Players Championship Finals Day Two

WORLD CHAMPION Adrian Lewis crashed out of the Players Championship Finals in the first round on Friday night, losing 6-4 to Steve Beaton as Phil Taylor made a winning start to his challenge at the Doncaster Dome.

Lewis, making his first competitive appearance since landing a nine-darter in winning the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship a month ago, paid for a slow start as Beaton swept into the last 16.

Beaton took the game's opening four legs without reply to leave Lewis trailing, and although the Stoke ace won four of the next five a bullseye finish from the 1996 Lakeside Champion saw him progress.

"I started slowly and that came back to haunt me at the end," said Lewis. "Steve played well, he came out of the blocks quickly and deserved to win."

Beaton now meets Terry Jenkins in Saturday's second round, while Phil Taylor and James Wade will clash after they both progressed to the last 16.

Taylor was a 6-2 winner against Bristol's Steve Brown, and left-hander Wade made his return to action for the first time since the World Championship with a 6-4 defeat of Mark Dudbridge.

Mervyn King made a sensational comeback from 5-2 down to defeat Co Stompe in a decider, and now takes on number one seed Simon Whitlock, who brushed aside Tony Eccles 6-1.

Wes Newton produced the night's highest average at 103.14 and took out a 157 in a fine 6-4 win over resurgent Richie Burnett, and now takes on another Welshman in the second round, Mark Webster.

World Championship semi-finalist Webster booked his place in the last 16 with a 6-3 defeat of Alan Tabern, averaging 100 in the battle of two left-handers.

The second round will be played across two sessions on Saturday, with Thursday's winners competing in the afternoon at the Doncaster Dome.

World Championship finalist Gary Anderson plays Kevin Painter, Colin Lloyd takes on Dennis Priestley, Colin Osborne meets Steve Farmer and Jamie Caven faces Andy Smith.

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Schedule of Play
Friday February 4
First Round
Vincent van der Voort 4-6 Terry Jenkins
Mervyn King 6-5 Co Stompe
Wes Newton 6-4 Richie Burnett
Mark Webster 6-3 Alan Tabern
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Tony Eccles
James Wade 6-4 Mark Dudbridge
Phil Taylor 6-2 Steve Brown
Adrian Lewis 4-6 Steve Beaton

The PDC & Perform Group apologise for the interruption in service to early games

TERRY JENKINS 6-4 VINCENT VAN DER VOORT
TERRY JENKINS held off Vincent van der Voort's fightback to win through to the second round of the Players Championship Finals with a 6-4 victory at the Doncaster Dome.

Van der Voort hit back from 3-0 down to level the game, only for world number seven Jenkins to take three of the next four in moving into the last 16.

Jenkins hit a 180 in taking the opening leg, which was won on double ten, before double 17 saw him break throw in the second.

He then hit double top to win the third leg, before van der Voort opened his account on the same bed, broke in leg five and then finished 102 on double 16 to tie the game at three-all.

The next two went with the throw to leave the scores at four-all, with Jenkins then hitting a key double five with his third dart for a 5-4 cushion.

He then hit three 140 scores to pull clear, and recovered from one miss at double top to land double ten for victory.

Match Stats

Vincent van der Voort	4-6	Terry Jenkins
11	100+	17
5	140+	5
1	180	1
29.96	Ave1	30.76
89.88	Ave3	92.27
1	Legs Against Throw	2
102	High Finish	41

MERVYN KING 6-5 CO STOMPE
MERVYN KING produced a sensational comeback from 5-2 down to win four successive legs and edge out Co Stompe in a thrilling first round clash at the Players Championship Finals.

Stompe seemed set to stroll into the last 16 when he took a commanding lead against last Saturday's Players Championship winner, but twice saw chances to take victory slip away as King clawed back to edge through.

After King took the game's opening leg, Stompe levelled with a 104 checkout and then edged in front thanks to double 16, before King took the fourth on double eight.

Stompe then punished eight missed doubles from King to edge the fifth, and when he followed that up with finishes of 121 and 100 to win the next two legs and lead 5-2 the Dutch ace seemed set for victory.

However, he missed double 11 for a 124 match-winning checkout in the next as King posted double 12 to keep the game alive, before finishes of double ten and double five forced a deciding leg.

King hit a 180 but missed two match darts at double 18 to allow Stompe in - only for the Dutchman to miss the bull for a 126 checkout as King returned to post double nine for victory.

Match Stats

Mervyn King	6-5	Co Stompe
20	100+	14
12	140+	8
1	180	1
30.75	Ave1	29.92
92.25	Ave3	89.76
3	Legs Against Throw	2
48	High Finish	121,104,100

WES NEWTON 6-4 RICHIE BURNETT
WES NEWTON produced a display of the highest order to defeat Richie Burnett 6-4 and win through to the second round of the Players Championship Finals.

Newton, who has risen into the world's top 16 in the last year, justified that status with a 103.14 average in a strong display, which also saw him hit a 157 checkout in coming from 3-2 down to win.

Burnett took out 91 to take the opening leg and, after Newton hit tops for the next two the Welsh ace replied by hitting a 13-dart finish against the throw and a 64 checkout for a 3-2 cushion.

Newton's 157 checkout, for a 12-dart leg, saw him level, only for Burnett to reply with a 12-darter of his own to move 4-3 up.

However, Newton hit a key 170 to leave 32 in the next as he levelled, before posting a 180 and double 16 to break for a 5-4 lead.

The Fleetwood ace added a fourth 180 of the game to open the tenth leg, and hit two further ton-plus scores before recording victory on double ten.

Match Stats

Wes Newton	6-4	Richie Burnett
12	100+	12
7	140+	7
4	180	1
34.38	Ave1	30.97
103.14	Ave3	92.91
2	Legs Against Throw	1
157	High Finish	100

MARK WEBSTER 6-3 ALAN TABERN
MARK WEBSTER'S rich vein of form continued with a 6-3 win over Alan Tabern in the first round of the Players Championship Finals in Doncaster.

Webster ended last year in brilliant form by leading Wales to the World Cup of Darts final and reaching the World Championship semi-finals, and hit a 100 average to see off Tabern.

St Helens' Tabern had taken out 116 for the first leg and double top for an 80 finish in the third as he led 2-1.

However, Webster followed up an early 91 finish by landing duble top to win the fourth leg, and also won the next three without reply in opening up a 5-2 lead.

Webster also hit a 180 in the next, but Tabern posted double eight with his third dart to keep the game alive, only for the Welshman to move ahead in the next and seal the win on double ten.

Match Stats

Mark Webster	6-3	Alan Tabern
13	100+	19
7	140+	3
2	180	1
33.34	Ave1	30.23
100.02	Ave3	90.70
3	Legs Against Throw	2
91	High Finish	116

SIMON WHITLOCK 6-1 TONY ECCLES
SIMON WHITLOCK powered into the second round of the Players Championship Finals at the Doncaster Dome, dropping just one leg against Tony Eccles.

The number one seed, who won six Players Championships last year, showed signs of his ruthless best in sweeping through to a second round clash with Mervyn King on Saturday.

After finishing 110 to win the opening leg, he took out a 13-darter against the throw to double his lead, landing two 180s in the leg.

Eccles hit a maximum of his own in the fourth - but also recorded four scores below 100 as Whitlock made him pay on double top to lead 3-0.

Eccles finished double 18 at the first time of asking to win the fourth and pull back to 3-1, with Whitlock waiting on double eight after hitting a 168 score.

The Australian, though, produced a timely 180 in each of the next two legs to twice leave a 24 finish as he moved 5-1 up, before adding another maximum and double ten to secure the victory.

Match Stats

Simon Whitlock	6-1	Tony Eccles
9	100+	3
2	140+	4
5	180	1
33.25	Ave1	29.23
99.74	Ave3	87.69
2	Legs Against Throw	0
110	High Finish	36

JAMES WADE 6-4 MARK DUDBRIDGE
JAMES WADE held off Mark Dudbridge's challenge to set up a second round clash with Phil Taylor at the Players Championship Finals in Doncaster.

Left-hander Wade was well below his best on his return to competition for the first time since losing in the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship over a month ago, but pulled through to reach the last 16.

Wade made the brighter start, breaking throw in the opening leg and finishing 88 to win the second, before the pair traded 76 checkouts as the world number three led 3-1.

The next two were also shared before Dudbridge defied a 179 from Wade by taking out 109 to reduce the gap to 4-3.

The pair traded double top finishes in the next two legs, but Dudbridge missed his chance to force a decider when a dart at double 11 fell inside the wire, and Wade took out 96 on double nine to take the win.

Match Stats

James Wade	6-4	Mark Dudbridge
11	100+	11
6	140+	4
1	180	2
27.85	Ave1	28.10
83.55	Ave3	84.31
1	Legs Against Throw	0
96	High Finish	109

PHIL TAYLOR 6-2 STEVE BROWN
PHIL TAYLOR returned to the big stage in style with a 6-2 win over Steve Brown to kick off his challenge for a second Players Championship Finals win on Friday night.

Taylor, who has won just one of his last ten events since last August, produced glimpses of his best form as he brushed off the challenge of the rising star from Bristol.

Taylor took out 94 to win the first leg, and after Brown levelled with a 14-darter - featuring the first of three 180s in the game - the 15-time World Champion took the next three without reply.

They began with finishes of 14 and 13 darts, before a 113 checkout saw Taylor move into a 4-1 lead.

Brown replied with another maximum in a 13-darter of his own, but was left waiting on a double when Taylor took the seventh leg on double eight, and the Stoke great then sealed victory on double two in the next.

Match Stats

Phil Taylor	6-2	Steve Brown
11	100+	7
9	140+	4
0	180	3
31.96	Ave1	30.42
95.87	Ave3	91.26
2	Legs Against Throw	0
113	High Finish	56

STEVE BEATON 6-4 ADRIAN LEWIS
WORLD CHAMPION Adrian Lewis crashed out of the Players Championship Finals in the first round on Friday night, losing 6-4 to Steve Beaton at the Doncaster Dome.

Lewis, making his first competitive appearance since landing a nine-darter in winning the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship a month ago, paid for a slow start as Beaton swept into the last 16.

Beaton took the game's opening four legs without reply to leave Lewis trailing, and although the Stoke ace won four of the next five a bullseye finish from the 1996 Lakeside Champion saw him progress.

Beaton burst out of the blocks with a 108 finish in the game's opening leg, before landing double ten and hitting a 180 in a 12-darter to win the third.

A double 16 finish saw him move 4-0 up before Lewis took out 96 in two darts to win the fifth, despite a 180 from Beaton.

Beaton also hit a 180 in taking the sixth in 13 darts to lead 5-1 before Lewis rallied.

He hit two 180s in a 12-darter to kick-start his challenge, before punishing a wobbling Beaton by taking the next two.

Lewis also hit a 180 in the tenth leg, but Beaton was first to a finish and checked out 72 on the bullseye for a memorable win.

Match Stats