Peter Manley sure knew how to wind up opposition players.
From issuing a four-word sledge that prompted Adrian Lewis to storm off stage to his antics against Phil Taylor, Manley was the master of the mind games.
GettyManley has never been afraid to use some sneaky tactics against rivals[/caption]
Unfortunately for Colin Lloyd, he was the victim of a cheeky ploy from Manley at the 2002 World Championship.
The two faced off in the semi-finals of the tournament, with fourth seed Manley the favourite.
However, Lloyd more than held his own as the contest was four sets apiece when Manley brought out the dark arts.
“I’ve always been one to use the stem and a loose flight,” Lloyd said on the talkBULL podcast.
“When you’re playing on a hot stage, the stem would open up a little bit. Of course, my flight kept popping out. I had a flight on the floor, I picked it up and put it in.”
With Lloyd’s flights constantly falling out, Manley saw a window of opportunity and struck.
Manley thought he’d have a word with iconic referee Russ Bray about Lloyd’s flights.
And when Bray had to remind Lloyd to take extra care with those flights, it left the latter seething as he knew exactly why he’d been asked.
“Russ Bray comes down and goes, ‘Lloydy, can I just say, can you just watch your flights,’” Lloyd said on the latest episode of the talkBULL Podcast.
“I said, ‘What do you mean, watch my flights?’ He goes, ‘Well, you’ve been walking up to the board and it’s putting Peter off because you have to keep picking up your flights.’
talkBULL PodcastLloyd was ready to square up to Manley at the 2002 World Championship[/caption]
“I said, ‘Well, Russ, I can’t help if my flights keep coming out.’
“I turned and looked at Peter, I just wanted to go up there, smash my fist into the middle of his face and push him off the stage. He got me. He knew he got me.
“I said to him afterwards, ‘If that’s what you have to resort to to beat me, that’s pretty sad, actually’. Bearing in mind I’d only been on the scene for three years.
“There started a respectful but love-hate relationship with myself and Peter over the years.”
If Manley thought his mid-match request to Bray would work as a distraction technique, it did just that.
The three-time world championship runner-up won the following two sets to beat Lloyd 6-4.
However, Lloyd perhaps enjoyed a sense of justice when Manley faced off against Taylor in the final.
‘The Power’ thrashed Manley 7-0 to win his 10th world title, with Taylor dropping just two sets the entire tournament.
But for Lloyd, his everlasting memory of the 2002 World Championship was one of frustration and fury as he fell foul of Manley’s dark arts for the first time.
