Taylor Begins Euro Title Defence

PHIL TAYLOR began the defence of his European Championship title with a 6-2 win over Toon Greebe at the Claus Event Centre in Holland.

The defending champion faces Robert Thornton in the second round in a dress-rehearsal for December's Jocky Wilson Cup after knocking out the young Dutchman, who had chances to make the contest tighter in front of his home crowd.

"It's always good to get through the first round as the short format can be a bit tricky," said Taylor. "Now I can concentrate on the match with Robert on Saturday which I'll be more relaxed as it is best of 17 legs."

"The Jocky Wilson cup is going to be a great event and hopefully I can send a message out to Robert with a good performance."

Taylor signalled his intent with three ton-plus scores in the opening leg, but Greebe levelled immediately with a 70 checkout. Taylor sprung into action in the third leg with two maximums leaving him with tops and followed with 180s in the next two legs to move 4-1 ahead.

The world number one moved to within one leg of victory in the sixth leg, but his 21 year-old opponent had chances to win it and then broke Taylor to reduce the deficit to three legs. Greebe then missed three darts at double 14 to close matters further still allowing Taylor to take out 81 on the bull to progress.

Gary Anderson had a fright at the hands of Co Stompe, who turned a three-leg deficit round to lead the Scotsman 5-4 before Anderson won the deciding leg to progress. Roland Scholten lost 6-3 to Austrian Mensur Suljovic to join Stompe and Greebe as defeated Dutchman, but Jelle Klaasen saw off Wayne Jones 6-2 in the final match of the first night to give the home crowd something to cheer.

Klaasen meets Jamie Caven in the second round after the Derby man beat Terry Jenkins 6-4 in the opening match of the tournament, while Robert Thornton joined fellow countryman Anderson in the second round after seeing off Wes Newton. Colin Lloyd dumped John Part out in a deciding leg while Ronnie Baxter will face Anderson after beating Andy Smith 6-2.

The second set of opening round fixtures begin at 7pm on Friday night, with Mervyn King kicking off proceedings against Carlos Rodriguez before Raymond van Barneveld, James Wade, Adrian Lewis and Michael van Gerwen begin their campaigns.

2009 European Championship
First Round - Thursday
Terry Jenkins 4-6 Jamie Caven
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Roland Scholten
Wes Newton 4-6 Robert Thornton
Ronnie Baxter 6-2 Andy Smith
Co Stompe 5-6 Gary Anderson
Phil Taylor 6-2 Toon Greebe
John Part 5-6 Colin Lloyd
Wayne Jones 2-6 Jelle Klaasen

JAMIE CAVEN 6-4 TERRY JENKINS

JAMIE CAVEN knocked out world number five Terry Jenkins in the opening match of the 2009 European Championship at the Claus Event Centre in Holland.

Jenkins broke the Derby man in the first leg but Caven hit back immediately, narrowly missing the bull to level but cleaning up after Jenkins missed two darts at double top to hold.

Caven soon clicked into gear and opened up a commanding lead over the Ledbury ace at 4-1 before Jenkins began a comeback. Jenkins fired in a maximum in the sixth leg to reduce the deficit and although Caven held his throw to move 5-2 he looked edgy as Jenkins won the next two legs.

But Caven fired in a crucial 180 to take the initiative in the tenth leg and when Jenkins failed to make a significant dent in the 161 he was left with, Caven progressed into the second round.

MENSUR SULJOVIC 6-3 ROLAND SCHOLTEN

AUSTRIAN Mensur Suljovic produced a clinical display as he saw off Dutchman Roland Scholten.

Scholten received a fine ovation from his home crowd but with the match going with the throw at three legs apiece, Suljovic pressed on the accelerator to win three legs on the trot to set up a meeting with the winner of clash between Colin Lloyd and John Part.

A 76 checkout saw Suljovic move 4-3 into the lead and then came the crucial first break of throw as he took out double top to open up a two leg advantage.

Suljovic then recorded his first 180 in the final leg to keep Scholten at bay and with the home-favourite a long way adrift in the leg, Suljovic could afford missing a dart at double top before coming back to seal a repeat of his victory over the Dutchman at the same stage of the 2008 event.

ROBERT THORNTON 6-4 WES NEWTON

ROBERT THORNTON came from two legs down to register a 6-4 win over Wes Newton.

Both players got into their stride early with maximums in the opening leg, but Thornton missed two darts at double top to break Newton before the Englishman did just that in the second leg.

The Scotsman was roused into action though and began peppering the treble twenty and winning a crucial sixth leg when both players followed 140 opening scores with a 180, but it was Thornton who checked out 46 to record his fourth leg on the trot.

Newton got back on the scoreboard in the seventh leg but his Scottish opponent was not in the mood to let him back in the game and responded to move 5-3 ahead with 62 checkout. The Lancastrian held his throw to reduce to deficit once more but Thornton was not to be denied and he followed a 140 with a maximum to secure a 6-4 victory.

RONNIE BAXTER 6-2 ANDY SMITH

RONNIE BAXTER reached the second round with clinical 6-2 victory over Andy Smith.

The world number eight traded blows with Smith in a tight opening group of legs, but the Blackpool star sped away from his Warwickshire counterpart, easing into a 4-2 lead. Smith needed to take out big numbers but with Baxter leaving himself tops Smith could only leave 45 from an attempt at 136 and Baxter was 5-2 ahead.

A keenly fought eighth leg saw the pair go stride for stride but Baxter had the darts and finished the game off in simple style with a 68 checkout setting him on course to better his quarter-final exit in 2008.

GARY ANDERSON 6-5 CO STOMPE

GARY ANDERSON fought off a fantastic fightback from local favourite Co Stompe to edge a final leg thriller.

The Scotsman flew into a three-leg lead after holding his throw in the first leg, breaking Stompe and then firing in six perfect darts to threaten to run away with the game.

Stompe fired straight back at Anderson though, capitalising on Anderson busting 25 with treble nine to take out double ten and get on the scoreboard. Anderson moved 4-1 ahead but then Stompe delighted the crowd with two double tops to take out 100.

With the crowd right behind him, the Dutchman promptly broke Anderson and then held his throw with a 48 checkout with Anderson breathing down his neck to level matters.

Stompe moved ahead for the first time in the match in the ninth leg when Anderson missed five darts at double top for the leg and Stompe pounced to take out 36 at the third attempt. But the crowd favourite was unable to send the Scotsman home as Anderson broke Stompe with a 100 checkout and then held his throw to set up a meeting with Ronnie Baxter in the second round.

PHIL TAYLOR 6-2 TOON GREEBE

PHIL TAYLOR began the defence of his European Championship title with a 6-2 win over Toon Greebe.

The defending champion faces Robert Thornton in a dress-rehearsal for December's Jocky Wilson Cup after knocking out the young Dutchman who had chances to make the contest tighter in front of his home crowd.

"It's always good to get through the first round as the short format can be a bit tricky," said Taylor. "Now I can concentrate on the match with Robert on Saturday which I'll be more relaxed as it is best of 17 legs."

"The Jocky Wilson Cup is going to be a great event and hopefully I can send a message out to Robert with a good performance."

Taylor signalled his intent with three ton-plus scores in the opening leg, but Greebe levelled immediately with a 70 checkout. Taylor sprung into action in the third leg with two maximums leaving him with tops and followed with 180s in the next two legs to move 4-1 ahead.

The world number one moved to within one leg of victory in the sixth leg, but his 21 year-old opponent had chances to win it and then broke Taylor to reduce the deficit to three legs. Greebe then missed three darts at double 14 to close matters further still allowing Taylor to take out 81 on the bull to progress.

COLIN LLOYD 6-5 JOHN PART

COLIN LLOYD clinched a final leg decider to knock world number four John Part out of the European Championship.

Both players struggled to get going in the opening exchanges as the first four legs went against the throw - with Lloyd failing to punish Part for missing six darts at double 16 in the third leg.

The Essex man was the first to hold his throw in the fifth leg of the match and began to find his range, hitting the first 180 of the game in the sixth leg, which saw Part hold for the first time with a 55 checkout. Lloyd threatened to walk away with the game after hitting further maximums to move 5-3 up but he was unable to close the game out and the Canadian forced the game into a deciding leg when he won back-to-back scrappy legs to level.

Again though, Lloyd found his range on the treble 20 and it was all over when a two 140s left Colin with six darts at 106 with Part leaving 173, with Lloyd progressing to face Mensur Suljovic in Saturday's second round.

JELLE KLAASEN 6-2 WAYNE JONES

JELLE KLAASEN is the first Dutch player through to the second round of the European Championship in Holland after beating Wayne Jones 6-2 in the final first round clash of the opening day.

Klaasen wasted little time in pleasing the local crowd by holding his throw in the opening leg before checking out 58 to break Jones, who then missed three darts at double top to allow Jelle to take out 70 to move 3-0 ahead.

The Dutchman fired in his first 180 in the fourth leg to close on what looked like the first whitewash of the opening round, but he failed to checkout 40 on two visits and Jones broke Klaasen to pull his first leg back.

Wayne's first maximum of the match saw him register back-to-back legs, but Klaasen ensured Jones would fall in the first round of the tournament for the second time by twice throwing a 174 to leave tops which he took out to set up a clash with Jamie Caven.