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Ronnie Baxter 4-8 Roland Scholten
Wayne Mardle 4-8 Raymond van Barneveld
Colin Lloyd 8-6 Peter Manley
Roland Scholten 4-8 Phil Taylor
Summary
Raymond van
Barneveld followed up his demolition of Ronnie Baxter
with another sensational display against Wayne Mardle in
the Premier League in Sunderland.
The four-time BDO
champion, who switched to the PDC last week, hit a
staggering five 100-plus finishes as he landed 62 per
cent of his doubles in the 8-4 triumph.
Mardle, who
narrowly lost to defending champion Phil Taylor in
Blackburn, led 2-0 before Barney checked out on 107 to
claim his first leg.
Van Barneveld
then managed a 164 and hit a second bull finish in
successive legs as he hit 126 in three darts.
The Englishman
levelled the match at the interval but two more big
checkouts in legs seven and eight, 120 and 116, put him
5-3 ahead and he closed out the match in style with his
eighth successful double in 12 attempts.
Taylor also made
it two wins from two as he sunk Roland Scholten 8-4 as
the Dutchman struggled on his doubles with the 13-times
world champion far from his prolific best.
Yet to lose in
the Premier League, Taylor set off strongly with two
100-plus checkouts in the first two legs but 'The
Tripod' stunned the crowd, taking the next three legs.
Things fell apart
fro Scholten in the sixth leg as he missed five darts at
double four and Taylor ran away with the match.
Scholten again
failed to find the double from five shots in the ninth
leg and coming into the 12th leg he had only hit three
of 15 attempts though he did record seven maximums.
Colin Lloyd,
fresh from a nine-darter at the weekend, overcame a bad
back to beat Peter Manley in a rollercoaster clash.
The world number
one raced into a 4-1 lead with a 160 checkout in the
fifth leg before 'One Dart' came back to level the match
in some style, hitting a 141 out-shot in the eighth leg.
Manley went ahead
for the first time in the match in the 11th leg but
Lloyd, despite being in some pain, quickly secured his
first points of the competition.
Lloyd was
thrashed by Taylor last week but a 10-darter in the
final leg sealed a hard-fought victory.
In the opening
match of the night Baxter made a promising start against
Scholten before the Dutchman took the points
comfortably.
The Rocket -
making his debut in the competition this season - won
the first two legs, the second with a 138 checkout, but
Scholten hit back, quickly levelling before running away
with the match 8-4.
Scholten ended
with three maximums as he followed up his 8-4 win over
Peter Manley last week.
RONNIE BAXTER 4-8 ROLAND SCHOLTEN
ROLAND SCHOLTEN punished Ronnie Baxter's missed doubles to maintain his 100% start to the Holsten Premier League Darts with an 8-4 win.
Scholten overcame Peter Manley in his Premier League opener last week, and his impressive form continued as he dispatched Baxter with ease.
Baxter led 2-0 after a superb start, landing a 158 checkout in the second leg to move clear.
But he paid the price for missing six darts at a double, with Scholten taking five of the next six legs to move into a 5-3 advantage.
Baxter hit back to win the ninth leg, despite a maximum from Scholten, before the Dutchman restored his cushion by punishing two further misses from his opponent.
He hit another maximum on his way to securing at least a point at 7-4, and then wrapped up the win with ease in the 12th leg.
"I'm very happy," said Scholten. "It was a good win, the crowd were awesome and the atmosphere lifted me.
"Ronnie missed a few doubles, as I did, but it took me a little time to settle down and I'm feeling confident now."
WAYNE MARDLE 4-8 RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD
RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD continued his dream start to the Holsten Premier League Darts with an 8-4 win over Wayne Mardle at Sunderland's Seaburn Leisure Centre.
The Dutchman made his debut in the PDC with a superb win over Ronnie Baxter, and averaged 100 in seeing off Mardle.
He hit five finishes of over 100, including the night's highest of 164 to earn him a £1,000 bonus, which he will donate to charity.
Mardle started well, taking the opening two legs before Barneveld landed a 107 checkout.
He then hit two successive 12-dart legs, following up his 164 finish with a 126 before Mardle hit back to level the game at 3-3.
Barneveld came back from the break with checkouts of 120 and 116 to put himself in command, although Mardle landed double nine to pull back to 5-4.
The Dutchman, though, moved closer to victory in the tenth leg, a 171 setting up a two-dart finish before he took the next two legs to complete the win.
"I was enjoying myself and this is fantastic," said van Barneveld afterwards. "The
atmosphere makes you want to play good darts.
"This is the level I want to play at, every week against the best players in the world and it's great."
He takes on fellow Dutchman Roland Scholten next week in Aberdeen, and added: "Roland and me are good friends and he's a fantastic player.
"He's won two games already and there are no easy matches, so I'll look forward to the challenge."
COLIN LLOYD 8-6 PETER MANLEY
COLIN LLOYD defied the pain of a bad back to edge out Peter Manley 8-6 and claim his first win of the 2006 Holsten Premier League Darts.
The world number one opened his campaign with a heavy loss to Phil Taylor seven days ago, but responded in style against Manley in a thrilling game.
Lloyd raced into a 4-1 lead, including a 160 finish in the fifth leg.
Manley managed to pull back a leg before the break with double eight, and took the next two after the restart, including a 141 finish, to level matters.
Lloyd landed a 102 checkout to move 5-4 up, but Manley then took the next two legs to move to within touching distance of a point.
However, the man nicknamed "One Dart" saw his trademark double top finish fail him in the next two legs, missing three darts to allow Lloyd to go back in front at 7-6.
Lloyd - who hit a nine-dart leg to win the Irish Masters last weekend - then ensured both points with a brilliant ten-darter to leave Manley without a victory in two matches.
"My back is playing up a bit, but it wouldn't have been an excuse for me if I'd lost tonight," said Lloyd.
"To get the win is nice because I knew it would be tough, but it was great to put in such a big last leg.
"Peter took some good shots out, but it's two points on the board for me and I'm very happy."
ROLAND SCHOLTEN 4-8 PHIL TAYLOR
PHIL TAYLOR'S unbeaten start to the Holsten Premier League Darts continued with an 8-4 victory over Roland Scholten.
The pair went into the clash unbeaten after two games, but Taylor made his Dutch opponent pay for a string of missed doubles.
Taylor himself was under par after a fine opening week in Blackburn seven days earlier.
The 13-time World Champion went 2-0 up before Scholten stepped in to take the next three legs and edge clear.
However, Taylor responded with five straight legs to secure at least a point at 7-3, with the Dutchman a total of nine darts at a double as he slipped behind.
A maximum helped Scholten on the way to the 11th leg, but Taylor landed double top in the next to seal victory.
"That's a good win for me," said Taylor. "Roland's a very high scorer and it was a tough game.
"I've got things I can work on in my game but I'm okay and very happy with how I've started."
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