Taylor: could be celebrating again

It will be like Butch Lanning and the Sound Dance kid - because this is an Opera Hall!

Sid Waddell
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WORLD MATCHPLAY
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If the UK Open is like the FA Cup of darts then the World Matchplay Darts is like an All-Star baseball match!

Even though there is a lot of money at stake the players see this major as a chance to entertain more than any other tournament they play in.

They also see it as a bit of a holiday, similar to the Las Vegas Desert Classic, and the likes of Dennis Priestley and Phil Taylor tend to take their families with them to Blackpool.

It's also a mid-season pointer for us to see who are going to be the genuine contenders for the World Championships.

The format is also very different and if I'm honest it can be a complete nightmare for a commentator because the players have to win by two clear legs.

I remember a couple of years ago I ended up commentating for about six and a half hours because I had three marathon matches, including one which finished 26-28!

This year we have seven commentators in the team so if we get a situation like that again, I'll probably get pulled off after the second game.

Entertaining

But as tough as it can be for the commentators it does really add to the tension and makes for a great spectacle, which is why it is so entertaining and I can see it being like Butch Lanning and the Sound Dance kid - because this is an Opera Hall!

There's always a great atmosphere at the Winter gardens as well, with lots of families and kids having fun, but the players will still be taking this very seriously.

In fact I heard that defending champion James Wade and Raymond Van Barneveld spent three days practicing intensively together, because Barney's manager doesn't think he's fit enough.

Apparently they were playing 24 sets a day! That's almost 100 legs of darts!

Phil Taylor meanwhile has taken Mark Frost under his wing. Mark, who is known as Frosty the Throwman, is a scaffolder from Stoke-on-Trent who has been practicing with The Power.

Funnily enough Mark's first match is against one of Taylor's rivals in Barney, but I think that is just pure coincidence!

Action

All the action starts on Sunday night and we couldn't get a better match than Colin Lloyd v Mark Walsh to kick things off.

Not too long ago of course Lloyd was world number one and he is a very angry man because he doesn't believe he got the kudos he deserved during that period, so he has got a point to prove.

Mark Walsh on the other hand was suffering from dartitus just 18 months ago and I have to say his performance at the Las Vegas Classic highlighted one of the best recoveries I have ever seen from dartitus in 30 years .

So this is really a brilliant encounter to get us started, but the matches come thick and fast and later on that night we will see Mervyn King up against Colin Osborne.

King was involved in one of the most remarkable sequence of events in Las Vegas when in a match he averaged 153, 123 and 153! To be able to do that is just incredible!

The only problem with King is that like Barney he has a bit of self doubt, because when he is under pressure he will start to get a bit flustered and he will be up against a very fit and lean Colin Osborne.

The other match that night is between Wayne Mardle and Mark Dudbridge and this one is really too tough to call. I can see it ending up 22-20, but I wouldn't want to say which way it would go!

Monday night sees the world champion, John Part take on Chris Mason. Part spends a lot of time commuting between Canada and the UK and I think that has affected his form in Premier League Darts.

I expect another high score in this one and I can see it finishing about 16-14, but again I wouldn't want to say to who!

I also think that the 'mouth from the south' Alex Roy could test Terry Jenkins as long as he can put his darts where his mouth is. That should be another cracker.

But the match of the day for me will be between Adrian Lewis and Kevin McDine, who was brilliant in Wolverhampton at the Grand Slam last November.

On Tuesday we will see the young Lionel Messi of darts, Michael van Gerwen against Andy Hamilton and that would be my pick of the matches on the final day of the first round.

Sid's tip

The way this tournament is set up I think that if Colin Lloyd can get passed Mark Walsh in the opening match then he will take some stopping.

But I really can't see anything other than a Taylor against Wade final, which would be a repeat of the Las Vegas Desert Classic final.

On that occasion Taylor came out on top, but Wade only had 40 minutes between his match with Peter Manley, which was a real tactical struggle and the final. Manley threw everything at him bar the kitchen sink in that match and it did make Wade tired.

So it will be interesting to see what happens if Wade and Manley meet again as well because I can see Wade giving him a real pasting in the quarter-finals!