Barney and Wade progress to the quarter-finals
Two of the top three darts players in the world advanced to the quarter-finals of the StanJames.com World Matchplay in Blackpool last night.
World No.2 Raymond van Barneveld kept up his good form to beat Alan Tabern 13-5, while world No.3 James Wade edged past Vincent van der Voort 13-10. There was a surprise win for Wayne Jones over Ronnie Baxter, while Co Stompe overcame the challenge of Mark Webster.
Van Barneveld began his quest for a first World Matchplay title by hitting a nine-darter in the first round demolition of Denis Ovens, and he continued showing signs of getting back to his best by recording a convincing win over Tabern.
Barney began the match with a 13-dart finish, but when Tabern responded by taking the next two legs, the Dutchman opened up a 4-2 lead with an 11 and 14-dart finish as well as a 90 checkout. When Tabern took the seventh leg, Barney won the next five, and when he went 10-4 in front, he was able to clinch the match with double 16, and finished with a healthy three-dart average of 103.85.
“I'm enjoying myself and it's great to be on stage again after two months off. If I keep playing like this I don't fear anyone. I didn't miss many doubles tonight and I'm happy with that,” said Van Barneveld.
The five-time champion of the world endured a difficult Premier League campaign, and didn’t qualify for the UK Open, and has been working hard on getting his form back. “In the two months I took off after the Premier League I wasn't doing nothing at home,” he said.
“I practised a lot on my doubles and finishes because I know I'm a high scorer but I'd been giving many legs away because I missed doubles. Alan hit some big finishes in the first few legs, 121 and 156, but I was telling myself to relax - in the last few months I'd been panicking but at the moment I'm very laid back.”
Wade beat Van der Voort 13-10 to book his place in the next round. The 2007 World Matchplay champion came from 3-2 down to lead 6-3, and stormed into an 11-6 lead. Van der Voort, the fastest player on the circuit, made the quarter-finals here last year, and despite a spirited comeback, Wade wrapped up the win with double five.
The man from Aldershot admits he still has a lot of work to do if he wants to go all the way this year.
“I've got to improve if I want to win this title. I got my game quite a bit there and started relaxing and playing to the crowd instead of getting on with it and you're not going to win tournaments like that. There were glimmers of my best darts but Vincent missed a lot of doubles and I finished pretty well. I've won my first two games and this was an okay day's work - but I want to bury players and not let them back in.”
Stompe followed up his epic win over Andy Hamilton by beating Webster 13-9. Dutchman Stompe led 7-2 and 10-3, capitalising on missed doubles from Webster. However, the former BDO world champion at Lakeside hit back to give Stompe a scare, who ultimately checked out 87 to seal a last-eight spot.
“Mark didn't turn up until halfway through the match and I started messing things up too. When I went 8-3 up I started thinking about the win and I knew that I only needed to win three of the next ten legs, and I can't believe I did that. I started to struggle and Mark found some good finishes but I won and I'm happy with that,” said Stompe.
The biggest surprise of the night came courtesy of Jones’ 13-9 win over local favourite Baxter. Prior to this event Jones hadn’t been past the first round, but he upset Baxter by producing one of the best performances of his career. Jones led 3-0 and 7-4, but somehow, Baxter levelled.
However, this wasn't to be enough, as he was unable to cope with Jones’ heavy scoring, as he knocked in 42 ton pluses, 14 140-pluses and six 180s.
“I'm absolutely delighted with that. I scored well and if I'd hit more doubles I'd have had an amazing average but I'm not disappointed. It's nice to hit a few 180s and I was hitting the tons for fun, which I do in the non-TV tournaments, so I can't complain too much because it's one of the best performances I've had for a while,” said Jones.
Jones broke the throw of Baxter five times, and is delighted to go through. "I missed too many doubles and thought at one stage that I was going to throw it away because I had so many shots to go far enough in front to win it that they would come back to haunt me. My last two legs to win the match were beautiful. I really enjoyed the match and am very pleased with that result.”
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