Day three of the World Matchplay meant we are already a third of the way through and we had another four fantastic first round games before the final first round matches tonight. First up onto the oche was Terry 'The Bull' Jenkins up against Steve Brown who is a very up-and-coming star of darts. Brown took the first two legs and checked out the first with a bulls-eye finish. Jenkins couldn't find any edge against Brown and soon found himself 6-4 behind, Brown then found a 149 checkout as the result seemed to be going one way and it looked inevitable when Brown took a 9-4 lead, especially as Jenkins missed a handful of doubles to keep him in the match. Jenkins did however plant a few seeds of doubt by taking the next two legs to take it to 9-6, but he was too far away and Brown came through with a 10-6 victory, providing the second upset so far this tournament.
If the opener seemed close the second and third matches were far from it; Whitlock found some of his best form and wiped the floor with Eccles after a 10-1 win. The Wizard from down under didn't let Eccles come close to winning a Whitlock made sure he looks to be a strong contender for the title. It was an all Scottish affair in the third match as UK Open runner-up Gary Anderson played against Robert Thornton. But the match was over before it started as Anderson provided the first whitewash of the tournament, brushing aside his compatriot 10-0 in front of the Blackpool crowd. Anderson was helped a little by Thornton's lack of getting his doubles whereas 'The flying Scotsman' was ruthless and has also made sure opponents will be wary of him this tournament as another up-and-coming star.
The fourth and final match of the night was possibly the most anticipated as Mervyn King took on Jelle 'The Matador' Klaasen. The Dutchman looked shaky at the start throwing loose darts and King took advantage by taking a 4-2 lead leaving Klaasen with a lot of work to do. But Klaasen was up to the task as he suddenly found his throwing prowess and the 25-year old took the next eight legs to provide the third surprise of the tournament. King missed a vital opportunity when he was 6-4 behind but he squandered the chance and Klaasen checked out a couple of three digit scores to put himself into the second round.
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