick in a nail-biting finale.
At 7-7, he had the darts but crucially missed two darts at ‘tops’ to go 8-7 ahead….Thornton hit D16 to break and then won it in the next on D20……a big blow for Osborne.
5th Round results:
Richie Burnett 7-9 James Wade
Robert Thornton 9-7 Colin Osborne
Phil Taylor 8-9 Paul Nicholson
Wes Newton 9-1 Raymond van Barneveld
Peter Wright 7-9 Mark Hylton
Andy Boulton 4-9 Mark Webster
Andy Smith 6-9 Denis Ovens
John Bowles 4-9 Dave Chisnall
Quarter-Final draw (best of 19 legs):
Denis Ovens v Mark Hylton
Dave Chisnall v Wes Newton
Robert Thornton v Mark Webster
James Wade v Paul Nicholson
By STUART PYKE at the Reebok Stadium
Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC