Championship League Darts - King Reigns In Group Five

KING REIGNS IN CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE DARTS GROUP FIVE

MERVYN KING produced a resilient display to win Group Five of Championship League Darts, defeating Simon Whitlock 6-3 in Wednesday's final.

King, appearing in his fourth successive day of the internet-streamed event, won six out of seven league matches to finish top of the table with some brilliant form, notably two ten-darters.

He then defeated Kevin Painter 6-2 in the semis before winning an exciting final 6-3 against Australian star Whitlock - who lost in a third group final of this year's tournament.

Whitlock took out finishes of 72 and 102 to lead 2-1 in the final, only for King to hit finishes of 120, 111, 105 and 80 to move 5-2 up.

He also missed double seven for an 86 finish in leg eight as Whitlock hit tops to keep the game alive, but the Australian was unable to land double 18 in the next as King booked his place in next Thursday's Winners Group on double 12.

"I'm really pleased with that," said King, who has battled tennis elbow in his throwing arm throughout 2011. "I played some lovely darts during the day and I'm delighted with how I played in the final.

"I've had my injury problems this year but my elbow is getting better and it's great to be back playing somewhere like I know I can. I can look forward to the Winners Group now and I'll be trying my hardest to win the tournament next Thursday."

Whitlock will now return to compete in Group Six on Thursday, after his hopes of finally taking a group victory were dashed at the final hurdle.

The Australian, who lost in Tuesday's semi-finals to Mark Walsh, was defeated in his first three group games but won four in a row to finish third, before defeating Andy Smith 6-3 in the semis.

Smith and Painter also made the play-offs, with 2009 Championship League Darts winner Colin Osborne missing out on the top four on leg difference despite four successive wins in the middle of the league phase.

Holland's Vincent van der Voort joins them in returning to compete in Group Five, but Colin Lloyd and Jamie Caven were eliminated, with the latter ending the day without a victory in his seven league games.

Denis Ovens, Alan Tabern and Steve Beaton join the action on Thursday for the sixth of eight groups, with play continuing on Tuesday and Wednesday next week before the Winners Group is contested on Thursday October 20.

Championship League Darts is screened solely on the internet through LIVEPDC.TV and a series of 30 bookmakers' websites worldwide, and offers a potential total prize fund of over £200,000, plus places in the Grand Slam of Darts for the eventual finalists.

Played over nine days from September 27-29, October 11-13 and October 18-20, the event offers £50 per leg won prize money in the league phase and £100 per leg won in each group's Play-Offs, with prize money doubled in the Winners Group.

CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE DARTS
GROUP FIVE RESULTS

Board One	Board Two
Simon Whitlock 5-6 Mervyn King	Colin Osborne 4-6 Kevin Painter
Jamie Caven 0-6 Andy Smith	Colin Lloyd 3-6 Vincent van der Voort
Kevin Painter 6-2 Simon Whitlock	Mervyn King 6-0 Colin Osborne
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Jamie Caven	Andy Smith 6-2 Colin Lloyd
Kevin Painter 5-6 Colin Lloyd	Simon Whitlock 4-6 Andy Smith
Vincent van der Voort 2-6 Colin Osborne	Mervyn King 6-3 Jamie Caven
Colin Lloyd 4-6 Simon Whitlock	Kevin Painter 4-6 Andy Smith
Mervyn King 6-3 Vincent van der Voort	Colin Osborne 6-2 Jamie Caven
Colin Osborne 6-5 Colin Lloyd	Jamie Caven 3-6 Simon Whitlock
Andy Smith 4-6 Mervyn King	Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Kevin! Painter
Jamie Caven 5-6 Kevin Painter	Mervyn King 6-1 Colin Lloyd
Andy Smith 5-6 Colin Osborne	Simon Whitlock 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Colin Osborne 2-6 Simon Whitlock	Kevin Painter 6-5 Mervyn King
Vincent van der Voort 4-6 Andy Smith	Colin Lloyd 6-3 Jamie Caven
Semi-Finals
Mervyn King 6-2 Kevin Painter	Andy Smith 3-6 Simon Whitlock
Final
Mervyn King 6-3 Simon Whitlock

GROUP FIVE FINAL LEAGUE TABLE

	Pl	W	L	Won	Lost	Leg +/-	£Won	Pts	£Total
Mervyn King	7	6	1	41	22	+19	£2050	12	£3250
Andy Smith	7	5	2	39	26	+13	£1950	10	£2250
Simon Whitlock	7	4	3	35	31	+4	£1750	8	£2650
Kevin Painter	7	4	3	37	34	+3	£1850	8	£2050
Colin Osborne	7	4	3	30	32	-2	£1500	8
Vincent v d Voort	7	3	! 4	31	36	-5	£1550	6
Colin Lloyd	7	2	5	27	38	-11	£1350	4
Jamie Caven	7	0	7	21	42	-21	£1050	0

Match Information for all games can be found at this link

Group Six fixtures can be found at this link

DOLAN MAKES HISTORY WITH NINE-DARTER IN SETTING UP DUBLIN DECIDER WITH TAYLOR.

His darts are made exlusivly for brendan and available at A180 now.

BRENDAN DOLAN created history with a nine-dart finish as he won through to the PartyPoker.com World Grand Prix final on Saturday night, knocking out reigning champion James Wade to set up a decider against Phil Taylor at the New Citywest Convention Centre.

The 38-year-old from Northern Ireland produced the performance of his life in a 5-2 defeat of world number three Wade, which was crowned when he hit a perfect leg in taking the game's second set.

Dolan opened the leg with a 160 score before adding a 180 and a 161 finish for the first-ever nine-darter in the double-start tournament - earning him a £5,000 bonus.

He is also now guaranteed a minimum pay-day of £40,000 for reaching the final and could take home the winner's cheque if he can overcome nine-time champion Phil Taylor on Sunday night.

"It's absolutely brilliant," said Dolan. "I've only done three or four normal nine-darters in practice, so to do one on TV with a double-start is amazing.

"After I hit the and 160 and 180, I was concentrating so hard on getting the seventh dart in the treble 20. When I hit the treble 17 I just knew the bullseye was going to go in, I felt that comfortable up there.

"It's the greatest moment of my career - to hit a nine-darter and get to the final of a major tournament is brilliant and the only thing that can out-rank it is to win the final now."

Taylor, meanwhile, continued his progression in the event by defeating resurgent Welshman Burnett 5-2, hitting four ton-plus finishes and a 103 average - his highest in the double-start event since the tournament began in 1998.

Burnett, who had knocked out Gary Anderson, Denis Ovens and Mark Hylton to reach his first major semi-final for a decade, shared the opening two sets but was overpowered by Taylor, who opened the game with a 152 check out and added a 164 to win the fifth set.

"I'm delighted to have won through because Richie's had a fantastic week and he played really well there," said Taylor. "A couple of my big finishes were crucial and they had to be to keep Richie away.

"It will be a great atmosphere on Sunday and I'll play well against Brendan. It's going to be a cracking final because he'll go up there relaxed and enjoy it.

"Brendan getting to the final is fantastic and to do it with a nine-darter as well will go down in history. It's the best darts I've ever seen from Brendan and I'm pleased for him."

British Darts Organisation

The BDO is firmly established as governing body for the sport of darts in Britain. Founded in 1973, it is recognised globally as the world’s leading darts organisation with over 1,000 officials and a calendar that produces in excess of 800 darts events annually.

International Dart Players Association

The International Dart Players Association was inaugurated in 1994 and is an independent darts body that is officially recognised by the World Darts Federation and all it’s National Governing Bodies and consists of players of both sexes from around the world.

World Darts Federation

The WDF is a non-political, non-racial and non-profit making organization dedicated toward achieving and maintaining the highest possible standard of presentation and organization, around the world. Currently, the WDF is comprised of more than 250,000 players, representing 60 nations across the six continents of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America.