TheOche.com

Photo Lawrence Lustig/PDC

RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD and James Wade were made to work as they progressed into the second round of the 2009 European Championship at the Claus Event Centre in Hoofddorp, Holland.

Van Barneveld survived a final-leg thriller with Dennis Priestley while Alan Tabern came from 5-1 down to within one leg of the Premier League champion before Wade sealed the win.

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Photo courtesy Lustig/PDC

PHIL TAYLOR began the defence of his European Championship title with a 6-2 win over Toon Greebe at the Claus Event Centre in Holland.

The defending champion faces Robert Thornton in the second round in a dress-rehearsal for December’s Jocky Wilson Cup after knocking out the young Dutchman, who had chances to make the contest tighter in front of his home crowd.

“It’s always good to get through the first round as the short format can be a bit tricky,” said Taylor. “Now I can concentrate on the match with Robert on Saturday which I’ll be more relaxed as it is best of 17 legs.”

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(BDO Press Release)

LAKESIDE COUNTRY CLUB, FRIMLEY GREEN, SURREY
SATURDAY, JANUARY 2 to SUNDAY, JANUARY 10, 2010

The 2010 Lakeside World Professional Men’s Champion will receive a cheque for £100,000, and the total prize fund for the Championships will be £325,000 – making it the richest ever in the history of the most prestigious Championships in World Darts.

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Phil Taylor will begin the defence of his European Championship title against Holland’s Toon Greebe on Thursday.

The £200,000 event will be held at the Claus Event Centre in Hoofddorp, Holland from Thursday October 29-Sunday November 1.

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JAMES WADE came from 2-0 down to defeat Brendan Dolan 6-2 and win Sunday’s Players Championship in Nuland.

Dolan hit a 180 and double four to win the opening leg, and doubled his lead with Wade waiting on 40 in the second.

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STEVE BEATON claimed his first tournament win since 2001 with a 6-1 defeat of Wes Newton in Saturday’s Players Championship in Nuland.

The former Embassy Champion’s last title came at the JR & Vauxhall Open in Great Yarmouth in 2001, but he continued his renaissance with a fine showing in Holland.

Having reached a Players Championship final in Austria last month, losing to Jamie Caven, he went one better this time around to claim the £6,000 Players Championship title.

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COLIN OSBORNE claimed his first major title with a 6-4 victory over Phil Taylor to win the 2009 Championship League Darts.

Osborne avenged his loss to Taylor in the final of June’s UK Open with an accomplished performance to see off the world number one and claim the £10,000 first prize at Crondon Park GC in Essex.

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(PDC Media Release) Barry Hearn has questioned the authority with which Olly Croft has turned down the PDC’s £1m offer to buy the British Darts Organisation and inject an additional £1m into the grass roots of the game.

The Professional Darts Corporation’s Chairman made the offer in an open letter to the BDO’s shareholders – its 66 member counties – and directors on Tuesday, but quotes from Croft, whose position within the BDO is described on its official website as ‘Founder’, reject the offer out of hand. Read more

PDC Media Release:

The Professional Darts Corporation have made a £1 million offer to purchase the British Darts Organisation, as well as offering to invest the same amount in to the grass roots side of the sport.

An open letter, detailed below, has been sent to the Board of Directors and Members of the British Darts Organisation, by PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.

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ADRIAN LEWIS ended two years of disappointment in Championship League Darts by winning Group Eight of the tournament on Wednesday.

Lewis competed in five groups last year without winning one, and had missed out on a place in the final in each of the seven previous groups this time around.

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