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| The Count is Bobby's tip Darts legend and BBC pundit Bobby George gives Sport Online his views on the latest action at the Lakeside Country Club. Andy Fordham just did enough to win against Wayne Jones, but Jones was so spasmodic on his finishing. He had so many chances to win the vital sets, but he just didn't play as he could - Andy just plodded along and won. If Andy has a harder, longer game then he tends to find it more difficult because he is a big guy - but he got it done in three sets. Hankey against Barneveld in the quarter-finals will be a tight game. Hankey has the endurance Ted's game in the second round against Peter Hinkley didn't look that good but he hit a 32.48 average, which is a good average. If he gets in front against Barneveld then I can't see him losing.
Barney is a good player but he doesn't like it when the chips are down. Barneveld really doesn't like it when he is having to fight against the pressure. I think I would tip Hankey because it is a much longer game now. Nine sets is a different kettle of fish and Hankey will probably cope better with that. But they have both won it before so they know exactly what is required of them to get there and do it again. Against Kevin Painter, Matt Clark didn't play as well as he did in the previous round - he was all over the shop really. The first two sets were very scruffy and even Painter didn't play well early on - you could say he was up and down like a paint brush. Matt never got going till the fourth set when both their averages came up.
As for Steve Beaton he is a very fast player, but for some reason he slowed up against Barneveld. Barneveld is not slow, but Steve had loads and loads of darts at a double in the first set. Beaton slows He actually won that first set, but it took a lot of energy out of him - he is not the sort of player who usually misses so many doubles. What fascinated me with Beaton was that he stopped whenever he came to a crucial double. Usually he would go bang, bang, bang in one movement. But this time he stopped and had a look at the double and that meant he lost his rhythm - in the end that cost him the game. You can't change your game, and when Barney got on top he really beat him up. |
See also: 09 Jan 01 | World Darts Championship 07 Jan 01 | World Darts Championship 10 Jan 01 | World Darts Championship 11 Jan 01 | World Darts Championship Top World Darts Championship stories now: Links to more World Darts Championship stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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