The final session before Christmas saw the end, and the highest average, of the second round and the opening two matches of the third round. Michael Van Gerwen became the joint favourite after coming from behind to see off Peter Wright. Terry Jenkins looked great against John Part in the second round, but missed doubles allowed Andy Hamilton to set up a quarter final tie against Phil Taylor, who looked much better against a sorry Robert Thornton.
Taylor averaged seven points more than in the second round, still under a ton, but will be extremely satisfied that Thornton couldn't cope with the heat on stage. The Scot did take the opening leg before Taylor answered the question of how he was going to perform with a fantastic 131-checkout to level.
From there, Taylor would win the next five legs to go two sets in front, the fifth leg saw Thornton miss three darts to make it 2-1. A 105-checkout from Taylor made it six straight legs before Thornton finally got another leg on the board. The Scot then took lead in the set with a 121-checkout, but Taylor would force a deciding leg before going 3-0 up. That broke Thornton all together as Taylor took the next set without conceding to book his place into the last eight.
Hamilton can somewhat thank his lucky stars that he beat Jenkins, especially by four sets to one. The Hammer did take the first leg, but Jenkins roared back with a 120-checkout via a double top followed by a double ten to take the lead before winning the set 3-1.
Jenkins then went 2-1 ahead in the second set and then missed three darts at the double to take a 2-0 lead. Hamilton gobbled up this opportunity by forcing the deciding leg before managing to level the match. This gave him full momentum and he took the third set without conceding to take the lead in the match.
Jenkins missed a dart at tops in the third leg of that set before missing another dart at tops in the opening leg of the fourth set. The Bull then missed three legs to take that set 3-1 as Hamilton again forced another deciding leg. This almost didn't bother Jenkins as he quickest to the double again. But he missed a further five darts at the double to give Hamilton a 3-1 lead. The Bull wasn't completely out of it still at this stage. He again went 2-1 ahead in the set before Hamilton once again came back to force a third deciding leg. A 130-checkout then sealed the match for Hamilton to set up a tough match for Mr.Taylor.
The final second round match put Van Gerwen up against Wright, the man who claimed that Van Gerwen wasn't good enough. The players both missed three darts each in the opening legs, to make it 1-1. Wright asked the question of Van Gerwen and the Scot put the pressure on by taking the opening set 3-1.
Van Gerwen tried to respond in the second set with the opening two legs. But a 121-checkout from Wright forced a deciding leg which he went onto win to go 2-0 ahead and began to make the Dutchman sweat. Although the pressure didn't show as the Dutchman composed himself and won the third set without conceding.
Wright took the opening leg of the fourth set, but that only temporarily halted the recently renovated Van Gerwen express as the Dutchman took the following three legs to win the set 3-1 and level the match. It soon became one leg in ten for Wright as Van Gerwen took the fifth set without conceding to take the lead in the match. Van Gerwen missed three darts at the double as Wright hit a 141-checkout to level the sixth set at 1-1. Again this only halted the Dutchman as he would take the next two legs to progress into the third round with an average of 102, the second best of the tournament so far.
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