TheOche.com

The following article was written and graciously submitted by Phill Catterick, a freelance writer based in Staffordshire. Phill may be contacted by email.

The 2009 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship has certainly lived up to the hype and expectation during the opening stages this year, with many shocks and upsets being recorded at the Ally Pally within the first few days.

None more so than the demise of John Part by American qualifier Bill Davis on Friday evening. The reigning champ was very confident of retaining his crown prior to the event, but fell at the first hurdle to guarantee a new World Champion.

The match of the first round had to be Kevin Painter against Matt Clarke, which went to a sudden death leg with `The Artist` coming out on top after hitting double eight to seal the win. The draw doesn’t favour Painter though with a potential third round tie against Phil Taylor or Michael Van Gerwen.

Both Taylor and Gerwen had reasonably simple first round ties with The Power turning over Steve Grubb 3-0, and the young Dutchman overcoming Darin Young 3-1.

Raymond Van Barneveld and last year’s semi finalist Wayne Mardle also came through their matches unscathed; progressing to round two with 3-0 victories over Mark Stephenson and David Fatum.

James Wade and Andy Hamilton also sent out convincing messages to the rest of the field, enjoying whitewashes against Brendan Dolan and Michael Barnard respectively.

Last year’s finalist Kirk Shepherd was another big name that was sent packing as he went down 3-2 to Jan Van Der Rassel.

And the Dutch weren’t finished as Jelle Klaasen too progressed with a 3-0 win over number ten seed Colin Lloyd; a man who is struggling to show the form that won him the World Matchplay in 2005.

German Open champion Co Stompe continued the dominance by the Dutch when he overcame Andy Jenkins 3-1, and Adrian Lewis came through by the same scoreline to defeat Russell Stewart.

Roland Scholten and Terry Jenkins will both watch the rest of the championships from their front rooms as they were both knocked out by Carlos Rodriguez and Dennis Smith.

Peter Manley too will take no further part in the tournament as he was defeated by Mensur Suljovic 3-2, likewise to Andy Smith who was knocked out by Tony Ayres.

One to watch in the latter stages is Robert Thornton, making his debut in the PDC world championships, and he came through by three sets to one over Wayne Jones.

Dennis Priestley unsurprisingly progressed to round two with a 3-0 win over Warren French, who had to win a preliminary match to face `the menace.`

Alan Tabern and Barrie Bates failed to drop a set between them either as former BDO champion Steve Beaton and Felix Mcbrearty were both knocked out.

The 2005 World championship runner-up Mark Dudbridge booked his place in the second round with a narrow 3-2 victory against Nick Fullwell, and 2004 World Masters champion Mervyn King also progressed 3-0 against Shi Yongsheng of China.

Colin Osbourne recorded a 3-0 win over Charles Losper, and Vincent Van Der Voort also went through by the same score as he fended off Nandor Bezzeg.

The familiar names of Dennis Ovens, Wes Newton and Mark Walsh all made it through to the second round as they sent out Steve Maish, Per Laursen and Jamie Caven.

Chris Mason will be disappointed not to have made it through to the next stage at the Alexandra Palace, as he went down 3-0 at the hands of John Macgowan.

The final three players who will be contesting after the Christmas break are Kevin McDine after beating Alex Roy 3-1, Paul Nicholson defeated Adrian Gray 3-0, and Tony Eccles fended off Remco Van Eijden, who had previously defeated Anastasia Dobromyslova, who narrowly missed out on contesting in the first round in her debut PDC tournament.

The championships continue on the 27th, with the pick of the games being Phil Taylor against Michael Van Gerwen, and Robert Thornton playing `Hawaii 501`, Wayne Mardle.