Phil Taylor Suffers First Round Shock In Perth, Opens Up The Field
Only one week ago, Cadby had lost to Taylor; The Power was then on his way to winning the Sydney Masters. No such joy this week, however, as the 21-year-old Aussie exacted his revenge with an amazing 6-2 victory, despite Taylor’s decent 111 average. Having won at Perth for the last two years, Taylor’s form Down Under had been more than solid, having won his third straight Sydney Darts Masters title a week ago (which also made it 24 games unbeaten in Australia).
At the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, Cadby broke his man with a decent 122 checkout before holding his nerve to seal the giant-killing win. For his efforts, Cadby, the only Ocenanic representative to make it through the first round, will meet Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright following his 6-4 defeat of Adam Rowe.
The hugely surprising Taylor result opens the field for the remaining stars of the game, all of whom have progressed into the second round which begins at midday today with delayed coverage at 7pm on ITV4.
Elsewhere, Michael Van Gerwen beat Anderson (Aussie Kyle that is, not Gary) for the second time in a week, with a 6-4 victory. As for Gary, the Flying Scotsman bagged a 6-3 win over Kim Lewis, so plays again.
James Wade eased past Rob Szabo 6-0, while Raymond van Barneveld didn’t run to any problems in his match against Simon Whitlock, taking it down 6-2. Dave Chisnall was another first round winner, seeing off Koha Kokiri 6-1, while Adrian “Jackpot” Lewis was quick to defeat local boy David Platt 6-3.
The event finishes this weekend, with the quarter-finals played over the best of 19 legs, and the semi-finals and final played over a best of 21 leg format.
First Round Results
- James Wade 6-0 Rob Szabo
- Dave Chisnall 6-1 Koha Kokiri
- Peter Wright 6-4 Adam Rowe
- Adrian Lewis 6-3 David Platt
- Phil Taylor 2-6 Corey Cadby
- Gary Anderson 6-3 Kim Lewis
- Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Kyle Anderson
- Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Simon Whitlock
After the opening round’s clearing, Friday’s quarter-finals has been left with a lot of interesting ties, even without the ever popular Phil Taylor. Notably, the first game of the day sees Adrian Lewis face off against former world number one Raymond Van Barneveld. Betway are offering 12/1 on ‘Jackpot’ to win the event, something well worth considering given some of his performances in 2016.
The same bookmaker have installed Gary Anderson as second favourite and are offering a best price of 9/2 on the Scotsman taking the tourney. He faces Englishman and 25/1 shot Dave Chisnall.
Corey Cadby’s reward for eliminating Taylor is a meet with Peter Wright and, although ranked 80/1 following his win, it is hard to see the young Aussie seeing off his second big hitter in 24 hours. Should Wright progress, it might be worth jumping on his 12/1 outright price at Betway right now, especially given his presence in the softer side of the draw, a result of Taylor’s absence.
Friday’s quarter-finals (best of 19 legs)
- Adrian Lewis v Raymond van Barneveld
- Michael van Gerwen v James Wade
- Gary Anderson v Dave Chisnall
- Corey Cadby v Peter Wright
Perth Darts Masters 2016 Tournament Schedule
Saturday August 27
Semi-Finals (12pm-3pm)
- Anderson/Chisnall v Lewis/van Barneveld
- van Gerwen/Wade v Cadby/Wright