World Championship Review - Day 9 afternoon
Posted on December 28th, 2007
YOUNG STARS James Wade, Adrian Lewis and Kirk Shepherd booked places in the quarter-finals of the 2008 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship on a dramatic afternoon at Alexandra Palace.
The trio have been hailed in some quarters as the future of the sport, and showed their qualities with battling displays.
Qualifier Shepherd, 21, continued his dream debut in the event by knocking out world number 13 Barrie Bates 4-2, following his earlier wins over Terry Jenkins and Mick McGowan with another nerveless display.
Number seven seed Lewis came from 2-0 down to defeat Tony Eccles 4-3 in a tie-break thriller, while world number three James Wade defied a bout of ‘flu to see off Mark Dudbridge 4-2.
Dudbridge was also battling the effects of a stomach bug, but paid the price for allowing Wade into a 3-1 lead.
“I’m not feeling too good but neither was Mark,” said Wade. “I felt a bit dizzy and disorientated when I was moving around on stage but I had to get on with the job in hand.”
Lewis lost the first eight legs of his contest with Eccles, but took out three ton-plus finishes in coming back against the former Lakeside quarter-finalist.
“I believe I can win this tournament but I’ll have to perform better,” admitted Lewis. “It’s probably his best performance on TV and he nearly did me.”
The third round concludes on Friday evening with the final three matches, which include defending champion Raymond van Barneveld against Kevin Painter.
2008 Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship
Third Round
Kirk Shepherd 4-2 Barrie Bates
Adrian Lewis 4-3 Tony Eccles
James Wade v Mark Dudbridge
Evening Session (7pm Start)
Peter Manley v Jan van der Rassel
Raymond van Barneveld v Kevin Painter
Alex Roy v John Part
KIRK SHEPHERD 4-2 BARRIE BATES
(3-0, 1-3, 3-2, 1-3, 3-2, 3-1)
KIRK SHEPHERD continued his superb debut run at the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, defeating world number 13 Barrie Bates to reach the quarter-finals.
The 21-year-old has defeated Terry Jenkins and Mick McGowan already in the event, and again took advantage of his opponent’s mistakes at Alexandra Palace.
The Kent man started well by taking the first set. He broke throw in the first leg, and landed double top to take a 1-0 lead after Bates missed three darts to take the third leg.
Bates came back well to take the second set, landing checkouts of 86, 96, and 102 to take the set.
The Welshman should have taken a 2-1 lead, but missed a dart at tops in the third leg for a 110 finish.
He then failed to convert three further opportunities to take the set in the deciding leg, and Shepherd pounced, landing double eight to regain the lead.
The opening two legs of the fourth set where shared and both players had a dart to take out big finishes in the third, but it was Bates who landed the winning double to break throw.
Both players missed darts to take the fourth leg, but Bates managed to land double nine to level the contest once again.
Bates opened up a 2-1 lead in the fifth set, converting a 13-dart finish in the third leg.
He had a dart to win the set in the next, but failed to land the bullseye, for a 128 finish, and Shepherd made it 2-2 with an excellent 112 finish.
The former UK Open finalist had three further opportunities to take the lead and go one set away from the match.
But he failed to take his chances, and Shepherd hit double 12 to take lead once again.
The first two legs of the sixth where shared, but Shepherd then managed to take the next two legs in 15 and 13 darts to take victory.
“I’m on top of the world,” said Shepherd. “I feel great but I don’t think I’ve brought my ‘A Game’ here yet.
“I know I can play a lot better but I’m not complaining, because I’ve won! This is by far the best event I’ve ever played in, I’m having a great run and I don’t want it to end.”
Bates said: “He scored well and finished well but I don’t know what’s wrong with my game at the moment.
“In my last two matches I played dreadfully but finished superbly, today I scoring brilliantly but couldn’t finish!
“It’s frustrating but fair play to him, he’s beaten Terry Jenkins, Mick McGowan and now me. He deserved it.”
ADRIAN LEWIS 4-3 TONY ECCLES
(0-3, 0-3, 3-2, 3-0, 3-2, 1-3, 4-2)
ADRIAN LEWIS won a dramatic last 16 encounter with Tony Eccles to reach the quarter-finals of the 2008 Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship.
Eccles came from three sets down to defeat Steve Maish on Thursday, but was on the receiving of a comeback as Lewis came from 2-0 down in sets and 2-0 in legs to take the win in a decider.
Eccles came out like a train, winning the opening eight legs of the match before Lewis got into the contest.
The Hartlepool man took a 1-0 lead, and then landed a 101 checkout to take the opening leg of the second set.
He then broke throw with a 12-dart finish, hitting an 84 checkout and then wrapped up the set with a 119 finish to double his advantage.
Eccles continued his superb checkout rate, by landing finishes of 72, and 105 to go to the verge of a 3-0 lead.
Lewis took his opening leg of the match in the next with a 106 finish and then survived two missed darts by Eccles to take the set in leg four to level.
The number seven seed then hit a 13-dart finish in the deciding leg to take the set.
Lewis began to find his rhythm and broke throw with a 136 finish in the opening leg of the fourth set after Eccles missed the bullseye for a 170 checkout, and then hit a two-dart 81 checkout to level the match at 2-2.
Eccles managed to win the opening leg, of the fifth set, taking his first leg in six, but Lewis quickly hit back, taking the next two legs to lead.
Eccles pulled back in the fourth leg, landing double 16, but Lewis took out a 70 finish to lead 3-2, going ahead for the first time in the match.
Eccles took the first leg of the sixth set, hitting the bullseye for an 84 finish. He had an opportunity to take the second leg, but Lewis hit a superb 120 finish.
But Eccles took the next two legs to send the match into a deciding set.
Lewis took the opening leg of the deciding set, despite his opponent landing his fifth maxmium of the game.
Eccles then took the next two legs, hitting an 11-darter in the second and breaking throw in the third, to go one leg away from victory.
Eccles had two chances to take the match in the fourth leg, but was unable to take them and Lewis landed a pressure double nine with his last dart to stay alive.
After an unscheduled comfort break, Lewis took the lead with an 81 finish. He then hit his fifth maximum of the match in the sixth leg, and went on to complete it in 15-darts to record a fantastic win.
Lewis will now take on either current PDC World Champion Raymond van Barneveld or Kevin Painter in the quarter-finals.
“I believe I can win this tournament but I’ll have to perform better,” admitted Lewis.
“I believe in myself and even if Tony had gone 3-0 up, I knew he had come back yesterday and I could.
“He never really missed anything and I had to take out a few big shots there. In the first two sets I kept leaving a finish after 12 darts and not getting a shot at it, and you can’t do anything about that.
“I think the 136 I took out was the turning point in the game.
“I’ve never played Tony before, he’s difficult to play and I didn’t think he was going to perform like he did. It’s probably his best performance on TV and he nearly did me.”
He added: “As long as I keep digging in there and fighting I’ll be okay. I’ll need to be straight off the mark in the quarters and I think I can do that.”
Eccles admitted: “I knew I had to come out of the traps quick and maybe I was too quick!
“He pulled away and just he thought I’d gone I came back at him and took him to the last set.
“I hit him with some big shots which appeared to lift him up, rather than buckle him. One of the big turning points was when I missed the bull for a 170 and he took out a brilliant 136 - that is top class quality.
“I had two darts for the match, but it wasn’t to be. I’ve had a good run, but I know I have it in me to go a lot further.”
JAMES WADE 4-2 MARK DUDBRIDGE
(2-3, 3-1, 3-0, 3-2, 1-3, 3-2)
JAMES WADE overcame a bout of ‘flu and the challenge of Mark Dudbridge in a tough third round match at the 2008 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.
Both players were struggling with illness before, and during the match, but Wade managed to come through to reach his first World Championship quarter-final.
Wade started poorly, failing to convert a number of chances to win the opening leg to allow Dudbridge, who was battling against a stomach bug, to pounce.
Dudbridge also took the second leg before Wade hit a 61 finish to open his account.
Dudbridge missed five darts in the fourth leg to win the opening set and Wade stepped in hitting double nine.
The Bristol man made no mistake in the next leg, landing double 16 to take the set.
Wade started to get into the game in the second set, taking the opening two legs before Dudbridge hit back in third, with the help of his first maximum of the match.
Wade then took the set with an excellent 98 finish, hitting two double tops to complete the checkout and level up at one apiece.
The world number three opened up a 2-0 lead in the third set, and then hit a 14-dart leg to take go ahead for the first time in the match.
Dudbridge took the opening leg of the fourth set, and then broke throw to double his lead, hitting a superb 177 and then returning to the oche to hit double twelve.
Wade took the next leg, despite needing six attempts to land double top, and he also required six further shots to land double top in the next leg, after Dudbridge had one dart at double five to take the set.
Wade then produced some class in the deciding leg of the set to lead 3-1. He hit his third maximum of the match to leave 92, which he duly converted, with Dudbridge waiting on 40.
He took the first leg of the sixth set, but Dudbridge showed great character to take the next three legs in succession to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Wade opened a 2-0 lead in the seventh set, to go one leg away from victory. But Dudbridge hit back again, taking the third leg with a 62 finish, and then produced a 14-dart leg to level.
Both players missed opportunities to take the deciding leg, but it was Wade who held his nerve to land double top to win the match.
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