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Premiere League Darts Update

Taylor was awesome in the Aberdeen segment of the Premiere League tournament. The Power recorded a 116 average which breaks the record for the highest ever 3-dart average seen on television.

The man from the Potteries played John Part in the final match of the evening in Scotland, and he claimed an impressive 8-3 win to move back to the top of the Whyte and Mackay Premier League table.

 The record was of course his own to break and he absolutely smashed it to guarantee himself a place at Wembley for finals night next month, where he is likely to meet Raymond Van Barneveld in the semi finals.

 After a few weeks of lacklustre performance (for him anyway!) , the reigning champion pulled out all the stops to send out a clear message to the rest of the field that he is still the man to beat in this competition, and if he keeps playing like he did last night then it will be near impossible for anybody to do so.

Phil will now be looking to secure his position at the top of the table by beating Mervyn King in Cardiff in two weeks time, and after their `slight` disagreement last time they played, it could be a very tense encounter.

 Just to re-iterate Wayne Mardle has been removed from the competition due to his poor health, and the rules of the competition state that in this scenario that player’s results are removed from the records, therefore anybody that gained points against him loses them.

 This wasn’t a problem for James Wade though. He went into the evening still top of the table, but his match wouldn’t count towards his Premier League campaign as he has played one game more than all of the other players.

 His opponent came in the form of Scotsman Robert Thornton who had been drafted in to compete in a `challenge match`, which was a best of thirteen legs encounter.

 Although he looked delighted to be part of the occasion, his darts weren’t quite as good as many would have expected, and he slumped to a 7-2 defeat.

 One would have to say in the circumstances that he did very well considering it was the first time that he would have played in front of such a large fan base, and perhaps the crowd in Aberdeen will see him back one day as a competitor in the league.

The first meaningful action of the night took place between Mervyn King and Terry Jenkins, the former having lost four points and thirteen legs from his records due to the withdrawal of Wayne Mardle, and this meant he could still have missed out on a play off position should he have been beaten.

 However, he looked very calm and composed and played very well, as did Jenkins who had an awful lot to play for having been placed right at the bottom of the table, again due to the illness of Mardle.

 Players matched each other dart for dart and both seemed to be more comfortable on their own throw, so it was no real surprise that it was only broken twice in the first twelve legs.

Both were averaging over a ton and a point for both seemed likely until King broke Jenkins in the thirteenth leg, and his reaction to the crowd was certainly one which he would have enjoyed, expressing his traditional growl towards the fans.

 However, his celebrations would be short lived as he let Jenkins get back into it during the final leg, and King missed double 16 to claim victory allowing `The Bull` to hit double four to earn himself a draw. It wasn’t enough for Terry though as he is now out of the running for a play off position.

 Jelle Klaasen too has missed out on being in the final four after his defeat to fellow countryman Raymond Van Barneveld, although yet again it took him a while to finish off the match!

 The game ended 8-5, but Jelle certainly put up a good fight, clawing back from 5-2 down to stay in it at 5-4, but Barneveld wasn’t going to be beaten on this occasion and he eventually prevailed by hitting double four to secure the win, and a final four slot.

 All that will need to be decided now is who plays who in the semis. At the moment Taylor will play Barney and Wade will take on King, but with one game remaining for each player this could, and probably will change.

 With Taylor taking on King and Raymond playing Terry Jenkins, it is very possible for both semis to change completely, but we will know for sure what will be happening at Wembley after the meeting at Cardiff in two weeks time.

 The final game of the night produced a record breaking occasion with Phil Taylor putting together a 116 average to beat his own record of 114 which was set at the UK Open last year against Wes Newton.

 In all honesty it was possibly the best I’ve seen Part play in the competition but he just didn’t get enough shots at a double in order to make the difference. 

 He should have known it wasn’t going to be his night when Phil checked out 161 in the very first leg to earn himself a thousand pounds for the highest one of the evening, and then set out to embarrass Part who has beaten `The Power` on a number of memorable occasions, not least the World Final of 2003 where he won 7-6 at the Circus Tavern.

 Part did his best to stay in the contest, and was only 4-2 down at the break, but Taylor was awesome in the second half of the match and produced some 12 and 13 dart legs to roar into a 7-3 lead, before checking out to secure the highest ever average recorded in televised darts history.

 He has therefore broken the best average of the competition which was set by James Wade last week when he recorded a 108 against Terry Jenkins, but Taylor seems to have set the bar even higher, and his victory leaves the Whyte and Mackay table looking like this:

There will be just two premier league fixtures taking place in the next couple of weeks due to the absence of `Hawaii 501`, so this is what will happen next week in Sheffield:

 Raymond van Barneveld v Adrian Lewis (Challenge Match)
Phil Taylor v Dennis Priestley (Challenge Match)
Terry Jenkins v John Part
James Wade v Jelle Klaasen

 The challenge matches do not count towards the players’ points totals, but it definitely adds some freshness to the Premier League outings with players next week who have contested the league before in Adrian Lewis and Dennis Priestley, who takes on his old nemesis Phil Taylor.

 With the top four now decided, it’s now up to those players to build some momentum and confidence which could give them the edge when they visit Wembley, where they will be out to claim the 2009 Whyte and Mackay Premier League Darts Championship.

Stoke's world No1 won the first six legs and never looked like slipping up on his way to a three-dart average of 109.76 – breaking his own record for a major final.

Taylor admitted his 14th world title had been one of the most satisfying, having been in the unusual position of having to wait three years to reclaim the prize. "To win it back again is unbelievable for me, you do doubt yourself and think am I going to win this again," he said. "To get it back I'm absolutely made up."

Taylor revealed he had to stay focused and reveal a ruthless streak to ensure that there was no repeat of his 2007 slip-up against Van Barneveld – one of the greatest matches the sport had produced, which his great rival won 7-6 at the tournament's previous home at the Circus Tavern.

Taylor said that defeat was uppermost in his thoughts when he took to the oche on Sunday and added: "Once I started and I was playing well I thought, 'Don't stop now, don't give him a chance'. As soon as you relax with Raymond he seems to kick in, he gains on your weakness so I thought keep hitting him and keep hitting him because he's like Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe. That's what you have to do to him. It's very cruel but that's what you have to do.

"They are such good players nowadays that what you have to do when you are on stage is put them under pressure and keep them under pressure. The averages have got to be 100-plus or you are going home."

While Taylor displayed some of the best darts of his life at this year's championships, a world title looked a long way off at the beginning of last year, when he showed signs of vulnerability, which were clearly evident when he was thrashed 8-3 by Peter Manley in the Premier League.

Like any true champion Taylor knuckled down and changed his mindset, and used the Manley defeat to his advantage.

"It was the best thing that ever happened to me I think," he said. "Once he (Manley] beats you, he rubs it in your face as well. I've got signed photographs for him because he sells them, but he doesn't half rub it in but I thank him for it in a strange way.

"Now I have to concentrate on defending my world title because there is nothing more important than that."

The beaten, but unbroken Van Barneveld was generous in his praise for Taylor and admitted he had no answers to the maestro's brilliance.

The Dutchman said: "I played a computer. All my congratulations to Phil. He's absolutely brilliant.

"I'll be back, don't worry, but beating this man – I don't know what to do? Practicing ten hours a day is probably not enough."

In Sunday's final, Taylor set the highest three-dart average for a final, scoring 109.76.

PHIL Taylor remains on course for world title No 14 after his stunning demolition of rising Dutch star Co Stompe at the Alexandra Palace in London.

Taylor's 5-0 thrashing of Stompe takes him through to face Mervyn King in the semi-finals of the PDC Ladbrokes.com world championship.

He finished with a three-dart average of 108.80, the third highest in the tournament's 15-year history.

Stompe won only three legs in the match as Taylor comprehensively avenged the defeat he suffered in the final of the PartyPoker.net German championships in November.

Taylor oozed confidence from the start last night. He gave away the advantage of the throw after winning the pre-match nearest the bulls eye and that decision was soon vindicated.

Stompe started the match with only 59, Taylor replied with 177 and went on to take the opening leg in 14 darts.

Taylor then held his throw and wrapped up the set with an 11 darter.

He handed Stompe a lifeline in the second leg of the second set when three missed darts on a double gave the Dutchman the chance to win his first leg, but a 120 check out put Taylor back on course and he won the set in the deciding leg.

Taylor piled on the misery at the start of the third set – winning the opening leg against the throw, despite Stompe starting with 180 and then hitting two maximums on his way to taking the next leg. There was no way back for Stompe, who won only one more leg.

King, twice a beaten finalist in the BDO world championship, had earlier beaten Barrie Bates 5-2 to set up his last four clash with Taylor.

Bates battled back to level after going 2-0 behind, but then King stepped up a gear.

"I'm happy with the win and my performance was better," said King. "I did enough to get the victory, but I can still improve.

"I should have been 4-0 up really, or at least 3-1, and at two-all I had to find something, and I did that.

"I'm nowhere near my best, but it's there in flashes. I have peaks and troughs in my game anyway and I'm not as consistent as some players, but when I'm at the top of my game I'll beat anybody."

And looking ahead to the Taylor clash, KIng added: "I'm not here to lose in the semi-final, I'm here to win it. I've got it in me and it's got to come out at the right time."

Meanwhile, in tonight's remaining quarter-finals, James Wade takes on Paul Nicholson, while five times world champion Ray van Barneveld goes head-to-head with fellow Dutchman Jelle Klaasen in a repeat of the 2006 BDO world championship final.

"I've never beaten him on TV, but I know if I play my normal game I can beat anyone," said van Barneveld.

"However, Jelle is in good form and I think it will be a good match."