Well what a start that was to this year's Premier League! It had already been a cracking night of darts before the main event even kicked off, but what could be a real watershed moment in the sport came in the final contest of the evening and was the highlight of a sensational night in London.
Round-Up
Webby v The Machine
Mark Webster and James Wade were handed the task of kicking off the tournament and they didn’t disappoint as both men hit maximums with their first three darts. The first few legs didn’t quite remain at that standard though as missed doubles from both players let the other in to break their throw. An 11-darter in the opening leg and 13 in the fifth from Webster showed he was throwing very well, but he couldn’t get away from the 2009 Premier League Winner who looked to be showing the fight that maybe was in question and the two went in even at the interval.
That was as good as it got for Wade though as Webby came back from the break inspired and Wade lost his spark completely. Another 13-darter, a second 11-darter then a 101 finish saw him race into a 6-3 lead. At this stage there seemed no chance that The Machine would get back into it, and Webster polished off the last two legs comfortably for a win on debut in the Premier League.
The win for Webster was what I predicted and I got the draw at half-time going on to that result right, so I hope a few people went for that bet. I fancied Webster’s added focus to take him through after the break and Wade to fade away, but the levels they reached at both ends of the scale was a bit of a surprise. Webby came out with an impressive 100.49 average whereas Wade could only manage 86.79 which is well, well below par.
A very encouraging start for the Welshman and I fancy him to keep this form up which will see him winning more than he loses, he wasn’t under heavy pressure scoring-wise though, so we shall see how he deals with that later in the competition. The Machine though is faltering badly and is going to have to get a lot better if he has any hopes of reaching the final four. He did make a bad start to last year’s tournament and powered through to make the final so he’ll be clinging to that knowledge I should think.
The Flying Scotsman v The Wizard
I flagged this one up as a potential show-stealer and it would have been had it not been for the shocking nature of the finale of the evening. Both players made a blistering start as there was barely a mistake in the opening six legs and both men produced 12-darters. The scoring and finishing was hugely impressive as you would expect from these two that have not taken long to make a huge impact in the PDC and the pair were level at the interval.
After the break though The Wizard started to falter on his finishing which you so rarely see from him, and his two missed double attempts let Anderson off a potential break of throw in the seventh leg. It cost Whitlock dearly as he himself was broken in the next leg then Anderson threw a stunning 10-darter to open up a three leg lead. Unlike Wade in the previous game though you would not expect Whitlock to crumble at this stage and he looked like he might be fighting back for a draw as with Anderson leading 7-5 and with the throw the Australian was in control of the leg but threw it away. The Scot could only hit 60s as Whitlock was comfortably at the double first but so uncharacteristically missed six darts at doubles to give Anderson a chance at 120 which he duly took to claim the match.
The match was of the very highest quality as we expected, and the result just reflected that Anderson is in slightly better form than Whitlock which we knew as well. The Wizard actually had the higher average of 99 as he banged in twelve 140+ which he picks up with amazing regularity, but it was his doubles that let him down which, as I said, is so out of character. It is very unlikely that Whitlock will ever be defeated heavily and his opponent will have to be on top form to get the better of him, he won’t be overly concerned with this loss.
Anderson averaged 97, but didn’t drop a leg on his own throw throughout the contest and he will be looking to keep that up for as long as possible. As long as his form doesn’t suddenly desert him The Flying Scotsman will be soaring into the final four without too much trouble. It is a long tournament though so let’s not count his chickens yet.
Barney v The Bull
If these two weren’t the least fancied of the tournament previously, they might well be now as Jenkins narrowly edged out Barney 8 – 6 in the lowest scoring encounter of the night. Jenkins looked strong early on and was 3-1 up in quick time, but the Dutchman hit back to make it 3-3 at the break for the third consecutive game.
It looked like van Barneveld was going to make a dash for the finishing line on their return to the oche as he moved 5-3 and then 6-4 up and then had a great chance to make it 7-4 and guarantee him at least a draw but he wasted two double attempts and lost the leg. This is when Jenkins showed the dogged spirit I spoke of in the previous post and his next two legs were top quality to put himself 7-6 up and guarantee himself a point. A tense deciding leg saw it come right down to the wire as Barney had a single dart at his favourite double 18 but he put it wide and the Bull stepped up to polish off double tops for the win.
I was a whisker away from getting this one right as I went for the 7-7 draw and Barney had a chance to get it with his final throw of the evening. It was the closest encounter of the evening, but unfortunately it was because neither player could shine unlike in the other contests. I don’t want to be overly harsh here as averages of 89 and 90 aren’t a disgrace and they did pull out eight 180s between them, but form like this is not going to see them challenging for the title.
This loss for Barney could really cause him to fall at the first hurdle in this Premier League campaign as he seems so fragile that a loss to Jenkins could cause him to lose all belief. He is of course still a brilliant player but he is suffering on the mental side of things as he has seemingly been for some time. I’m not saying that this is going to happen as knee-jerk reactions aren’t sensible, but we could be seeing the demise of the great man this tournament.
Jenkins on the other hand will be buoyed by this victory and will hopefully push on and improve his finishing which was disappointing at times. I still don’t expect him to make finals day, but I certainly won’t rule him out.
Jackpot v The Power
This was the main event of the evening, but to be honest I was expecting a bit of an anti-climax, I’m very pleased I was wrong.
Both World Champ and World Number One started as you would expect with them both hitting 13-darters in the opening four legs which saw the match level at two sets a piece. At this stage there was nothing out of the ordinary as two great players exchanged blows but the “norm” didn’t last much longer. Lewis held his throw in the fifth leg and then produced an 11-darter in the sixth, showing that his confidence was flowing choosing the 50, 40 route when he was left on 90. This put him 4-2 up and made Taylor the only player of the entire evening to go in at the break behind.
Nine out of ten times you would expect The Power to come back on stage firing but Jackpot was just too good for the 15-time World Champ. He reeled off the next, which turned out to be the last, four legs in no time at all with Taylor looking shell-shocked. The Power could only manage a 90.54 average, one of the lowest your likely to see from the great man. In comparison Lewis pulled off 100.79, the highest of the night, and his six 180s was equal highest with Anderson.
The fact Lewis won may not have been a surprise for everyone (although I tipped Taylor) but the manner of his victory was undoubtedly a massive shock. It was only the sixth loss of Taylor’s 101 game Premier League career, and his heaviest ever and could well have him reeling. Lewis was the first to admit that Taylor was under the weather a little, but even so, the gulf in performance between the master and the apprentice was startling. There was talk of the fear factor other players had regarding Taylor fading away was rife before-hand and certainly that will only have increased because of this performance.
Potentially now Lewis could go on and win this tournament as his confidence will be at an all time high after winning the worlds and decimating Taylor last night. I’m not saying he will, but his odds will have shortened a hell of a lot.
There were eight 180s in the game so if anyone went for my over 7.5 bet then enjoy the cash.
If the Premier League can keep up this entertainment level then we’re in for a treat this year, I’ll be back next Wednesday for another preview.
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