The Master versus the Newcomer

The first day of 2013 will see the Sid Waddell trophy lifted for the first time. The two who will battle for that honour are Phil Taylor, making his 19^th world final appearance and vying for his 16^th world title, and Michael Van Gerwen, who will be making his first ever appearance in a world final and just one year older than when Eric Bristow lifted the title for the first time at 23.

The master faced an old nemesis in Raymond Van Barneveld in the semi-final. The Dutchman performed a valiant comeback in front of his wife and children but Taylor proved just too powerful. Although the match ended with a sour taste as Taylor took offence to Barney’s congratulations and it lead to security splitting the pair before leading Taylor off before Van Barneveld was allowed to exit the stage. Taylor did claim afterwards it was much ado about nothing and should be forgotten about.

The newcomer faced James Wade in the opening semi-final and the Dutch Destroyer had to overcome another consistent performance from the Machine. Van Gerwen almost wrote history as he hit the second nine darter of the tournament and then hit another eight perfect darts before missing the double-12 for two nine darters in consecutive legs.

After his quarter-final against Simon Whitlock, Van Barneveld claimed that he was no longer scared of Taylor. But the Dutchman began the match like a player who hadn't beaten Taylor on television for five years. Taylor won the first five legs before claiming the second set 3-1 with a 107-checkout.

Taylor then missed to darts to level the third set and the Dutchman managed to hold his nerve to take it without conceding and halve the deficit. This only seemed to anger The Power and he posted a 141-checkout in the second leg of the fourth set before taking the set with a 111-checkout in the following leg. Barney looked to still have some fight in him with a 136-checkout in the opening leg of the fifth set. But the Dutchman would then miss two darts to level the set, leaving Taylor to post-78 and take a commanding 4-1 lead.

Barneveld did manage to battle back from 2-0 down in the sixth set to force a deciding leg. But Taylor took the final leg to put himself one set away from a colossal victory, leaving Barney looking rather dejected and already out of the tournament.

But the Dutchman showed everyone that should write him off at their peril. He returned from the break looking rejuvenated and the head shaking turned into head nodding. Taylor hit a 107-checkout to force a deciding leg in the seventh set and then missed two match darts to allow Barneveld to pull a set back.

Taylor would then miss four darts at the double in the opening leg of the eighth set as Barney took a 116-checkout. The Dutchman would then take that set without conceding to make it 5-3. The Power, looking very anxious at this time, missed another two darts to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the ninth set. Barney responded with a 125-checkout via bull, 25, bull before going on to take a 2-1 lead. Taylor again put himself within a leg of winning the match, but Barney took the deciding leg to make it 5-4.

Taylor again missed three darts to go 2-0 ahead in the tenth set. But he recovered to hit a ton checkout with two double tops to once again go one leg from victory. The Dutchman was finally broken when he missed two darts to save the match and Taylor had booked his place with a 6-4 victory.

It was the same scoreline for Van Gerwen against Wade. The Dutchman was slow to get going and missed 11-darts to level the opening set. He did manage to recover to force a deciding set but Wade took a 105-checkout to take the first set. Van Gerwen woke up and hit a 104-checkout in the first leg of the second set before winning it without conceding after Wade missed three darts in the third leg.

The Dutchman then made it six consecutive legs, with a 90-checkout via the bull, to take a 2-1 lead. That soon got extended to nine consecutive legs to make it 3-1. Wade managed to stop the rot by taking a 2-0 lead in the fifth set. Van Gerwen again responded with the fantastic nine darter before hitting another eight perfect darts in the fourth leg. He missed the dart at double-12 but came back to the oche to force a deciding leg. That ultimately counted for nothing as Wade smashed a Shanghai 120-checkout to win the set and make it 3-2.

The fired Wade up and he took the sixth set without conceding to level the match up. Van Gerwen was 15-points ahead of Wade on the averages for most of the game and the Dutchman would make it 4-3, winning the seventh set 3-1 after the pair shared the opening two legs. Van Gerwen then missed three darts to take the eighth set without conceding. Wade managed to come back and force a deciding leg, but Van Gerwen recovered to win it and take a 5-3 lead.

The Dutchman then had to force a deciding leg in the ninth set, putting just one leg away from victory. Van Gerwen also got down to the double first but he missed a big-12 and ended up hitting five to prevent himself a shot at a finish. Wade gobbled up the present and reduced the arrears to just one set once again. The mishap didn't deter Van Gerwen though as he roared back to take the tenth set without conceding and book his place in his first ever world final.