2013 World Matchplay Darts: Day Two - Afternoon Session

There was no time for a lazy afternoon by the seaside in Blackpool. This afternoon was filled with more darting drama as we reached the halfway point in the first round of the 2013 World Matchplay tournament. There were wins for the P's as Justin Pipe, Kevin Painter and Peter Wright all made it through, joined by Northern Ireland's Brendan Dolan.

Pipe managed to see off an injured Mark Webster in another match where the person starting the better ended up losing. Webster was suffering from damaged ligaments in his right ankle following a five-a-side football match. But it didn't really hamper the left-handed Welshman as he took a 2-0 lead courtesy of a 101-checkout. Pipe did level the match but a 76-checkout on the bull was enough for Webster to go 3-2 in front at the first break. Webster probably didn't want the break as Pipe returned with five consecutive legs to take a 7-3 lead at the second break. Pipe took the next two legs to go within one of winning the match before Webster added another leg to his belt. Pipe would still win 10-4 to comfortably progress to meet Raymond Van Barneveld in the second round.

Painter had a tough job in seeing off the young Jamie Lewis. Lewis managed to win the opening leg after Painter missed four darts at the double only for The Artist to go 2-1 and then 3-2 in front at the first interval. Painter gained an edge with a superb 164-checkout before then going 5-2 ahead. The plucky Lewis tried to come back and managed to make it 6-5 with a 104-checkout. But Painter continued to stay ahead and extended his lead to 8-5 and then 9-6 before Lewis tried to keep himself in the match. Painter would take the 17th leg of the match to win the game 10-7.

Wright continued his fantastic recent run of form with his first ever victory over Kim Huybrechts. The first six legs all went with throw as the match began to live up to its 'hard to call' nature. But Wright managed to gain a real foothold as he took the next four legs to go 7-3 in front. Huybrechts struggled for long periods during the game and after winning his fourth leg, Wright managed to win the following three legs to book his place in the next round.

The closest match of the afternoon saw Dolan creep past Steve Beaton to also make it in to the second round. The game began in extraordinary fashion; Dolan took the first leg with a 112-checkout before Beaton riposted with a 118-finish. Beaton would then go 3-1 in front before making it 5-2. But Dolan battled back and the Northern Irishman managed to take the next three legs to level the match at the second interval. Dolan then managed to make it five consecutive legs to go 7-5 in front before Beaton fought back to level, with a 117-checkout in leg-13. The next three legs were shared to put Dolan 9-8 in front but a sudden death shoot-out was avoided as the Northern Irishman managed to win the 18th leg and squeeze through.