The Wizard 3 - 8 Barney
I had the Wizard down to cast his spell on the 5-time World Champ and walk away with a relatively comfortable victory, but I was well off the mark with this one as Barney showed some his very best form to pick up his first win of the tournament.
From the off Whitlock looked out of sorts, averaging in the sixties in the opening leg to immediately lose on his own throw. His 140 check out in leg three was a moment of brilliance, but Barney’s 11-darts in the fourth put him back in control and the Dutchman went in at the break 4-2 up. Whitlock looked sloppy in the early exchanges, hitting scores of 25 and 41 and missing three darts at a double in the second leg which is not what we’ve come to expect from him. Barney on the other hand, looked somewhere near his best, which we haven’t seen for a long time, his 116 checkout just before the interval was made to look as easy as anything, which was a very bad omen for the Australian.
The second half of the contest was of the absolute highest quality and proved to be an exhibition in finishing from van Barneveld. Whitlock took his 180 count to four compared to the Dutchman’s one, but finishes of 160, 156 and then 141 to win the game were special to see. The Wizard hit a 13-darter to win his third and final leg of the game, and prove that he was playing well, but he simply couldn’t compete with Barney in the form he was in.
This was the Barneveld of the past, and if he is back to his best then everyone better watch out, because he will beat anyone he plays if he carries on taking out huge scores with ease like he did in Nottingham.
For Whitlock, he needs a win, and fast. He wasn’t terrible against Barney, but he didn’t start well enough and left himself far too much to do after the interval. He faces Wade next week and you would think he has to win that to keep his semi-final hopes alive.
The Machine 8 - 6 Jackpot
Again I was off the mark with this one as Wade looked a real contender again with a fine display against the World Champion. He was twice the player of last week against Webster, clocking up a 97.7 average and taking out three ton-plus finishes in a highly polished performance.
The opening six legs were shared and were of an incredible standard with three maximums each and ten 140+ shots between them. Lewis’ 121 checkout to level it up in the sixth showed just what an excellent game was taking place. Both players looked un-rattled by each others brilliant scoring and finishing and it set up the second half of the match to be a real cracker, and it didn’t disappoint.
After the break Wade continued to impress with a 13-darter in the seventh leg, but then seemed resigned to losing Lewis’ throw as he fell a long way behind in the eighth. The World Champ made the first real mistakes of the match though as he missed six darts at doubles, allowing the Machine to storm back with a 180 then a 102 checkout to move 5-3 up.
Wade then held off a strong challenge from Lewis in the ninth, taking out 38 in unconventional style with 4, D17. Lewis held his throw and then Wade showed amazing calm under pressure as he took out a sensational 141 to secure himself at least a point, his first of the campaign.
It looked like a comfortable win was on the cards, but Lewis had other ideas, winning the next two legs and taking it to a decider on his own throw. Jackpot stormed into a lead in the final leg and it looked for anyone’s money like he would snatch the draw, but he missed two darts at double 18 and Wade just needed one go at 136 to pick up a huge win.
Like Barney before him, Wade was proving a point that he is still a big time player and can beat anyone. If these players keep up this form then records will be broken for 180s, high checkouts and averages. Wade’s six 180s meant that if anyone backed my betting tip of over 3.5 then you’re in the money.
The Power 8 - 5 Webby
It seemed like it was a night of points being proved in Nottingham and it was Phil Taylor who was next in line to do so. His heavy defeat last week to Lewis will not have sat well and he was clearly out to make amends against Webster. Webby though is in top form and wasn’t going to roll over for the world number one.
There was little the Welshman could do though in the opening exchanges to stop a fully charged Power as he surged into a 3-0 lead, looking much more like his usual self. It took a perfect 170 finish in the fourth leg from Webster just to hold his own throw and keep the score down to 3-1. If Barney thought he had the high checkout prize for the night in the bag, he was sorely mistaken.
Taylor was unfazed though as he came straight back with a 12-darter to re-establish his three leg lead, but Webby showed his composure to comfortably hold throw in the sixth and go in at the break just 4-2 down and still very much in the game.
But more Taylor brilliance kept him ahead after the interval as an 11-darter taking him up to an 109 average saw the Power at his best. Yet again though, the Welshman was not to be overlooked as Taylor narrowly missed a 161 finish in the eighth leg, Webby stepped up to take out 160, incredible finishing it was from the former BDO World Champ.
No matter what brilliance on the finishing Webster could conjure he just couldn’t live with the scoring of Taylor, who maintained his lead by winning the ninth. Webster held throw next, and Taylor did the same on an unlikely double five in the eleventh leg to secure himself at least a point, which he was understandably delighted with.
Webster deserved enormous credit as he held his throw again to win a fifth leg as many would have been totally swept aside by Taylor who was averaging well over 100 for the duration. Taylor took the thirteenth and last leg on his old favourite double 16 to prove last week was an anomaly.
This match proved the world number one is still in business, but also that Webster, if there were any lingering doubts, is going to compete with everyone. This bodes well for the rest of the tournament.
The Bull 4 - 8 The Flying Scotsman
The final contest of the night was to see who would top the table after the second round of matches as it was the only contest between two week one winners. Gary Anderson went into the match as strong favourite after his dominant win over the Wizard in London and he showed he was going to be a force to be reckoned with again as he took out 83 in the first leg, finishing on bullseye and breaking his opponents throw.
Jenkins wasn’t going to be brushed aside easily, and he immediately broke back, but with Anderson averaging around 109 after four legs there was little the Bull could do about him taking the third and fourth legs to go 3 -1 up. The unerring accuracy of the Scotsman meant that anything less than a 140 was a surprise.
It was the tale of two Shanghai’s for the Bull in the next two legs before the interval as he just missed double top in the fifth leg to let Anderson back in, but then struck in the sixth to take out the 120 and keep him in the game going into the second half at 4-2.
On returning to the stage both men looked a little jittery as first Jenkins then Anderson just barely managed to hold their own throws to move the score to 5-3. It was the ninth leg that seemed to put an end to Terry’s hopes though as he threw poorly throughout it, struggling to find the treble and let Anderson take out 62 to break and move into a three leg lead.
The last three went with throw with arguably the highlight of the match coming with the last three darts as Anderson took out 121, again finishing on bullseye to take the match in style 8-4. It was another extremely good performance from the Premier League debutant averaging 102 and hitting thirteen 140s on the way. He goes top, and it’s going to take something special to drag him back down, Mark Webster will be next to try.
Possibly the highest quality round of matches ever seen in the Premier League in Nottingham which left Anderson on top of the pile as the dust settled, with everyone else on 2 points except Whitlock who remains pointless. If anything like this standard can be maintained the next few months will be non-stop entertainment.
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