After four days of great action on the oche, everyone is talking about the action off it. Paul 'The Asset' Nicholson has usually got plenty to say for himself and Sunday night was no exception!
At the 2011 UK Open, Nicholson defeated Taylor in the last 16, and supposedly waved goodbye to him. In the interview after Sunday's 12-10 victory over Colin Osborne, Nicholson spoke of Taylor's reaction and stated that when they meet again, he will "put him to bed". Big words from the Geordie and Taylor let his darts do the talking, with a 3-dart average of over 101 to beat Mark Hylton 10-8 in a high class first round game. After his game Taylor was clearly agitated by the comments and their next encounter is a mouth-watering proposition!
The shock of the first round was the exit of second favourite Gary Anderson, losing 10-6 to Andy Hamilton. It was a typical performance from the Scot, with ten 180's to Hamilton's one, followed by bucket-loads of missed doubles. Hamilton's finishing was superb, with a 59% success rate, finishing no less than three times on the bull! The snarl was back!
Among the other favourites, James Wade whitewashed a very poor Jamie Caven, hardly getting into second gear, whilst Raymond van Barneveld strolled to 10-3 victory over Steve Brown. Adrian Lewis also progressed with a 14-12 victory over Kevin Painter, who missed three darts at tops to beat Lewis 10-6! After the match Painter was less than impressed with his performance, although insisting he never gets any luck.
John Part rolled back the years to produce the perfect 9-dart leg but went on to lose 10-8 to Mark Webster.
Here's my predictions for the second round -
Wednesday 20th July
Steve Beaton v Mark Webster
'The Adonis' averaged over 100 in the first round, and has a great chance on that form to beat Webster. However Beaton's consistency is a worry and I see Webster edging a close encounter.
Adrian Lewis v Vincent van der Voort
This will certainly be the quickest paced match of the tournament, and 180's aplenty smashing home! My money is on Lewis in a tight affair although with him being 1/4 with some bookies, the value bet is a van der Voort triumph!
Raymond van Barneveld v Paul Nicholson
The match of the round. If Barney performs at his best he will beat Nicholson comfortably. That said, if it becomes a close game, Nicholson will have the edge over a fragile Barney. I'm hoping for a Barney win and think the crowd will too!
James Wade v Mark Walsh
For me, there is only one winner here and classy Wade will be too good for 'Special Brew' Walsh. With a nickname like that he deserves to get stuffed!
Thursday 21st July
Simon Whitlock v Denis Ovens
'The Wizard' isn't finishing as well as he can but I think his big game experience will drag him through against the 'The Heat'. However, I do believe that Ovens should be awarded a special prize for best darts shirt ever seen! A classic!
Andy Hamilton v John Henderson
Henderson had a great matchplay debut, beating Colin Lloyd 10-7 but if Hamilton plays like he did against Anderson he should win this.
Phil Taylor v Wayne Jones
Taylor win. Simples.
Wes Newton v Justin Pipe
Newton won for the first time at the Winter Gardens with an easy 10-2 win over Andy Smith. He will have too much for Pipe who played well to beat a poor Mervyn King in the first round.
An 8 fold on the selections in bold pays 12/1 at Stan James!
Game on!!!
