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It was a great performance from Michael van Gerwen!
In the round of 16 of the Grand Slam of Darts in Coventry, England (from 16 to 24 November LIVE on TV on SPORT1 and LIVESTREAM), the world number one did not leave Gary Anderson the possibility of a duel between two former champions of the world. MvG won in a quick run with 10: 2 and finally made his way into the circle of top favorites to win the tournament (Grand Slam Darts schedule and results).
Van Gerwen plays with the old arrows
Van Gerwen, who is playing with his old arrows again in Coventry, also benefited from a knee injury to his opponent. Anderson limped heavily on stage.
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Anderson provided the first highlight with a 132-point finish to make it 1-1. At that point there was no way of knowing it would be his last leg won in a long time. Van Gerwen, who has often been in trouble in recent months, has won eight races in a row. The highlight of his excellent performance was an 11 darter 5-1.
After the second break, Anderson briefly drew hope with a break, which van Gerwen immediately concluded with his winning leg to advance to the quarter-finals.
Van Gerwen played an average of three darts of 102.27 points. Its double share of just over 40% was also impressive.
The reigning champion Price out
Gerwyn Price, however, can no longer win the Grand Slam of Darts for the third consecutive time. The Welshman had to admit defeat to Nathan Aspinall in a varied and exciting match with 8:10.
Aspinall allegedly led a strong 2: 2 streak on the winning path early on. English took off after two breaks for 7: 3. But “Iceman” wouldn’t be the “Iceman” if he didn’t believe in his chance to win to the end.
With a break that he completed with a shot at the target, a 105-point goal and another break, he in turn began a series. The Welshman has won five games in a row to reach 8-7.
However, 29-year-old Aspinall showed no nerves, equalized and took the lead with another break. Price still had a chance to make a decision, but he gave it away. Aspinall accepted him coldly and moved to the quarter-finals on Sunday after a furious goal at the Bulls Eye.
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In addition to a three-darts average of 96.86 points (price: 90.73), nerve strength was also decisive for Aspinall’s success.
Smith throws the “sweaty hand” from Cross
The second day of the round of 16 began with a strange match.
Michael Smith qualified for the quarter-finals after an exciting and weird match. The 10: 9 against former world champion Rob Cross was an up and down for both players – with the best ending for the “Bully Boy”.
Only the decision maker at the 9: 9 booth had a lot to offer. Cross got the go, in his first two shots he got only 58 points, followed by the Englishman with 96 points, which means a remainder of 296. On the next shot, Cross aimed, as almost always, for the double 20, but the arrow slipped into his sweaty hands and finally fell under the bull’s-eye in easy 2.
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While Cross did not recover and only scored 26 points in this shot, Smith drifted nonstop and ended the match with a jab in the double-12.
Hopp: “I haven’t seen it yet”
“I’ve never seen him in darts before,” said Max Hopp during the live broadcast SPORT1 to Cross’s strange mistake.
Until then the game had been characterized by problems with doubles on both sides, but also by strong legs. Smith started with a break, which Cross brought back 2-2. It should have been the last hiatus for a long time. Only when the score was 7: 7, Smith took the serve from his opponent. He immediately followed suit and at 9: 7 even had three darts, all given away. The result: Cross won the stage and tied at 9: 9. What followed is known.
Smith played an average of three darts of 97.46. His ten 180s were strong over the course of the game.
Heta for the first time in the quarterfinals
Meanwhile, Damon Heta celebrated the biggest success of his career. The Australian is in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time after a 10-7 win in the underdog duel against Devon Petersen.
While the South African didn’t match his group stage performance in the deciding stages – where he defeated world champion Peter Wright, among others – Heta showed rock solid play.
The first breaks for 2-0 and 3-1 paved the way for him. After a clear lead of 8: 3, “The Heat” had to give up three legs in a row. He then dashed Petersen’s last hopes for a comeback with a fantastic 144 finish.
Clemens and Snakebite at the Grand Slam of Darts
The best player of Germany Gabriel Clemens has missed the round of 16 of the Major, which have been played since 2009, after a 2: 5 in the last match of the group against the English Adam Hunt, after the Saarlander had entered the last 16 round of 16 year.
This time around world champion Peter Wright (Scotland) was surprisingly eliminated early. World number one Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) will only be in action on Saturday and will meet Gary Anderson from Scotland in a duel between the former world champions.
The Grand Slam is traditionally the only tournament where PDC and BDO players compete against each other.
After the BDO had to file bankruptcy due to financial problems, there were only the two current world champions of the old association: Wayne Warren (Wales) and the Japanese Mikuru Suzuki, who had won the women’s competition at the last edition of the BDO World Cup. Both were eliminated early with three losses each.
SPORT1 shows the nine-day event extensively in nearly 50 hours on free TV. Also, all sessions can be viewed in the free live stream on YouTube.
The results in the overview:
Round of 16 (1st to 10th round):
Michael Smith – Rob Cross 10: 9
Damon Heta – Devon Petersen 10: 7
Michael van Gerwen – Gary Anderson 10: 2
Nathan Aspinall – Gerwyn price 10: 8
The quarter-finals at a glance:
Michael Smith – Jose De Sousa
Damon Heta – James Wade
Nathan Aspinall – Dimitri Van den Bergh
Michael van Gerwen – Simon Whitlock
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