18/12/09
Photo courtesy of Chris Sargeant/PDPA.
REPORTS from the opening night of the 2010 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.
The £1 million event kicked off at Alexandra Palace in London with five matches, including reigning champion Phil Taylor beginning the defence of his title against Colin Monk.
First Round (Preliminary Round games denoted by (P))
Friday December 18
7.10pm Wayne Mardle 0-3 Jyhan Artut
8.15pm Per Laursen 3-4 Christian Perez (P)
8.45pm Dennis Priestley 2-3 Kevin McDine
9.50pm Phil Taylor 3-0 Colin Monk
10.55pm Robert Thornton 3-1 Christian Perez
JYHAN ARTUT 3-0 WAYNE MARDLE
(3-2, 3-0, 3-1)
GERMANY's Jyhan Artut kicked-off the 2010 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship with a shock victory over Wayne Mardle.
Artut, making his televised debut was never seriously troubled by Mardle, who never find top form.
Mardle held a 2-1 lead in the opening set but Artut took the next two legs, pinching the set with a 67 finish.
Artut then won the opening leg of the second set after Mardle missed two darts on double 12. The German then extended that lead by winning the second leg.
He then wrapped up the set with a good 60 finish in the third leg to leave Mardle 2-0 down.
Artut's winning run of legs continued as he took the opening two of the third to one leg away from the win.
But the nerves appeared to get the German in the third leg as he missed nine darts at doubles to win the match, and Mardle managed to land double nine with his last dart.
Any thoughts of a comeback from the Essex man were extinguished as Artut hit double top to round off a dream World Championship debut.
After the match a delighted Artut said: "This is clearly the biggest win of career to far. It's even more special to beat someone like Wayne, who is a big crowd favourite.
"I was nervous in the opening two legs of the match and again at the end, when I missed all those opportunities for the match. But I came through and I can relax now."
Match Stats
Wayne Mardle |
0-3 |
Jyhan Artut |
11 |
100+ |
18 |
4 |
140+ |
12 |
3 |
180s |
0 |
24.13 |
Ave 1 |
27.41 |
72.39 |
Ave 3 |
82.24 |
48 |
High Finish |
67 |
3 |
Legs Against Throw |
6 |
CHRISTIAN PEREZ 4-3 PER LAURSEN
CHRISTIAN PEREZ of the Phillipines put in an impressive display to defeat Per Laursen and book a first-round tie against Robert Thornton.
Laursen won the first leg, with a 116 checkout, finishing on the bullseye. But Perez won the next two legs with consecutive 15-dart finshes, which included a break of throw in the third with a 68 finish.
But the Dane, making his third world championship appearance, levelled for 2-2 and then won the fifth leg to lead the game for the second time.
Perez won the sixth leg to take the game to a deciding-leg and the Phillipine won that with an excellent 81 finish to wrap up the match.
Match Stats
Per Laursen |
3-4 |
Christian Perez |
10 |
100+ |
4 |
2 |
140+ |
8 |
0 |
180s |
2 |
27.15 |
Ave 1 |
31.51 |
81.45 |
Ave 3 |
94.53 |
116 |
High Finish |
81 |
1 |
Legs Against Throw |
2 |
KEVIN McDINE 3-2 DENNIS PRIESTLEY
(1-3, 2-3, 3-0, 3-2, 3-1)
KEVIN McDINE produced a fabulous comeback to defeat former world champion Dennis Priestley in the first round of 2010 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.
The Yorkshireman appeared to be cruising into the second round after winning the opening two sets, but the 24-year-old showed great fight, defying a leg-injury sustained during the match.
Both players held throw in the opening set before Priestley took a 2-1 lead by landing double two.
That was followed in the next leg by a fabulous 150 checkout from the 59-year-old to take the set and open up an early lead.
McDine hit the first maximum of the game at the start of the second set, but he wasted three chances at doubles, and Priestley stepped in with a 64 finish.
McDine managed to win the second leg but Priestley hit a 116 checkout to lead the set for the second time.
Priestley clinical finishing continued in the fourth leg when he converted a 140 checkout to take the second set go 2-0 ahead.
But McDine took the third set without reply, wrapping it up with a 15-dart finish to get himself back into the contest.
McDine took the opening leg of the fourth set, before Priestley landed double ten to win second, despite a maximum from his opponent.
The Irthlingborough based thrower won the third leg with a 127 finish on the bullseye, but Priestley won the fourth leg to go within touching distance of victory.
But McDine kept his composure and managed to hit double four to take the match into a deciding set.
The final-set kicked-off with McDine landing another bullseye finish to convert 97, but Priestley won the second with a fantastic 11-darter.
McDine won the third leg by landing double 16 and won the match in the next by hitting the bullseye for the fourth time in the game for a 119 finish.
Match Stats
Dennis Priestley |
2-3 |
Kevin McDine |
34 |
100+ |
37 |
15 |
140+ |
13 |
3 |
180s |
4 |
31.30 |
Ave 1 |
33.02 |
93.90 |
Ave 3 |
99.06 |
150,140 |
High Finish |
127,119 |
5 |
Legs Against Throw |
6 |
PHIL TAYLOR 3-0 COLIN MONK
(3-0, 3-0, 3-0)
PHIL TAYLOR began his campaign for a 15th world title with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Basingstoke qualifier, Colin Monk.
Taylor, who is the defending champion was troubled by Monk, who failed to win a leg during the contest.
After winning the opening leg by hitting double top, Taylor won the next two legs by hitting a maximum in both to take an early advantage.
The second set followed a similar pattern and Taylor took a two sets advantage, without having to find his top game.
Taylor hit a fabulous 170 checkout at the start of the third set, and followed that by hitting consecutive double tops to close out the game.
After the match Taylor revealed: 'I didn't feel right tonight, but I will get myself together for the next match.
'I felt sorry for Colin tonight. I could sense that he just wanted the stage to open up and take him away.'
Match Stats
Phil Taylor |
3-0 |
Colin Monk |
14 |
100+ |
5 |
6 |
140+ |
7 |
2 |
180s |
0 |
34.16 |
Ave 1 |
25.89 |
102.48 |
Ave 3 |
77.66 |
170 |
High Finish |
- |
5 |
Legs Against Throw |
- |
ROBERT THORNTON 3-1 CHRISTIAN PEREZ
(1-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-1)
ROBERT THORNTON came from a set down to defeat Christian Perez in the first round of the 2010 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.
Perez, who defeated Per Laursen earlier in the evening, started the match well and had opportunities to create an upset. But Thornton, came through despite a nervy display.
The Phillipine player produced some clinical finishing at the start of the game, taking the first two legs with 64, and 84 finishes.
Thornton won the third leg, after his opponent missed three darts at doubles for the set. But Perez made no mistake in the fourth leg when he landed double top to take an early advantage.
Perez started the second set confidently too, by taking the opening leg. But Thornton started to show some form and won three legs on the spin to level the game.
Thornton hit the first 180 of the game to take the opening leg of the third set in 15 darts.
Perez took the second leg, and then the third after both players missed opportunites to win it.
Thornton managed to win the fourth leg, and then won a crucial decider after both players missed several opportunities to win the set.
The Scotsman drew confidence from winning the third set, and won the opening two legs of the fourth set in comfortable fashion.
Perez won the third leg, after Thornton missed a dart at double four for the match to keep his hopes alive.
But Thornton closed out the game in next leg by converting a 62 finish by hitting double 16 and book his place in the second round.
Match Stats
Robert Thornton |
3-1 |
Christian Perez |
23 |
100+ |
22 |
15 |
140+ |
13 |
1 |
180s |
1 |
28.10 |
Ave 1 |
27.58 |
84.29 |
Ave 3 |
82.75 |
81 |
High Finish |
84 |
3 |
Legs Against Throw |
2 |