TEAM Unicorn stars Ray Carver and Robbie Green suffered heartbreak in the PDPA Qualifiers for the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship at Villa Park. The duo both lost their final games to see hopes of an appearance at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet later this month dashed. Carver defeated Anthony Urmston and John MaGowan to reach his board final, but lost 5-3 to Martin Burchell after being punished for missed doubles in the final two legs which cost the American the match. Green, meanwhile, battled past Isen Veljic, Tony Randell and Kieron Leal to reach his decider before going down in the deciding leg to Scunthorpe's Dave Ladley. Kirk Shepherd reached his board semi-final before going down 5-2 to Alan Green, who went on to defeat top seed Dennis Smith and progress. Three-time World Champion John Lowe suffered a 5-4 loss to Ian Branks, who also went on to qualify, while Michael Barnard also went down in the final leg, to Garry Spedding. The PDPA Qualifiers were followed by the draw for the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, with 13-time World Champion Phil Taylor opening the defence of his title against Austria's Anton Pein. Number one seed Colin Lloyd will take on Germany's Tomas Seyler, Canada's John Part will meet Alan Green and Bob Anderson faces Darren Webster. Arguably the tie of round one sees Kevin Painter drawn against rising star Colin Osborne, with the winner facing Wes Newton or Japan's Tetsuya Wada. Andy Hamilton drew Gary Welding - who knocked out Lloyd last year - and Adrian Lewis will come up against Australian Grand Prix champion Anthony Fleet. Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship Draw (ENG unless stated - () denotes seeding) Colin Lloyd (1) v Tomas Seyler (Ger) Raymond van Barneveld (32, Ned) v Mitchell Clegg (Aus) Mark Walsh (16) v Rico Vonck (Ned) Barrie Bates (17, Wal) v Brian Cyr (Can) Wayne Mardle (8) v Alan Caves Dave Askew (25) v Martin Burchell Denis Ovens (9) v Steve Smith Alan Warriner-Little (24) v Alan Tabern Adrian Lewis (5) v Anthony Fleet (Aus) Wayne Jones (28) v Ian Branks Andy Jenkins (12) v Bill Davis (USA) Andy Smith (21) v Shi Yongsheng (Chi) Roland Scholten (4) v Ron Miller (Can) Alex Roy (29) v Richie Burnett (Wal) Kevin Painter (13) v Colin Osborne Wes Newton (20) v Tetsuya Wada (Jap) Phil Taylor (2) v Anton Pein (Aut) Matt Clark (31) v Mick McGowan (Ire) Chris Mason (15) v Wayne Atwood (Wal) John Part (18, Can) v Alan Green Peter Manley (7) v Dave Jowett Steve Maish (26) v Wynand Havenga (RSA) Ronnie Baxter (10) v Adrian Gray Bob Anderson (23) v Darren Webster Terry Jenkins (6) v Mark Lawrence Steve Beaton (27) v Gerry Convery (Can) James Wade (11) v Warren French (NZ) Lionel Sams (22) v Dave Ladley Dennis Priestley (3) v Josephus Schenk (Ned) Colin Monk (30) v Per Laursen (Den) Mark Dudbridge (14) v John Kucynski (USA) Andy Hamilton (19) v Gary Welding
|