World Matchplay

Darts legend Phil "The Power" Taylor looked back to his domineering best, after having a tough battle on his hands in the first round of the World Matchplay Darts tournament in Blackpool. Taylor was given a tough time by Barrie Bates as The Power started the defence of his crown, and was actually trailing 5-4 in legs at one point. Taylor was uncharacteristically missing doubles and despite a strong start, could not shake off the attentions of the Welshman. Although he was pushed hard, Taylor held everything together once he had held for 5-5 and then ran out as a 10-6 winner. Taylor still managed to rack up a mightily impressive average of 114.99 in the first round, way head of anything anyone else was hitting. There was not any signs of such problem for Taylor in the second round of the World Matchplay Darts at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, as Taylor crushed former World Champion Steve Beaton 10-3. Taylor now moves on to play Kevin Painter in the quarter finals.

Kevin Painter can hold his head up high after giving one of the great darts performances in the first round of the 2010 World Matchplay darts. Trailing 8-2 to ninth seed Colin Lloyd, Painter went on a startling darting rampage and accomplished one of the most unlikely comebacks to take the match 11-9. That was, arguably one of the performances of the first round, and Painter backed up all his hard work by taking out 8th seed Mark Walsh in the second round. There were some big name causalities in the first round, as seventh seed Adrian Lewis crashed out, losing to Mark Webster from Wales, and Co Stompe beat 10th seed Andy Hamilton. Stompe then proceeded to knock out Mark Webster in the second round, setting up a clash with the Netherlands’ big hope, Raymond van Barneveld, who has looked the most impressive player at the oche so far at the Winter Gardens.

Raymond van Barneveld looks hungry and motivated, and hit a nine dart finish in his first round 10-1 demolition of Denis Ovens in the first round. The Dutchman posted one of the highest averages of the first round (97.63) to cruise through to the second round. Barneveld then upped his averages in the second round as he raised his game to 103.85 in beating Alan Tabern 13-5 to move onto the quarter finals. Number three seed, and decent bet, James Wade safely negotiated his way to the quarter finals, beating Andy Smith and Vincent van der Voort. Wade’s not posting the high averages and both games have been tight, but he plays unseeded Wayne Jones in the quarter finals. Jones beat 11th seed Colin Osborne in the first round, and then 6th seed Ronnie Baxter in the second.

2010 World Match Play darts Quarter Final Draw – Match Odds

Phil Taylor (1) (1/33 at Bwin) v Kevin Painter (10/1 at Bwin)
Jelle Klaasen (5/2 at Bwin) v Simon Whitlock (12) (2/7 at Bwin)

Raymond van Barneveld (2) (3/10 at Boylesports) v Co Stompe (7/2 at SkyBet)
James Wade (3) (1/7 at Blue Square) v Wayne Jones (11/2 at SportingBet)

World Matchplay Winner Betting Odds

Phil Taylor - 2/7 at BetFred
Raymond van Barneveld – 9/1 at SportingBet
James Wade – 10/1 at Victor Chandler
Simon Whitlock – 12/1 at Blue Square
Co Stompe – 50/1 at SportingBet
Jelle Klaasen - 66/1 at SportingBet
Wayne Jones - 100/1 at Coral
Kevin Painter – 125/1 at ExtraBet

2010 World Matchplay Stats

• Taylor has hit fifteen 180 maximums, the highest in the tournament so far, with Raymond van Barneveld second with 10.
• Taylor has the highest 3 dart average of 114.99 for the tournament, while second placed Raymond van Barneveld has 100.74
• Highest checkout of the tournament has been a 160 from Mark Walsh, of the remaining players left in the tournament, Raymond van Barneveld has the highest of 142.

Phil "The Power" Taylor strong bet to defend title at Blackpool

Blackpool will be lit up with the talents of the greatest darts players in the world, as the 2010 World Matchplay gets under way. Phil “The Power” Taylor will be defending his title at one of his favourite venues, after beating, no, make that hammering Terry Jenkins 18-4 in the final of last year’s tournament. Taylor is the outright favourite to win again, and that is no surprise, as the won the World Championships for the 15th time in his career earlier in the year, along with the UK Open and the Premier League. The man just does not show any signs of slowing, and in fact he has been getting better statistically, in his averages and win percentage. If Taylor can with the World Matchplay again in 2010, it will be the 11th time in his illustrious career which has been crowned.

2010 World Matchplay Outright Odds

Phil Taylor: 4/9 at Stan James
James Wade: 12/1 at SportingBet
Simon Whitlock: 14/1 at Bet365
Raymond Van Barneveld: 18/1 at BetFred
Gary Anderson: 22/1 at Extrabet
Adrian Lewis: 33/1 at SportingBet
Mervyn King: 40/1 at Totesport
Ronnie Baxter: 80/1 at SportingBet
Andy Hamilton: 80/1 at Extrabet
Colin Osborne: 80/1 at Coral

The tournament runs at the Blackpool Winter Gardens from July 17th to the 25th. Taylor is landed in the fourth quarter of the draw, and start the defence of his title against Barrie Bates, who met Taylor in the final of the UK Open. The toughest quarter of the draw is the second one, with genuine title hopefuls Raymond Barneveld, Adrian Lewis and Andy Hamilton all in there. Lewis is probably one of the biggest threats to Taylor, and it would make for something of a spectacular final if they meet there, in a master v apprentice kind of way. They are in separate halves of the draw, so it could well happen. Lewis suffered defeat against Taylor in both the World Championships and UK Open this year, but has a decent enough record in the World Matchplay to suggest that he get reach the final. Lewis plays Mark Webster in the first round, in what could be a potential banana skin.

Darts World Matchplay Draw for the First Round By Date (seeding and match odds in brackets)

Saturday, July 17th
(14) Dennis Priestley (11/8 at Ladbrokes) v Vincent van der Voort (4/6 at Totesport)
(11) Colin Osborne (8/13 at SportingBet) v Wayne Jones (11/8 at Boylesports)
(2) Raymond van Barneveld (4/9 at BetFred) v Denis Ovens (4/9 at Blue Square)
(6) Ronnie Baxter (8/13 at Victor Chandler) v Jamie Caven (6/4 at Ladbrokes)

Sunday, July 18th
(10) Andy Hamilton (4/6 at Extrabet) v Co Stompe (11/8 at SkyBet)
(7) Adrian Lewis (8/15 at Stan James) v Mark Webster (7/4 at Ladbrokes)
(3) James Wade (2/9 at William Hill) v Andy Smith (4/1 at BetFred)
(15) Alan Tabern (18/19 at Bwin) v Wes Newton (10/11 at Stan James)

Monday, July 19th
(5) Terry Jenkins (4/11 at Coral) v Steve Brown (5/2 at Ladbrokes)
(12) Simon Whitlock (1/5 at Blue Square) v Tony Eccles (9/2 at SportingBet)
(13) Robert Thornton (3/1 at Ladbrokes) v Gary Anderson (3/10 at Totesport)
(4) Mervyn King (4/9 at Totesport) v Jelle Klaasen (9/4 at SportingBet)

Tuesday, July 20th
(9) Colin Lloyd (10/11 at SkyBet) v Kevin Painter (Evens at Paddy Power)
(8) Mark Walsh (8/13 at William Hill) v Mark Dudbridge (6/4 at Boylesports)
(1) Phil Taylor (1/20 at William Hill) v Barrie Bates (20/1 at SkyBet)
(16) Paul Nicholson (8/15 at Stan James) v Steve Beaton (13/8 at Boylesports)

If you take Phil Taylor out of the field though, the tournament looks pretty open to be honest, but it will take a brave punter to go against The Power! A good bet would be James Wade who has a 13-2 match record at the World Matchplay. He should have a fairly smooth ride to the quarter finals one should think, and has reached three of the last four finals, winning one of them. Raymond Van Barneveld has gone out at the quarter final stage of the World Matchplay in the last three consecutive years, and it is a tournament which he hasn’t won. He is still one of the class acts in the world though, and a dominating presence at the oche. The World number two has a tough draw on his hands though, and will need to be at his very best. Terry Jenkins, ranked 5th is also worth looking at after making the final last year.

Here are the Brackets for the Tournament, broken into quarters:

World Matchplay Quarter 1:
James Wade, Ronnie Baxter, Colin Osborne, Vincent Van Der Voort, Jamie Caven, Dennis Priestley, Wayne Jones, Andy Smith
World Matchplay Quarter 2:
Raymond Barneveld, Adrian Lewis, Andy Hamilton, Co Stompe, Mark Webster, Alan Tabern, Denis Ovens, Wes Newton
World Matchplay Quarter 3:
Gary Anderson, Simon Whitlock, Mervyn King, Terry Jenkins, Robert Thornton, Jelle Klaasen, Tony Eccles, Steve Brown
World Matchplay Quarter 4:
Phil Taylor, Paul Nicholson, Colin Lloyd, Mark Walsh, Kevin Painter, Mark Dudbridge, Steve Beaton, Barrie Bates

Phil "The Power" Taylor odds on favourite to retain 2010 World Matchplay title at Blackpool

The 2010 Stan James World Darts Matchplay is expecting to put on the biggest show it has ever done so, as the tournament runs from July 17 to 25th in Blackpool. The Winter Gardens Empress Ballroom is the venue, and the man to beat of course, will be Phil “The Power” Taylor. Taylor has won the World Matchplay tournament ten times during his career, but Taylor recently suffered a shock defeat to Chris Thompson in the World Series of Darts Festival in Las Vegas recently. Taylor was expected to pick up his third consecutive title at the event, but fell at the Quarter Final Stage. But, as a whole, one scary thing about the awesome power of Phil Taylor, is that if you look over his statistics, he is playing better than ever. That is saying something of a man who has won thirteen World Championship title, including the one at the beginning of 2010.

Taylor broke records at that event, becoming the first man to earn over £1 million worth of prize money, which counts towards the rankings of the Order of Merit. Going straight back into action at the 2010 Players Championship, Taylor slipped to Paul Nicholson in the semi finals. Taylor won the Premier League darts tournament, where, in the final, he become the first darter to hit two nine-dart finishes in a match. That was against James Wade, and up until then, that had been the only major darts title that had been eluding Taylor. He didn’t lose a single match through the league campaign. Taylor then went on to win the UK Open Championship, successfully defending his crown there and picking up his fourth UK Open title. Taylor now is having a period of his highest winning percentage throughout his entire career, which has been a dazzling array of success. Somehow the legend has upped the quality standards of the World Darts game again, ruthlessly posting phenomenally high three dart averages. He has now won 18 of the last 23 tournaments he has entered and is read hot favourite to win the Stan James World Matchplay again.

Stan James World Matchplay Phil Taylor Specials

Stage of Elimination at SkyBet
Winner: 2/5
Semi Final: 6/1
Runner Up: 8/1
Quarter Final: 10/1
2nd Round: 12/1
1st Round: 20/1

Phil Taylor to make 170 check out?
No: 1/10 at SkyBet
Yes: 11/2 at SkyBet

Phil Taylor Total 180’s
Under 30.5: 5/6 at SkyBet
Over 30/5: 5/6 at SkyBet

The nine day festival of darts begins on July 17th, but Taylor does not get to the oche until July 20th, in his opening match against Barry Bates. The Top 16 PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) have automatically qualified for the tournament, and sixteen other best non-qualified players from the Order of Merit will be joining them. The best darts players in the world are at Blackpool, and they will all be gunning for Phil “The Power” Taylor, one of the sporting legends of his generations. Taylor Beat Terry Jenkins 18-4 in the final of the 2009 Stan James World Matchplay Tournament.

Stan James World Matchplay Odds
Phil Taylor to win: 1/20 at William Hill
Barrie Bates: 20/1 at SkyBet

Stan James World Matchplay Odds Outright Odds at Bet365
Phil Taylor: 2/5
James Wade: 9/1
Raymond van Barneveld: 14/1
Simon Whitlock 14/1
Gary Anderson: 16/1
Adrian Lewis: 33/1
Mervyn King: 33/1
Colin Osborne: 66/1

Stan James World Matchplay Odds To Reach Final
Phil Taylor: 2/7 at SportingBet
James Wade: 7/2 at BetFred
Raymond van Barneveld: 6/1at BetFred
Simon Whitlock: 7/1 at SportingBet
Gary Anderson: 8/1 at SportingBet
Adrian Lewis: 10/1 at BetFred
Andy Hamilton: 10/1 at BetFred

Stan James World Matchplay Most 180’s Odds at BetFred
Phil Taylor: 1/2
Gary Anderson: 4/1
Adrian Lewis: 5/1
James Wade: 13/2
Simon Whitlock: 8/1
Raymond Barneveld: 20/1

After more than 40 years, the Volvo World Matchplay has a new home and a new format this year. Wentworth has been staging this popular end of season matchplay event since 1964 but in 2009, the 16 invited professionals will be swapping the damp, autumnal feel of leafy Surrey for the winter sunshine of the Costa Del Sol and the Finca Cortesin course near Marbella. Finca Cortesin, almost 7,000 metres in length, is one of the longest courses in Europe and will provide a very different challenge to Wentworth in that the valley in which it has been built remains relatively remote (well as remote as you can get on the Costa Del Sol nowadays) and not the easiest place to get to for spectators. I mentioned the tournament also has a new format and that entails four groups of four competing in a round-robin league format to decide the semi-finalists, who will play off over 36 holes next Saturday. Top seed for the event is Paul Casey but he’s been out of action since early August with a rib injury (hence the general 12-1) and may struggle to get the better of enigmatic South African Retief Goosen (also a general 12-1 to win the event) in Group A. totesport are offering 2-1 about Goosen winning the group which looks on the generous side. The favourite to emerge triumphant on the last day, however, is Lee Westwood. The Nottinghamshire-born golfer has certainly had a profitable year, ending a string of near misses in some of the circuit’s most valuable tournaments with victory in the Portugal Masters earlier this month. Marvellously consistent, the general 13-2 about Westwood is sure to be snapped up. But there is a real danger that the world number three might not even make the knockout stages as I think the way this tournament is set up is going to suit fellow Englishman Ross Fisher. Drawn alongside Westwood in Group D, it would certainly be ironic if Fisher (16-1 with Ladbrokes), who learned his trade at Wentworth and is actually sponsored by the club, were to win the £675,000 first prize in the first year it wasn’t staged in Surrey, But it shouldn’t be forgotten how close he came to causing an upset in the Open during the summer when under the public gaze (his wife was due to give birth at the time) and he will have a lot less pressure on him this week.