Wright took advantage of this second break of throw to secure a point
in the tenth leg, before seeing the match out in the twelfth.
“I’ve not been on my game for the last couple of weeks so I knew
I needed a win out of that, and a couple of good legs proved the
difference,” said Wright.
“I’ve changed back to my old, old darts - that I was using last year and they did the trick because I wasn’t consistent enough. My scoring
was better tonight and I finished well too, and that was the key.”
“This was a good win and hopefully with another week’s practice I can
improve again for the last three games.”
Gary Anderson 6-6 Phil Taylor
Phil Taylor had the better of the early stages in this one, indeed he
produced the first break of throw of the match two race into a 3-1
lead.
Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig
Last season’s Gary Anderson probably would have folded at this point,
but this season the Scot has been a different prospect altogether and
he had soon broken back to level the match at 3-3.
Taylor was averaging well over 100, but it was Anderson who reached
six legs first, securing a vital point as he aims to move into the top four,
only for Taylor to snatch a draw with a 71 checkout.
“Gary put me under pressure and kept hitting back after I got in front,”
said Taylor. “My focus is getting into the play-offs and this is another
point towards that, so I’m happy.”
“Next week I play twice so it’s make or break for me, but I’m excited
and looking forward to it.”
Raymond van Barneveld 7-3 Adrian Lewis
Barneveld posted his first 180 of the match in the opening leg
and he had soon pinned double eighteen to take a 1-0 lead.
Lewis was able to reply with a maximum of his own in the
second leg as he leveled things up, but it was Barney
who was the form horse in this one.
The Dutchman took the next three legs to lead 4-1,
and whilst Lewis was able to close the gap briefly it
was van Barneveld who secured a point in only the
ninth leg.
The five-time World Champion then opened up the
tenth leg with back-to-back maximums, and whilst
he was unable to convert the nine-darter it proved
more than enough for him to secure both points.
Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig
“Next week I play
twice so it’s make
or break for me,
but I’m excited
and looking
forward to it”
Phil Taylor