Taylor Off To A Winner

Phil Taylor began the defence of his PartyPoker.net European Championship title with a 6-3 victory over Greek debutant John Michael.

Taylor, who has won the title for the last three years, had to come from a leg down against the newcomer from Athens but only missed one shot at a double en route to an ultimately comfortable victory.

"John played well and I was impressed with him," said Taylor, who won a 12th World Matchplay title last Sunday.
"It was a tough game to start with because I didn't know what to expect from John and he came out flying, but I was very pleased with my finishing and hopefully I can keep it up throughout the weekend."
Taylor will now play Mervyn King in Saturday's second round after the former Premier League Darts finalist produced an impressive 6-1 victory in the tournament's opening game against Co Stompe.
King has struggled recently with a bout of tennis elbow, and was a first-round victim in the World Matchplay, but hit three 13-dart legs in sweeping to the win.

Eased

"I've been put onto some new anti-inflammatories by my doctor and my elbow has eased down," said King. "It was great to play without any pain and flowly freely, and this is a fantastic r
esult after the way I've been playing."
Simon Whitlock bounced back in style from his World Matchplay heartbreak with a 6-2 defeat of Austria's Mensur Suljovic.
The Australian had lost nine straight legs to move from 15-8 up to lose 17-15 to Andy Hamilton in the quarter-finals in Blackpool, but took the first four legs without reply against Suljovic before going on to seal the win.
"That was pretty solid for the first game and I'm very happy with that," said Whitlock.

Confidence

"My finishing was pretty good and it's filled me with confidence for the rest of the weekend."
Whitlock now meets Colin Lloyd in round two, after the Essex ace overcame some mid-game missed doubles to come from 3-1 down to win 6-4 against left-hander Alan Tabern.
World number nine Terry Jenkins also came from 3-1 down to win 6-3 in his clash with another left-handed player, Welshman Mark Webster.
The number eight seed started superbly but saw Jenkins hit 180s in three successive legs before sealing the with with a 13-dart leg.
Jenkins will play Paul Nicholson in the second round, with the 2010 Players Championship Finals winner overcoming Justin Pipe 6-3, despite the Taunton ace hitting a 121 finish.
Number four seed Gary Anderson swept past Jamie Caven 6-3 and will now play Lowestoft's colourful Peter Wright, after he edged out John Part 6-5 in a tense battle, taking victory with a 13-dart finish