PHIL Taylor has been stunned with a knock-out blow from Dave Chisnall on the opening day of the Singapore Darts Masters.
The Power was swept aside 10-6 despite having arrived in Asia in super form, having claimed a record seventh successive World Matchplay title last month.
He paid the price for missed doubles to leave Chisnall joining Michael van Gerwen, James Wade and Simon Whitlock in the semi-finals.
Chisnall led 2-0 and 4-2 early on, before Taylor capitalised on a string of misses from the world number eight to cut the gap to just 4-3.
The roles were reversed, though, in the next two legs as Chisnall finished 82 and 76 on tops to take advantage of misses from Taylor. Chisnall then went and won the next three legs to move 9-3 up.
Taylor, staring defeat in the face, hit back with legs of 14, 13 and 14 darts to reduce the gap to 9-6 and threaten a fightback as Chisnall began to wobble.
The Burslem powerhouse also landed a 180, his fourth, in the game's 16th leg, but missed two further darts at doubles to allow Chisnall to take out 112 and complete a memorable win.
'I'm delighted, over the moon,' said Chisnall. 'I started quite well; my scoring was good at the beginning and I was hitting my finishes well.
'My finishing was my strong point but I scored quite well and that gave me the chances. When I went 9-3 up I just froze and thought 'I'm going to win this'.
'I had six legs to win one and so I was thinking that it didn't matter how I play, I'll win one. Phil gave me the shot at 112 at the end and I took it.'
Chisnall will now face Australian star Whitlock in the semi-finals on the competition, which is run in association with Singha Beer and Weston's Cider.
He claimed a 10-8 win when they last met in a televised event in the Dubai Darts Masters in May.
'Me and Simon always have cracking matches,' he added.
'I've just beaten one of the best players in the world so there's no reason that I can't win this now.'
The Singapore Darts Masters, in association with Singha Beer and Weston's Cider, will conclude tomorrow with the semi-finals and final at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Singapore Darts Masters
Quarter-finals: Peter Wright 4, James Wade 10; Simon Whitlock 10, Raymond van Barneveld 6; Phil Taylor 6, Dave Chisnall 10; Michael van Gerwen 10, Andy Hamilton 4.
Semi-finals (12pm UK time, Saturday): Dave Chisnall v Simon Whitlock; Michael van Gerwen v James Wade
Semi-finals and the final are the best of 19 legs.
No comments:
Post a Comment