2008 Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship - Day One

REPORTS, results and reaction from the opening day of the 2008 Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship.

The tournament opens at a historic new venue, Alexandra Palace, with four First Round matches kicking off 12 days of action.

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2008 Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship
Monday 17 December
First Round
Alan Tabern 3-1 Per Laursen
Adrian Gray 2-3 Mark Walsh
Wayne Mardle 3-2 Ray Carver
Colin Lloyd 2-3 Jan van der Rassel
Best of five sets, best of five legs per set

ALAN TABERN 3-1 PER LAURSEN
(3-2, 1-3, 3-2, 3-1)

ALAN TABERN made a successful start to the Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship with a 3-1 win over Per Laursen.

Tabern reached the quarter-finals of last year's event, and overcame opening-day nerves to see off the Dane.

Tabern made the perfect start, with the first three darts at Alexandra Palace scoring a maximum as he opened in style.

The St Helens man took the opening leg, and won the first set in a decider as all five legs went with the throw.

Laursen, who edged teenager Vladimir Anderson to come through the Danish qualifiers this year, secured the first break of throw in winning the second set 3-1, defying another Tabern maximum to steal the throw in leg four for the set.

Laursen was buoyed, and took a 2-1 lead against the throw in the third set with a 13-darter.

Tabern broke back in 14 darts and crucially edged the decider to move 2-1 up in the match.

The first two legs of set four were shared before Tabern punished two missed doubles from Laursen to break and lead 2-1, before sealing the win with a 66 finish.

"I wasn't too happy because I can play much better than that," said Tabern. "I'm waiting for the day that I take my performances from the floor tournaments onto the stage.

"I was hoping for a good performance but getting through is the main thing and I would have taken that before I came.

"A lot of things went wrong for me up there but if you can beat someone like Per Laursen with things going wrong then I can go away happy and build on it."

Of his opening 180, he added: "My goal was to make my first three darts something to remember, and I did that."

Listen to reaction from Alan Tabern in DartsTV

Match Stats

Alan Tabern	3-1	Per Laursen
20	100+	30
18	140+	10
2	180	2
29.32	Ave1	28.06
87.96	Ave3	84.17
66	High Finish	68

MARK WALSH 3-2 ADRIAN GRAY
(3-1, 3-2, 2-3, 1-3, 3-1)

MARK WALSH overcame Adrian Gray with a 3-2 victory in the First Round of the Ladbrokes.com PDC Darts World Championship.

Walsh settled the better of the two players at the start of the match and converted a 156 finish to take the first set 3-1.

The second set was a tight affair, with the opening four legs going with throw, but it was Walsh made Gray pay for two missed darts at double 18 to increase his advantage, and take a 2-0 lead.

The third set also went all the way but the it was Gray who made Walsh pay for a missed double at tops for the match, taking out a 41 finish to take the set 3-2 and keep his hopes alive.

The confidence of the 26-year-old increased and he played his best darts of the match in the fourth set and went on to level the match,including a 104 checkout.

Both players shared the first two legs in the deciding set but it was Walsh who made the decisive move and converted 97 and 110 checkouts to take the victory.

"It was a funny game," admitted Walsh. "Adrian wasn't himself up there and I seemed to do just enough to win - just enough.

"I felt good up there, I had no nerves but I don't know why the darts didn't go. I managed to hit some big scores and important doubles but I know I'll need to step my game up a long way in round two.

"I've got either Michael van Gerwen or Phil Taylor in the next round and hopefully I'll be more focused and play 'proper' darts.

"I've been playing really well for a couple of months and this is probably my worst game in that period. It hurts because I know people paid their hard-earned money and I didn't play very well for them, hopefully I can put that right in the next game.

"I came into the game thinking I could come unstuck and I nearly did."

Walsh, who is based not far from Alexandra Palace in Hertfordshire, was cheered on by a good local support.

"The stage is absolutely brilliant and bringing the World Championship to the Ally Pally is probably the best thing the PDC has ever done," added Walsh.

"This is such a fantastic venue, all the players love it and the crowd enjoyed it."

Listen to reaction from Mark Walsh & Adrian Gray in DartsTV

Match Stats

Adrian Gray	2-3	Mark Walsh
28	100+	27
18	140+	18
3	180	3
29.34	Ave1	29.21
88.01	Ave3	87.63
104	High Finish	156

WAYNE MARDLE 3-2 RAY CARVER
(2-3, 3-1, 3-1, 0-3, 3-1)

WAYNE MARDLE came from a set down to edge out Ray Carver 3-2 in his Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship opener.

The Essex star, a three-time semi-finalist at the Circus Tavern, began his challenge at Alexandra Palace with a gritty display.

American number two Carver performed superbly, landing seven maximums in the match and showing some touches of class in pushing his more experienced opponent all the way.

He came from 2-1 down in the opening set to win in a decider with a fine 14-darter, including scores of 180 and 140 before finishing on double 16.

Mardle lifted his game to win a high-quality second set 3-1, hitting legs of 12, 15 and 14 darts to square the game.

Mardle led 2-0 in the next before Carver hit back in 14 darts, only for Mardle to reply in kind and take the set 3-1.

Carver this time responded, breaking the throw on double ten to open set four before taking out a 13-darter and then a 12-darter with a 180 in a third successive leg to win the set and send the game into a decider.

A 110 finish put the American ahead, with Mardle levelling and then landing double ten to move 2-1 - sparking a relieved celebration as he moved to within a leg of the win.

He held the edge in the next, and some sloppy scoring from Carver allowed him the breathing space to miss two darts for the win before returning to the oche to land double six.

"I'm over the moon to get through that game," said Mardle, who was a first round loser to Alan Caves 12 months ago.

"I was thinking of not losing that match rather than aiming to reach the latter stages last year, but Ray did me a favour by playing so well.

"I've been playing great on the circuit this year but been atrocious in the TV events. I want to change that and believe I can win this."

Listen to reaction from Wayne Mardle in DartsTV

Match Stats

Wayne Mardle	3-2	Ray Carver
23	100+	26
17	140+	7
4	180	7
30.38	Ave1	30.10
91.13	Ave3	90.30
92	High Finish	110

JAN VAN DER RASSEL 3-2 COLIN LLOYD
(3-2, 1-3, 1-3, 3-2, 6-4)

JAN VAN DER RASSEL condemned Colin Lloyd to a first round defeat for the second time in three years at the Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship.

The former world number one's run of disappointing form in the tournament continued, as he allowed a 2-1 lead to slip against the Dutch qualifier - missing one dart for a 3-1 victory.

Van der Rassel took the fourth set to send the match into a decider, and missed ten darts for victory before finally nailing double ten.

He started the brighter of the two, taking out finishes of 105 and 104 in winning the first set 3-2.

Lloyd responded well, winning six of the next eight legs to push himself ahead and move his finishing percentage up to 82.

He led in set four only for van der Rassel to hit back and lead 2-1, although the Dutchman was punished for failing to leave a double in the next as Lloyd moved to within a leg of victory.

The former World Matchplay champion set up a spectacular 164 finish for the match in the decider, only to miss the bullseye, allowing van der Rassel to step in and take out double ten to stay in the contest.

The Dutchman maintained his edge in the final set, leading 2-1 before missing three darts in the fourth leg for the win.

He also missed a further four in the sixth and two in the eighth, with a 120 finish from Lloyd keeping him in the game at 4-4.

But the Englishman was punished for poor scoring in the next two, as van der Rassel edged 5-4 up and then finally landed the winning double.

"I knew it would be a close game but I didn't think it would be that close!" admitted van der Rassel, who battled through a 160-man field at the PDPA Qualifiers to win a place at Alexandra Palace.

"Two years ago I played a sudden death leg in the World Championship against John Kuczynski and missed nine darts to win, and I thought it would be the same again.

"When I was 2-1 down I didn't let that worry me because I had to stay in there until the match was over, it doesn't matter to me if I'm in front or behind - it's all about throwing the final double into the board, and luckily I got that.

"Colin is a great person and a very great player, so it means a lot to me to win against him."

Match Stats