SIMON WHITLOCK 7 – 7 RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD

Raymond van Barneveld and Simon Whitlock served up a real treat on the opening night of the McCoy’s Premier League, hitting eight 180’s between them in a fantastic 7-7 draw in Manchester.

‘Barney’ won the last two legs to seal a point after Whitlock had won five of the previous six. The Dutchman averaged 102 in a real classic.

Van Barneveld said: “I went into the break 4-2 up and felt really confident that I was going to win the match. After the break Simon played top class darts and suddenly I was 7-5 down. I was thinking here we go again, playing well and losing, but I thought no, no negativity and it seemed to work.”

‘The Wizard’ took the first leg before van Barneveld took out 80 to level. ‘Barney’ hit his first 180 in the third leg, which he won against the throw. The Dutchman hit double 15 to move further in front before Whitlock levelled with a neat 96 checkout. ‘Barney’ won the next leg to double his advantage, hitting his second maximum in the process.

Photo - Lawrence Lustig/PDC

Whitlock hit double four to reduce the deficit to a single leg, before hitting two 180’s against the throw to restore parity with a fantastic twelve dart leg. The Australian made it three in a row by hitting double top to take the lead for the first time since leg one.

Van Barneveld hit double twelve to make it five legs apiece. ‘The Wizard’ replied with his third 180 before hitting double four to put himself back in front. He then grabbed a break of throw at the perfect time, hitting double 16 to take a 7-5 lead.

‘Barney’ hit his fourth maximum before taking out 61 to leave himself throwing to salvage a draw. The five-time world champion made it five 180’s before hitting double eight for a share of the spoils, which both players admitted they were happy with.

Whitlock said: “When I was 4-2 down I would have been happy with a draw and after the way Raymond played I was definitely satisfied with the result. He said that he was happy with a draw too.  He came up with some massive darts at the end and I thought we both deserved something out of the match.”

Earlier in the evening James Wade was narrowly beaten by Andy Hamilton.

By Chris Murphy

2009 champion James Wade kicks off proceedings for this year’s McCoy’s Premier League when he faces Andy Hamilton in the opening game at the Manchester Evening News Arena.

Wade narrowly missed out on a place in the play-offs last year but came back strongly by winning his second UK Open title and reaching the semi-finals of the World Championship.

Photo - LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC

‘The Machine’, who is ranked third in the PDC Order of Merit, has been a consistently good performer in the competition and will hope to begin his 2012 campaign with victory over Premier League new boy Hamilton.

Following that clash is a match between two players fresh from good showings at the World Cup of Darts last weekend. Simon Whitlock takes on Raymond van Barneveld in a repeat of the semi-final in Hamburg, in which the Australian came out on top.

‘Barney’ has been a regular fixture in the Premier League. He has made five semi-final appearances in six years and he is confident that he is recovering from a recent loss of form at just the right time.

He said: “I feel fantastic at the moment and I’m over the moon to have been selected to play in the Premier League again. I’m working hard and playing quite well, my scoring has been good. I believe that within a couple of weeks, the old ‘Barney’ will be back.

“Some people may have written me off after the World Championship, but I believe in my own ability. Trust me, it’s still there, it hasn’t gone and I will make the ‘Barney Army’ proud of me again.”

Both players were selected as wildcards to return to this year’s competition and Whitlock is excited to be back on the big stage.

He said: “I’m delighted to have been selected to play in the Premier League again. It means everything to me and I’m really looking forward to the season. I think I can do really well this year.”

World Cup winners Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis go from teammates to rivals in the final match of this evening. That is after defending champion Gary Anderson takes on tournament debutant Kevin Painter.

MODUS darts.tv will provide updates and reports for all matches involving MODUS players.

Andy Hamilton v James Wade (game one)
Simon Whitlock v Raymond van Barneveld (game two)

By Chris Murphy