Warriner fails to sparkle against Lim

Alan 'Ice Man' Warriner was pushed all the way by American Paul Lim in the Skol World Championships at Purfleet.  

The number two seed, who has insisted he was the man to dethrone eight-times world champion Phil Taylor, came within a whisker of an early exit from the tournament as Lim missed no fewer than eight darts at doubles to win the match in a dramatic final set.

Warriner, playing well below his best, somehow managed to crawl over the finishing line to leave Lim wandering how he had managed to lose.

Despite a poor start, Warriner still managed to take an early lead thanks to a timely 103 checkout in the deciding leg.

And this year's World Matchplay runner-up started to motor in the second set which he won without dropping a leg, going out on 108 on the way to doubling his advantage.

But Lim took advantage of another sticky spell for Warriner to halve the deficit by convincingly winning the third set 3-1.

And the 'Singapore Slinger' was starting to play with plenty of confidence as he rocked Warriner by winning the next set to level the match.

The final set almost went the distance with a winning margin of two clear legs required as Lim threw away two excellent opportunities to wrap up the match.

Warriner actually put his darts into his shirt pocket on two occasions during the final set with Lim seemingly poised for victory, but the Californian let the 'Ice Man' off the hook as Warriner prevailed 5-3 in the decider.

Lim was understandably disappointed and believed that he had lost out to his own mind.

He said: "It's a big let down for myself. I kept thinking about the shot and was too careful. I always tell people that darts is not a thinking game, you just have to go up there and play your darts.

"The more you think, the worse it's going to become and I think that was my biggest enemy up there.

"It's a very strange feeling. When I was going for the double, I never thought I was going to miss.

"At two sets down I didn't feel like I was going to lose it as I was still playing strongly."

And Warriner admitted he was convinced he was on his way out of the tournament.

He said: "I was planning my way back home on the M6 as I put my darts in my pocket. I was ready to shake his hand and walk off.

"I got 2-0 up and didn't think I'd played particularly well early on but I kept hitting the doubles and thought I could relax a bit but that wasn't the case. Paul started playing well and I was under pressure all the time.

"I let it slip but then Paul let it slip and he's going to be kicking himself."