Terry Jenkins headlines afternoon winners at World Darts Championship
Gilding and Van de Pas also through
Sunday 18 December 2016 11:25, UK
Terry Jenkins booked his place in the William Hill World Darts Championship second round but insisted retirement remains on the cards.
In the first afternoon session of this year's event it was the performance of the 2011 semi-finalist and nine-time major runner-up that took the headlines as Jenkins advanced to a meeting with world number 15 Benito van de Pas, who laboured past qualifier Tengku Shah in the final match of the early session.
But Jenkins' comments after the match underlined his pre-tournament thoughts that he is ready for retirement and easing off in his preparations, which he feels will help his game for one final push.
"I know I am still playing well and believe it or not I have done three hours practice for this tournament," Jenkins told Rod Studd.
"That's the truth, I haven't practised more than three hours in the last few weeks. Before that I played in the Players Championships and I didn't throw a dart for a month.
"I think it is doing me good to put them down for a while, I feel fresh again but I am retiring after Christmas, I definitely am."
However, against Josh Payne, 30 years his junior, the Bull proved he is still more than capable on his day after rallying from a set down to win 3-1 and advance to round two.
In truth Jenkins should have taken the opening set but he admitted afterwards that losing it refocused his mind as he saw off the threat of his younger opponent with back-to-back finishes of 140 and 121, serving notice that he may not be done without one final run at Alexandra Palace.
The pivotal moment came in the second leg of the fourth set when Payne put together back-to-back 180s, only to see Jenkins pounce with a brilliant 140 finish that knocked the stuffing out of Payne and set Jenkins on his course to the last 32.
Jenkins will meet Van de Pas who will need to improve on his first round showing against Malaysia's Shah.
The Dutchman, many people's tip as a dark horse to advance through the rounds, was second best in the opening set against his little known opponent, but his big-stage experience proved crucial as he took the chances that fell his way.
Shah was undaunted and having claimed a big soft-tip tournament in Asia in the recent past acquitted himself well on his World Championship debut with big scoring and impressive finishing.
But Van de Pas' greater consistency saw him clean up each of the first two sets for a 2-0 lead before Shah delighted the typically boisterous crowd with a superb display to take the third set of the match.
However a refocused Van de Pas stormed through the fourth set to seal his showdown with Jenkins thanks to a brilliant 1-0 check-out.
Also through to the second round is Andrew Gilding after he got the better of John Henderson in the first tie-break of this year's tournament.
Gilding rallied from two sets down and showed the greater consistency in an evenly contested affair to move into the second round and set up a showdown with two-time defending champion Gary Anderson.
Henderson is two places above Gilding in the rankings but it was the Englishman who managed to hold his nerve when the match headed into the final stages and knock out his seeded opponent.
Henderson missed a dart at bull for the match but while there was little in the averages between the pair, Gilding's greater scoring power in the second half of the match ensured the game went the distance.
With the pair locked at 5-5 in the fifth and final set, Gilding put together the more solid leg of arrows to advance, pinning tops to seal the victory.
The first match of the afternoon session was an entertaining affair between Shah and Masumi Chino in the preliminary round - Shah prevailing 2-1 to set up his big moment against Van de Pas.
You can watch Saturday's evening session at Alexandra Palace on Sky Sports Darts from 7pm. Coverage of the tournament continues through December and into January.
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