MATCH REPORTS and scorelines from Tuesday's action at the Stan James World Matchplay.
Stan James World Matchplay
Tuesday 25 July
First Round (continued)
Denis Ovens 1-10 James Wade
Andy Jenkins 11-9 Alan Warriner-Little
Roland Scholten 10-6 Andy Smith
Mark Walsh 10-8 Dave Askew
Ronnie Baxter 10-4 Dennis Smith
Second Round
Andy Hamilton 15-13 Adrian Lewis
Phil Taylor 13-2 John Part
JAMES WADE 10-1 DENIS OVENS
JAMES WADE produced the most comprehensive win so far at the 2006 Stan James World Matchplay with a 10-1 demolition of Denis Ovens in Tuesday's opening game.
Emerging star Wade enjoyed his best ever display in a major tournament with a mature performance on his Winter Gardens debut.
Ovens, the world number ten, was never at the races after allowing Wade to open up an early lead.
The 23-year-old from Aldershot won the opening leg with double 16 at the first attempt, and broke Ovens' throw in the next with double 12.
He took out a 120 Shanghai finish in the next and then landed double 18 to open up a 4-0 gap.
Even a maximum from Ovens in the fifth leg failed to stem the tide as Wade pushed further ahead, and the youngster took out a classy 138 in the next.
Wade continued to push clear to 9-0, and even had one dart to seal a whitewash victory before double top came to Ovens' rescue as he got off the mark.
But Wade was not to be denied, sealing the win with an 81 finish on the bullseye to set up a second round tie with Kevin Painter.
Wade checked out at 67%, and admitted it was his best performance yet in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
"I've been a big under-achiever for the last three or four years on the stage," he said. "It clicked today but I've put in the hard work, for a change.
"I never put in the practice but I've practiced for 12 days for this and it paid off. I've just given up work after making the decision to go full-time, and it's made a big difference.
"Rather than the last day before coming to play darts trying to finish jobs off, I've got no worries.
"Hopefully I will play a little better in the next round. Obviously Denis didn't play very well, which I was sort of surprised with.
"I was ready to bully him but for some reason he let me off."
ANDY JENKINS 11-9 ALAN WARRINER-LITTLE
ANDY JENKINS held off a tremendous fightback from Alan Warriner-Little to move into the last 16 of the Stan James World Matchplay.
The Portsmouth thrower looked set to storm to victory when he opened up a 6-0 lead, only to see Warriner-Little hit back and take the game into a tie break at 9-9.
But Jenkins regathered his composure to win the next two and put himself into the second round.
"At 9-9 I thought I thought I could lose it," he admitted. "I missed some crucial doubles, as Alan did.
"It was one of those games but people forget that Alan used to be world number one and he's a top quality dart player."
Jenkins punished some misses from his opponent to take the first six legs without reply.
A superb 152 finish got Warriner-Little off the mark, and he also took five of the next seven legs to pull back to 8-6.
Jenkins landed double eight to move to within a leg of the match, but he allowed Warriner-Little to take the next three and square the match.
The number six seed regained his touch on the treble 20 to land his first maximum of the game on his way to the 19th leg, and he fired in a brilliant 12-darter to wrap up a hard-fought win.
ROLAND SCHOLTEN 10-6 ANDY SMITH
ROLAND SCHOLTEN announced his intentions in the Stan James World Matchplay with a strong display to overcome Andy Smith 10-6.
The Dutchman is targeting the major win of his career in Blackpool this week - having never got past the second round in his previous visits tot the Winter Gardens.
He made a superb start to this year's challenge, hitting nine maximums in the game and averaging 92, while he also hit seven perfect darts in one leg.
Although the nine-dart leg went astray when he missed treble 15, he took the leg to move 3-1 up and open a nice early cushion over Smith.
The Blackpool debutant hit back to level matters at 3-3 and 4-4 before another triple burst from The Tripod put him clear again.
The pair traded the next four legs as Scholten moved to the brink of victory before the Dutchman won the 16th leg to create a second round contest with Andy Jenkins.
"Andy kept fighting back, he never gave in and played really well," said Scholten. "I kept ploughing away but I'm scoring as I can do and feeling relaxed on stage.
"I've been practising well for the last couple of weeks and I'm confident. I've never got to the quarter-finals here before so maybe this is my year.
"I want to prove myself worthy of being in that top four after dropping down the rankings recently."
MARK WALSH 10-8 DAVE ASKEW
MARK WALSH defied a spirited comeback from Dave Askew before holding his nerve to move into the last 16 of the Stan James World Matchplay with a 10-8 victory.
In a game which followed the same pattern as the earlier contest between Andy Jenkins and Alan Warriner-Little, Walsh opened up a 6-0 advantage before being pegged back to force a nervy finish.
Walsh looked set for a comfortable win when he won the opening half-dozen legs, landing two maximums and punishing his opponent for misses in three legs.
But a 120 Shanghai finish got Askew off the mark in the seventh leg, and he won two of the next three to set Walsh's nerves jangling.
The 2005 UK Open finalist won the next two legs to put himself within just one of the match before seeing the finishing line hover agonisingly out of reach.
Askew took five successive legs, including finishes of 155 and 90, to pull back to 9-8 and threaten to send the game into a tie break.
Walsh opened the 18th leg with a maximum and, though Askew responded with a 180 of his own, finally took out double eight to progress.
"I was really surprised with how Dave threw. He didn't turn up and let me play early on, which was lucky because I've been struggling with my throw.
"I don't know if I was thinking about the finishing line, but Dave came back and threw some brilliant darts - the 155 was superb because I was sat on 53 to win the game and he took out a good pressure shot.
"I missed a couple of darts for the game and thought I'd wasted my chance when Dave started to play like he can. But I kept my head together and got the result in the end.
"That's all you want at the end of the day. You can look back at the averages afterwards but all you want is the result, I'm into the second round."
Walsh will play either Ronnie Baxter or Dennis Smith in round two, and he added: "It doesn't really bother me who I play because they're both great players.
"Ronnie would probably be better for my style of throw, because I'm a slow thrower and Dennis is the same style as me, but I don't mind whoever it is."
RONNIE BAXTER 10-4 DENNIS SMITH
RONNIE BAXTER surged past Dennis Smith to become the final player into round two at the Stan James World Matchplay with a 10-4 win.
World number three Baxter edged out Smith when the pair met in last year's quarter-finals, and repeated the feat to begin his Blackpool title tilt with a solid display.
Smith began brightly, taking two of the opening three legs to give himself an early lead, but Baxter hit his straps to take seven without reply and move 8-2 up.
Smith took the 11th leg after his opponent failed to take his chances after opening with scores of 180 and 137.
Baxter took out double 18 to move to within a leg of the match before Smith defied the heat of the Winter Gardens stage to take the 13th leg and stay in the game.
But Baxter quickly wrapped up the win to set up a second round meeting with Mark Walsh.
"I struggled at first but I came through it and threw some good darts," said Baxter.
"The weather's great outside but I think the humidity got to Dennis more than the heat. It's about preparing yourself."
Baxter is looking forward to his second round meeting with Walsh, adding: "He's another slow player, probably slightly slower than Dennis.
"I've played him a few times and come out on top, so it's whoever can handle the heat."
ANDY HAMILTON 15-13 ADRIAN LEWIS
ANDY HAMILTON edged an epic contest to move into the quarter-finals of the Stan James World Matchplay with a 15-13 triumph.
The battle of the rising Stoke stars lived up to all expectations in a high-quality, dramatic match where the lead changed hands six times.
Only 0.02 separated the two in terms of their one-dart averages at the end of the game, with Hamilton's 30.63 (91.90) being narrowly bettered by Lewis' 30.65 (91.95).
They also shared a string of high quality finishes as the opening second round game went into a tie break situation, with the winner needing to be ahead by two clear legs.
Lewis took two of the first three legs to take an early lead, but Hamilton won the next two to go into the break 3-2 up.
Although Lewis won four of the next six legs to go 6-5 up, but Hamilton found top gear to take the next four and put himself three legs clear.
Five of the next six legs went to Lewis as the 21-year-old went 11-10 up.
Hamilton hit back to win the 22nd leg, but Lewis took out double 16 for a 13-dart leg which put him within one leg of the match.
Hamilton kept himself alive with double top in the next, but Lewis kept himself ahead at 13-12.
However, Hamilton took the next three without Lewis ever having a shot for victory to pull away and take a 15-13 triumph.
"Andy played brilliantly," praised Lewis. "When I was 13-12 up he had one dart left at double 16 with me sitting on 75 (for the match), and I did think I would get a shot but I heard the roar of the crowd.
"It was a tough game, nip and tuck throughout and full credit to Andy, he came back brilliantly and pulled it off.
"I'm looking forward to the next big tournament, which is the World Grand Prix in October. I can go and have a holiday now and put my feet up for a week or two."
Hamilton, though, will return to the Winter Gardens on Thursday for his quarter-finals with Wayne Mardle and Lionel Sams.
"I'm chuffed to death," he said. "That was a game I was looking forward to and I knew it would be tough.
"I've got a lot of respect for Adrian, he's a quality player and I knew I had to stick at him and keep on his tail because one of us would slip up at some time - I'm glad it was him who slipped up and not me.
"Coming to the end I just had to keep my head on and sink that last double. I didn't want to have another three or four legs!
"I think that's where my games has progressed, I'm hitting doubles under pressure and that's what helped me in this game.
"This was a fighting game, I didn't play my best darts like I did in the first round against Peter Manley. I wanted that to come through but it was pressure darts throughout and I won - that's all that matters."
PHIL TAYLOR 13-2 JOHN PART
PHIL TAYLOR routed John Part 13-2 to avenge his loss in the 2005 Stan James World Matchplay and move into this year's quarter-finals.
Part knocked Taylor out of last year's tournament at the last eight stage, but never looked like repeating that in a disappointing display.
He won just two legs in the match, with Taylor taking 11 in a row to storm through.
Taylor won the pre-match bull but handed the initial throw to Part - and the ploy appeared to work when the Canadian threw seven with his opening visit to the oche before the opening five legs all went against the throw.
But Taylor began to pull clear after the first break, winning the sixth leg and then taking another break by hitting a 160 finish - the highest of the tournament so far - to put daylight between the pair.
He took out a 131 finish in the ninth leg, and reeled off the next six to complete a comprehensive win.
"I expected it to be closer but once you get in front you try to keep putting the pressure on," said Taylor.
"I think I handled the heat a bit better than John but he didn't play his normal game.
"This is my favourite venue so to win here, comfortably, is brilliant. I think I've got a massive chance of winning the whole event now and I've got to get ready for the next game now.
"I want to win this. To get this title back will be as big as winning the World Championship and, this year it's probably bigger than that ((after losing his Budweiser UK Open and Las Vegas Desert Classic titles).
"People can write me off at their own peril. Everyone knows what I can do but it makes me play better."