Dott finishes up in a baize of glory
set up MVG tie after his concentration went
Graeme Dott escaped a shock to keep his German Masters hopes alive.
The former world champion was taken to the wire by world No.74 Craig Steadman in the first round of qualifying in Barnsley.
But the battling Scot clinched a 5-4 victory to make sure of a meeting with Steadman’s English counterpart Ashley Carty today.
Victory will secure a place at next month’s prestigious ranking tournament in Berlin.
Steadman won the eighth frame by just nine points to force a decider but the Larkhall potter kept his composure to cue a match-up with world No.84 Carty.
Glaswegian Anthony McGill locks horns with Chinese cueman Liang Wenbo in the final round of qualifying today.
And compatriot Stephen Maguire is also in action as he takes on Chinese potter Tian Pengfei for a place in the first-round proper.
Milton potter Maguire is full of confidence having reached the UK Championship Final in York a fortnight ago, going on to lose 10- 6
And the London ace admits he’s struggling with injury ahead of tonight’s tie after hurting himself by stomping on a Christmas bauble.
Evans faces the toughest gig in darts as he tackles No.1 seed and defending champ Van Gerwen at Ally Pally.
The 29-year-old, who gets his nickname from being the fastest thrower in the sport, booked his World Championship last-32 spot with a commanding 3-1 victory over Mark McGeeney. But despite dominating the contest, Evans lost track for a spell as he started easing up and eyeing the crazy characters in the crowd – only to then need a quickfire recovery to save the date with the Dutch ace. He said: “I was playing well against Mark and I started smiling to myself. I started looking around and realising who was in the crowd. I saw Santa was there. There were Mexicans there. Then Mark won a set and I was thinking, ‘ This is goi ng to be t he greatest mess about in history. I had never been so angry with myself, so the nex t set I really put my heart and soul into it, the darts
started f lying in again .
Maybe that’s the new thing,
– be a ng r y instead of messing about and being a complete muppet.
“I was so happy to win to get the game with Michael. It’s going to be prime time. I just love darts. If I’m up on stage on TV, I’m enjoying myself. If I’m playing well, I’m happy. I feed off everything.
“If people boo me, I sulk. Hopefully it doesn’t come.”
Evans is only at the Ally Pally after a foot healed quickly enough following his freak accident with the bauble.
He laughed and said: “I was decorating the Christmas tree. Mum left a bauble lying on the floor and I stood on it.
“My foot has been agony for the last couple of days, I was struggling to walk last Monday. I didn’t expect to be here as I was struggling to sleep with it.”
But his feet were working fine as he danced around on the stage before and after mauling McGeeney and he says he won’t stop enjoying himself in the face of the Green Machine.
Evans walks on to YMCA after ditching last year’s Baby Shark anthem and said: “I don’t think Michael wil l be very happy with the Village People.
“Maybe I’ l l stick a moustache on him! Maybe I’ll just wear a Santa hat because it’s close to Christmas!”
Evans loves the fun aspect but is serious about the fact he is facing MVG on the biggest stage as he said: “To be the No.32 seed is down to my hard work and dedication.
“All I do now is practise. I go to the club, have a frame of pool and three hours on the board.”
Two- t ime former world champion Adrian Lewis is into the third round after he beat Cristo Reyes 3-2.
And Daryl Gurney made light work of Justin Pipe with a 3- 0 whitewash as the Northern Irishman bounced back from losing the first leg. Gurney said: “He took out the 104 but there was no catching me after that.”
to Ding Junhui. The 38-year-old said: “I feel like I’ve turned a corner, I just hope I can replicate that form on a regular basis.
“If I knew what clicked for me then I would do the same thing at every tournament.
“But it’s up to me to push on because I don’t want to wait another 12 years before I get to another major final.”
Perth potter Scott Donaldson must beat Englishman Harvey Chandler to make sure of his qualification for a showpiece where £ 400,000 prize money is up for grabs.