World Matchplay Day ThreeⅠ

Phil Taylor began his quest to win the BetVictor World Matchplay for an incredible 16th time with a crushing 10-2 win over John Henderson on Monday night, as Andy Hamilton, Keegan Brown and Dave Chisnall joined him in the second round.

Taylor, unbeaten at the Winter Gardens since 2007, kicked off his challenge in the £450,000 event in ideal fashion by seeing off the Scottish qualifier with a comfortable victory.

Taylor kicked off three of the opening four legs with 180s as he established a 3-1 lead, and extended the gap to five legs before Henderson hit back to trail 6-2.

Taylor hit a fourth maximum as he regained his five-leg lead and then clinically took out 109 and 64 to move 9-2 up and landed another 180 before sealing victory with two double eights to finish 32.

"It was a good win and I did what I set out to do," said Taylor. "John's a better player than he showed tonight but you've got to attack your opponent and put them under pressure.

"I knew John was a little bit under pressure from the beginning so I tried to speed him up a bit and push him.

"This is my favourite venue and I love the tournament, and I feel comfortable here so it's great to still be in the hunt."

Taylor's second round opponent will be Stoke rival Andy Hamilton, who caused an upset by knocking out five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld with a fine 10-7 victory.

Hamilton had claimed the final ProTour qualifying place in the tournament and was the 750/1 outsider to claim the title with sponsors BetVictor ahead of the event - but has seen those odds slashed to 125/1 following the win.

Checkouts of 96 and 158 in the first two legs gave him an ideal start, and though van Barneveld hit back to 3-2, Hamilton took the next five legs without reply - landing a 13-darter and three 180s in the process - as he moved 8-2 up.

Van Barneveld won the next three to spark a revival, and after Hamilton landed a 180 and a 91 finish to move 9-5 up, he took out 48 and 96 to cut the gap to two legs.

  Tungsten Dart Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.chinadart.com/
  Tel.: 86 592 5129696; Fax: 86 592 5129797
  Email:  sales@chinatungsten.com
  Tungsten & Molybdenum Information Bank: http://i.chinatungsten.com
  Tungsten News & Tungsten Prices, 3G Version: http://3g.chinatungsten.com
  Molybdenum News & Molybdenum Price: http://news.molybdenum.com.cn

• < Prev
• Next >