TERRY JENKINS 3-2 JIMMY MANN
(3-1, 2-3, 2-3, 3-1, 4-2)
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TERRY JENKINS produced the best performance of his life to narrowly defeat Purfleet debutant Jimmy Mann 3-2 in a tie break at the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.
Jenkins has risen to 15th in the world rankings during the past year, and showed all his class with a 99.34 average to edge the best game of the tournament so far.
Mann matched the Ledbury thrower blow-for-blow during an enthralling encounter, which also saw Jenkins twice line up a nine-dart leg only to see his sixth and seventh darts fail him.
Jenkins won the opening set with a 103 average, and he took two of the first three legs of the second with finishes of 144 and 140.
Mann, though, hit back to level the set at 2-2 before landing the maximum 170 finish to square the contest.
He then landed his first two 180's of the game in winning the third set 2-1, before Jenkins responded in the fourth to level matters once more.
Mann opened the deciding set with a 161 finish, and gave himself a chance of victory when he was 2-1 up.
But the 27-year-old greenkeeper missed two doubles for the match, and Jenkins came back off the ropes to land the killer blow by taking the next three legs for a memorable triumph.
"It's the best game I've ever been involved in," said Jenkins. "It's all about keeping relaxed and calm, not letting the situation get to you and keeping going.
"I've never seen Jimmy play before so I didn't know what to expect, but I knew he was playing well and that it would be a tough game.
"I took my form in practice up onto the stage - I play like that all day long at home and the longer format will suit me.
"I hit a nine-dart leg in Holland recently and hit another in practice, and came close to two today. I thought I was going to get the second.
"To win a game like that has got to boost your confidence and I'll just take each game as it comes now. I could play totally different in the next game and I'll give it my best shot."
Mann, who capped his first year as a professional by qualifying for the World Championship added: "It took me a set to get into it and it was quite nerve-wracking.
"It was wierd to play in because you don't realise the scoring is so big, but everything I seemed to hit he matched.
"I thought I played okay but he played brilliantly and I can't take anything away from him."
Match Stats
|
Terry Jenkins |
3-2 |
Jimmy Mann |
|
31 |
100+ |
37 |
|
23 |
140+ |
17 |
|
6 |
180 |
4 |
|
33.11 |
Ave1 |
31.38 |
|
99.34 |
Ave3 |
94.13 |