TheOche.com

by Phill Catterick:

Never have I looked forward to the semi finals of a Darts World Championship so much; with four different nations being represented and three previous title winners still in the frame, it makes for some very exciting play.

The likes of Mervyn King, James Wade, John Part, Gary Anderson and Wayne Mardle may have all fallen at earlier hurdles, but as we reach the latter stages I am genuinely excited by what’s coming up.

Never have I looked forward to the semi finals of a Darts World Championship so much; with four different nations being represented and three previous title winners still in the frame, it makes for some very exciting play.

The likes of Mervyn King, James Wade, John Part, Gary Anderson and Wayne Mardle may have all fallen at earlier hurdles, but as we reach the latter stages I am genuinely excited by what’s coming up.

The surprise package of the tournament so far has to be `The Wizard` Simon Whitlock. The Australian hasn’t particularly made his mark on the PDC yet having made the switch two years ago, but now he’s just two wins away from the biggest pay day of his professional career.

£200,000 is the prize for the eventual winner, and although Whitlock and Barneveld have hit good form in recent games, I can’t see anybody matching Phil Taylor for consistency and mental strength.

Being a fourteen time champion of the world isn’t just a statistic, it’s a mark of how good he is and how difficult it has been to overcome him.

Recording anything less than a 100 average just isn’t good enough, and even then you have to rely on “The Power` to miss a few doubles if you have any chance at all.

Mark Webster will certainly be aware of this and he’ll have to play the match of his life if he’s to compete in his first ever PDC final. The atmosphere won’t be completely alien however as (somewhat ironically) he beat fellow semi finalist Simon Whitlock in the Lakeside final of 2008.

Despite his obvious talent and decent run to the semis I really can’t see him beating Phil even if he’s on top form and I fully expect Taylor to be in the final.

Who will join him? Well to be honest I’m not really sure. The average Dart fan will say Barneveld and I wouldn’t blame them for saying so, but Whitlock has been playing brilliantly throughout the tournament, and against Wade he was sensational.

If he performs in the same way against Barney then in truth I don’t think the Dutchman will live with him. Raymond’s doubles in recent tournaments have been far from impressive and he tends to beat himself up if things don’t go his way, which in turn affects his throw.

However Whitlock will still have to produce, because if there’s one thing Barneveld’s good at its grinding out results from poor positions. As Barney pointed out in his post match interview he’s only dropped one set all tournament and that in itself is a fantastic statistic.

It will be a cracker of a match for sure, and although I’m talking up Whitlock I think he’ll just miss out just because of Raymond’s experience on the big stage, and the fact he played so well against Ronnie Baxter.

If my prediction turns out to be correct it will be the third time in four years that the rivals have contested the World Final. Whatever the situation though you just can’t rule out Phil Taylor; his year on the circuit has been perhaps the most dominant ever, and I fully expect him to clinch his 15th title!