Round two of World Matchplay darts takes centre stage
The second round of the StanJames.com World Matchplay in Blackpool will begin tonight, with Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade both in action.
Van Barneveld sent the arena wild on the opening night on Friday by throwing a superb nine-darter. The Dutchman was inspired by the national side’s achievements at the World Cup and returned to form by trouncing Denis Ovens 10-1.
Absent from the UK Open, Barney has been off for two months and last played in the Premier League, where he also hit a nine-darter. “It's an unbelievable feeling. I don't know where the nine-darter came but I'm so happy to have hit it. The feeling gets better every time. It’s amazing. It's only one leg, but it really helps you out to hit that nine-darter and see the crowd and feel that energy from them,” said van Barneveld.
The five-time world champion has been criticised in the past for not showing the commitment for darts and throwing in the towel in matches when in losing positions. Now, Barney feels he has the drive to win the tournament. “The week in Cape Town and Johannesburg [for the World Cup] did me good. I realised that I was missing the darts, and I have got the fire back in my belly and the hunger to win. It's a good result, a brilliant nine-darter and I'm happy with the win. I'll go back to Holland for a few days now and come back on Wednesday looking to win again.”
He will now play Alan Tabern, who was a 12-10 winner over local boy Wes Newton. Tabern led 6-1 and 9-6, but Newton hit back to level. However, Tabern sealed the win with finishes of 110 and 101. “It was hard-fought. Being 6-1 up was probably the worst position I could have been in because I'm not used to that on stage. I probably should have won it a lot easier because Wes wasn't on his game, certainly early on, and I was a percentage above him, but then I found myself at ten apiece when I should have been home and dry,” Tabern said.
Wade, champion here in 2007, suffered a scare against Andy Smith in the first round as he scrapped through 10-8 and now plays Vincent van der Voort. Pie-man Smith challenged Wade all the way, but he missed nine darts to open up a 9-7 lead, leaving Wade to take the next three legs without reply and scoring heavily. Once again Wade didn’t play well, but his experience carried him over the finishing line. “I'll take the win but I'm not happy with my performance,” he said.
“Everything I did didn't seem to work. I was throwing low of the treble and high of the treble, and Andy probably should have beaten me. What I did in the last two legs I probably expected to do for 15 to 20 legs and it's puzzling,” Wade added.
Van der Voort is the fastest player on the tour, and he defeated Dennis Priestley in the opening match of the tournament 10-6. Priestley celebrated his 60th birthday the night before, but there was to be no gift for him, as Van de Voort checked out finishes of 157, 120 and 106 and had a three-dart average of 92.91. The Dutchman revealed it was difficult playing against someone with a much slower playing style to his.
“It's so hard to play against Dennis because you can never get into a rhythm. I'm a fast player but you're always waiting for him. Some of my finishes were great but I was up and down and missed some chances to make it easier for myself but the 106 and 157 were very important,” he said.
Van der Voort has eyes on having a stronger tournament than in 2009. “Last year I reached the quarter-finals and this year I want to do better than that, but I'm in the second round and on my way.”
The first game tonight will see Wayne Jones play Ronnie Baxter. Jones was a 10-8 winner over Colin Osbourne, and collected his first victory in the World Matchplay having lost in the first round in each of the last three years.
“It's nice to actually get into the second round. My form lately is fabulous and I'm annoyed that I didn't produce that in this game despite getting the win. It felt a little like last year because I had my chances against Colin Lloyd and I couldn't finish. I'm just glad to get away with it to be honest. It wasn't great but I'll try and put it right for the next round because it's very frustrating,” said Jones.
Baxter defeated Jamie Caven 10-7 much to the delight of his home crowd. Baxter reached the final here in 1998 and was pleased to get through. “It wasn't a great display but I'm relieved to get through to the second round. Nobody wants to lose in the first round of a tournament and fortunately I haven't, although I feel quite lucky to get past Jamie,” said Baxter.
Co Stompe faces the challenge of Mark Webster, both of whom had to go in extra-time to overcome Andy Hamilton and Adrian Lewis respectively, in what were epic encounters.
Dutchman Stompe won 12-10 against Hamilton. He looked in total control by scoring and finishing well, but was unable to pull away from Hamilton. With Stompe missing six match darts, Hamilton couldn’t capitalise, missing six doubles of his own, leaving Stompe to take victory on double one. “It's the result that counts and I put up a big fight. It's the tightest game I've had on TV and the only one I've won when it was tight and I'm happy to have come through,” said Stompe.
Webster enjoyed his debut at the World Matchplay by beating Jackpot Adrian Lewis 11-9. The former BDO champion of the world, who made the switch to the PDC circuit last year, led 6-2 and 8-5, but Lewis levelled and then led 9-8. However, Welshman Webster took three legs on the spin to advance, and is eagerly anticipating the match against Stompe.
“Co showed some fight too and fair play to him. It should be a good game and a bit of a battle in the next round. I'm looking forward to it and glad to be through. I think back to last year when I was sat watching it on TV and I wasn't even close to qualifying, and I didn't like that. This year I made it my priority to get here, and I got here and am now in the second round.”
Webster has enjoyed playing so far in the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, and wants to continue playing here. “It's superb. Everybody said it's the best venue and I don't disagree. I've really enjoyed the first round and hopefully I've got a few more games to play.”
There are set to be plenty of fireworks at the Winter Gardens tonight.
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