Darts legend Phil Taylor. Photo / Getty Images
Darts legend Phil Taylor lavished praise on the Auckland crowd after moving easily into the Darts Masters quarterfinals.
Taylor will tonight play Australian Simon Whitlock, who caused a mild surprise in beating eighth seeded Englishman Stephen Bunting.
In reality, it was no upset at all. Bunting, not in best of form, is ranked 19 in the world.
Whitlock, who had tremendous support from the crowd, is ranked at 10 and has been as high as three.
Taylor described the crowd as "very, very, knowledgeable".
"They knew exactly what the score was - they were fantastic," said the 16-times world champion.
Whitlock beat Taylor in their first ever meeting, in 2006, although the score stands at 6 - 39 since then.
"I have beaten him in two finals - I'll play the board, not Phil Taylor."
Taylor wiped out Kiwi Craig Caldwell 6 - 0, although the Wellingtonian was unlucky not to take the first leg.
The opening night has been a roaring success, literally, with the colourful crowd of 4000-plus chanting and singing as the world's best darts players strutted their stuff at Trusts Arena in West Auckland.
The World Series is the Professional Darts Corporation's spearhead in spreading the game globally, and Auckland looks assured of being a regular part of the fledgling tour.
England's James Wade described the crowd as the best of all among those in Japan, Dubai and Australia. And Whitlock said he believed the game could be at a turning point in this part of the world.
But there were no miracles last night, with the big guns too strong for the qualifiers. Kiwi number one Rob Szabo went down to Holland's world number one Michael van Gerwen but he did well to take three legs off him.
Szabo, a builder, helped construct the stage which is an indication of the gulf between the world's hopefuls and the top players led by Taylor, who has career winnings of $16m.
"It's not the result I wanted," said Szabo.
"I always go in with a winning attitude whoever I'm playing. I got into it at the end but he threw well."
Van Gerwen said he was well aware of Szabo, who had given Taylor a small fright in the 2014 world championships.
"I thought he was the best of the qualifiers (but) he threw too many loose darts," said van Gerwen.
The Dutchman said the crowd was still warming up, and he expected the atmosphere to go up a few notches for the big games over the weekend. His quarterfinal is against countryman Raymond van Barneveld, who won their last contest.
The other Kiwi, Mark Cleaver from Stratford, was beaten by Scotland's world number three Peter Wright.
The best match of the night by far was the last, when the Adelaide screen printer Rob Modra went extremely close to beating world champion Gary Anderson from Scotland.
Anderson found a way to win 6-5 and issued a challenge to the Australasian players.
"I've known Rob a long time - I was expecting a tough battle," said Anderson.
"These boys down here are getting closer but they've got to get out there and give it a shot. It's no good saying I could have done it."
Darts Masters, Trust Arena, Auckland.
First round: Adrian Lewis (England) b David Platt (Australia) 6-2, Peter Wright (Scotland) b Mark Cleaver (NZ) 6 -1, James Wade (England) b Paul Nicholson (Australia) 6 - 3, Phil Taylor (England) b Craig Caldwell (New Zealand) 6 - 0, Raymond van Barneveld (Holland) b Loz Ryder (Australia) 6 - 0, Simon Whitlock (Australia) b Stephen Bunting (England), 6 - 4, Michael van Gerwen (Holland) b Rob Szabo (NZ) 6 - 3, Gary Anderson (Scotland) b Rob Modra (Australia) 6 - 5.
Quarterfinals (7pm tonight): Wright v Wade, Taylor v Whitlock, van Gerwen v van Barneveld, Lewis v Anderson.
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