my performance.” “I’ve never felt like I did tonight because the crowd were amazing from start to finish. With the crowd behind me and form like that, there’s no reason why I can’t go all the way.” Raymond van Barneveld was not quite so fortunate in his match with qualifier Clinton ‘Tic’ Bridge, the Dutchman found himself 5-3 up, but when Bridge landed a checkout of 136 to save the game and force a deciding leg the momentum had shifted. Bridge went on to produce another excellent checkout of 80 in the decider to seal his quarter final spot. “It’s a dream come true,” admitted the 29-year-old. “Raymond’s such a great player so to get a result like this is amazing for me.” “You don’t expect to play these type of players in Australia, let alone have a dart to beat them! In the last leg I just wanted to get a shot at a double and take it, and I managed to do that.” “The 136 checkout earlier was huge for me too. When I hit that, and a 180 I hit, it threw him a bit and that’s what you have to do against these players.” “I was shaking when I got to the winning double and I didn’t expect it to go in, but I’m so glad it did!” Michael van Gerwen needed only ten minutes on stage to book his quarter final
Photo: Andrew Fawcett/PDC
spot, the Dutchman averaged 106.09 as he whitewashed Gordon Mathers - the older brother of Jamie - 6-0. Adrian Lewis too was in superlative form, the reigning European Champion landed a 170 checkout and produced an average of 103.70 on his way to defeating New Zealand’s Monty Tuhua. Tuhua had been welcomed to the stage by the traditional Haka, but this obviously did not have the desired effect as Lewis found his range from the very first dart. Wes Newton’s reward for defeating David Platt 6-3 was a quarter final against the in form Lewis, meanwhile Andy Hamilton too booked his place in the quarter finals with a 6-4 victory over Beau Anderson, who is the older brother of Kyle. Paul Nicholson found himself with a seeded spot after the ban handed down to James Wade and it was perhaps just as well. The Australian struggled on his doubles during the early stages of his match with New Zealand’s Warren Parry, he could, and perhaps should, have been 5-0 up during the early stages but instead he fought hard from only 3-2 up to secure a quarter final spot, the match finishing 6-4. “I did feel a bit of pressure but I’m very relieved that I managed to get over the winning line in the end,” said Nicholson. “I’m still a bit low on confidence and I’m
“Everything about tonight was wonderful”
Simon Whitlock
Photo: Andrew Fawcett/PDC
Photo: Andrew Fawcett/PDC