The 13-time World Champion never looked troubled against the number 15 seed, dropping just four legs in the match and averaging almost 100.
The match was marred by an exchange of words between the pair following the winning darts, with Mason's quotes in the morning newspapers meaning there was no love lost between the pair.
There were sparks flying on and off the oche, with Taylor alleging that Mason swore on stage. At the end of the match the pair shook hands, but it remains to be seen if this will be the end of the matter.
"I thought it was a good game," said Taylor. "I've been trying my hardest for this and I'm still in the hunt. We exchanged words at the end but Chris was a little disrespectful and I don't need that."
Mason said: “He is a phenomenon. There will never be another like him. I said to him don’t belittle my achievements.”
In the very first leg of the match, Mason came agonisingly close to getting a 161 finish but Taylor powered his way through the set, averaging 105.
There is no love lost between the pair. ‘Mace the Ace’ had a swipe at Taylor in the national newspapers and it looked very much like the Unicorn star was determined to teach Mason a lesson.
For Taylor, actions spoke louder than words. He was focused. He was ruthless. Mason just missed double top on a 101 finish to level the match in the 2nd set. Taylor stepped up and took the set with double 16.
The procession continued, as Taylor took a 3-0 lead and was still averaging 101. He was clearly enjoying every minute of this 3rd Round darting demolition.
‘The Power’ switched Mason off in style, to book a quarter-final against qualifier Darren Webster. He won the 4th set 3-1 to finish with an end average of 99.34
He was joined in the quarter-finals by Unicorn stablemate Andy Hamilton, who beat former World Champion Dennis Priestley, with a fabulous performance. It was a fantastic match, with power scoring from both players but crisp finishing from Hamilton secured his quarter-final spot against Terry Jenkins.
There were 17 180s…..Hamilton averaged 98.63 and Priestley 94.92.
In an astonishing start to the match, which set the tone, we saw four 180s in the opening two legs. ‘The Hammer’ took the set and moved 2-0 in front, before Priestley took the 3rd. But Hamilton was in no mood to let it slip. Back-to-back 180s set up an 11-darter to clinch the 4th set, without dropping a leg.
It really was a high quality display from Hamilton. In the 5th set, with the match locked at 2 legs each, Hamilton’s 9th 180 set up the victory chance and he won it in style, nailing double six for a 14-dart leg.
In this mood, Hamilton will be a real threat to Mr Taylor is the pair clash head-on in the semi-finals.
James Wade suffered an astonishing collapse against Terry Jenkins when he was on the verge of victory.
The Unicorn Contender was within touching distance of a place in the quarter-finals, leading 3 sets to 2 and two legs up in the 6th set, when his game just fell to pieces. It was depressing to watch and a sad way for Wade to round off what has been a great year.
From that point, Jenkins won six out of the next seven legs to put Wade out of his misery. It all looked so different early on in the match, when Wade led 3 sets to 1 and his check-out rate was around 54 per cent.
In truth, the whole tournament has been a real struggle for Wade and his end average of just 81 summed up his nightmare night. He had victory in his own hands and literally threw it away.
Wade though, will still claim a place in the world’s top 12 when the new Order of Merit ranking system is published next week. But this will go down as one of the worst nights of his darting career, because so much was expected of the 23-year-old. He must now consign this match to the darting dustbin and look forward with optimism to next year.
Thursday’s 3rd Round results:
Wynand Havenga 2-4 Darren Webster
Friday’s Quarter-Final order of play (best of nine sets):
1pm:
Andy Jenkins v Colin Osborne
7pm:
Raymond Van Barneveld v Alan Tabern
BY STUART PYKE
Photo : Lawrence Lustig/PDC
