Mardle escapes defeat

Wayne Mardle curbed his usual extrovert style to fight back from 3-1 down against Colin Lloyd to reach the quarterfinals of darts' Ladbrokes.com World Championship in Purfleet last night.

The Dagenham thrower, one of the most colourful players on the circuit, looked subdued at the oche during his fourth-round clash with 'Jaws'.

But after falling behind, he produced some top-quality darts in a blistering 25-minute spell to prevail 4-3.

"I played well because panic set in," said 'Hawaii 501' Mardle, who will face Simon Whatley tonight. "I was just throwing on instinct and felt afterwards I had nothing more to give."

Mark Dudbridge, the man who defeated world champion John Part in the second round, followed up with a superb 4-1 win over Steve Beaton. Dudbridge will now play Kevin 'The Artist' Painter.