Thursday 23 July 2015 07:43, UK
Mensur Suljovic ended Gary Anderson’s hopes of a Triple Crown with a 13-9 win in the second round of the World Matchplay Darts.
The Scottish thrower, seeded third in Blackpool, had already captured the World Darts Championship and the Premier League Darts trophies in 2015 but his target of a third major accolade was extinguished by Suljovic.
The Austrian’s methodical and frustrating style seemed to baffle Anderson in the early stages of their first ever meeting and he was never able to recover.
Suljovic broke in the opener to outline his competitiveness from the onset only for Anderson to return the favour in the following leg. A cagey start saw both players hold before the Scot missed a straightforward checkout from 20 allowing the Austrian to go a break ahead.
Anderson broke back with an 81 checkout to make it 4-4 but, poised on 40 in the next leg, Suljovic finished off 104 to further shock a crowd backing the Scot.
Perhaps as stunned as his vocal support, Anderson let slip a chance to break by missing a checkout from 40 – but Suljovic wouldn’t be as forgiving, edging 7-4 up against the throw to reduce the Winter Gardens to its quietest atmosphere all week.
The ‘Flying Scotsman’ was brought back down to Earth as, with another clear opportunity to break, he was unable to finish from 10 and handed his opponent a four-leg advantage.
Anderson was again denied a break as Suljovic staged a come-from-behind leg win, before it was the Austrian’s turn to mess up three darts against the throw.
Tensions rose at 10-7 when they missed a combined four opportunities to check out before Suljovic stole the leg. From there it appeared ominous and Suljovic broke when Anderson missed his chance to hold, but the Austrian missed a dart for the match at 12-8. In the following leg he made no such mistake.
Suljovic will face James Wade in the quarter-finals after he comfortably progressed past Brendan Dolan with a 13-8 win.
The 2007 Matchplay champion advanced his cause for a second title at the Blackpool event by giving himself an early lead and never looking back. He has now reached the last eight of the event every year for the past decade.
Wade won the first three legs with aplomb, including a break with a 148 checkout to signal his intentions, although Dolan finally managed to get on the scoreboard, it was the Aldershot thrower who opened a 4-1 advantage.
The next two legs sluggishly went with the throw before Wade broke for a second time to forge a 6-2 lead. The Northern Irishman demonstrated his mettle by immediately breaking back, only for Wade to win their mini-battle of one-upmanship with a third consecutive break.
After holding to go 8-3 ahead he missed a golden opportunity to open a six-leg disparity by missing a 52 checkout – a moment which inspired Dolan to stun him with a 170 checkout and a break of throw in the subsequent leg.
Leading 9-6, it was Wade who again stretched his advantage with a break of throw and, despite some issues hitting doubles to finish the job, eventually closed the show.
Phil Taylor and Dave Chisnall also registered victories on the fifth night of the tournament.
World Matchplay Darts night five results:
Dave Chisnall 13-11 Keegan Brown
James Wade 13-8 Brendan Dolan
Phil Taylor 13-6 Andy Hamilton
Gary Anderson 9-13 Mensur Suljovic
