World Matchplay - Preview
Tomorrow in Blackpool the World Matchplay will start. It will be the 19. "edition" of the tournament which is played since 1994 and it will take place again in the Empress Ballroom of the Winter Gardens. That is a very special venue with a very special atmosphere. The players have to suffer specially in some years as the listed venue isn't air-conditioned and the temperatures on stage end of July can be very high. This year the players might be lucky as there is no heat-wave in sight in England - more the contrary.
Phil Taylor dominated the tournament till now - as he did many other PDC Majors. He could celebrate his first victory in 1995, by now he's won twelve times - the last four years in a row.
All in all he till now pocketed 617.275 pound in price money - his first round opponent this year, Mervyn King, 51.500.
Taylor's performances throughout the tournament justify this dominance - from the 22 matches with the highest averages Taylor played 21, one was played by Raymond van Barneveld.
Whether he'll be able to win this year again is difficult to predict. But should he win his first round match against Mervyn King he'll meet in second and third round opponents, a Taylor in good form should have no problem to defeat and only in the semi-finals he would get with Gary Anderson or Dave Chisnall a more difficult opponent. No one has an idea in which form Gary Anderson will present himself.
In the other half of the draw Raymond van Barneveld - who seems to be in great form and recently won the European Darts Open in Düsseldorf - could have a good run though he already in the second round will face with Terry Jenkins or Kim Huybrechts an opponent not to be underestimated. And he meets with Lewis, Wade and Whitlock quite keen competition in his half - all three are well capable to play themselves into the final as well.
Of course one shouldn't overlook the outsiders like Richie Burnett, the UK Open winner Robert Thornton and the strong playing Colin Osborne.
With all those variables I don't want to commit myself to a favourite but I believe that Phil Taylor - should he win his first round match - will stand in the final. Whether he'll win it and who might be his opponent are question which only can be answered during the tournament.