PHIL TAYLOR eased past Wayne Mardle 9-2 to open his bid for a fourth Rileys Darts Zones UK Open title at the Reebok
Stadium.
Taylor, fresh from hitting two nine-darters in winning the Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts 11 days ago,
wasted little time in progressing to the last 32 of the UK Open.
He won the opening eight legs against Mardle without reply before the Essex star kept the game alive, albeit
briefly, with back-to-back legs before Taylor completed the rout with an average of just over 100.
"I'm flying at the moment and enjoying my darts," admitted Taylor. "I've got to really push for this over the
next two days because I want to keep this title."
Mardle has dropped to the edge of the world's top 32 in the past six months and Taylor added: "It was a bit of
a mismatch. Wayne was a bit flat at the beginning and didn't play as well as he can do.
"I'd love to see him get back on track and I've invited him to come and practice with me. If he listens to that
and does what I tell him he might do that."
Taylor has drawn long-term rival Kevin Painter for Saturday afternoon's fourth round, with the 2004 World Championship
finalist defeating Surrey's Mark Harris - the only BDO County qualifier to reach the last 64 - 9-5 in his opener in Bolton.
Another tasty tie will see Gary Anderson and Paul Nicholson meet at the Reebok Stadium for the second successive
year, with the latter taking a 6-4 win when they met in round two in 2009.
Scotland's Anderson produced the best display of the tournament so far with a 106 average in powering past Holland's
Michael van Gerwen 9-4.
Anderson hit eight 180s in the game, and said: "My scoring was great but I only hit a third of my doubles and if I
improve that I could go a long way in this event.
"The only person who scares me in darts is myself and I'm looking forward to the weekend."
Nicholson, meanwhile, was a 9-6 winner against Kirk Shepherd to progress to the last 32.
World number four Mervyn King safely progressed into round four with a 9-5 defeat of young star Joe Cullen - but
23-year-old Irish prospect William O'Connor won a spot in the last 32 in his first-ever televised event by defeating
Peter Wright 9-7.
O'Connor drew 2008 UK Open champion James Wade in round four, with the left-hander holding off a Steve Hine comeback
before taking a 9-7 victory in their Friday night battle.
Teenager Reece Robinson, one of the 32 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers, gave World Championship runner-up Simon Whitlock a
scare in their clash, taking out finishes of 127, 120 and 116 before the Australian - who hit a 170 checkout
himself - took a 9-5 win.
Wes Newton sent world number five Terry Jenkins crashing from the event with a superb 9-1 win, a result which was
bettered by Kevin McDine's whitewash of Tony Broughton.
The father-and-son combination of Colin and Arron Monk both exited the tournament, losing to Dennis Smith and
Denis Ovens respectively, while 2009 runner-up Colin Osborne opened up his challenge with a 9-3 win over Gibraltar's
Dylan Duo.
Osborne now takes on Adrian Lewis in the fourth round, while Whitlock drew Robert Thornton, who was a narrow 9-8 winner
against Swindon's Mark Cox.
Mark Walsh defeated the three times Canadian World Champion John Part, who had stormed through the first legs of the
match but then got out breath while Walsh dominated the later legs.
Steve Maish and Dennis Priestley played an epic match from which Steve Maish emerged victorious with a close 9:8
victory.
With Mark Webster a third former World Champion crashed out the tournament – he lost 6:9 to Tony Eccles while former
World Champion number four Steve Beaton had no chance at all against Jamie Caven.
Paul Warwick is the sole survivor from the Rileys Amateur Qualifiers in the last 32, with the Milton Keynes qualifier
having defeated Holland's Co Stompe 9-3.
Broughton and Robinson were joined in defeat by Oxford-based Pete Fisher, a former European powerlifting champion,
who lost out 9-3 to Tony Ayres.
Saturday afternoon's fourth round will be followed in the evening session by round five, featuring the last 16,
before the eight remaining players return on Sunday to battle for the £40,000 title.