Toeing the Oche'

Here he was a non–European, the first since John Part, in the final for the Ladbrooks.com Championships where the first place paid £200,000 pounds but the runner up money wasn’t exactly chump change. A cool £100,000 was already his as he fought-tooth-andnail in defeating world #3 James Wade 5-3 in a match for the decade. Of course the decade was only a couple of days old so maybe a revision will have to take place at a later date. Whitlock’s performance was more impressive when taken into account he hit 17 Maximums, a 170 check and averaged 105.37. Of the 5 sets won Whitlock went 15-1 in legs which isn’t surprising his brace of 11, 12 and 14 dart legs.

In the semi final’s Whitlock would face many time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld. Barneveld de-fueled “Rocket” Ronnie Baxter in the quarters 5 sets to 1. “Barney” opened the match with a dead bull for a 85 finish then romped winning 15 legs to only 3 for Baxter with two of those coming in the final set. van Barneveld had complained in a previous match of “not feeling well.” “I felt much better up on stage today,” Yea 5–nil win will do that for a person. The other side of the draw was of course all Phil Taylor. He took care of Adrian Lewis 5-0 while dropping only 4 legs. Mark Webster booked a spot on the oche’ against Taylor when he eliminated Dutchman Co Stampe 5-3. In that one Webster jumped to an early 4-nil lead then “jacked around” for 3 sets before taking the decider 3-0.

As expected by all, except maybe by Mark Webster, Phil Taylor went thru the Mr. Webster like corn through a seagull. Itwas a 6-nil “this is how the game is played mate” where Taylor averaged 106. Taylor found himself where he expected to be in the finals. Aussie Whitlock produced yet another heart stopping performance against van Barneveld. Whitlock would prevail 6 - 5 with 5 set’s being won 3 –2 so a dart here or there would have altered the outcome. Whitlock fell behind 2-4 when van Barneveld won sets 3-1,3-0,3-1 and 3-2. Whitlock behind some fantastic darts leapfrogged “Barney” to lead 5-4 with 3 on the trot. That 5th sets win came 3-0 with Whitlock checks of 141 and 124. The final set when to Whitlock for the simple reason that Barney missed doubles.

THE FINAL
Mark Webster capped off the best week of his darting career when he lowered the hammer on van Barneveld from 8–7 down to win 10–8 and collect a check of £60,000 for third place. Webster should also receive credit for one of the better lines to emerge from the Championships. “I was whacked by the best player in the world, Phil Taylor, in the semis and I didn’t want to get whacked by the second best either, because then you think you can’t play the big players. But this will hold me in good stead and I can kick on now in the New Year.”

One might argue that maybe the second best player in the world is Australia’s Simon Whitlock. He took the measure of van Barneveld while holding a 2–1 lead over Phil Taylor in the finals at London’s Alexandra Palace. Of course holding a 2–1 lead over Phil Taylor in a major final has left most by the roadside saying, “I’m really proud of the way I played tonight. I think I pushed Phil on a few occasions during the course of the match.” Which is exactly what Whitlock said after losing 7–3. The score might indicate that Whitlock didn’t play well which is not true. He average over 100.51, had finishes of 170,122,108 with 11 T–80’ as well as hitting 41% of his double. Taylor would drop only 4 sets for the Championships 3 of them to Whitlock.

Phil Taylor is from another world. Consider that he had finishes of 170,167,161,131,122 with 12 wins against the darts. The 5th set indicates just what a phenomenon Phil Taylor is as if it were a secret. In a set won 3–1 Taylor used finishes of 167, 161 and a very pedestrian double 4. This 15th Championship for Taylor was worth £200,000 which should push his Order of Merit earnings to more than £1,000,000. Whitlock will bank £100,000 pounds which, “has changed my whole life. It’s allowed me to play the circuit fulltime now and I want to be a contender in major events.” Good for him.

YEAR END PDC AWARDS
As all should have known Phil Taylor swept most of the year end awards passed out at The Dorchester Hotel in London follow the Championships. He won PDC Player of the Year, the Players Player of the Year as well as PDC Pro tour Player of the Year where he won 12 events and £79,500 in folding green. Simon Whitlock, a former champion on the minor BDO tour, was named Newcomer of the Year. As a bonus Whitlock will be joining the “elate 8” in the Whyte & Mackay Premier League which kicks off February 11 at London’s 02 Arena. Simon gets in via the first of two Sky Sports Wildcard selections. A second selection will be made later to fill out the field of 8. The top 6 in the Order of Merit qualify automatically with one big name missing. Canadian John Part will need a Sky Sports Wildcard or he’ll be on the sideline after a sup par year. He dropped from 4th in the Order to 21st. Joining the automatic 6 will be the Old Dart Coach’s pal “Rocket” Ronnie Baxter who returns to the Premier League for the first time since 2006. Baxter jumped from 13th at the start of the year to 6th. Sky Sports commentator extraordinary Sid Waddell summed up the emergence of Simon Whitlock. “Simon’s a fantastic addition to the Premier League and deserves his selection. He’s a really hard worker and a tremendous talent.” Well put mate.