WALSH TAKES A BOW WITH GROUP FOUR DEFEAT OF KING
MARK WALSH took a 6-2 victory over Mervyn King to win Group Four of Championship League Darts.
The £200,000, internet-streamed tournament resumed following the PartyPoker.com World Grand Prix with the fourth of eight groups, with Walsh emerging victorious to secure his spot in next Thursday^s big-money Winners Group.
Walsh finished the round-robin league phase as one of four players with three victories, but showed his stamina to defeat Australian Simon Whitlock and English star Mervyn King in the play-offs.
He first defeated Whitlock 6-2 to book his place in the final, before seeing off King by the same scoreline to win through to the Winners Group for the third time in four years.
King shared the first two legs but paid for missed doubles as Walsh established a 3-1 lead.
King took the fifth following a 180, but missed the bull for a 121 finish which would have levelled the game, as Walsh capitalised on double four before winning the next two legs to seal victory.
"I^m very happy with that," said Walsh. "The aim for all of us is to get into the Winners Group and now I^ve done that I^ll prepare for next Thursday .
"It was a really hard group so to win through it is a great moment. I could have found myself eliminated if one or two results had been different, but fortunately I made the top four and did well from there."
Whitlock and Colin Lloyd had finished joint top of the table with five wins from their seven league games, but both were defeated in the semis, with King seeing off the Essex ace 6-2 in their clash.
There was drama in the final round of matches, with Ronnie Baxter^s 6-4 win over Mark Walsh not enough to save him from elimination when Vincent van der Voort and Jamie Caven picked up heavy wins to overhaul him on leg difference.
Baxter and Wayne Jones, who won two of his seven league games, now exit the event for 2011, with Andy Smith, Colin Osborne and Kevin Painter entering the fray for Wednesday^s Group Five.
They will join Whitlock, King, Lloyd, Caven and van der Voort in the eight-player Group Five.
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 FOUR RESULTS
Board One Board Two
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Mervyn King Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Jamie Caven
Colin Lloyd 3-6 Ronnie Baxter Wayne Jones 1-6 Mark Walsh
Jamie Caven 3-6 Simon Whitlock Mervyn King 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Mark Walsh 5-6 Colin Lloyd Ronnie Baxter 5-6 Wayne Jones
Jamie Caven 6-3 Wayne Jones Simon Whitlock 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Mark Walsh 4-6 Vincent van der Voort Mervyn King 6-2 Colin Lloyd
Wayne Jones 5-6 Simon Whitlock Jamie Caven 6-4 Ronnie Baxter
Mervyn King 0-6 Mark Walsh Vincent van der Voort 2-6 Colin Lloyd
Vincent van der Voort 2-6 Wayne Jones Colin Lloyd 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Ronnie Baxter 2-6 Mervyn King Mark Walsh 6-2 Jamie Caven
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Jamie Caven Mervyn King 6-1 Wayne Jones
Ronnie Baxter 6-4 Vincent van der Voort Simon Whitlock 6-2 Mark Walsh
Mark Walsh 4-6 Ronnie Baxter Wayne Jones 4-6 Colin Lloyd
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Simon Whitlock Jamie Caven 6-1 Mervyn King
Semi-Finals
Simon Whitlock 2-6 Mark Walsh Colin Lloyd 2-6 Mervyn King
Final
Mark Walsh 6-2 Mervyn King
GROUP FOUR LEAGUE TABLE & PRIZE MONEY
Pl W L Won Lost Leg +/- £Won Pts £Total
Simon Whitlock 7 5 2 37 27 +10 £1850 10 £2050
Colin Lloyd 7 5 2 35 31 +4 £1750 10 £1950
Mervyn King 7 4 3 29 26 +3 £1450 8 £2250
Mark Walsh 7 3 4 33 27 +6 £1650 6 £2850
Jamie Caven 7 3 4 29 32 -3 £1450 6
Vincent v d Voort 7 3 4 29 33 -4 £1450 6
Ronnie Baxter 7 3 4 30 35 -5 £1500 6
Wayne Jones 7 2 5 26 37 -11 £1300 4