Newton eyes 'favourite' event

Newton eyes 'favourite' event

World number five aiming to impress on home soil

Wes Newton: looking forward to competing in his 'favourite' event (from skysports)

Wes Newton is looking forward to competing in his 'favourite' event at next week's World Matchplay in Blackpool.

It is the home tournament for the 34-year-old as he lives eight miles up the Fylde coast from Winter Gardens.

Although the world's number five has not enjoyed great success in Blackpool, he loves the party atmosphere of the event.

Newton reached the quarter-finals last year after wins over Andy Smith and Justin Pipe only to lose to a red-hot Phil Taylor.

"I've always gone to watch it since I was a kid, and even though I've not had my best results there it is my favourite." ——Wes Newton

Favourite

"It is my favourite event, with it being my home tournament," said Newton. "I've always gone to watch it since I was a kid, and even though I've not had my best results there it is my favourite.

"It's a bit of a party atmosphere. There's a lot of holidaymakers in Blackpool in the summer as well as the darts fans, and they're all enjoying themselves.

"It's a very scenic arena. It's not very long but it's wide so the crowd are right on top of you, which adds to the atmosphere.

"The best feeling I've experienced was being called out the first time I qualified for the World Matchplay in 2006. You always wonder what it would be like and it was really good.

"I've got a lot of family and friends who come and support me - it's hard to get tickets for them all sometimes! I get a lot of support so it would be nice to have a good run this year."

Improvement

Newton raced into a three-leg lead against Taylor only to claim one of the next 16 legs, something that left the local favourite in shock.

Newton added on Taylor: "I was 4-1 up and he won nine legs in a row and 15 of the next 16 in total - I was shell-shocked!

"If we played again it would be in the semi-finals in Blackpool, which would be an improvement on last year.

"I'll just take each game as it comes because I've got a lot of hard work to do before I can think of the semi-finals or Phil."

 

Wes Newton v JamesHubbard Correct Score: 10-5 Wes Newton 6/1

Taylor turns up the heat

Taylor turns up the heat

World number one eases past Ronnie Baxter in Bolton

Phil Taylor: Very impressive against Baxter (pic Lawrence Lustig, from skysports)

Phil Taylor averaged 110 as he overwhelmed Ronnie Baxter 9-4 to move into the quarter-finals of the Speedy Services UK Open.

The four-time champion followed up wins over Roland Scholten and Colin Osborne with his best display of the event so far, hitting seven 180s.

Baxter played his part in an entertaining contest, hitting six maximums and a 156 checkout, and joined Taylor in hitting six perfect darts in one leg only for both players to miss out on a possible nine-darter.

Taylor, who opened the game with a 149 checkout, was pegged back from 2-0 up to two-all before winning six successive legs to lead 8-2, and although Baxter rallied the Stoke great pushed into the quarter-finals.

"Ronnie's back to his best and he pushed me hard," said Taylor. "It was a good battle and the only thing missing was a nine-darter.

 

"It was a better performance from me and I'm improving in each round, and that's good going into Sunday because it's a tough day with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, so I'll be ready for it now."

Power surges into semis

Power surges into semis

Chisnall, Ovens and Thornton also into the last four

Phil Taylor: Overcame Terry Jenkins 10-5 to seal his place in the last four (from skysports)

Phil Taylor remains on course to win his fifth UK Open title after he eased past Terry Jenkins to book his place in the semi-finals.

The 15-time world champion is looking to reclaim the crown he lost to James wade last year and looks very much like the man to beat as he cruised into the last four with a 10-5 success at the Reebok Arena in Bolton.

He was always in charge against Jenkins and stretched into a 4-1 lead at the first interval.

'The Bull' did take out 78 clinch the next and get back within two, but Taylor again pulled away, producing a stunning 125 check-out that included two bulls to open a 6-3 lead.

Jenkins was still within three at 8-5, but Taylor duly reeled off two legs on the trot to seal victory, finishing with a three-dart average of 106.5.

Ovens next for Taylor

Taylor will now play Denis Ovens in the semis, Ovens beating Jamie Caven 10-6 in the last match of the afternoon.

Like Taylor, Dave Chisnall was also a 10-5 victor as he knocked out five-time world champion Raymond Van Barneveld.

Chisnall started like a house on fire and broke his opponent three times as raced into a 5-0 lead at the interval.

Van Barneveld hit back after the break and, having closed to 5-3, had darts to get back within one, only to miss and allow Chisnall to pull three clear again by hitting double-12.

Having edged 8-5 ahead, Chisnall then took out 54 and 66 to win the final two legs and secure his progress.

In the afternoon's first match, Scotland's Robert Thornton edged a tight encounter as he dumped out world number five, and last year's finalist, Wes Newton 10-8.

Barney seals Euro crown

Barney seals Euro crown

Dutch ace beats Chisnall 6-4 to claim European Darts Open title

Raymond van Barneveld: Beat Dave Chisnall 6-4 to win in Dusseldorf. Picture credit - Carsten Arlt, PDC Europe (from skysports)

Raymond van Barneveld saw off the challenge of Dave Chisnall to claim the European Darts Open crown on Sunday night.

The Dutchman took the £15,000 first prize at the Maritim Hotel in Dusseldorf in the third of the PDC's European Tour events, following up his earlier wins over Ian White and Brendan Dolan with victories against Gino Vos, James Wade, Richie Burnett and Chisnall.

After defeating young Dutchman Vos 6-2 in Sunday afternoon's third round, van Barneveld repeated the scoreline in the quarter-finals as he came from 2-0 down to defeat world No.3 Wade by winning six successive legs.

Van Barneveld then defeated former world champion Burnett 6-4 in the semis, and won the final against Chisnall by the same scoreline.

He hit a 136-checkout in taking an early 3-1 lead and landed four 180s in the game before sealing victory in style with an 11-dart finish.

Big achievement

The Dutch ace said: "I'm really pleased and happy that I won this tournament. This is a big achievement for me.

"Dave is really playing well at the moment and I'm so happy. I said in January that I was going to play in every tournament and see what happens, and so far I'm doing really well.

"I believe that since I've invested more in myself this year I've got more out of it.

"It seems so long ago for me since I won a 'major' tournament and for me this was a major because you had a big crowd and fantastic players.

"I'm going to go away now and practice every day for the next two weeks building up to the World Matchplay, and hopefully I can do well there."

Chisnall's run saw him reach a second successive European Tour final, with the St Helens thrower following up his loss to Phil Taylor in the German Darts Championship final in Berlin a fortnight ago by reaching the Dusseldorf decider.

He defeated Mark Dudbridge 6-2 in the third round before seeing off Simon Whitlock in a deciding leg in the quarter-finals, and then overcame Mervyn King 6-3 in the semis as he took home £7,500.

Brilliant

Burnett rolled back the years with some brilliant performances in Dusseldorf, defeating youngsters Michael van Gerwen and James Hubbard on Sunday to win through to the semis, where he picked up £5,000 prize money.

King's run to the semis included victories against Steve Beaton and Colin Osborne on Sunday, as he defeated the latter in the quarter-finals with a 105 average, and he moves back up to 18th in the PDC Order of Merit following the tournament.

PDC Unicorn world youth champion Hubbard's achievement in reaching the quarter-finals also saw him claim a qualifying place in the Betfair World Matchplay, as he defeated Mark Walsh in the third round on Sunday afternoon.

Osborne also secured a Blackpool spot in the final tournament before the qualifying cut-off, and he was joined in losing at the quarter-final stage by Wade and Whitlock.

The next European Tour event will be held in Sindelfingen, Stuttgart, from September 7-9.

Thornton wins UK Open

Thornton wins UK Open

'Power' pays the price for missing his doubles

Robert Thornton: hit a 121 finish to win the match (from skysports)

Scotland's Robert Thornton shocked Phil Taylor 11-5 in the final of the Speedy Services UK Open in Bolton to win his first major title. 

The 15-time world champion was attempting to win his fifth UK Open title but he had no answers to the rampant Scotsman in a one-sided final.

Taylor led 2-0 in the best-of-21 leg final but the wheels came off his challenge in the third leg as he missed 10 darts at a double and Thornton hit double one to get on the board.

The Stoke veteran steadied the ship to lead 3-2, but from there on it was almost all one-way traffic.

Thornton hit double top to break and lead 4-3, then took out 106 to lead 5-3. That quickly became 9-3 as Taylor continued to wobble on the finishes as Thornton took ruthless advantage.

Taylor did manage to win the 13th leg but Thornton continued to hold with ease and at 10-5 he hit a 121 checkout with a bullseye finish to take the title.

He also wins £40,000 and a place in the Grand Slam of Darts.

Proud

"I'm very proud," Thornton told Sky Sports. "My kids are going to be up jumping all over the place.

"To just get to the final, I was happy enough. To win it... it's just unbelievable."

Taylor added: "He caned me to be honest with you, and I think he deserved it."

Earlier, Taylor had wasted little time seeing off Denis Ovens in the semi-finals.

Taylor raced into a 7-0 lead and although Ovens briefly rallied, he closed out the match 10-2.

Thornton's semi against Dave Chisnall was a closer affair as the match went with the darts for the first five legs.

But Thornton moved 5-2 ahead and never looked likely to be caught, eventually winning 10-4. 

Brum joy for Baxter

Brum joy for Baxter

Blackpool ace wins ranking title in the Midlands

Birmingham finalists Adrian Lewis and Ronnie Baxter (pic PDC, from skysports.com)

Ronnie Baxter defeated world Champion Adrian Lewis to win his first ranking title for 10 months in Saturday's Players Championship in Birmingham.

The Blackpool ace claimed the £6,000 first prize in the tournament at the NIA Community Hall with a brilliant display in the final, taking a 6-3 win over Lewis in a heavy-scoring contest.

Baxter showed strong form throughout the event in wins over Steve Grubb, Dennis Smith, Joe Cullen, James Hubbard and Peter Hudson to reach the semi-finals, where he hit back from 4-1 down to defeat Wes Newton.

Baxter could have taken a 6-4 win only to miss his chance to win the game as Newton forced a decider, before the world number five missed two darts for victory himself in the final leg as his local rival prevailed.

Baxter then raced into a 3-0 lead against Lewis in the final, aided by back-to-back 13-dart finishes before Lewis traded 180s with the Blackpool star to win the fourth in the same manner.

Lewis also hit a 180 in leg five, but missed the bull and two darts at double eight to hit back as Baxter finished double ten to lead 4-1.

Lewis produced a superb 11-darter to win his second leg, but another miss on the bullseye allowed Baxter to follow up another 180 with a third-dart double five to move a leg away from the win.

The pair also traded maximums in the eighth leg as Lewis produced a 14-darter to keep the match alive, but Baxter's sixth 180 of the game pushed him clear in the next before he landed double ten for victory.

Baxter finished the final with an average of 100.55, hitting six 180s plus a 174 and a 171, while Lewis hit four maximums and averaged 105.79.

The win could prove vital for Baxter in his bid to qualify via the ProTour Order of Merit for next month's World Matchplay in his home town, cementing his place amongst the 16 qualifying positions.

Lewis' run saw him reach the final of a ProTour event for the first time since March 2011, as he earned £3,000 prize money on the day.

Taylor to face King in opener

Taylor to face King in opener

Defending champion set for Blackpool

Phil Taylor: Will face Mervyn King (from skysports.com)

Phil Taylor will begin his bid for a record-equalling fifth successive Betfair World Matchplay title, and a 13th victory in total in the Blackpool event, against Mervyn King later this month. 

Taylor, who has been the champion of the £400,000 event for the past four years, will be bidding to equal his unbeaten run from 2000-4 when he returns to the Winter Gardens.

Although King has dropped out of the world's top 16 this year, the Norfolk thrower reached the semi-finals of the European Darts Open event in Dusseldorf on Sunday night to show his return to top form.

James Wade, the 2007 winner who lost 18-8 to Taylor in last year's final, will play resurgent Welshman Richie Burnett in the first round.

Colin Lloyd - the 2005 champion who is the only other previous winner in the 32-man field - takes on ninth seed Mark Webster.

World champion Adrian Lewis, the No.2 seed, has drawn recent UK Open champion Robert Thornton in the first round, while world No.4 Gary Anderson plays PDC newcomer Dean Winstanley.

Wes Newton, the No.5 seed, drew emerging teenage star James Hubbard in the first round after the world youth champion qualified by reaching the quarter-finals of the European Darts Open - an achievement which left him in tears of joy on the Dusseldorf stage.

First round draw and tournament bracket

Adrian Lewis (2) v Robert Thornton
Paul Nicholson (15) v Andy Smith
Raymond van Barneveld (7) v Michael Smith
Terry Jenkins (10) v Kim Huybrechts
Simon Whitlock (6) v Michael van Gerwen
Kevin Painter (11) v Steve Beaton
James Wade (3) v Richie Burnett
Mark Walsh (14) v Colin Osborne
Phil Taylor (1) v Mervyn King
Vincent van der Voort (16) v Ian White
Andy Hamilton (8) v Brendan Dolan
Mark Webster (9) v Colin Lloyd
Wes Newton (5) v James Hubbard
Justin Pipe (12) v Joe Cullen
Gary Anderson (4) v Dean Winstanley
Dave Chisnall (13) v Ronnie Baxter