The fourth day was probably the day of the comeback as we saw the final first round games. Up first was Colin Lloyd against Kevin Painter which. on paper, looked set to be a close game. However when Lloyd took an 8-2 lead Painter looked to be all at sea. However 'The Artist' somehow managed to fight back and take it 9-9, forcing a tie-break where the winner must win by two legs. Painter would complete his comeback and take the next two legs to win 11-9 and progress to round 2.
The second match followed a similar patter as Mark Walsh took on Mark Dudbridge; Walsh soon sailed into a commanding 5-0 lead and like Painter, Dudbridge held a spirited fightback winning seven of the next nine legs. As the first, this match also went into a tie-break and Walsh just managed to hold off Dudbridge to win 12-10 and will face Painter in round 2.
Up next was the numero uno of darts, Phil 'The Power' Taylor who faced Welshman Barrie Bates which on paper looked to be close to, if not, a whitewash. However we were all to be mistaken as Bates held his own as Taylor looked a shadow of himself during the first session (consisting of five legs). With Bates immediately breaking Taylor and managing to get to 5-5 after taking 2-0 and 5-4 leads was still very impressive. However Taylor suddenly found his momentum and powered (excuse the pun) through the next five legs to win 10-5.
The final match of the night saw everybody's love to hate figure Paul Nicholson take on Steve 'Bronzed Adonis' Beaton. Unfortunately Nicholson played possibly his worst darts ever on live TV and distinguished the match as a contest. Beaton played consistent and rather well but if Nicholson was on form I think he'd have won because Beaton looked rather nervous on stage. However the veteran steamed through and took a 10-3 win over the lacklustre Nicholson but with every good news there is bad news, and for Beaton it's the fact he has to play Taylor in the second round.
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