Phil Taylor and Barney into knockout stages of Grand Slam
Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld booked their places into the second round of the Grand Slam of Darts by beating Wes Newton 5-3 and Darryl Fitton 5-1 respectively.
Taylor needed to win to secure his place, and having binned the glasses after wearing them in his first two games, he averaged over 108 to finish second in the group to Ted Hankey.
His vision wasn’t affecting him at all as he kicked off the game with a 12-dart leg, finishing on double top. Newton levelled by checking out 120, but Taylor went 2-1 up after Newton missed two darts to take the leg himself.
The 15-time champion of the world hit a 180 in the next leg and clinched it on double 16 to go 4-1 up and have one foot in the next round. Newton pulled two legs back after Taylor missed five darts to win the match, but the Power was able to get over the winning line and completed the win by landing double 16.
“I'm very relieved,” said Taylor, who is the only winner of the Grand Slam since its creation back in 2007. “I was very nervous beforehand but I played better without the glasses and reacted well.
“I knew I had to perform and I did that, but Wes played really well and he's a quality player. It's a longer format from the second round onwards so I can relax a little more,” added Taylor.
Five-time world champion Van Barneveld overcame Fitton to join Colin Lloyd in the next round. Lloyd topped the group after winning all three of his games, and it was between Barney and Fitton to see who would get second spot, and it was the Dutchman who rarely had to get out of first gear to win.
Van Barneveld took the opening leg as both players were testing one another out. Fitton missed double top to take the second leg, allowing Barney to break the throw and take out a 62 finish.
Under no pressure at all, Barney went into a 3-0 lead by checking out 77. Fitton finally got off the mark in the next leg with a 14-darter to finish on double 16, but it was too little too late as Barney did enough to finish the match off.
“Neither of us played as well as we can but I'm happy with the win,” said Barney, who reached the semi-finals here last year. “The first few days are all about qualifying and I've done that.”
Players Championship winner Paul Nicholson suffered an early exit despite winning two of his three games. Nicholson lost 5-1 to Steve Beaton, and lost out on legs difference to the former champion of the world.
Nicholson came up against an inspired Beaton, who hit six scores of 140-plus and seven scores of 100-plus. “I knew what I had to do and I had to go out there and get that early lead,” said Beaton, who now joins Ronnie Baxter in the next round.
“To go in 3-1 at the break was important and I knew I was in a good position. I'm happy with my form and I've been getting better all week,” Beaton added.
Co Stompe produced another wonderful comeback to beat Martin Phillips 5-4 in a dramatic game. Stompe was 4-0 down to Scott Waites in his first group game and came back to 4-4 before going on to lose 5-4, and against Phillips he found himself 4-1 down.
Last night Stompe began the match well, hitting a 113 checkout, but gave Phillips the chance to level with a 106 after he missed an opportunity to go 2-0 up. That gave Phillips plenty of confidence, and he went 2-1 up after hitting scores of 180, 123 and 180 to finish on double nine.
Stompe was unable to follow on from his first leg, and Phillips had the momentum, landing double 16 to move 4-1 up. With the match in his hands, Phillips missed double five, and Stompe began the fightback by hitting double 10. He then produced the finish of the tournament, checking out 132 by hitting two bullseyes and double 16 to make the score 4-3.
The Dutchman then took the match into a decider after hitting double top. Phillips was looking like the player to win the match when he hit three 100-plus scores. However, he missed double top for the win, and that allowed Stompe to produce another fine checkout, this time a 104, to win a high-quality encounter.
“I was really up against it and Martin played brilliantly to go 4-1 up,” said a delighted Stompe, who accompanied the victory with his traditional Karate Kid celebration. “The 104 finish was amazing because I thought I'd blown my chance. I'm delighted to be through and I want to do well in the tournament now.”
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