Taylor crushes Mardle

Big names on the march in Bolton

Last updated: 5th June 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Taylor crushes Mardle

Cruise control: Taylor

He's one of the players we need to get back on track - and I'm going to give it a go and see if I can help. I think I can because he listens. Wayne is a clever lad, I'm not a clever lad. If he listens to what I tell him and does what I say - maybe we can make him into a world champion.

Phil Taylor on Wayne Mardle
Quotes of the week

Fourth round draw
Denis Ovens v Dennis Smith
Alex Roy v Andy Hamilton
Andy Smith v Jamie Caven
Mark Walsh v Tony Ayres
Kevin Painter v Phil Taylor
Simon Whitlock v Robert Thornton
Gary Anderson v Paul Nicholson
Kevin McDine v Paul Warwick
Roland Scholten v Alan Tabern
Wayne Jones v Jelle Klaasen
William O'Connor v James Wade
Adrian Lewis v Colin Osborne
Ronnie Baxter v Tony Eccles
Michael Smith v Mervyn King
Steve Maish v Wes Newton
Wayne Atwood v Nigel Heydon

Also see

Defending champion Phil Taylor demolished an out-of-sorts Wayne Mardle 9-2 in the third round of the UK Open.

Taylor, fresh from his incredible display against James Wade in the Premier League final on May 24 when he hit two nine-darters, was straight back into his stride.

He reeled off the opening eight legs of the best-of-17 contest to leave himself within one of a whitewash.

Mardle, who beat Taylor in the quarter-final of the 2008 world championship, finally broke his duck by taking out double 15 to win the ninth leg.

He added the 10th as well before Taylor put him out his misery - and then offered to help his vanquished opponent rediscover his best form.

Practice offer

"It was a bit of a mis-match really," Taylor told Sky Sports. "Wayne didn't play as well like he can do. He wasn't as bubbly and didn't get the crowd going like he can.

"As soon as he was 8-0 down, bang, along came Wayne Mardle - the same old player as he used to be.

"I've just had a word with Wayne and he's going to come up (to Stoke), we're going to do some practice together and put him right.

"He's one of the players we need to get back on track - and I'm going to give it a go and see if I can help.

"I think I can because he listens. Wayne is a clever lad, I'm not a clever lad.

"If he listens to what I tell him and does what I say - maybe we can make him into a world champion."

Mervyn King, Gary Anderson, Simon Whitlock and James Wade also enjoyed third-round wins on the main stage in Bolton at the event dubbed the 'FA Cup of darts'.

King won four legs in a row to see off the spirited challenge of Joe Cullen 9-5, while Anderson raced out of the blocks against Michael van Gerwen, winning the first four legs on the way to a 9-4 success.

Whitlock was a 9-5 winner over Welsh youngster Reece Robinson and Wade rounded off the evening with a hard-earned 9-7 success over Steve Hine.

Monks silenced

There were eight boards in operation on Friday evening at the Reebok Stadium but shock results were at a premium.

John Part, Vincent van der Voort, Mark Webster and Mark Dudbridge were arguably the biggest casualties of the third round.

Part, a three-time world champion, went down 9-6 to Matt Walsh, Van der Voort lost 9-7 to Wayne Atwood, Nigel Heydon ousted Dudbridge 9-7 and Tony Eccles devoured Webster 9-6.

There was also disappointment for the father-son combination of Colin and Arron Monk, who lost to Dennis Smith and Denis Ovens respectively - both by 9-5 scorelines.