Terry jenkins and and Ronnie Baxter won through to the semi-finals of the Betfair World Matchplay yesterday afternoon, as World Champion Adrian Lewis and Justin Pipe were knocked out at the Winter Gardens.
Two-time World Matchplay finalist Jenkins won through to the semi-finals of the £400,000 event for a third time following a superb 16-12 win over Lewis.
Jenkins hit ten 180s to Lewis’ nine during a see-saw contest and also hit 121 finishes in successive legs in mid-game before breaking the deadlock at 11-all by winning five of the final six legs.
“I got off to a good start and then went to sleep a little bit, but it was a good match,” said Jenkins.
“The two 121s gave me a bit of confidence and I think thet changed the match a bit because they made Adrian think a bit and made him realise I was up for it.
“It made him try a little bit harder in the second half, and he’s a tough player to beat so I’m really pleased to win that.”
Jenkins had stared defeat in the face in his first round game against Kim Huybrechts before overcoming Raymond van Barneveld, but he is now looking to push on and claim his first major title.
“If you look back, most players who have gone on and won a tournament have, somewhere along the line, had a chance to be knocked out, so maybe it’s my year.
I’ll just knuckle down and treat every player the same. I’ve been in the final a couple of times but it would mean quite a lot just to win one TV tournament – I think I deserve one.”
Lewis entered the event knowing that he could succeed Phil Taylor as the number one in the PDC Order of Merit should he progress further than his Stoke rival in the World Matchplay.
“I had the world number one on the back of my mind, which doesn’t help really,” he admitted. “This is the first tournament where I’ve had a chance to be world number one, and if Phil doesn’t win later on in the quarter-finals I’ll be world number one anyway.
“But if Phil’s number one at the end of the tournament, he deserves it. If I can win the World Grand Prix or European Championship then it’s good for me, and I’ll have a good go for it now.”
Blackpool’s home favourite Baxter won through to his first major semi-final for three years with his 16-11 win over rising star Justin Pipe, who was appearing in the last eight of a televised event for the first time.
Pipe played his part in another thriller by sharing the 16 180s which were hit during the game, but Baxter’s mid-game surge into a 14-7 lead proved too much for the Taunton thrower to overcome.
“It’s great to be back in the semi-finals,” said Baxter. “I’ve dropped from sixth down to 20 and it’s been a hard slog for the last 18 months but my form’s getting back there.
“My finishing was good and I stayed focused on my game. I began to miss a few doubles but I held on for that one good leg and I got there in the end.”
Pipe said: “It wasn’t my day and Ronnie played well. I was practising well but I didn’t get going and even eight 180s wasn’t enough.
“There are some massive positives from reaching my first major quarter-final though, and I’ve got to keep doing what I’m doing and I hope to progress a stage further in each TV event.”
