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"PDC Year of Darts 2008"

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL (Jan 1)

John Part 7 V 2 Kirk Shepherd

2007 Champion - Raymond Van Barneveld

PREMIER LEAGUE DARTS TABLE - FINAL TABLE

1 Taylor 21pts (+46) - QUALIFIED
2 Wade 20pts (+22) - QUALIFIED
3 Barneveld 18pts (+16) - QUALIFIED
4 Lewis 12pts (-12) - QUALIFIED
5 Mardle 12pts (-14)
6 Manley 11pts (-12)
7 Jenkins 9pts (-18)
8 Part 9pts (-28)

US OPEN (May 18)

Phil Taylor 3 v 0 Colin Lloyd

2007 Champion - Phil Taylor

PREMIER LEAGUE DARTS SEMI FINAL AND FINAL (May 26)

Phil Taylor 11 V 1 Adrian Lewis
Raymond Van Barneveld 8 V 11 James Wade

Phil Taylor 16 V 8 James Wade

2007 Champion - Phil Taylor

UK OPEN (June 8)

James Wade 11 V 7 Gary Mawson

2007 Champion - Raymond Van Barneveld

LAS VEGAS DESERT CLASSIC (July 6)

Phil Taylor 13 V 7 James Wade

2007 Champion - Raymond Van Barneveld

WORLD MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

Phil Taylor 18 V 9 James Wade

2007 Champion - James Wade

SOUTH AFRICAN MASTERS

Phil Taylor 5 V 2 John Part

2007 Champion - Phil Taylor

WORLD GRAND PRIX

James Wade 6 V 3 Terry Jenkins

GRAND SLAM OF DARTS

Phil Taylor 18 V 11 Andy Hamilton

Decent first night of the Premier League. I thought the Barneveld V Lewis game was really good and the result could have been reversed.

I don't think the crowd helped in the Priestley V Jenkins game as it looked like neither really settled. Lloyd V Manley was close and Taylor V Scholten was a big scare for Taylor.

Taylor was really off his game. He was drifting in the 5's and the treble 20 wasn't really working for him. The treble 19 was his only real consistent area.

Taylor vs Scholten was a great match even though Taylor was way off his best, Scholten 6-3 down to 7-6 ahead and losing the last leg on his throw to draw 7-7 was a great finish with most expecting Taylor to lose his undefeated record in the league.

Whilst I like the big arenas showing darts has a massive following I couldn't help but feel that there were a fair few people last night who were just there either get on TV or prat about and put the players off (or both).

Plus I think the bigger arenas will unnerve the players even more (even Taylor & Barney), I know for sure Nottingham Arena will overwhelme the players when they step out and it must affect their game negatively.

That said they are pros and they should be able to block out these feelings and the best will come through.

I don't think the big arenas affect Barneveld or Taylor that much and Lewis seemed to be enjoying it. He was getting a good reception, I thought it was louder than Barneveld when Lewis won a leg. I think it affected Priestley and Jenkins but I think they were the only ones.

They'll get used to it, they are pros.

A few really tight games last night. There wasn't much between Lloyd and Barney. It came down to Barney just breaking the throw and maintaining that advantage.

Scholten V Jenkins was a good match. They were a bit shaky on the doubles but the scoring was great. Could have gone either way but Scholten let Jenkins off the hook and he made him pay.

Taylor is in a transistional phase. He's changed a few things and wants to be a bit healthier and it will affect his game. You can see that he just drifts from side to side a bit and the adjustment isn't working. It's too early to say whether all these changes will affect his dominance as it's not at a point where he's finished changing.

Priestley didn't play well and Taylor was letting him in so 7-7 was fair.

I was very impressed with Lewis. I was expecting it to be close but Lewis really surged away from Manley and Manley never looked like getting it back. Manley looked a little out of rhythm as well.

Looking forward to next week Smedlos?

Taylor probably just deserved to win his match. Jenkins had a mini fight back near the end but Taylor just crept over the line. I hope Taylor is right about him going to be better than he's ever been when all the changes he's made come together. That'll be some sight to see.

Barneveld was very fortunate to get the draw. Manley has been in form and should have won. Lewis was really good and should have beat Lloyd by more but he killed the game off nicely.

Scholten was just terrible and he's hit a poor patch of form. Priestley really made him pay for that.

Tonights matches:

Colin Lloyd v Roland Scholten
Adrian Lewis v Dennis Priestley
Peter Manley v Phil Taylor
Terry Jenkins v Raymond van Barneveld

I think Taylor , Lewis and Barney will win with the 1st match being a draw.

Results:

Colin Lloyd 8-5 Roland Scholten
Adrian Lewis 1-8 Dennis Priestley
Peter Manley 2-8 Phil Taylor
Terry Jenkins 7-7 Raymond van Barneveld

Lewis well and truly beaten thought he'd beat Priestly but like Ronnie O'Sullivan his form varies according to his mood.

Good draw for Jenkins there and I thought Scholten would give Lloyd a run for his money.

Priestly has won 3 and drawn 1 now which is very good going!

That's the issue with Lewis. When that rhythm goes, when things aren't going well, he doesn't have that backup, fighting game that might ground out a point. Lewis was drifting and overpitching and Priestley mopped the floor with him. Might have been a bit different if Lewis had taken the first couple of legs.

Scholten was a bit hit and miss but much better than last week. He looks a little drained. Maybe he needs a break. Either way, I think his form is coming back slowly. Lloyd looked pretty good but he wasn't losing by much when he lost his first 3 matches.

I thought that was an amazing statistic. Manley hasn't beaten Taylor in ANY competition since Blackpool in mid 1999. That's almost 8 years! Perhaps that had an effect but hopefully this is just a temporary setback for Manley, as his form has been good recently. It's obvious that Taylor is practising very hard and it looks like he's edging towards some good form.

Barneveld V Jenkins was a cracking game. Both averaging over 100 and matching each other leg for leg. Jenkins put away some pressure doubles and if it wasn't for a little blip just after the break, he may have nicked the win.

Looking forward to Barneveld V Taylor next week!

Scholten V Lewis could have gone either way. Lewis probably didn't finish very well and had a slow start. That was probably just the difference but at least Scholten looked a bit better.

The crowd were disappointing in the Priestley game. They showed little respect for Lloyd and you could see that it affected him. It was a shame because at 3-3, it could have gone either way.

Jenkins is really improving as a player. He should have beaten Manley much more convincingly as Manley was only averaging 80 while Jenkins was averaging 102 but the score was 2-2 and Jenkins had chances. Still, you can't complain with an 8-5 win though.

The Taylor V Barneveld game was amazing. Taylor looked very beaten at 5-1 down at the break. What a great comeback! Taylor really turned it on and to actually win the game was incredible!

Grandprix wrote:
> I don't think the big arenas affect Barneveld or Taylor that much
> and Lewis seemed to be enjoying it.

A big arena is slimming.

> He was getting a good reception,

Having rested the ariel on his belly...

> I thought it was louder than Barneveld when Lewis won
> a leg.

...Of lamb as a half-tiome snack.

> I think it affected Priestley and Jenkins but I think they
> were the only ones.

Who'd forgone the 5th lunch before playing.

>
> They'll get used to it, they are pros.