Afternoon Comebacks

We witnessed two comebacks this afternoon, one of which was one of the most spectacular comeback in the history of the World Matchplay Darts. It happened in the first of the quarter-finals between Simon Whitlock and Andy Hamilton. Whitlock took the first session 4-1, it should have been 5-0 but Whitlock missed six darts at the double during the session. Hamilton cut the deficit in the second session but was still 6-4 behind. Whitlock remained in complete control and won the third session 4-1 to extend his lead to 10-5, needing six legs to win the match. Whitlock took out a 106 check-out in the nineteenth leg and went 13-7 ahead after the fourth session, the odds of Hamilton winning were now at 100/1. It looked even more ominous as Whitlock went 15-8 ahead but Hamilton took legs twenty-four and twenty-five to force a sixth session. Unbelievably, Whitlock lost his doubles as the pressure grew and Hamilton took all five legs in the sixth session to level the scores at 15-15, forcing a tie break where the victor needed to win by two clear legs. Hamilton kept the momentum as Whitlock missed further darts at the double and The Hammer somehow won the match 17-15, taking out 94 with the bulls-eye in the winning leg.

There was a second comeback in the other quarter-final this afternoon, but it was nowhere near as emphatic. Adrian Lewis took on Mark Webster and the Welshman won the first session 4-1. Lewis won the second session but was sill 6-4 behind, however the World Champion continued his momentum and won the third session 4-1 to take the lead for the first time and never looked back. Webster has impressed so far with numerous 100+ check-outs and provided another in the seventeenth leg, checking out a 104. Lewis remained in control though and led 11-9 after the fourth session. Lewis was then able to extend his lead to 14-11 after the fifth session and won the match 16-12.