Gary Anderson off to winning start at the World Matchplay
Sunday 19 July 2015 23:12, UK
Gary Anderson began his quest for the Triple Crown with a straightforward 10-4 victory over Steve Beaton at the World Matchplay on Sunday night.
The Flying Scotsman is aiming to add the Matchplay trophy to the World Darts Championship and Premier League Darts titles that he has already won in 2015, and used his first-round match at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens as a showcase of his tungsten talents.
He broke Beaton’s throw within minutes then took out 79, before punishing his opponent’s inability to finish with a demonstration of how to do so from 113. Beaton broke back before Anderson did the same with a finish from 75.
After the first break the Scottish thrower finished from 111 before Beaton summed up a difficult evening by messing up his counting and busting his throw from 79 to go 6-1 down.
Throws were held by both players until Anderson edged to within a leg of victory when he briefly wobbled, following Beaton's 20th miss at a double with a failure to take out a finish of his own. Beaton was gifted a fourth leg but it only prolonged the inevitable, and Anderson booked a last-16 tie against Mensur Suljovic with a 113 checkout.
James Wade survived a scare against Kyle Anderson to win a back-and-forth contest in the final match of the night.
The 2007 Matchplay champion found an extra gear when, at 8-7 up, he took advantage of Anderson's inability to check out from 40 by hitting the identical shot with a more successful result. From there he held throw to win 10-7.
The Australian Anderson has established himself in the match throughout a thrilling run of six consecutive breaks of throw but, as the pressure mounted, it was the more experienced Wade who refused to falter.
Earlier, Suljovic eventually defeated Terry Jenkins 11-9 in overtime having already celebrated what he thought was a victory after his 10th leg.
The Austrian bizarrely forgot he needed two clear legs when tied at nine each until he was reminded to return to the oche next to an unimpressed Jenkins. It was not the first time Suljovic had drawn the ire of his opponent and the crowd with overly vigorous antics after claiming a leg.
He had earlier won seven out of eight legs to put himself in a winning position but missed bullseye to end the match. Jenkins won that leg to close the gap to 8-9 then broke Suljovic’s throw but would come undone - eventually - in overtime.
Brendan Dolan outplayed and eliminated Vincent van der Voort after the Dutchman almost lit up the Matchplay with a nine-darter.
Van Der Voort hit eight perfect darts in the very first leg but after missing his ninth, his performance unravelled and Dolan cruised into the second round as a 10-6 winner.
At 6-2 up, Dolan attempted a bullseye checkout which backfired and handed Van Der Voort a glimmer of hope but he couldn’t capitalise. The Northern Irishman held his throw and, after going 3-1 up, always led by at least two legs.
