Paul Nicholson surged into the last sixteen of the Ladbrokes World Championship with a convincing win over Alan Tabern.
Nicholson is the second MODUS player to have progressed to the third round, where he joins James Wade. The Asset’s second round triumph was as comfortable as The Machine’s as he repeated the four nil score line that Wade produced before Christmas.
Nicholson faces Belgian Kim Huybrechts on Thursday and a similarly relentless performance will surely see him reach at least the quarter final. His campaign to become World Champion gathered momentum when bookies favourite Phil Taylor was eliminated before The Asset went on stage.
It was double disappointment for the Dutch contingent however, as Co Stompe and Vincent van der Voort were knocked out. Stompe, whose throwing hand had been bitten buy a dog, played well didn’t manage to come back from an exceptional start to the match by Premier League star Terry Jenkins.
Van der Voort lost out in a seven set thriller to Andy Hamilton, but the Dutch Destroyer should not be two downbeat; he hit eleven 180s in his first round match and produced a master class in finishing despite defeat in the third round, proving he has the ability to beat the very the best players in the game.
Mervyn King and Simon Whitlock are in action this afternoon. All four remaining MODUS players will be feared by the rest of the field, having all won their last match in straight sets.
King, who won every single leg of his first round tie, will play Michael van Gerwen to kick off this afternoon’s session. Following him is Simon Whitlock, who posted the highest average of the tournament despite having a broken ankle. He takes on Steve Beaton.
By Chris Murphy