The 2004 Stan James

Stan James

Stan James is a British bookmaker established in 1973, and trades online under the name StanJames.com. The company is based in Marina Bay, Gibraltar with offices in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The companies which operate Stan James, Stan James Limited and Stan James Limited, are privately-held companies...

 World Matchplay Darts Championship was held between 25–31 July 2004 at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool

Winter Gardens, Blackpool

The Winter Gardens is a large entertainment complex in the town centre of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It has twelve different venues, including a theatre, ballroom and conference facilities. Opened in 1878, it is a Grade II* listed building, incorporating various elements built between 1875 and...

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Tournament Review - Day 1

Three games this evening as the World Matchplay got underway. In the opening match, the 16th seed Bob Anderson

Bob Anderson (darts player)

Robert Charles "Bob" Anderson is a former world darts champion. He was ranked as world number one for over three years in the late 1980s. Nicknamed The Limestone Cowboy, he lives in Clevedon in Somerset.-Before Darts:Anderson threw his first darts maximum at the age of just five...

 back amongst the top 16 after a brilliant 2004 used his experience to edge out Mersey qualifier Robbie Green

Robbie Green

Robbie Green is an English darts player who previously played in Professional Darts Corporation events and now plays in British Darts Organisation events. He is a former BDO world #1 and is currently ranked #3 on the BDO circuit, and 4th on the WDF circuit...

 by a 10 legs to 7 margin, the 56 year old hoping for a great run after moving back up the rankings. The second match saw the number 8 seed, Dennis Smith knock Keith Deller

Keith Deller

Keith Deller is an English darts player, who won the Embassy World Professional Darts Championship in 1983. He was the first qualifier ever to win the championship and remains one of the youngest champions in history...

 out of the competition in a comfortable 10-4 win. Then top seed John Part began his campaign in brilliant form, qualifier Colin Monk being dispatched by 10 legs to 0. Bob Anderson next up for the 2002 runner-up.

Day 2

Eight games on day 2 as the Matchplay really began to get going. In the opening match of the afternoon 13th seed Steve Beaton

Steve Beaton

Steve Beaton is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation...

 knocked out World No. 21 Paul Williams from Bolton. The 1996 BDO World Champion looking in good form with a 10-7 win over Williams. In the second match, John Lowe

John Lowe

John Lowe is an English darts player who was one of the best-known men in darts during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the United Kingdom. Lowe is one of only five players to have won the World Championship 3 times.-Biography:Lowe won the World Championship title in three different decades -...

 made his final competitive appearance as a top 32 player and he started well, leading early on against Andy Jenkins

Andy Jenkins

Andy Jenkins is an English darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. Jenkins had trials for Southampton Football Club while at school.-BDO career:...

, before the 9th seed turned the tide to win 10-6. Then Colin Lloyd

Colin Lloyd

Colin Lloyd , nicknamed Jaws, is an English professional darts player on the Professional Darts Corporation circuit. He is a former world number one ranked player and he has won two major television titles in the PDC - the 2004 World Grand Prix and 2005 World Matchplay...

, seeded 5 and currently on an awesome run of form knocked another of the four qualifiers in the first round in the shape of Big Dave Smith

Dave Smith (darts player)

Dave Smith is an English darts player from Knottingley, Wakefield, West YorkshireDave enjoyed most success in the PDC between 2002–2004, which included a quarter final in the 2003 UK Open, and qualifying for three other tournaments through a one-off qualifier.Smith has earned a full PDC Pro Tour...

 from Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, edging a 10-6 win. In the final match of the afternoon, 15th Seed Dave Askew

Dave Askew

Dave Askew is an English darts player who competes in the Professional Darts Corporation. Askew is a twice semi-finalist in the PDC World Championship, both in 2001 and 2002 and on both occasions losing to eventual winner Phil Taylor.- Overview :Askew began competing in major tournaments in the...

 crashed out 10-7 to World number 19 Jamie Harvey

Jamie Harvey

Jamie Harvey is a Scottish darts player who plays in the British Darts Organization . He currently resides in Barrhead. Harvey uses the nickname Bravedart for his matches - a play on the lead character from the film Braveheart...

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In the evening session, the proceedings began with a bang with the exit, 10-5 of number 6 seed Wayne Mardle

Wayne Mardle

Wayne Mardle is a darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation, and former player in the BDO. He now lives in Romford...

 to the number 17 ranked player in the world, Mark Dudbridge

Mark Dudbridge

Mark Daniel Dudbridge is an English professional darts player.-Darts career:He started playing in his very early teens, citing Dennis Priestley as one of his heroes...

, Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 501 unable to show the form that took him to the final in 2003. Then Roland Scholten

Roland Scholten

Roland Scholten is a Dutch professional darts player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation and formerly for the British Darts Organisation. He is nicknamed Tripod or The Flying Dutchman and uses Hey Ya by Outkast as his walk-on. He is currently ranked 45th in the PDC...

, newly crowned UK Open champion after a 11-6 win over John Part

John Part

John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...

 and number 2 seed for these championships began his campaign with a 10-7 win over three time world finalist (one of those as champion) Richie Burnett, really a player on the slide. Phil Taylor, reigning champion but seeded only 4, had a tough draw in the shape of Watford's Alex Roy (twice quarter-finalist here), but was in fantastic form in building up a 9-0 lead over Roy, before Roy ended the embarrassment of a whitewash by taking the tenth leg. However Taylor soon found a double to end the run of Roy before it had started. In the final game, third seed Peter Manley (newlywed to Crissy) ended qualifiers hopes with a comfortable 10-4 win over Dave Jowett.

Day 3

The afternoon session on day three saw 12th seed, Denis Ovens

Denis Ovens

Denis Ovens is an English darts player currently ranked number 29 in the PDC Order of Merit. He is nicknamed The Heat and is now based in Stevenage. Ovens is widely regarded as one of the most consistent players in the circuit, though he has as yet failed to convert his form from the circuit to...

 condemn Mark Walsh to a third successive first round exit at the World Matchplay. The Heat going through to the last 16 by 10 legs to 5. Then a surprisingly easy win for the impressive Ronnie Baxter

Ronnie Baxter

Ronnie Baxter is an English darts player. He uses the nickname The Rocket for his matches. Baxter is known for his fast, robotic throwing action...

, seeded 10 managing to defeat former World Matchplay champion Peter Evison

Peter Evison

Peter Evison is a darts player who has enjoyed a long career in the game. His greatest achievements were to win the 1989 Winmau World Masters and the 1996 World Matchplay. He has also come close to winning the World Championship on a number of occasions.Before appearing in a major tournament...

 by a whitewash, 10-0. The third match saw a revitalised Dennis Priestley

Dennis Priestley

Dennis Priestley is an English professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively...

, seeded 14 and having laid mutterings of retirement to rest went through 10-5 against Alan Caves

Alan Caves

Alan Caves is an English darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation. His best run came at the 2004 UK Open where he reached the last 16, ultimately losing to Alan Warriner...

, whose dismal record on TV continued. In the final game of the afternoon, Alan Warriner, the 11th seed and former World finalist was impressive in defeating England's Simon Whatley

Simon Whatley

Simon Whatley is an English darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation. He began with a very good 2002 campaign, reaching the quarter-finals of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, beating Dennis Smith in the last 16, losing to Lee Palfreyman...

 by 10 legs to 3.

In the evening, the final first round match took place, Kevin Painter

Kevin Painter

Kevin Painter is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, where he is known as "The Artist"...

, runner-up in the World Championship by the narrowest of margins, and seeded 10 for the Matchplay, struggled through against Lionel Sams who twice won legs to level the scores at 9-9 to send the match into a tie break and again in the tie-break to level at 10-10. Then Sams seemed to be thrown by something said to him by Painter, and lost 12-10. Sams accused Painter of gamesmanship as there is no evidence to back up the claim of Painter's about trying to make noises with the flights in a bid to offput Painter. The second game was brilliant for excitement and Tension, Anderson in the opening game of round 2, giving Part the fright of his life. Despite both struggling to find their best form, the match went to 12-12 and into a tie-break, 6 legs later and the match was 15 all, before Part tool the last 2 legs to edge home a 17-15 winner. In the final match, Phil Taylor, ended the run of Steve Beaton. The Power again on form in going through by 13 legs to 4.

Day 4

The second round matches were completed today. In the first of the afternoon matches, a tie-break was required when Andy Jenkins and Dennis Smith reached 12 legs all. Jenkins however, seeded 9 managed to upstage the 8th seed to go through to a quarter-final with top seed John Part by 17-15. The second match saw the 5th seed, Colin Lloyd carry on his form with a comfortable 13-7 win over 12th seed Denis Ovens to go through to the quarter-finals; And a meeting with 4th seed, Phil Taylor. In the final match, Jamie Harvey caused another surprise, having surprised Dave Askew 10-7 on Monday in the first round, He then shocked 2nd seed Roland Scholten in a tense tie-break that went 18-16 to the Scot.

In the first game of the evening session, even this was upstaged as the Tie-break went on 12 legs, as Ronnie Baxter, the 10th seed, continued his good form in edging out 7th seed Kevin Painter 19-17, - The Longest match of the tournament, and yet longer matches, i.e. first to 16's, 17's and 18's were still to be played. Bets for how long, the Harvey v Baxter quarter-final would be must have been taken. Then, Mark Dudbridge became the second unseeded player into the quarter-finals, with a tie-break win over 11th seed Alan Warriner, Dudbridge winning 15-13. In the final match, Peter Manley, sporting Ear muffs to combat the booing (bought by Crissy), went through, a 13-9 winner over 14th Seed Dennis Priestley.

Day 5

Quarter-Final day, and all four matches were played today. The first quarter-final, saw the end of the week for Jamie Harvey who had been in good form in the first two rounds, well beaten by Ronnie Baxter in a short game that wasn't expected, with the 10th seed advancing to the semi-finals with a brilliant 16-4 win. Baxter would be meeting the unseeded Mark Dudbridge after Flash advanced after knocking out third seed Peter Manley (who forgot his earmuffs

Earmuffs

Earmuffs are objects designed to cover a person's ears for protection. They consist of a thermoplastic or metal head-band, that fits over the top of the head, and a pad at each end, to cover the external ears....

) 16-9.

In the evening session, the top seed John Part again squeezed through 16-14 against 9th seed Andy Jenkins. Then Phil Taylor set up the semi-final with John Part, after an impressive 16-10 win over 5th seed Colin Lloyd.

Day 6

Mark Dudbridge continued his fantastic run at the World Matchplay by knocking out 10th seed Ronnie Baxter in a great semi-final. Dudbridge winning 17-13. In the second semi, John Part, tired after two close games bowed out to fourth seed, Phil Taylor, with Taylor going through an impressive 17-8 winner.

Day 7

Dudbridge, tired after four wins, failed to reproduce the form of his wins over Mardle and Manley etc. and lost to Taylor who recorded a win in the most one sided final in Matchplay history. Taylor won 18-8.

1st Round

Sunday 25 July

Best of 19 legs (must win by 2 clear legs)

• Bob Anderson - Robbie Green 10 - 7
• Dennis Smith - Keith Deller 10 - 4
• John Part - Colin Monk 10 - 0

Monday 26 July

• Steve Beaton - Paul Williams 10 - 7
• Andy Jenkins - John Lowe 10 - 6
• Colin Lloyd - Dave Smith 10 - 6
• Dave Askew - Jamie Harvey 7 - 10
• Wayne Mardle - Mark Dudbridge 5 - 10
• Roland Scholten - Richie Burnett 10 - 7
• Phil Taylor - Alex Roy 10 - 1
• Peter Manley - Dave Jowett 10 - 4

Tuesday 27 July

• Denis Ovens - Mark Walsh 10 - 5
• Ronnie Baxter - Peter Evison 10 - 0
• Dennis Priestley - Alan Caves 10 - 5
• Alan Warriner - Simon Whatley 10 - 3
• Kevin Painter - Lionel Sams 12 - 10

2nd Round

Tuesday 27 July

Best of 25 legs (must win by 2 clear legs)

• John Part - Bob Anderson 17 - 15
• Phil Taylor - Steve Beaton 13 - 4

Wednesday 28 July

• Dennis Smith - Andy Jenkins 15 - 17
• Colin Lloyd - Denis Ovens 13 - 7
• Roland Scholten - Jamie Harvey 16 - 18
• Kevin Painter - Ronnie Baxter 17 - 19
• Mark Dudbridge - Alan Warriner 15 - 13
• Peter Manley - Dennis Priestley 13 - 9

Quarter Finals

Thursday 29 July

Best of 31 legs (must win by 2 clear legs)

• Jamie Harvey - Ronnie Baxter 4 - 16
• Mark Dudbridge
  Mark Dudbridge
  Mark Daniel Dudbridge is an English professional darts player.-Darts career:He started playing in his very early teens, citing Dennis Priestley as one of his heroes...
  
    - Peter Manley 16 - 9
• John Part - Andy Jenkins 16 - 14
• Colin Lloyd
  Colin Lloyd
  Colin Lloyd , nicknamed Jaws, is an English professional darts player on the Professional Darts Corporation circuit. He is a former world number one ranked player and he has won two major television titles in the PDC - the 2004 World Grand Prix and 2005 World Matchplay...
  
  - Phil Taylor 10 - 16

Semi Finals

Friday 30 July

Best of 33 legs (must win by 2 clear legs)

• Ronnie Baxter - Mark Dudbridge 13 - 17
• John Part - Phil Taylor 8 - 17

Final

Saturday 31 July

Best of 35 legs (must win by 2 clear legs)

• Mark Dudbridge - Phil Taylor 8 - 18