Simon Whitlock turned on the style in the Cash Converters Players Championship Finals with a 10-1 romp against Ronnie Baxter as Phil Taylor denied Adrian Lewis a dream win at the Butlins Minehead Resort.
Australian ace Whitlock (pictured) produced the best performance of the tournament so far as he averaged 109.54 and hit a 170 checkout in sweeping past Baxter in the second round of the £250,000 event yesterday.
Whitlock’s brilliant display was his best-ever in a televised event and set up a quarter-final clash with Gary Anderson on Sunday as he bids to follow up his European Championship victory with a second major title.
“I’m really pleased,” said Whitlock. “I’ve lost a couple of times to Ronnie on TV before but I was focused on what I wanted to do tonight.
“Going out in the Group Stage of the Grand Slam recently was really disappointing for me and I’ve been putting in a lot of hours on the practice board, I’ve gone back to the routine which I had when I reached the World Championhip final and it’s working so far.
“This game’s gone now though and I’ve got to try and focus on the quarter-finals and try to produce that form again tomorrow because Gary Anderson’s a prolific scorer so I need to be at my best.”
Anderson reached the last eight in style by coming from 3-0 down to win his all-Scottish battle with Robert Thornton 10-7 earlier in the day.
“Robert started off well and I know how well he’s been playing recently, but he struggled in the middle of the game and I made the most of it,” said Anderson. “My doubles were good today and they went in at the right time for me.”
Two-time champion Phil Taylor, meanwhile, remains on course to complete a Players Championship Finals hat-trick following his 10-7 defeat of World Champion Adrian Lewis.
Lewis had become a father for the second time in the early hours of Saturday, having dashed back to Stoke following his controversial first round win over Richie Burnett before returning to Somerset to take on Taylor.
The world number one took the first four legs in sensational style before Lewis hit back to 4-3, and the 27-year-old took out finishes of 130 and 121 to stay in touch at 8-6 before Taylor sealed the win.
“I tried my best but full credit to Phil, he deserved to win and after everything that’s happened in the last couple of days I was proud to push him there,” said Lewis. “I’ve had about five hours sleep in the last two days but once I got up on stage the adrenaline kicked in.”
Taylor now plays Andy Hamilton in another all-Stoke battle this afternoon afternoon, and said: “I’m delighted to have come through that and I thought Adrian did really well given that he’s only had five hours sleep in the last couple of days.
“I knew I needed to put him under pressure at the start and I did that. At some crucial points I missed a few doubles but I’m heading in the right direction and my game’s improving.
“I’m really looking forward to Sunday and to playing Andy. He did a great job to defeat Michael van Gerwen, his concentration levels are amazing and he’s a tough cookie.”
Hamilton booked his place in the quarter-finals with a fine 10-8 win over Michael van Gerwen, who led 4-0 early on but was punished for missed doubles as the World Championship finalist battled to victory.
“Michael’s playing great darts at the moment and it’s a brilliant result for me,” said Hamilton. “At 4-1 I had to stick in there and I won the next session 4-1 to level it, and once I got into the game I knew I could push Michael.
“To be in another big quarter-final shows that I’m worth of my position in the top eight, but I want to go on from here and win the tournament tomorrow.”