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The 2004 Skybet World Grand Prix was played at the CityWest Hotel in Dublin every evening
from October 18 through Sunday, October 24 and was televised live, in its entirety, by Sky Sports.
The £100,000 (approx US $188,000 and EUR 145,000) event features 32 players in a ‘double in,
double out’ knock-out format.
On Monday, day one, the format for the first round was best of three sets each set being best
of five legs. In the first round. Wayne Mardle was sensationally dumped out of the 2004 Skybet World Grand Prix at the first hurdle at the hands of qualifier Gary
Welding.
2003 World Champion John Part was another big-name casualty, losing to in-form Ronnie Baxter,
whilst last year's world championship runner-up Kevin Painter was taken to the wire by Irishman Peter Quinn.
Other first round results saw Adrian Lewis knock out Welshman Richie Burnett, Mark Walsh
defeat Lionel Sams, Dennis Smith overcome Bob Anderson, Colin Lloyd triumph over Denis Ovens and in the battle of the tournament’s two Northern Irishmen, Brendan Dolan
ended the hopes of Mark Wilton.
Monday - Round One matches (best of three sets, best of five legs per set)
Rising star, Adrian Lewis, raced in to the second round of the 2004 Skybet World Grand Prix
with a comprehensive victory over Richie Burnett.
Lewis eased through his TV debut to guarantee a minimum pay-day of £2,250.
The Welshman was never in the frame at the CityWest Hotel in Dublin as Lewis, who is coached
by 11-time World Champion Phil Taylor, showed no mercy to Burnett's flu.
“With it being my first game on TV, I’m delighted.
I was throwing up last night with the nerves, but I feel a lot better now that I’ve won.”
“I first met Phil at a charity night in a pub and he asked me to train with him.
He’s brilliant and a real help to me because he knows everything about the game.”
Brendan Dolan won the battle of the Northern Ireland qualifiers to progress to the second
round of the 2004 Skybet World Grand Prix with a 2-0 win over Mark Wilton.
“I’m pleased with the win, but not necessarily the performance,” said Dolan. “It was my first
time on the stage and nice just to get a win.
I was calm enough, but I probably need a bit of an edge to my game to help me to perform, and I was focusing on trying to be too relaxed. I did enough, but my double-start will have to improve 100 percent to even have a chance against Painter.”
Mark Walsh ended the hopes of close friend Lionel Sams to progress to the second round of the
2004 Skybet World Grand Prix.
Walsh, ranked 24 in the world, had to show his character after going two legs down in the
opening set, with Sams taking the opening leg against the throw before hitting double five to extend his lead.
Walsh, who reached the final of Sunday’s Budweiser UK Open All Ireland tournament, where he
lost to Phil Taylor, roared into life and took the next three legs with double top to land the opening set.
Sams responded to take the opening leg of the second set, but paid the price for missing a
shot at bull for a 122 finish when Walsh capitalized to level matters.
Walsh took the third leg to move within touching distance of the match, and despite battling valiantly to stay alive, Sams could only watch as Walsh hit double 12 wrap up victory.
“Lionel’s a very good player, but I knew I had the darts to beat him,” said Walsh.
“I shouldn’t have won as clearly as I did. He missed a lot of doubles, which I think affected his game.”
Walsh was buoyed by a successful weekend at the CityWest Hotel in Dublin, reaching the last
four of both the PDPA Players Championship and Budweiser UK Open All Ireland Final.
“In the PDC, there’s about 200 good darts players, and they all can do it if they have a nice
little run at the right time,” he said. “I’ve had that run this weekend, reaching the semi-final on Saturday and the final on Sunday. It’s put me in good stead for
this one. I’m buzzing.”
Colin Lloyd sent out a warning to his rivals in the 2004 Skybet World Grand Prix by coming
from a set down to defeat Denis Ovens 2-1 at the CityWest Hotel.
The Witham-based thrower turned full-time professional in January, and is hoping to reach his
first major final in Dublin this week, after a victory in the PDPA Players Championship on Saturday and his success against Ovens.
He admitted that he is a man on a mission at the moment.
 “I want to cause some damage,” said
Lloyd. “I’m not here for the fun of it any more. I gave up my job after the World Championship and am a full time pro now. “I’m winning tournaments and people
are starting to take me a bit more seriously now. I want people to sit up and take note, because I know what I’m capable of doing. I am totally focused on
the dartboard, not the player, and that is the difference with me this year. If you want to take me for a mug, then you are
going to get beaten, I don’t care who you are. I’ve won ranking tournaments but never reached a major final, and to me that’s very disappointing. “I’ve
been a top-five player for the last 18 months, and in the last couple of months I’ve put in performances which have catapulted me to number three.
Saturday was a big day for me and I’m feeling very good. At this moment in time (knock on wood), I am producing the goods and I am enjoying it. That is
good for me and I’m really looking forward to the next game and the next year to 18 months.”
Lloyd took out the second set with an 11-dart leg before...
Continued...
Complete, in-depth coverage of this year’s exciting Skybet World Darts
Grand Prix, including 7 full pages of blow-by-blow action and player photos, is available to our print subscribers on pages 22 – 28 of the November /
December 2004 print edition.
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