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 The Stan James World Matchplay began on
Sunday, July 24th, at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England. This event is one of the most prestigious of the PDC World tournaments
and is staged in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens. The format is long, first round matches are best of 19 games, which favors the better
players making it through to the later rounds. This year, however, some great players fell in the first round. The details of the first round matches are
outlined below. The second and later rounds are detailed in the Sep/Oct 2005 issue of Bull's-Eye News, Volume XXV, Issue V.
Not a BEN subscriber yet? Subscribe right now and your very first
issue will feature complete coverage of the final rounds of this year’s exciting Stan James World Matchplay event. Don’t miss it! 
2005 STAN JAMES WORLD MATCHPLAY FIRST ROUND
ORDER OF PLAY (best of 19 legs)
Kevin Painter vs Adrian Lewis
Mark Walsh vs Mick Manning
Denis Ovens vs Steve Beaton
Alan Warriner vs Dave Askew
Dennis Smith vs Ian Willis
Ronnie Baxter vs Colin Osborne
John Part vs Kelvin Painter
Colin Lloyd vs Paul Williams
Roland Scholten vs Matt Clark
Phil Taylor vs Jamie Harvey
Wayne Mardle vs Lionel Sams
Dennis Priestley vs Alex Roy
Andy Jenkins vs Darren Webster
Mark Dudbridge vs Alan Caves
Terry Jenkins vs Keith Deller
Peter Manley vs Bob Anderson
ADRIAN LEWIS 10-4 KEVIN PAINTER
ADRIAN LEWIS produced the biggest win of his career to knock Kevin
Painter out of the Stan James World Matchplay on the opening night at the Winter Gardens. In only his fifth major tournament, Lewis booked a place in
the second round with a gritty display to oust the number eight seed.
The 20-year-old qualifier from Stoke saw Painter take a scrappy opening leg,
but impressively took the next three to move ahead. Painter hit back to take the fifth and eighth legs to stay in the hunt at 5-3, but back-to-back legs for
Lewis gave him a 7-3 advantage as he punished sloppy play from his opponent. Painter returned from the break to pull back a leg, but Lewis held
his composure to ensure his place in the last 16 and a second round clash with Denis Ovens.
"I knew I was playing well enough in practice and that I just had to transfer
that form in to my matches," said Lewis, who also reached the quarter-finals of last year's World Grand Prix. "Kevin had a bad day at the office though
and even though I didn't play as well as I can, it was good enough. It's a good sign that I can win playing badly, I was only at about 40% tonight. I've
got a pretty good draw this week so we'll see how far I can go."
MARK WALSH 10-4 MICK MANNING
MARK WALSH progressed to the second round of the Stan James World
Matchplay for the first time with a 10-4 win over Mick Manning. The in-form Walsh has fallen in the first round on his three previous visits to the Winter
Gardens, but followed up his recent appearance in the Budweiser UK Open final with an assured display.
He opened up early leads of 2-0 and 4-1 to put himself in command against
his experienced opponent. Manning responded with a 14-dart leg to keep himself in the hunt, but successive legs for Walsh gave the Hertfordshire
thrower a 6-2 lead. Despite Manning winning the ninth leg, Walsh stepped up a gear to take three straight legs and move to within one of the match. He
missed chances at double 20 and double ten in the next leg before Manning won his fourth of the game, but that merely delayed the inevitable, with Walsh
completing the victory with double eight.
"I'm pleased," said Walsh. "I hit my doubles and that was the big thing in the
end. Mick had problems and I managed to step in. I've never got past the first round before so hopefully I can go a long way now. I'm playing with more
confidence and feeling good."
DENIS OVENS 10-6 STEVE BEATON
DENIS OVENS broke his losing run in televised PDC tournaments to book a
place in the last 16 of the Stan James World Matchplay with a 10-6 defeat of Steve Beaton at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The Hertfordshire thrower
lost his first game at both the Budweiser UK Open and Las Vegas Desert Classic recently, but bounced back into form to see off Beaton.
The opening four legs all went with throw before Ovens struck the crucial blow
, breaking Beaton in the fifth to move 3-2 up at the break. He then took three successive legs to put himself into a commanding position at 6-2. Beaton hit
back by winning two straight legs of his own, including a crucial 117 checkout in the ninth, and kept himself in the game by pulling back to 8-6.
Ovens, though, produced a double-whammy to secure his place in the second round and a clash with emerging talent Adrian Lewis.
"I had a bad time in the UK Open and at Las Vegas, but I'm back!" said a
relieved Ovens afterwards. "There are no easy games and I had to grind it out against Steve, who is a quality player. I've got Adrian next and he's a very
good player, but it's about how you play on the day and if I play better than him I'll win."
DAVE ASKEW 10-7 ALAN WARRINER
Diamond Dave Askew cut through the Ice man Alan Warriner for a 10-7
victory after he survived a mid-match fight back by Wozza. Warriner went in to the match as favorite but his recent form hasn't amounted to much since
he reached the final of the SkyBet World Grand Prix in Dublin. He began this match in the same sort of form that has plagued him since then.
After the opening two legs were shared, Askew then rattled off five in a row to
move into a commanding 6-1 lead. Warriner pulled one back, but when Askew followed that with an 11 dart leg the match looked in the bag. Finally
though, Warriner showed the sort of form all dart fans know he is capable of. He won five legs out of six to move within one leg of Diamond Dave, and at
the interval, he would have fancied his chances of turning the deficit around. However, Dave had composed himself off the stage and came out with a new
attitude to finish the match off in the next two legs.
"My record here is awful. In seven years, that's only the third time I've won,"
said Askew. "That was a big one for me here because I could have folded when Alan came back hard at me. Last year I was in front of Mark Dudbridge
and he came back and beat me, and I thought it was going to happen again. Alan played well, but at some points, I was averaging over 93 and I want to
know why I can't do that all the time. All I can see is that it must be nerves. Even though he won all those legs to close up, I just kept telling myself that I
only needed two legs."
DENNIS SMITH 10-7 IAN WHILLIS
Dennis Smith moved in to the second round of the Stan James World
Matchplay after a nail biting 10-7 victory over PDPA qualifier Ian Whillis. Whillis, who had beaten the likes of Mark Landers, Colin Monk and Shayne
Burgess to claim his place in Blackpool, never really showed his true form but staged a terriffic fight back which had Smithy panicking.
In what was a rather laborious display from both players, neither really set the
board alight, but it was Smithy who held his game together the best.
Both opening legs went against the throw and the next two went with throw.
However, after that opening salvo, Smithy stamped his authority on the game. Smith won seven of the next eight legs helped by a smattering of 180's and
he moved within one leg of victory.
Ian upped his average to over 85 over the course of the next three legs and
Smithy began to falter, and the score moved to a more respectable look at 9-6. Then, when Whillis pounced on missed doubles by Smith to make it 9-7,
there were a few in the crowd who could sense an upset. Unbelievably, nine legs in the match went against throw but Smith managed to hold himself
together and take out the match with a double 2 to a big sigh of relief from his dad who was watching on the front row.
"I went 9-3 up and relaxed," said Smith. "I thought it was all over and I
shouldn't have. I've known Ian a long time, and I shouldn't have switched off. He did really well to come back like that, but I am pleased to get through that
first game. I've had a lot of things going on in the past year away from darts and this is a bit of a comeback from me."
RONNIE BAXTER 10-5 COLIN OSBORNE
Ronnie Baxter moved smoothly in to the second round after beating Colin
Osborne 10-5. Baxter, up to number 3 in the Provisional World Rankings, is some peoples idea of Phil Taylor's main challenger and nothing he did on the
stage here would alter that opinion. Beforehand some pundits were predicting that Colin would pose more than a few problems for The Rocket,
and he certainly didn't let his followers down, but when Baxter is in this sort of form he  is near unbeatable.
At times, Ronnie was averaging more than 103.
He hit three checkouts over 100 and he hit 14 180's. Baxter stamped his authority on the contest early on by breaking in both the fourth and
sixth legs, one of which was a 12 dart leg and Osborne visibly wilted. To Osborne's credit, he then came back and managed to break Baxter's
throw. But after looking like Osborne was staging a fight back, Baxter overcame his mid-match wobble and won four of the last five legs. Despite
the lop sided looking score line, Osborne certianly looked like he has a future in big time darts.
"I missed a couple of doubles, but overall I finished pretty well," said Baxter.
"It was just when I missed three darts at double four that my scoring went to pot. It was only the second time Colin has been on TV and he didn't let
himself down at all. He missed a couple of crucial doubles, but other than that, he could have caused me a few more problems. I'm glad that I managed
to get through that though as I've gone out in the first round of the last two TV tournaments. It's all about consistency. I need to perform well at the bigger
events. This is my favorite event as well because I was born here, so I've always got such great support. It's nice to give them something to cheer about".
JOHN PART 10-4 KELVIN PAINTER
John Part, who was feeling unwell as he took to the stage, brushed aside the
challenge of PDPA qualifier Kelvin Painter 10-4 at the Winter Gardens. Part, who has had a mixed year, threw some fantastic darts in parts to see off the
challenge of the plucky Painter. The Canadian, after losing the first leg, looked in fantastic form over the next 20 minutes as, after racing in to a 4-1
lead with an average of a whopping 107. He managed to break Painter's throw in four consecutive attempts, and it all but secured him a victory after only 10 legs.
Painter did manage to break Part in the 13th leg and followed that up by
holding his start to bring a bit more respectability to the score line. But after Part's opening assault, the result was never really in doubt. Part's average
did drop to 93 over the course of the match, but Painter's average of 82 points to him being a solid circuit player, not quite good enough this time to mix it
up with a player of Part's caliper.
COLIN LLOYD 10- 7 PAUL WILLIAMS
COLIN LLOYD began his challenge in the Stan James World Matchplay with
a gritty 10-7 victory over Paul Williams - coming from behind to see off the Lancastrian. Lloyd, the current world number one, allowed a 3-1 lead to slip
in uncharacteristic style, with Williams winning four successive legs to give himself a two-leg cushion. At 6-4 down, Lloyd returned from the break to find
an extra gear, taking four of the next five legs to turn that deficit into an 8-7 advantage. He then took the next two legs without reply to end Williams'
hopes and set up his own second round clash with Mark Walsh.
"It was a very satisfying win, but I made hard work of it," said Lloyd. "It was a
tough game but I've got through it and I can look forward to the next round. Paul played his own type of game and I just had to concentrate and get
through it. I've never seen him play as slowly but you should play by your ability, not by tactics as it will eventually come back to bite you. I can
sharpen up my game, but the first round in any tournament is always hard for me. Now, I can relax and hopefully the real me will come through this week."
ROLAND SCHOLTEN 10-6 MATT CLARK
ROLAND SCHOLTEN held off a tremendous comeback from Matt Clark to
move into the second round of the Stan James World Matchplay with a 10-6 victory. Dutch star Scholten left Clark, making his debut at the Winter
Gardens, stunned by storming into a 7-1 lead, peppering the treble 20 bed to race clear. But Clark capitalized when Scholten lost his concentration,
winning five successive legs to pull back to 7-6, including a superb 161 finish. Clark, a publican from Kent, then missed three darts at double 12 to level the
game, with Scholten landing double five to get himself back on track. It proved to be the wake-up call the Dutchman needed, capitalizing when Clark
missed his doubles in the next leg to move 9-6 up before completing a hard-fought triumph.
"I eased off," admitted Scholten. "I took my foot off the pedal when I got 7-1
up and thought I could enjoy the game - and it just shows that you can't do that. Matt deserved his comeback, but I got back going eventually and I'm
through, which is the most important thing."
Clark, who has climbed into the top 30 of the World Rankings with some
impressive displays in the past two years, said, "I'm happy with the way I played. I missed a few doubles, but Roland started so well. I know how well
he can play, we used to be doubles partners, and I was a bit nervous. But it was a fantastic experience and I'd love to have more of this in the future."
PHIL TAYLOR 10-4 JAMIE HARVEY
PHIL TAYLOR kept alive his Grand Slam dream with a 10-4 win over Jamie
Harvey in his opening game at the Stan James World Matchplay. Taylor, who has won all four major PDC titles this year, needs just to triumph at
Blackpool and then in October's World Grand Prix to complete a clean sweep in televised events.
Harvey - a 20/1 outsider for the match - took the opening leg but could do
little as Taylor asserted his authority to move 3-1 up. The veteran Scot did managed to stay in the game, trailing just 7-4 before the defending World
Matchplay champion stepped up a gear to seal the win.
"I would love to do the Grand Slam," said Taylor. "Everyone is talking about it
and because I am getting older I am trying harder to win every tournament. It was a good start for me. The atmosphere was incredible, one of the best I
have ever experienced. Jamie fought hard up there, but maybe he was trying too hard. He was forcing his darts. That was something I was conscious not
to do and it paid off."
WAYNE MARDLE 10-2 LIONEL SAMS
WAYNE MARDLE produced the most impressive display of the first round at
the Stan James World Matchplay, defeating Lionel Sams 10-2 at the Winter Gardens. Mardle never looked in danger after roaring away at the start of the
game, opening up a 5-0 lead without Sams reaching the double. That was extended to 6-0 before Sams finally found his range to win back-to-back legs
and give himself hope of a comeback. Hope was quickly extinguished by Mardle, though, who took the next four legs without reply to complete the
biggest win of the tournament's opening two days.
"Lionel's a good player but he didn't turn up tonight," said Mardle. "That gave
me the impetus from the start and I had plenty to build on from there as soon as I knew I had the upper hand. I've had such an indifferent year. I was bad
for the first few weeks of the Premier League, then I had six good weeks but was poor at the UK Open. I'm concentrating for the whole game and it's
going well for me. I'm enjoying life and if I play like that against anyone else they will struggle because I wasn't missing doubles."
DENNIS PRIESTLEY 10-3 ALEX ROY
DENNIS PRIESTLEY set up a second round meeting with Phil Taylor at the
Stan James World Matchplay with a 10-3 defeat of Alex Roy on Tuesday afternoon. Priestley, who lost to Taylor in the 1995 World Matchplay final,
produced an impressive showing to move into the last 16 and create a mouth-watering clash with the reigning champion. After sharing the first four legs
with Roy, he took five on the bounce to move into a 7-2 lead and, although his opponent threatened a comeback with a 119 finish, completed the victory with ease.
"Alex didn't play as well as he would have liked, but I was pleased with how I
played. I kept the pressure on," said Priestley. "I should have gone into the
first interval 4-1 up, but I didn't let it play on my mind like it may have done in the past and took each leg as it came." He added, "I won't mask the
difficulty of my task against Phil on Wednesday. I've probably played him more times than anyone else on the circuit. I've got to play better and get my
average up into the high 90's or 100's and hope that will be enough, but Phil is so consistent that a bad day for him is averaging in the mid-90's!
Apparently, I'm the reason he's so good. After I beat him in the 1994 World Championship final, he said he didn't ever want to be beaten like that again
and started practicing for eight hours a day. The other players must hate me for that!"
ANDY JENKINS 10-6 DARREN WEBSTER
ANDY JENKINS moved into the last 16 of the Stan James World Matchplay
with a 10-6 win over Blackpool debutant Darren Webster. In his first appearance since corrective eye surgery in his right eye, Jenkins made a
solid start to his bid for a first major PDC title. He traded blows, leg for leg, with Webster, the emerging star from Norfolk who led 2-1 early on, and was
level at 6-6 before Jenkins found an extra gear. The Portsmouth star took four successive legs, including a 131 check-out to surpass his earlier 121
finish, to complete the win and set up a second round tie with John Part.
"The operation went really well. It has helped improve my vision by five
percent already," said Jenkins. "I've already sent the nine players above me in the world rankings a text message saying 'I've got two good eyes now, so
watch out!' It took me a few legs to adjust, but I'm happy with how it went. I'm looking forward to playing John tomorrow, he's a quality player and it will
be a good game."
MARK DUDBRIDGE 10-7 ALAN CAVES
MARK DUDBRIDGE won a topsy-turvey encounter with Alan Caves 10-7 to
keep alive his hopes of a second successive appearance in the Stan James World Matchplay final. The Bristolian, who lost 18-8 to Phil Taylor in his first
major final 12 months ago, ended a poor run of form to move into the last 16 of the tournament at Blackpool's Winter Gardens. After suffering first round
exits at the Budweiser UK Open and Las Vegas Desert Classic, Dudbridge seemed a different player when he took a 3-0 lead against Caves. But the 39
-year-old from Sunbury-on-Thames battled back to win four successive legs and move ahead. Dudbridge regained his composure to move 6-4 up,
including a 128 check-out, before Caves then took three straight legs to edge back in front. But in was not enough as Dudbridge produced four superb legs
, including an 11-darter and four maximum 180's, to take victory.
"You want a hard game to get you into a tournament, and that's what I had
today," said Dudbridge. "There were moments where I was bad and other times that I was very good, but I know I'll have to be better. I've got Wayne
Mardle next, and although I've got a good record against him, that counts for nothing and he's playing very well at the moment."
TERRY JENKINS 10-8 KEITH DELLER
TERRY JENKINS' rise to prominence continued with a 10-8 win over Keith
Deller to reach the second round of the Stan James World Matchplay. The 31-year-old from Herefordshire has moved into the top 16 of the world
rankings in the past year, and gained one of the biggest scalps of his career in the former World Champion.
Despite seeing Deller take the opening leg with a 120 finish, Jenkins moved
into a 6-3 lead and appeared to be cruising to victory. Deller, though, showed his class with a run of four successive legs to put himself back in front before
Jenkins regained his composure to level matters at seven-apiece. He then took three of the next four legs to complete the win and set up a second
round meeting with either Peter Manley or Bob Anderson.
"When the draw was made everyone expected me to get through easily, but
Keith has been playing well and has more experience on-stage than me," said Jenkins. "It turned out to be a tough one for me, but I handled it okay
and managed to get through. I took control of the game at 6-3 and though my concentration slipped a bit, I held my nerve in the end."
PETER MANLEY 10-8 BOB ANDERSON
PETER MANLEY edged out Bob Anderson to take the final place in the last
16 of the Stan James World Matchplay. In the final game of the first round, the duo slugged out a thriller before Manley pulled away late on to secure the
win. The Cumbrian opened up a 3-0 lead early on before Anderson hit back to 3-2 at the first interval. Anderson paid the price for missed doubles in the
next session, with Manley extending his cushion to 7-4 before the veteran performer found the finishing to match his impressive scoring. He landed a
116 checkout and hit two 12-dart legs on his way to leveling matters at 8-8. With tension rising between the pair as possible extra time loomed, the pace
of the game slowed. But Manley regained the lead at 9-8 before breaking Anderson's throw to take victory and set up a second round clash with Terry Jenkins.
"I was determined to win the game, but it was a lot closer than I wanted,"
admitted Manley. "Bob did well with his 12-darters and some good finishes, but I think he was a little over the top with his tactics. He's a great
ambassador for the game, but it's a shame he played like that."
STAN JAMES WORLD MATCHPLAY FIRST ROUND RESULTS SUMMARY
Adrian Lewis 10-4 Kevin Painter
Mark Walsh 10-4 Mick Manning
Denis Ovens 10-6 Steve Beaton
Dave Askew 10-7 Alan Warriner
Dennis Smith 10-7 Ian Whillis
Ronnie Baxter 10-5 Colin OSborne
John Part 10-4 Kelvin Painter
Colin Lloyd 10-7 Paul Williams
Roland Scholten 10-6 Matt Clark
Phil Taylor 10-4 Jamie Harvey
Wayne Mardle 10-2 Lionel Sams
Dennis Priestley 10-3 Alex Roy
Andy Jenkins 10-6 Darren Webster
Mark Dudbridge 10-7 Alan Caves
Terry Jenkins 10-8 Keith Deller
Peter Manley 10-8 Bob Anderson
STAN JAMES WORLD MATCHPLAY SECOND ROUND (best of 25 legs)
The details of the second and later rounds of the Stan James World
Matchplay can be found in the Sep/Oct 2005 issue of Bull's-Eye News, Volume XXV, Issue V.
You still have time! Subscribe to BEN right now and your very first
issue will feature the conclusion of this article —including all of the final rounds of this year’s exciting Stan James World Matchplay event. Don’t miss it!
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