Darts results: Phil Taylor beats Peter Manley at the World Seniors Championship as Martin Adams rolls back the years

Phil Taylor began his World Seniors Dart Championship campaign with a comfortable 3-1 victory over his old foe Peter Manley at the iconic Circus Tavern, where he won 11 of his 16 world titles during a record-breaking career.

The greatest player of all time was making his first appearance on TV since losing the 2018 World Championship final against Rob Cross but after making his eagerly-anticipated walk-on, he made a sloppy start and swiftly fell one set down.

Taylor eventually got his act together to reach the quarter-finals but he'll need to up his game against Kevin Painter having averaged just 81.29 compared to Manley's 74.43.

The Power won 22 of their 25 meetings between 1999 and 2010, including three World Championship finals at this venue via scorelines of 6-2 (1999), 7-0 (2002) and 7-0 (2006), while their most recent major clash was also here in the 2010 Players Championship Finals, also went the way of Taylor.

Manley would therefore have been content to take the opening set 3-2 with a finish of 84 in the decider but although he'd only manage to win a further one leg, he did at least give Taylor a warm handshake at the end rather than another walk-off.

Painter had earlier stormed into the quarter-finals as he thrashed the last Lakeside champion Wayne Warren 3-0 without dropping a single leg.

The Artist averaged 94.59 - the second highest of the tournament so far behind Robert Thornton's 94.66 on Friday - compared to his opponent's 75.52 and many will now fancy him to get revenge over Taylor in a repeat of their famous 2004 World Championship final, which the Power edged 7-6.

Painter, who won the 2011 Players Championship Finals, also managed checkouts of 100 and 131 during the first set and never looked back.

Earlier Martin Adams rolled back the years with a majestic display of finishing as he came from 2-1 down to defeat Richie Howson 3-2 and reach the quarter-finals.

The 65-year-old legend, who won the BDO World Championship three times during a stellar career, was making his first appearance at the Circus Tavern and looked up against despite a finish from 156 at the started of the second set which he took 3-1 to level the match score at 1-1.

Local favourite Howson pinched the third 3-2 to move within a set of claiming a famous victory in his relatively unknown career but Wolfie howled into life with checkouts of 136, 150, 157 and a match-winning 153 in the next seven legs to run out an impressive winner with an average of 91.46.

In the final match of the night, Thornton continued his impressive tournament by thrashing 10-time BDO Women's World Champion Trina Gulliver 3-0 for the loss of just one leg.

The Thorn, who was tipped on these pages pre-tournament at 11/2, dropped just two legs against Bob Anderson on Friday and went one better 24 hours later as he posted another 90+ average to underline his title credentials.

Gulliver prevented a complete whitewash when punishing Thornton's failure to take out 25 in the penultimate leg but it merely delayed the inevitable as the Scotsman produced a match-winning checkout of 109.

Afternoon session

Friday afternoon's action also produced a throwback affair, with Terry Jenkins running out a 3-0 winner over Dutchman Roland Scholten.

The Bull, who famously never won a major despite reaching five TV finals from 2006 to 2014, retired at the end of the 2018 season but rolled back the years to average a very steady 84.32.

Scholten, the 2006 UK Open champion, has concentrated on media work over the last nine years and his lack of practice showed as he averaged 76.16 in an early elimination but that didn't stop him enjoying the occasion alongside his fellow legend.

Larry Butler also recorded a whitewash win over Alan Warriner-Little, who sadly struggled with an elbow injury picked up in the practice room shortly before going up on stage.

The Bald Eagle, who won the first ever World Matchplay back in 1994, won all nine legs and averaged almost 89 but his job was made markedly easier by the fact the former World Grand Prix champion could only manage 56.81.

Butler will next play Keith Deller on Saturday afternoon.

Earlier, John Walton missed nine match darts when attempting to complete a 3-0 victory over Les Wallace but eventually got over the line in the deciding fifth set with his 10th.

In a battle between the former Lakeside champions, the Englishman looked in firm control of the contest before McDanger took advantage of his nervous doubling to claw his way back from the brink of defeat.

Walton, who averaged 76.39 compared to Wallace's 74.32, settled his nerves enough to clinch the victory with a superb 70 checkout under pressure before sinking to his knees and will now face John Part on Saturday afternoon.

In the other afternoon clash, the unheralded Dave Prins ran out a 3-1 victory over Paul Lim thanks to one of the performances of the tournament so far.

The Badger, who earned a spot in this event after the man who beat him in the qualifying event - Kevin Burness - won a PDC Tour Card, averaged 90.15 and hit five 180s during a dominant performance which would have led to a whitewash had Lim not pinched the deciding leg of the third set when Prins waited on tops.

Prins returned the favour in the fourth set to close out victory over the popular Singapore Slinger, who averaged a respectable 84.95 himself, to set up a clash with John Lowe

World Senior Darts Championship results, schedule & averages

• Listed in draw bracket order, scroll down for daily schedule

Thursday February 3
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport
First Round (Best of 5 sets)

• Robert Thornton (94.66) 3-0 (80.91) Bob Anderson
• Peter Manley (76.16) 3-1 (71.49) Deta Hedman
• Tony O'Shea (84.40) 2-3 (85.27) Kevin Painter
• Darryl Fitton (76.69) 2-3 (83.07) Richie Howson

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Friday February 4
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport
First Round (Best of 5 sets)

• Les Wallace (74.32) 2-3 (76.39) John Walton
• Paul Lim (84.95) 1-3 (90.15) Dave Prins
• Alan Warriner-Little (56.81) 0-3 (88.99) Larry Butler
• Terry Jenkins (84.32) 3-0 (76.19) Roland Scholten

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)

• Wayne Warren (75.52) 0-3 (94.59) Kevin Painter
• Martin Adams (91.46) 2-3 (87.45) Richie Howsonn
• Phil Taylor (81.29) 3-1 (74.43) Peter Manley
• Trina Gulliver (74.19) 0-3 (92.63) Robert Thornton

Saturday February 5
Afternoon session (1300 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)

• John Part v John Walton
• John Lowe v Dave Prins
• Keith Deller v Larry Butler
• Lisa Ashton v Terry Jenkins

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/Website
Quarter-Finals (Best of 5 sets)

• Part/Walton v Ashton/Jenkins
• Robert Thornton v Lowe/Dave Prins
• Phil Taylor v Kevin Painter
• Deller/Butler v Martin Adams

Sunday February 6
Afternoon session (1300 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport
Semi-Finals (Best of 7 sets)

• Two Matches

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport
Final (Best of 7 sets)

• Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2

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