In front of over 1500 darts mad fans in Dusseldorf, Phil Taylor came up with the goods as he kicked off his tilt at a fourth consecutive European Championship in style!
‘The Power’ averaged 106 and missed only one dart at a double, as he saw off the brave challenge of Greek qualifier John Michael 6-3 on the opening night in Germany.
It was impressive.
The Unicorn star carried on where he left off in Blackpool after his World Matchplay triumph on Sunday…..an 86 per cent check-out success rate was quite superb.
“I enjoyed that!” he said. “The crowd were very loud but it was great fun and to be fair, I had to play well because John produced some great darts!”
It means that a grudge match showdown between Taylor and Paul Nicholson is still on the cards. ‘The Asset’ beat Justin Pipe 6-3, while also on Thursday night at the Maritim Hotel in Dusseldorf, Terry Jenkins came from behind to take out Mark Webster and Gary Anderson had to be at his very best to win the all Unicorn clash against Jamie Caven.
Taylor against the Greek No.1 though, was great entertainment for the full house…..Michael actually stunned everyone by hitting a terrific 180 and following that up with a 102 finish to take the opening leg against the throw!
That was the signal for Taylor to click through the gears. He won four consecutive legs – all on D16! Michael hit back to make it 4-2 but a second 180 took Taylor to the verge of victory.
The qualifier from Athens enjoyed the night of his darting life and he managed to take a third leg from Taylor, before D12 took ‘The Power’ through to a 2nd Round clash against Mervyn King.
Nicholson was also impressive in his win over Pipe.
All the talk is of that possible quarter-final showdown with Taylor. “I have a lot of respect for him,” said Nicholson. “But I have another match to win before that and I cannot afford to get ahead of myself.”
He was two legs up, but missed doubles allowed Pipe to level…..the Unicorn man hit a couple of 180s to take control again and an 86 finish, using D18 and D20, just about sealed the deal and he wrapped up the win 6-3.
And after two previous first round defeats at the European Championships, he was a relieved man at the end.
He will now face Jenkins in Saturday’s 2nd Round.
‘The Bull’ came from 3-1 down against Mark Webster to storm to a 6-4 victory….three 180s helped him to win three consecutive legs and move ahead for the first time.
And although the Welshman levelled again at 4-4, Jenkins took control and he won it impressively with a 12 darter against the throw.
Anderson set up a 2nd Round match with Peter Wright – averaging 98 in his win over Caven, who couldn’t put enough pressure on the Scot.
To be fair, Anderson could have been 5-1 up and cruising, but for missed doubles in two legs.
And it was as if those misses made Anderson angry, because he hit a couple of 180s and from 3-3, he reeled off three consecutive legs to take his place in the last 16, with two 121 dart legs to finally see off the Caven challenge.
Thursday 1st Round results
Mervyn King 6-1 Co Stompe
Alan Tabern 4-6 Colin Lloyd
John Part 5-6 Peter Wright
Justin Pipe 3-6 Paul Nicholson
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Phil Taylor 6-3 John Michael
Mark Webster 4-6 Terry Jenkins
Gary Anderson 6-3 Jamie Caven
Friday 1st Round schedule
Wayne Jones v Mark Walsh
Jelle Klaasen v Dave Chisnall
Ronnie Baxter v Michael van Gerwen
Kim Huybrechts v Antonio Alcinas
James Wade v Magnus Caris
Adrian Lewis v Vincent van der Voort
Wes Newton v Andy Smith
Raymond van Barneveld v Andy Hamilton
By STUART PYKE in Dusseldorf
Photos courtesy Chris Sargeant