Phil Taylor’s return to competitive action ended in a shock defeat on the opening day of the World Cup of Darts in Hamburg.
The Unicorn star lost 4-3 to Ken MacNeil, while World Champion Adrian Lewis was beaten by the same score by John Part, as England’s darting dream team fell 2-0 down to outsiders Canada.
It was Taylor’s first match since his early exit at the World Championship, but it was the same result....he certainly looked rusty after taking a break from the sport following the defeat to Dave Chisnall at the Alexandra Palace.
But ‘The Power’ and England can still qualify for the last eight....if they win the doubles match on Saturday, their 2nd Round showdown with the Canadians will then go to a sudden death one leg shoot-out.
McNeil won the opening leg with a 111 finish, before Taylor hit back to lead 2-1 and we thought he was back in business.
However McNeil won back the advantage and forced Taylor to level at 3-3 to force that deciding leg and he kept his cool to shock ‘The Power’ with a winning D19.
Taylor will be disappointed but expect him to come out firing and fighting on Saturday.
Part then nailed a brilliant 140 check-out to win a deciding leg against Lewis.
In all, five Team Unicorn stars were involved on the opening day of the World Cup.....
And on a dramatic opening day in Hamburg, Raymond van Barneveld had to come from behind as he led Holland’s defence of the trophy they won 14 months ago.
He was 3-2 down to Austrian No.2 Dietmar Burger, but won the last two legs to take the spoils as the clocked ticked towards 1.30am!
The Dutch though still have it all to do, because Vincent van der Voort lost his singles match 4-3 to Mensur Suljovic.
Gary Anderson and Devon Petersen are clashing as Scotland do battle with South Africa....and it is the Scots who take a 2-0 lead into the doubles showdown on Saturday.
Anderson will count himself a touch lucky to beat Shawn Hogan 4-3, while Petersen was beaten 4-1 by Peter Wright and Scotland now big favourites to progress to the quarter-finals.
Anderson suffered double trouble yet again, as he missed ten darts to win the opening three legs and found himself 0-3 down to the unknown Hogan, who had hit three doubles from three attempts, including a 101 and 91 on the bullseye!
He was staring at what would have been an embarrassing defeat and was forced to come up with something special....and that’s exactly what he did.
The Unicorn ace hit four 180s, an 11 darter followed by a 12 dart leg to force a deciding leg....and remember he was winning these legs against the throw, because under World Cup rules, the man who loses the leg throws first in the next.
Hogan actually missed D12 for a 138 to win it before Anderson nailed ‘tops’ to dig himself out of a big hole.
Petersen just came up against an inspired Peter Wright....and he was powerless to stop the heavy scoring....it’s fair to say that South Africa now need a miracle.
But Paul Nicholson played a big step in helping Australia take a giant step towards the quarter-finals.....he and Simon Whitlock both won their singles matches in convincing fashion against the Republic of Ireland.
Nicholson whitewashed William O’Connor 4-0 in double quick time....a 92 average, one maximum and some clinical finishing and the Aussie pair strong favourites to wrap up victory in Saturday afternoon’s doubles clash.
1st Round results:
Canada 5-3 Hungary
Republic of Ireland 5-2 Malaysia
USA 5-3 Philippines
Austria 5-3 New Zealand
Sweden 5-2 Japan
Spain 2-5 South Africa
Finland 4-5 Croatia
Gibraltar 4-5 Denmark
2nd Round Singles results:
Northern Ireland 1-1 Denmark
Brendan Dolan 3-4 Jann Hoffman
Mickey Mansell 4-1 Per Laursen
Belgium 1-1 Sweden
Kim Huybrechts 4-2 Dennis Nilsson
Kurt van de Rijck 2-4 Magnus Caris
Australia 2-0 Republic of Ireland
Simon Whitlock 4-1 Mick McGowan
Paul Nicholson 4-0 William O’Connor
Wales 2-0 Croatia
Mark Webster 4-0 Tonci Restovic
Richie Burnett 4-3 Boris Krcmar
Germany 1-1 USA
Jyhan Artut 4-3 Gary Mawson
Bernd Roith 2-4 Darin Young
Scotland 2-0 South Africa
Gary Anderson 4-3 Shawn Hogan
Peter Wright 4-1 Devon Petersen
England 0-2 Canada
Phil Taylor 3-4 Ken MacNeil
Adrian Lewis 3-4 John Part
Netherlands
Raymond van Barneveld 4-3 Dietmar Burger
Vincent van der Voort 3-4 Mensur Suljovic
The 2nd Round continues on Saturday afternoon in Germany with the Pairs matches, which are worth two points.....that means if the match scores are level at 2-2, there will be a sudden death leg to win a place in the quarter-finals.
By STUART PYKE in Hamburg
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC