Phil Taylor has admitted there are now more important things in his life than darts, but he is still desperate to win a 12th World Matchplay crown!
Taylor talked for the first time about his difficult year and the breakdown of his marriage, but still believes he has what it takes to win again in Blackpool
It was steady if unspectacular from Taylor….but he still averaged an impressive 108!
He looked relaxed. “That is as good as I have played for a while, so that is pleasing. I love this week and I am enjoying it, so bring on the next game and let’s see what happens,” Taylor added.
“My whole world has been turned upside down, so it has been very difficult, but I am enjoying my darts again now,” he added.
And on Friday night, it is now a massive all Unicorn Final against Wes Newton, who saw off Justin Pipe 13-8, with the winning dart hitting the board at 12.22am!
Andy Hamilton is also through to the last eight after grinding out a victory against John Henderson.
But Taylor went about his business in style.
After losing the first leg against the throw, ‘The Power’ reeled off five legs on the spin, including two 12 darters to take control…..Jones managed to haul it back to 4-6, but Taylor was supremely confident.
There was never any chance of a Jones fightback, as Taylor stretched his lead with a couple of 13 darters and he took his 180 tally to five.
A 124 check-out made it 12-7 and Taylor wrapped up victory in the next. He will take some beating at the Winter Gardens, that’s for sure.
Newton though, will relish every minute of his showdown with Taylor!
In the form of his life, he will believe that he can upset ‘The Power’
Newton was always in control of his clash with Pipe….he swept into a 4-0 advantage to stamp his authority over proceedings.
It was a professional performance and the Blackpool rewards are coming for the local hero now, who is in the quarter-finals for the first time!
A brilliant 170 finish saw his go 7-3 in front and he followed that with a terrific 126 to move 9-6 ahead.
Pipe couldn’t match Newton’s scoring and a crucial D16 took him to 12-8 and the Unicorn star sealed the win with an 81 check-out on D6.
‘The Warrrior’ averaged an impressive 99, but he knows that he will have to improve on that to challenge Taylor….we shall see!
Well sometimes in sport, you just have to ‘win ugly’ and that’s exactly what Andy Hamilton did, as he beat John Henderson to set up a quarter-final clash with Simon Whitlock.
The Unicorn ace never hit the heights of his performance to beat Gary Anderson on Tuesday, but he got the job done.
“Not great was it?!” Hamilton admitted. “I felt too relaxed. My preparation wasn’t what it should have been. But I found a way to win and that’s all that matters. I will be focused for the quarter-final. I will have to be because Simon looks in great form.”
Hamilton went 4-1 in front, including a classy 100 finish, thanks to two D20s…..but to be honest, it wasn’t a great standard, as both players struggled.
After ‘The Hammer’ missed two darts for a 7-3 advantage, Henderson started to claw his way back into the match.
And even a terrific 147 finish from Hamilton to make it 9-6 couldn’t inspire a charge, as The Scot kept chipping away…..Hamilton missed too many doubles and all of a sudden, Henderson had pinched four legs out of five and it was 11-11.
A fifth 180 from the Unicorn man helped him edge ahead again and he won it in some style…..after Henderson had banged in his 5th maximum to give him a great chance of forcing the tie-break, Hamilton came up with a brilliant 113 finish to win the match on ‘tops’.
In the other match on Thursday, Simon Whitlock was brilliant – demolishing Denis Ovens 13-1 in less than an hour…..the Aussie had a 50 per cent check-out success rate and was simply too good.
‘The Wizard’ banged in five 180s and the highlight was a 154 finish…..Ovens only success came in the third leg, courtesy of a 132 bull check-out!
Thursday 2nd Round results:
Simon Whitlock 13-1 Denis Ovens
Andy Hamilton 13-11 John Henderson
Phil Taylor 13-7 Wayne Jones
Wes Newton 13-8 Justin Pipe
Friday Quarter-Finals – 1pm
Simon Whitlock v Andy Hamilton
Adrian Lewis v Mark Webster
Quarter-Finals – 7pm
Raymond van Barneveld v James Wade
Phil Taylor v Wes Newton
By STUART PYKE in Blackpool
Photos courtesy Lawrence Lustig/PDC and Chris Sargeant