Новости Unicorn

Taylor had contested every World Final since the PDC started in 1994 but he felt the full force of ‘Hawaii 501’ and lost in the most dramatic of tie-breaks.

This defeat also means that Taylor loses his World No.1 spot to arch-rival Raymond Van Barneveld…..but what a match, because the Unicorn superstar raced into a 3 set lead, only to see Mardle come up with the performance of his life.

Nobody but nobody could have predicted the drama that unfolded and at the end of a glorious reign, Taylor had no complaints…..indeed, he was magnanimous in defeat.

“He played brilliantly. At 3-0, I thought I would win it 5-0 but he just kept pegging back and pegging back, so fair play to Wayne. He was fantastic in the tie-break. Every time I held my throw, I thought I’ve got you here but he kept hitting me with 180s.” Taylor said.

He also thought the effect of four last set deciders took its toll in the end. “I felt all my energy levels drop but I am not making any excuses because I don’t want to take anything away from what Wayne did. I guess it is back to basics and back to the practice!” he joked.

Taylor though, will still be desperately disappointed, because although he was still far from his best after a really tough World Championship, it was there for the taking and he ran out of luck.

At 3 sets to nil, Taylor seemed to switch off and we witnessed a terrific comeback. Mardle won nine of the next 12 legs and all of a sudden it was three sets apiece. The next two sets went with throw, so we went into yet another final set and another tie-break and what a 20 minutes Taylor and Mardle gave us.

Mardle could easily have won the decider in three straight legs but missed three darts to break the Taylor throw in the opening leg and he blew seven chances in the third leg to break again, so into the tie-break we went!

Taylor banged in a maximum and a 13 darter made it 3-2….Mardle replied in kind with a 180 and a 13 darter….Taylor’s 7th 180 made it 4-3 after the Essex man just missed the bull for a 121 kill….Mardle then hit his 7th 180 and it was four legs all….another 180 for Mardle put the pressure on Taylor, who missed one dart to hold the throw and Mardle finally secured the priceless break and D18 in the next leg gave him the biggest win of his life and ended the Taylor dream.

It is the first time that Mardle has ever beaten Taylor in a TV ‘Major’ and what a time to do it. He said: “What a gentleman Phil is, because straight after the match, he told me to go on and win it. That is class.”

It was arguably the greatest day of darts ever seen. Mardle will now face Kirk Shepherd and John Part will take on Kevin Painter.

Painter followed up his epic win over Barney, with a competent and confident victory over Adrian Lewis, who just never got going and missed his chance of a first World Championship semi-final.

‘The Artist’ raced to the first set, then missed five darts to take the second and Lewis levelled. Painter won the third with a 116 finish but a 106 from Lewis made it two sets all.

Lewis was well below-par and simply left his ‘A’ game at home. Painter nailed a 120 to go 3 sets to 2 up and he sailed through the next. It was all about keeping his concentration. Lewis missed darts for the set as he went two legs in front and he paid the price, because Painter hit double 10 to come from behind and secure his 5 sets to 2 victory.

“I was absolutely awful,” admitted Painter. “I think we were both waiting for something to spark us into life. I had one good leg and one awful leg and Adrian never got going.”

He added: “It’s funny because John and I are staying at the same hotel and earlier in the week, he said to me do you fancy a semi-final and here we are but I will have to be much better than this.”

The two Saturday afternoon all-Unicorn quarter-finals threw up a couple of classics, as the latest chapter in the remarkable Kirk Shepherd story was written and John Part took another huge step towards a 3rd World Championship.

Both went to final set tie-breaks and both were won by 4 legs to 2, with Peter Manley and James Wade coming so close.

In the final set, Manley missed two darts to beat Shepherd in regulation, as the Unicorn rookie continues to ride his luck. Remember, Terry Jenkins missed seven darts for the match against him and Mick McGowan blew four chances against the 21-year-old!

After this latest shock, Shepherd reeled off four consecutive legs to win his semi-final spot. In the final leg of the match, he smacked in back-to-back 180s to finally finish Manley off.

In reaching the semi-finals, Shepherd has also clinched himself a place at the 2008 Grand Slam and the £22,500 he has so far earned means he has come from outside the world’s top 100 to secure a place in the top 40 in the PDC Order of Merit.

Part hit a brilliant 113 finish to clinch his victory over Wade. Unicorn’s World No.3 had come from 3 sets to 1 behind but fell at that final hurdle in the tie-break. He hit five 100+ finishes of his own to claw his way back….Part though, kept his cool and in reaching the semi-finals, he has given himself a great chance in claiming one of the two wildcard spots for the 2008 Premier League.

Quarter-Final results (best of nine sets):

Peter Manley 4-5 Kirk Shepherd
John Part 5-4 James Wade
Phil Taylor 4-5 Wayne Mardle
Kevin Painter 5-2 Adrian Lewis

Sunday’s Semi-Final schedule (best of 11 sets):

Kevin Painter v John Part

Wayne Mardle v Kirk Shepherd

BY STUART PYKE

Photo courtesy of Chris Sargeant