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BDO WORLD PROFESSIONAL DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP 2006 report by Andy Fairclough
Arguably Darts most famous venue in the world is the Lakeside complex in Frimley Green, Surrey and the BDO and WDF's best were on show in January for the 29th BDO World Darts Championship where Raymond van Barneveld wanted to try and match Eric Bristow's five BDO world titles.
ROUND ONE Tony Eccles kicked off the tournament against Per Laursen of Denmark. Eccles hit back to back 180s to go 2 sets to 1 in front but then a series of missed doubles allowed the Dane to get back into the match and against expectations, win. An out of sorts Ted Hankey was beaten quite comfortably by Albertino Essers 3-1 and Mervyn King looked solid as he beat Brian Woods 3-0. Tony O'Shea beat Tony West 3-1 and in a tight match Shaun Greatbatch moved past the first round at Lakeside for the first time beating fancied Dutchman Niels de Ruiter 3-2. Paul Hogan looked solid as he beat Mareno Michels 3-0 as did Martin Atkins who beat Gerald Porter by the same score. Darryl Fitton and Martin Adams always looked like being tie of the first round and it didn't disappoint. Fitton took the first set and Adams then levelled the match. Fitton went 2 legs up in the third set but crucially Adams took the next 3 legs to win the set. With history repeating , although Fitton took it to 2-2 in the next set, Adams beat 'The Dazzler' on the big stage once again. An off form Andy Fordham wasn't too much trouble for Aussie Simon Whitlock as he won 3-0 and John Walton went out the same way, 3-0 to Stephen Roberts. One of the unexpected highlights of round one was the match between Scotland's Mike Veitch and Finland's fancied Ulf Ceder. Veitch won the first two sets then Ceder pulled a set back winning the deciding leg in set 3 (averages Veitch 95, Ceder 92). However the comeback was shortlived as Veitch put in arguably his finest performance on tv to this point to win 3-1. Raymond van Barneveld won 3-0 against Brian Sorensen but the scoreline flattered the 4 times world champion who suffered tremendously with many missed doubles. Young Dutchman and fast thrower Jelle Klaasen came back from a set down to beat veteran Dennis Harbour and Vincent van der Voort was too steady in his 3-1 win over Ross Montgomery. Gary Anderson then beat Gary Robson 3-1 in a mixed game which went from top to bottom drawer in terms of quality.
ROUND TWO Jelle Klaasen looked impressive in his first round match against Dennis Harbour but I guess no one expected him to persevere against world ranked number 1, Mervyn King. The first set went to King, the second to Klaasen and perhaps more importantly the third set went to the Dutchman as well. King broke Klaasen's throw in the first leg of the fourth set but Jelle broke straight back. A 120 checkout in the third leg gave Klaasen a real advantage and despite King taking the next leg, Klaasen held his darts to take a lead of 3 sets to 1. Klaasen broke throw again to take the first leg in the fifth set, but King is ranked number 1 for nothing and he broke straight back checking out a 161. King took the set to make it 2-3 to Klaasen and Mervyn held on in set 6 by checking out 104 to make it 2 legs apiece. Klaasen though took the deciding leg and so the match, 4 sets to 2. Albertino Essers retrieved a 2-0 deficit against Basingstoke's Paul Hogan to square the game, but Hogan looked too solid and took the match 4-2. Paul Hanvidge also had to come back from 2-0 down to Simon Whitlock but he followed through to win 4-2. Shaun Greatbatch beat Per Laursen 4-2. Martin Atkins raced to a 3-0 lead against Martin Adams and looked certain for victory but 'Wolfie' gave us yet another Lakeside classic. Adams made it 3-1 and Atkins had darts for the match in the next set. He missed, Adams didn’t, so 3-2. Adams levelled the game now averaging 98 to Atkins 95. He had all the impetus and sailed through the last set to complete a memorable comeback and win. Rounding up round two, Raymond van Barneveld beat Gary Anderson 4-1, Tony O'Shea beat Vincent van der Voort 4-0 and Mike Veitch beat Steve Roberts 4-3.
QUARTER-FINALS Jelle Klaasen was favourite to beat Paul Hogan in the quarter-finals, even though the Hampshire man had the experience having reached the same stage over a decade before. Klaasen was at times brilliant and at times hugely disappointing in a match of real swings and roundabouts. Klaasen raced to a 4-1 lead and looked good value for an early win, particularly as he had hit two 12 dart legs in the fifth set. However Hogan used his experience and solid play to claw back the match and took the next 3 sets against some lacklustre darts from his opponent. At 4 each Klaasen seemed to steel himself again and a final surge saw him win the match by 5 sets to 4. Shaun Greatbatch overturned a 1 set to 2 deficit against Paul Hanvidge to ultimately take the lead at 3 sets to 2 with a 124 checkout. Final result was 5-3 to Greatbatch. Tony O'Shea was expected to put up a great fight against Raymond van Barneveld and that is exactly what we got. Barneveld hit a 130 finish in the second leg and then took the first set. The four times champ then kicked off set 2 with an 11 dart game. O'Shea clawed back to 2 legs each and missed key doubles for the set. Barneveld capitalised and so it was 2-0. O'Shea popped out a 120 finish to take the next set and the fourth set which went to a deciding leg went the Dutchman's way, so now 3-1. O'Shea then arguably played his best darts of the match as he won the second leg with a 12 dart game checking out 121 and then took the set with an 11 darter. For a third incredible leg, O'Shea hit a 12 darter with a 138 finish to take the opening leg of the sixth set. Barney then hit a 12 darter of his own and went on to win the set, so now 4-2 (Barneveld averaging 94, O'Shea 86). O'Shea soared through the next set to make it 4-3 but a big effort from the Dutchman in the eighth set saw him move to the semi-finals a 5-3 winner. Martin Adams won the last quarter-final beating Mike Veitch 5-3.
SEMI-FINALS Raymond van Barneveld against Martin Adams was a rerun of the 2005 final which was decidedly one sided in the Dutchman's favour. This year's semi-final wasn't too different, although Adams started well taking the first set. In set 2, Barneveld put in an 11 dart leg to make it a leg apiece and then checked out 120 to make it 2 legs to 1. Adams took the next leg, but Barney pipped the set. The third set also went all the way with Adams averaging 99 to Barneveld's 94. Adams missed 2 darts for the set and Barneveld took full advantage. A 120 checkout followed to take the fourth set and Barneveld now led 3 sets to 1. Barney rattled in the next two sets upping his average to 97 (Adams now 93), before a mini comeback from Adams as he won the seventh set 3-0. Though it went to a deciding leg, Barneveld took what was to be the final set and was good value for his 6 sets to 2 win. I guess at this point everyone (Shaun Greatbatch aside) was rooting for an all Dutch final where the "Master" could take on the "Young Pretender". Jelle Klaasen was as erratic as he had been in previous matches. At times quite brilliant and at others he couldn't seem to hit a barn door. Klaasen took the first set but then Greatbatch rattled off 3 sets in a row with little opposition from Klaasen. In the fifth set Klaasen hit a 120 checkout to make it 2 legs each and then took the set at a good time with an interval due. Following the break, Klaasen began to show his dominance, although Greatbatch was never completely out of the fight. However at 5-3 to Klaasen it seemed then there would be only one winner and a 145 checkout from the Dutchman in the second leg of the final set put him well on his way to an incredible Lakeside debut final appearance. Final score Jelle Klaasen 6, Shaun Greatbatch 3.
THE FINAL And so it was the final everyone wanted, Jelle Klaasen against four times World Champion Raymond van Barneveld. Not too many really gave Klaasen that much of a chance and perhaps Barneveld himself was feeling over confident as he invited five times world champion Eric Bristow to Lakeside to watch him potentially match Eric's five BDO world titles. Barney started in style checking out 124 in the second leg, but Klaasen took the third with all 3 going against the throw. Klaasen took the first set holding his throw and also the second set which went all the way to a deciding leg. Just when people perhaps began thinking the unthinkable, Barneveld came storming back into the match much as he did in the World Masters final. He rattled off the next 2 sets 3-0 to make it 2 sets all. A 120 checkout followed from Barneveld to make it 2-1 in the next set, before Klaasen levelled the set and then won it to go 3 sets to 2 ahead. Barneveld broke throw in the third leg of the next set with a 156 checkout and he then held his throw to go into the interval at 3 sets all. Barney came out firing from the break putting in a 12 dart leg to go 2-1 up and then take set 7. Klaasen however then turned on the style he had shown in patches all week to take the next set 3-0 and square the match at 4 sets all. A 12 dart leg followed from Klaasen and that was his fourth consecutive leg in a run of what turned out to be a crucial 7 legs in a row won. % sets to 4 to Klaasen and the tenth set goes to a decider won by Barneveld to square the match once again! The eleventh set also went to a decider and Klaasen coolly took out 106 to go in front 6-5 (averages Barneveld 93, Klaasen 90). The twelfth set started tightly at 1 leg all, then Klaasen went ahead 2-1 and he checked out an amazing 101 (25, T20, D8) for the match! So a new Superstar of Darts was born – 21 year old Jelle Klaasen winning the world championship on his debut.
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