World Seniors Champion of Champions 2023 | Day One Preview and Order of Play
The World Seniors Champion of Champions gets under way in Blackpool on Saturday as eight decorated darters face off.
The star-studded event features eight players competing for the inaugural title at VIVA! Blackpool from March 25-26.
The line-up is comprised of reigning World Seniors televised title holders, as well as a series of invited players and a Golden Ticket qualifier.
The opening Quarter-Final features a repeat of last month’s World Seniors Championship final between Robert Thornton and Richie Howson.
Thornton prevailed by five sets to two on that occasion to successfully retain the crown at the Circus Tavern, and the Scot is now eyeing a fourth World Seniors title, having also won the World Seniors Matchplay last summer.
Howson has made a name for himself since the inception of the World Seniors tour, winning back-to-back qualifying events prior to the World Championship and notably defeating Phil Taylor in front of his home crowd in Purfleet.
Taylor returns to his beloved Blackpool looks to replicate the form which carried him to a staggering 16 World Matchplay titles, alongside his historic 16 world titles.
The Power is yet to pick up a Seniors title, having lost in two finals, and has struggled to hit the heights expected of him in recent events, averaging less than 84 in each of his three matches at the Circus Tavern last month.
Taylor faces a tough opener against America’s Leonard Gates – the Golden Ticket winner who came through Friday’s qualifying event with a Semi-Final average of 109 along the way, defeating the likes of Co Stompe and Ronnie Baxter.
Gates reached the Semi-Finals on his debut at the Circus Tavern, defeating Tony O’Shea, Martin Adams and Darryl Fitton before eventually falling to Howson.
Three-time BDO World Champion Adams kicks off his campaign against ten-time Women’s World Champion Trina Gulliver MBE.
Adams was runner-up in the 2022 World Seniors Championship and went on to reach the Semi-Finals of the World Seniors Matchplay in Hull.
Gulliver, meanwhile, remains in pursuit of her first win on the World Seniors stage, having lost out to Thornton and Dennis Harbour in the two stagings of the World Seniors Championship, as well as Deta Hedman and Richie Howson in the Matchplay and Masters respectively.
Former Players Champion Kevin Painter, semi-finalist in the recent World Seniors Championship, will take on reigning World Seniors Masters champion David Cameron.
Painter, the 2004 PDC World Championship runner-up, produced a string of impressive displays last month, defeating Baxter, Harbour and Mark Dudbridge for the combined loss of just two sets, before bowing out at the hands of Thornton.
Cameron claimed his first televised title in fairy-tale fashion at Lakeside last May, defeating Painter in the opening round before going on to dispatch Thornton, Colin Monk, Howson and Taylor to take the crown.
The Canadian will be out to do the double over ‘The Artist’ and bounce back from his First Round exit at The Circus Tavern.
The action gets under way at 12pm GMT on with Quarter-Final to be contested over the best of 19 legs.
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World Seniors Champion of Champions 2023 Schedule
Saturday March 25
Quarter-Finals
12pm-5pm
Robert Thornton v Richie Howson
David Cameron v Kevin Painter
Phil Taylor v Leonard Gates
Martin Adams v Trina Gulliver
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