Power surges past Whitlock

Taylor: emphatic 17-4 victory

Results:
R van Barneveld 17-8 J Wade
P Taylor 17-4 S Whitlock

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Phil Taylor produced a dominant display to beat Simon Whitlock and secure a final showdown with Raymond van Barneveld at the World Matchplay in Blackpool.

Taylor completely bossed his semi-final as he cantered to a 17-4 win, while van Barneveld progressed to his first final in the tournament with a fine 17-8 success over James Wade.

Notching eight maximums in the process, Taylor completely outclassed Whitlock who was unable to cope with his rival's relentless scoring power.

The Australian did manage to take the first leg of the match, but little went right for him from that point as Taylor charged into a 7-1 lead that he never looked like relinquishing.

Whitlock did produce a mini-rally and finished well on the bull to reduce the arrears to 9-4, but that merely appeared to spur Taylor on as he went into overdrive.

Eight legs on the trot quickly followed with Whitlock seemingly resigned to his fate well before the finish, Taylor finally securing victory as he hit double-eight with ease.

Barney on song

Van Barneveld was equally impressive as he overcame Wade in convincing style in the evening's first match.

The early exchanges suggested the encounter would prove a close and hard-fought affair, but having hit his stride the Dutchman eased away to a comfortable success.

The opening three legs all went against the darts as Wade moved 2-1 ahead, a 121 check-out securing the third, and he then claimed the fourth to open a two-leg advantage.

Wade fired in a 140 finish to make the scoreline 4-2, but that was about as good as things got for 'The Machine' as his opponent hit back in some style.

Van Barneveld reeled off four legs on the spin to head to the second interval 6-4 ahead - a superb 136 check-out winning the tenth leg.

Wade went on miss three darts at a double to allow his opponent to pull 9-5 clear, although he did break straight back to give himself renewed hope at 9-6.

A crucial 145 finish kept the Englishman in touch at 10-7 and he took advantage of some profligate finishing from van Barneveld to make it 11-8 after the Dutchman missed no fewer than five darts at a double.

But from that point Wade just fell away as van Barneveld remained clinical on the doubles and the Dutchman closed out the match in style by taking out 91 with two darts to complete a 17-8 triumph.