Mardle rocked in Blackpool

Van der Voort: Quarter-finalist

Thursday results:
M King 13-8 S Beaton
W Mardle 6-13 V van der Voort
T Jenkins 14-12 D Ovens

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Vincent van der Voort outgunned crowd favourite Wayne Mardle 13-6 to book his place in the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay in Blackpool, where he will face Mervyn King after his fine win over Steve Beaton.

Terry Jenkins was the third man through in the afternoon, although only just as he squeezed past a stubborn Denis Ovens.

Speedy Dutchman van der Voort produced a clinical display against a typically inconsistent Mardle to make the last eight in Blackpool for the first time.

King will be his opponent after he averaged over 100 for most of his 13-8 victory over former world champion Beaton.

Van der Voort raced into a 4-0 lead, before Mardle took out 101 just to get off the mark, but that sparked one of his famous bursts and he quickly made it 4-3.

Form missing

However, the 2003 runner-up saw his form dessert him, and from 6-4 van der Voort won five legs on the spin with four 180s during that short spell.

Mardle pulled one back but a 121 checkout was a fitting way for van der Voort to seal a clinical performance on the Winter Gardens stage.

"I feel very comfortable on stage and am delighted to win again," said the Dutchman. "I didn't score well at the start of the game but Wayne gave me more chances than I expected, and I took them."

King was also a fast starter against Beaton as he led 5-1, and was then 9-3 in front before Beaton finally launched an attack.

A 110 outshot made it 10-6, but just as Beaton was finding his feet King replied with the same finish in the very next leg and that signalled the end for Beaton.

"I was probably about 80 percent, but you never really know what you're capable of doing except to look at what you've done previously," said King.

"I can beat anybody when I'm on song but I'm not the most consistent player in the world. I'm too up and down but if I'm on top of my game my opponent has problems."

Jenkins was cruising into the quarter-finals as he led 10-5 against Ovens, but he then turned up the heat to level the match at 11-11.

'The Bull' broke the throw of Ovens to move ahead, but he missed two match darts in the next and Ovens levelled again at 12-12 to force the match into overtime.

Jenkins finally found his nerve though and after breaking again, he this time held on and claimed a 14-12 victory and a passage into the quarter-finals after a thriller.