Witham's Colin Lloyd crashed out of the Stan James World Matchplay Championship after a 16-10 defeat against Phil Taylor.
But it was not plain sailing for the 11-times world champion, as Lloyd produced a performance which would have seen off every other player in the quarter-finals.
He averaged 96.05 and 47.62 per cent of his checkouts but Taylor secured a staggering 105.56 average and 76.19 per cent checkout percentage.
Lloyd gave a huge statement of his intentions with a maximum to open the match, and the opening 12 legs went with the throw.
It was Taylor who grabbed the first break of the game, sinking double 16 for a 91 checkout in the 13th leg a double which he went on to find with chilling regularity.
He then found another gear, winning eight of the next ten legs to move into a 15-8 lead.
Lloyd took advantage of two rare Taylor slips to pull back to 15-10, but his rival hit a seemingly effortless double eight to secure victory.
Published Friday July 30, 2004
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