Новости Unicorn

The 21-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent was made to suffer, before coming from 10-9 down to beat a crestfallen Mardle 11-10.

The Unicorn contender raced into a 6-1 lead and missed five darts to make it 7-1, before ‘Hawaii 501’ produced a stunning comeback. Mardle reeled off the next six legs to edge ahead….it was nip and tuck in the heat of battle on the Reebok stage. Mardle led 10-9 and then we witnessed one of those dazzling darting moments, that will live long in the memory. Under enormous pressure, Lewis came up trumps with a magical 146 check-out, which even drew applause from Mardle. The young man finished the job in a nail-biting deciding leg.

“Phew!” was his reaction! “That 146 was a killer for Wayne and I am so pleased at the way I fought after going to sleep in the middle of the match. Wayne was brilliant but that is a big win for me.”

Lewis had earlier demolished Kevin Dowling 8-1…..he now takes on 65-year-old John Magowan.

Fellow Unicorn contender Michael Barnard so nearly shared top billing on day two at The Reebok. He was brilliant in beating Scouser Lee Palfreyman 8-4 in the 3rd round. Barnard also came tantalisingly close to a 9-darter. He hit seven perfect darts but missed the treble 19.

Barnard came unstuck at the last 32 stage against ‘The Rocket’. The Unicorn youngster looked to be heading for one of the best victories of his career, when he raced 4-0 up against Ronnie Baxter….but he couldn’t sustain it and Baxter ran out an 11-7 winner.

Barnard’s consolation is a cheque for £1,000 and eight precious world ranking points.

Unicorn’s former World Champions John Part and Bob Anderson were both in imperious form. The Canadian, who comes to Bolton off the back of two tournament wins on the North American circuit, breezed through to the last 16 in some style. He disposed of Gary Welding 8-3, winning the match with a 114 finish….and Part looked the part, beating Andrew Hamilton 11-6.

Anderson was the King of the Veterans! In the 3rd round, ‘The Limestone Cowboy’ saw off Richie Burnett 8-5. He then beat the in-form Dennis Priestley with a terrific display 11-6. His reward is a showdown with Dutch maestro Raymond Van Barneveld for a place in the quarter-finals. After beating two former World Champions, he now has the tough task against the 4-times World Champ from Holland!

So, what about that! It’s Lloyd against Taylor in the match of the 5th Round. The draw drew gasps from the Reebok crowd, when Eric Bristow pulled the Unicorn pair out of the bag.

Taylor said: “It is going to be another cracker. Colin is playing well and he will really want to beat me but I want to win this title again and I will be ready!”

Both Lloyd and Taylor were in cruise control on Saturday. Taylor powered past Gary Noonan and Dave Askew and ‘Jaws’ was far too good for Alan Warriner and Steve Maish. Lloyd is using his new Unicorn darts for the first time in competition at the UK Open, so maybe they will bring him a change of luck against ‘The Power’.

It will quite a match on Sunday and remember Lloyd still hasn’t beaten his Unicorn stablemate in a major TV tournament.

There were three Unicorn casualties in the 3rd Round. Kevin Painter was on the end of one of the shocks of the day. He was beaten 8-5 by veteran Irishman John Magowan, who was celebrating his 65th birthday. James Wade threw away a 6-4 lead to lose 8-6 to Andy Smith…and Peter Manley just wasn’t at the races. He lost 8-5 against Roland Scholten.

It was quite a day but Adrian Lewis was THE star of the show.

3rd Round results: (Unicorn players highlighted)

COLIN LLOYD 8-2 Alan Warriner
Roland Scholten 8-5 PETER MANLEY
Gary Noonan 4-8 PHIL TAYLOR
Simon Whatley 0-8 Raymond Van Barneveld
Robbie Green 8-4 Chris Mason
Ian Whillis 4-8 Wayne Mardle
Gary Welding 3-8 JOHN PART
Matt Clark 8-6 Steve Coote
Mark Robinson 3-8 Adrian Gray
Wayne Jones 8-3 Steve Hine
John Magowan 8-5 KEVIN PAINTER
Jason Roberts 7-8 Alan Tabern
Richie Burnett 5-8 BOB ANDERSON
Robbie Widdows 2-8 Keith Deller
Andy Hamilton 8-4 Lee Topper
Dave Askew 8-3 Mark Dudbridge
Darren Johnson 5-8 Graeme Stoddart
Andy Jenkins 8-7 Alan Reynolds
Wes Newton 8-7 Darren Latham
Owen Caffrey 3-8 Denis Ovens
Geoff Harkup 1-8 Terry Jenkins
Barrie Bates 8-6 Wayne Atwood
Tom Kirby 7-8 Andy Callaby
ADRIAN LEWIS 8-1 Kevin Dowling
Jimmy Mann 8-2 Colin Monk
Mick McGowan 7-8 Mark Walsh
Steve Maish 8-6 Colin Osborne
Andy Smith 8-6 JAMES WADE
Chris Allen 5-8 Dennis Priestley
Kevin Pearson 1-8 Alex Roy
MICHAEL BARNARD 8-4 Lee Palfreyman
Lionel Sams 3-8 Ronnie Baxter

4th Round results (Unicorn players highlighted)

ADRIAN LEWIS 11-10 Wayne Mardle
Steve Maish 3-11 COLIN LLOYD
Jimmy Mann 4-11 Raymond Van Barneveld
BOB ANDERSON 11-6 Dennis Priestley
Keith Deller 7-11 Terry Jenkins
Wes Newton 5-11 Denis Ovens
Wayne Jones 8-11 Barrie Bates
Mark Walsh 6-11 Robbie Green
Roland Scholten 11-5 Andy Jenkins
Andrew Hamilton 6-11 JOHN PART
Andy Callaby 11-6 Adrian Gray
Andy Smith 7-11 Alan Tabern
Matt Clark 4-11 John Magowan
Dave Askew 3-11 PHIL TAYLOR
Graeme Stoddart 5-11 Alex Roy
MICHAEL BARNARD 7-11 Ronnie Baxter

5th Round draw (best of 21 legs)

PHIL TAYLOR v COLIN LLOYD
Denis Ovens v Alan Tabern
Andy Callaby v JOHN PART
Roland Scholten v Barrie Bates
Robbie Green v Terry Jenkins
BOB ANDERSON v Raymond Van Barneveld
John Magowan v ADRIAN LEWIS
Alex Roy v Ronnie Baxter

BY STUART PYKE

Photo: Lawrence Lustig/PDC