Knockout stages of the Grand Slam of Darts begins
The group stages are now over in the Grand Slam of Darts, and it now becomes a straight knockout to see who will win the £100,000 first prize.
Tonight sees the top half of the draw in action. Robert Thornton takes on Wolverhampton favourite Wayne Jones, Tony O’Shea plays Terry Jenkins, Gary Anderson has a match against Colin Osborne and Mervyn King has an encounter with James Wade in the tie of the night.
Thornton won all of his games in his group, beating Osborne, BDO world finalist Dave Chisnall and PDC world finalist Simon Whitlock. He came through a tough group, and has to now take on a tough crowd as local boy Jones is his opponent.
While Thornton made it easy for himself to advance to the knockout stages, Jones was made to sweat for his place. Having won his game earlier in the evening, Jones was relying on Anderson to beat Mark Webster, who he was battling with for second spot in the group. Webster needed to win 5-1, and when he went 4-1 up, he missed six match darts, much to the relief of Jones. Webster eventually won 5-3, but he lost out on legs difference.
Sitting in the players’ lounge, Jones must have thought he was out when Webster stepped up to clinch the match at 5-1, so he will take nothing for granted and will make the most of his game, because in truth it should’ve been Webster playing Thornton rather than Jones.
Like Thornton, O’Shea won all of his group games as well, and the highlight for him was the win over World Grand Prix champion Wade. O’Shea has been playing well, and likes this tournament, as he reached the quarter-finals in last year’s event. O’Shea didn’t look like he was tested to the maximum, but Jenkins will provide a harder task for him.
Jenkins finished runner-up to King in his group, having won twice and lost. Jenkins is experienced on the PDC circuit, reaching a major final seven times in his career but is yet to win one. He came close to winning the Grand Slam in 2008, but lost to Phil Taylor in the final. O’Shea has shown he can adapt to the Grand Slam, and will be up for the game against Jenkins.
Anderson was already through to the second round when he took on Webster, but while he could relax, he was putting Jones through pain as he continued to lose legs. Jones would have been delighted to see Anderson win three legs against Webster. Anderson knows he can’t play as sloppy as he did that night, and he comes up against an in-form Osborne.
Osborne lost his first game, but produced great darts to beat Whitlock and Chisnall to book his place. With the group he had, few would have expected him to be here tonight, but he is, and he is playing at a good standard.
The match of the night sees a repeat of the Premier League final from 2009. Wade won on the night 13-8 against King, and tonight’s game could be something similar to that.
King topped his group, beating Jenkins, John Henderson and ladies’ world champion Stacy Bromberg, and by his own admission hasn’t been playing at his very best. He must find that tonight against the PDC’s second most successful player, with Taylor the most successful of course.
Wade was put through his paces in his last game against Vincent van der Voort in a final leg decider. The man from Aldershot knew he had to win to get through, and when he was 4-1 up it looked likely, but when Van der Voort hit back to level, Wade found another gear to clinch the match.
Players to win tonight: Jones, O’Shea, Anderson and Wade
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