World Seniors Masters 2023 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play
The 2023 World Seniors Masters draws to a close in Yeovil on Sunday as the final eight face off for the title.
Day One of the season’s third World Seniors major saw a host of big names bow out amid the intense heat on the Westlands stage.
Among those was defending champion David Cameron, as well as three former World Champions, leaving eight left to battle it out for glory across two sessions on Sunday.
Neil Duff was the man to dethrone reigning champion Cameron as he came through a dramatic contest in a last-leg shoot-out, and the current WDF World Champion now faces Seniors specialist Richie Howson in the opening Quarter-Final.
Duff, the youngest player in the field aged 50, claimed the Seniors Target Open Series 2 title earlier this year and was a quarter-finalist in the World Seniors Championship.
Howson, meanwhile, is vying to reach a third consecutive televised Seniors final, having finished runner-up in both the World Seniors Championship and Champion of Champions earlier this year.
The Owl ruthlessly whitewashed 1988 World Champion Bob Anderson in eight straight legs on Saturday, bringing the curtain down on his opponent’s illustrious career.
Elsewhere, 16-time World Champion Phil Taylor steps up his pursuit of a first Seniors title when he takes on Peterborough’s Dennis Harbour.
Taylor registered his highest average of the year so far (87.4) in defeating former BDO world finalist Mark McGeeney 4-2, landing vintage checkouts of 144 and 138 along the way.
The Power will be out to go one step further than this event last year, when he was denied in the final, but faces a battle of attrition against the methodical Harbour.
Harbour, appearing in only his second televised Seniors tournament, dug deep to defeat his County team-mate Martin Adams 4-2 on Saturday and now faces the sport’s all-time great for the first time.
Reigning and back-to-back World Seniors champion Robert Thornton resumes his quest for a fourth televised Seniors title with a tie against three-time World Champion John Part.
Thornton has been the dominant force on the Seniors circuit so far with a World Seniors Matchplay title sandwiched between his two triumphs at the Circus Tavern, and began his campaign here with a solid 92 average in dispatching Colin McGarry 4-2.
Part came through a nail-biting encounter to dump out his old rival Kevin Painter in a sudden death leg on Saturday after ‘The Artist’ had rallied from three sets down to force a decider, only to miss two match darts.
Canadian legend Part is now vying to reach the Semi-Finals of a Seniors event for the first time, but knows he must improve on his First Round average of 78 if he is to threaten an upset here.
Reigning World Seniors Champion of Champions Leonard Gates continues his quest for back-to-back titles when he meets Chris Mason in the final tie of the afternoon.
Gates reached the Semi-Finals of February’s World Seniors Championship before going on to defeat Taylor, Adams and Howson for glory in Blackpool a month later.
The American ace defied the highest average of opening round (92.8) from Mark Dudbridge to clinch a 4-2 victory and now comes up against a resurgent Mason for the first time.
Two-time BDO World Championship semi-finalist Mason survived a scare from Trina Gulliver to register his first win on the Seniors stage, recovering from two sets down with four in a row to prevail.
The action gets under way from 1pm BST, with Quarter-Final matches to be contested over the best of seven sets, Semi-Finals best of nine and the final best of 11. All sets are the best of three legs.
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World Seniors Masters 2023 Day Two Schedule
Sunday June 25
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
Quarter-Finals
Neil Duff v Richie Howson
Phil Taylor v Dennis Harbour
Robert Thornton v John Part
Leonard Gates v Chris Mason
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Semi-Finals
Duff/Howson v Taylor/Harbour
Thornton/Part v Gates/Mason
Final
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