Jim McEwan and Dave Prins showcased their title credentials with impressive wins during the second session of the 2022 WDF World Championships at Lakeside.
Scotland’s McEwan belied his debutant status and laid down a marker for the rest of the field by recording the first ton-plus average of the tournament in a blistering 2-0 win over New Zealand’s Landon Gardiner.
‘Chucky’, the reigning British Classic champion, took just 42 darts to wrap up the opening set and although Gardiner avoided the whitewash by winning the second leg of the second set, McEwan simply had too much. The former Scotland international wrapped up victory with 121 checkout, finishing with a 101.32 average to set up a last 32 meeting with England’s Aaron Turner.
Dave Prins has enjoyed a career renaissance over the last nine months, booking a first Lakeside appearance in eight years after a string of impressive performances on the tour, performing well at the inaugural World Seniors Championships and winning last month’s Isle of Man Open. He continued that form in the fourth game of the evening, defeating Wales’ Mark Graham 2-0.
The pair were neck-and-neck in a competitive first set but Graham’s nine missed darts at a double proved the difference-maker with Prins taking it 3-1. Nicknamed ‘The Badger’, Prins took control of the second set with a 132 checkout to break the Graham throw before holding in the third to seal victory. Next up for Prins is another meeting with a Welshman, this time the highly-fancied Mike Warburton.
Canada’s Rory Hansen battled through the obvious nerves in his Lakeside debut to record a straight sets victory over Scotland’s Mark Barilli, who, like Prins, was making a return to the Home of World Darts after a lengthy absence.
Both sets followed a similar pattern, Barilli starting strongly before his Canadian opponent came back into it and demonstrated a more clinical finishing instinct. After threatening a big finish a couple of times earlier in the match, Hansen took out 119 to complete the comeback from 2-0 down in the second set to secure victory. Next up for ‘Relentless’ is a meeting with the 12th seed, Nick Fullwell.
Joining McEwan, Prins and Hansen in the last 32 is Justin Thompson, who defeated Paul Hogan in the final game of the evening.
After a slow start, Australian veteran Thompson won the first set 3-1 and secured an early break in the second to move within a leg of the match. Hogan fought back though, breaking back and surviving two match darts before taking out 126 on the bull to level the match at a set apiece.
Hogan couldn’t sustain that momentum in the third set, with Thompson winning 3-0 to continue his perfect record in the opening round on the World Championships. A World Cup winner with Australia, ‘Thommo’ faces Northern Ireland’s Neil Duff in the last 32.
Suzanne Smith and Jo Clements met in the Slovak Open final a little over a month ago with Clements coming out on top 5-2. It was a similar story here, although on this occasion Clements had to go to a last-leg decider to see off her English compatriot.
After dropping the first set 3-1, Clements won four legs on the spin to level things up and establish a lead in the decider. All five legs in the third set went on throw, with Clements holding her nerve to take out 20 and seal victory. Clements will meet Kirsty Hutchinson later in the week with a spot in the quarter-finals on the line.
In the evening’s other game, Priscilla Steenbergen recorded her first Lakeside victory after coming through a scrappy game with Canada’s Darlene van Sleeuwen. With doubles often proving elusive, the first two sets both finished 3-2. Steenbergen stepped through the gears in the decider, finishes of 115 and 74 helping her win that set 3-0 and the match 2-1. She meets Australia’s Corrine Hammond in the last 16.
Jim McEwan 2-0 Landon Gardiner
Priscilla Steenbergen 2-1 Darlene van Sleeuwen
Rory Hansen 2-0 Mark Barilli
Dave Prins 2-0 Mark Graham
Jo Clements 2-1 Suzanne Smith
Justin Thompson 2-1 Paul Hogan
All photo credit to Chris Sargeant / Tip Top Pics
