partypoker.com World Grand Prix Day Four

 

Van Gerwen took only 21 minutes to claim victory in the all-Dutch second round clash at Dublin’s Citywest Hotel, producing some stunning finishing to knock out his national rival.

The reigning champion opened the game with a 160 score and won the opening leg with a 142 finish, and though van Barneveld replied with a 136 checkout, it was the world number two who took the first set 3-1.

The second set was finely poised at one leg apiece when van Gerwen produced a killer 148 checkout, with van Barneveld waiting on 40, to move ahead before capitalising on nine missed starting doubles from his opponent in the next to win the set on tops.

Van Barneveld was then punished for missed doubles in the opening two legs of the third set as van Gerwen moved 2-0 up before posting double eight to complete a brilliant display.

“That’s a great win for me,” said van Gerwen. “To beat Raymond in this tournament is not easy and this will give me a lot of confidence because I played well.

“I hit the right scores at the right moments and some big finishes – I think the 148 was very important and it hurt his confidence.

“I was a bit nervous before this game but it wasn’t about beating Raymond, it’s also about winning the game, surviving in this tournament and hopefully winning the tournament again.

“I need to start with my doubles a bit better on Friday night but I was scoring well and hitting my finishes well.”

Van Gerwen now plays world number seven Dave Chisnall in Friday’s quarter-finals, after the St Helens ace – who won two ranking titles last month – continued his recent run of form with a 3-1 defeat of Wayne Jones.

Chisnall was punished for a slow start as Jones won the game’s opening set without reply, but levelled by taking the second 3-1 and then turned the game in his favour by taking set three by the same scoreline with a key 112 bullseye finish.

Resurgent Jones fought hard to hit back in set four, but Chisnall hit a pair of double 18 finishes and took out double eight to seal his place in a first World Grand Prix quarter-final.

“I’m very happy with how I came back after that first set because it took me a while to get into the game,” admitted Chisnall. “I knew that I had to improve and I did that.

“The 112 finish to win the third set was important, and for me it was the shot of the match. If I’d missed it, it would have been two-all in the third set but the bullseye was great and it was an important set to win.

“I played well in the last two sets and I was hitting my starting doubles well. I’m looking forward to playing Michael and we’ve had a lot of great matches before.”

Earlier in the night, world number three Adrian Lewis was dumped out of the tournament with a straight sets loss to Justin Pipe, who dropped only three legs in a memorable performance.

Pipe took out 142 to win the game’s opening leg, and though Lewis levelled it was the world number ten who took command by winning the next two to claim the set 3-1.

He then won the second set in stunning fashion by claiming three successive legs – finishing 70 with Lewis waiting on 36 following a 180 in the opener, a 150 finish in the second and 90 on double 15, again after his opponent landed a maximum, to double his advantage.

Lewis hit back to lead 2-1 in the third set, but Pipe hit two 180s in the fourth leg as he levelled, before posting double eight in the deciding leg to seal victory by hitting 50 percent of his finishing doubles.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be in the quarter-finals again,” said Pipe. “It’s a fantastic result and I’m really pleased with my performance.

“Adrian didn’t get going and I’m disappointed for him, but I think the big checkouts made a massive difference, and I fed off the confidence that they gave me.

“I’ve got to take the positives from my performance and I’m over the moon. Hopefully I can do the same in the quarter-finals on Friday night.”

Pipe will face ever-consistent Andy Hamilton in the last eight, after the Stoke ace was a 3-1 winner against Kevin Painter.

Hamilton won the game’s first seven legs as he took a two-set lead before Painter took three legs of his own to take the third set.

The UK Open finalist, though, finished 90, double eight and 89 for an 11-darter as he took set four 3-1 to continue his brilliant record of reaching every major ranking quarter-final for the past 18 months.

“I felt really comfortable on stage tonight – possibly as comfortable as I ever have – and it’s really pleasing to get such a good win,” said Hamilton.

“I had a great start but I lost a bit of concentration in the third set and let Kevin in, and he took his chances, but I composed myself and finished him off well. I think it was a more professional performance than in the first round, I was on top of my game and I took my chances.

“I’m confident, I’m playing well and my form’s good, so there’s no reason why I can’t go on and win this title now – that’s what I’m here to do.”

Friday’s quarter-finals also feature ten-time World Grand Prix champion Phil Taylor taking on Gary Anderson, while two-time winner James Wade is up against world number four Simon Whitlock.

Tickets are available from the Citywest Hotel by calling 01 401 0500 or in person from 6pm on each night of the event.

Watch Live
Coverage is live on Sky Sports HD in the UK & Ireland, and internationally through the following broadcasters:
RTL7 Netherlands
Sport1 Germany
Fox Sports Australia
OSN Middle East
Plus coverage is also live for www.LIVEPDC.TV International Pass Subscribers (outside of UK, Ireland & Netherlands)

Live Scores
Live Scores are available through the PDC Live Scores Website – http://live.dartsdata.com.

Get Involved
Follow the partypoker.com World Grand Prix and join the conversation with the PDC’s social media channels:
www.twitter.com/OfficialPDC – using the tournament hashtag #partypokerWGP
www.facebook.com/OfficialPDC
www.youtube.com/OfficialPDC

Tickets
Tickets for the partypoker.com World Grand Prix are still available by calling the Citywest Hotel on 01 401 0500, or from 6pm on each evening on the door.

partypoker.com World Grand Prix
Thursday October 10
Second Round
Adrian Lewis 0-3 Justin Pipe
Dave Chisnall 3-1 Wayne Jones
Michael van Gerwen 3-0 Raymond van Barneveld
Andy Hamilton 3-1 Kevin Painter
Best of five sets, best of five legs per set, double-start.

Quarter-Final Order of Play
Andy Hamilton v Justin Pipe
James Wade v Simon Whitlock
Phil Taylor v Gary Anderson
Michael van Gerwen v Dave Chisnall

BetVictor World Matchplay Night Four

PHIL TAYLOR’S bid to win a 14th BetVictor World Matchplay title continued with a dramatic 14-12 second round win over Terry Jenkins on Tuesday night, as he was joined in the quarter-finals by Justin Pipe, Simon Whitlock and James Wade.

Taylor has not tasted defeat on the Winter Gardens stage since losing to Jenkins in the 2007 semi-finals, and the pair again enjoyed a classic duo which the Ledbury ace – a two-time runner-up in Blackpool – threatened to win.

Taylor had led 9-5 at one stage, with his average peaking at 110 during a thrilling opening, only for Jenkins to win five successive legs to move 10-9 up.

He also led 11-10 and sent the game into a tie-break at 12-all, only to miss three darts to move a leg away from the win as Taylor pounced, breaking throw on tops to put himself 13-12 up before hitting two 174s in a 12-dart finish as he edged through.

“I’m absolutely delighted to have come through that,” admitted Taylor. “It was probably the best winning leg I’ve played, to hit two 174s in that situation.

“Terry came back superbly because I’d got him at 9-5; it was all over and anybody else would have buckled. He dug in and came back, and I let it get to me a little bit because it was a bit of a shock for me and I didn’t expect Terry to go in front.

“He made it a fantastic game and he’s showing that’s the way he can play after not being on top form for about a year. He’s on his way back again.

“We were nicking legs from each other and a ton was a bad score in the end. I was thinking I might be going home tomorrow but I had to dig deep and take advantage when he made a mistake.”

Taylor now plays Taunton’s Justin Pipe in Thursday’s opening quarter-final, after the number nine seed won through to the last eight for a second successive year with an equally dramatic 13-9 defeat of Raymond van Barneveld earlier on Tuesday.

Van Barneveld looked set to put himself into the last eight of the event when he hit back from 7-4 down to win five successive legs and take command of a classic match.

Pipe – who had earlier hit checkouts of 170 and 129 on the bullseye – clawed back level at nine-all by winning the next two legs, before hitting double one to regain the lead at 10-9.

The Taunton thrower then took his tally of 180s to seven for the match as in a run of legs of 14, 14 and 13 darts to claim a precious quarter-final berth.

“It’s probably the best win of my career,” said Pipe, who will also jump above van Barneveld to eighth in the PDC Order of Merit following the victory. “Raymond’s such a legend and a great ambassador so it’s brilliant to beat him.

“When he got in front of me I had to play one leg at a time and stay focused. To win six legs in a row against Raymond is amazing because he’s so tough to beat.

“I’m in my second consecutive quarter-finals in the World Matchplay and it’s an amazing achievement for me – but I want to go all the way.”

The other quarter-final will see James Wade – the 2007 champion – take on Simon Whitlock in a clash of the players seeded fourth and fifth for the £400,000 event.

Wade came from 6-3 and 8-5 down to claim a brilliant 13-8 win over Scottish ace Gary Anderson, whose record of not yet winning past the second round in Blackpool continued.

Anderson had hit finishes of 121 and 120 as he took command in the game, but Wade won seven successive legs as he turned a three-leg deficit into a 12-8 lead – with a superb 11-darter putting him into a lead which he would never lose as he went on to seal victory with a 69 checkout.

“I had to come back to beat John Part in the first round and this was always going to be another battle,” admitted Wade. “I did a good job tonight and I’m really happy to be through.

“I knew that if I held in there when Gary got ahead of me that I’d get my opportunities, and I took them well. My games keep getting harder and I’m looking forward to playing Simon on Thursday now; he’s a different player to Gary and I’ll have to improve.”

Whitlock, meanwhile, also had to come from behind before he claimed a 13-10 victory over Kevin Painter to reach the last eight for a third time in four years.

The Australian trailed 3-1 and 6-5 to Painter, who hit five 180s in the first half of the contest only to see Whitlock win four successive legs to swing the game in his favour at 9-6.

Painter threatened to hit back, taking out 122 at one stage, but Whitlock followed an earlier key 96 finish by taking out 91 to seal the victory.

“I’m over the moon,” said Whitlock. “That was such a tough game – Kevin’s a warrior who’s been around for so many years and he’s a legend.

“I’ve watched him play for the last 20 years and I’m very happy to win that match.  There was a big moment in the 14th leg where Kevin missed and I levelled to go to seven-all, and I knew that was my chance.”

The second round concludes on Wednesday evening, with world number two Michael van Gerwen facing Peter Wright, new European Champion Adrian Lewis meeting Brendan Dolan, Jamie Caven playing Dave Chisnall and Andy Hamilton meeting Ian White in an all-Stoke battle.

TV Coverage
The BetVictor World Matchplay will be screened live in the following areas:
Sky Sports HD across the UK & Ireland
RTL7 in the Netherlands
Sport1 in Germany
OSN across the Middle East
FOX SPORTS Australia
Sky New Zealand
LIVEPDC.TV – live for International Pass Subscribers, highlights for all subscribers

Live Scores
Follow Live Scores from the BetVictor World Matchplay through the PDC Live Scores website at http://live.dartsdata.com/

Get Involved
Join in the conversation during the BetVictor World Matchplay through the PDC’s Social Media channels:
www.twitter.com/OfficialPDC – use the hashtag #BetVictorMatchplay
www.facebook.com/OfficialPDC
www.youtube.com/OfficialPDC