Grand Slam of Darts - Report Day 6
VAN GERWEN STUNS REIGNING WILLIAM HILL GRAND SLAM OF DARTS CHAMPION TAYLOR
Michael van Gerwen knocked reigning champion Phil Taylor out of the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts with a sensational display at the Wolves Civic on Thursday, as Scott Waites, Dean Winstanley and Kevin Painter joined him in the quarter-finals.
Dutch star van Gerwen, the sport's form player following his World Grand Prix win last month, ended a five-year gap without a victory over 15-time World Champion Taylor in sensational fashion with a 10-5 triumph.
Van Gerwen averaged 108.38 in what he admitted was probably the performance of his career, hitting seven 180s and a key 130 checkout which came during a run of five successive legs as he charged from 4-3 down to lead 8-4. Taylor averaged almost 105 in reply in a superb contest, but misses at the bullseye in three successive legs in mid-game proved crucial as the 23-year-old pulled away for the win.
"I'm so proud of myself and it's a big result for me," said van Gerwen, the new tournament favourite at 6/5 with sponsors William Hill.
"It's been a long time for me since I beat Phil and to beat Phil Taylor in a tournament like this is amazing for me.
"I think this is one of the best games of my life, maybe the best one, and to beat Phil in this format is so hard so I'm very happy to have a 108 average and put on a good performance to beat him.
"I played very well and Phil did as well, but I put him under pressure with some fantastic shots and I'm glad to win this.
"Phil is still the man to beat but I was so confident and all the hard work I've done paid off for me. This will make me even more confident but I'm only in the quarter-finals so I've got to concentrate on playing on Saturday now."
Van Gerwen will now play 2010 Grand Slam champion Waites in Saturday's quarter-finals, after the Yorkshireman produced a sensational display of his own to defeat Robert Thornton 10-8.
Waites - who had defeated Taylor in their final Group A game on Tuesday - averaged 103.67 to Thornton's 102.42 in a fine game, hitting a 148 finish during the contest before sealing a memorable victory with a 120 checkout.
"It was very close and I still don't know how I won that!" said Waites. "Robert's a fantastic player and so consistent, but I wanted to be more consistent than him. "I'm so glad that I won the bull before the game because he was always one leg behind me. Somewhere down the line I broke his throw and wanted to get away from him and he came back brilliantly and never gave up - he was on my heels all the time."
He added: "Michael van Gerwen was awesome tonight and he's playing well. I'm going to go up there on Saturday and hopefully hit my 180s and my doubles and make it really interesting."
Thursday's other winners were Kevin Painter, who defeated Mervyn King 10-5, and Dean Winstanley, who overcame Arron Monk by the same scoreline to reach his first major quarter-final since joining the PDC in January.
"I'm really happy that I got through because it was a tough match," said Winstanley. "I came out all guns blazing but I seemed to lose a bit of steam after that, and maybe we had too much respect for each other. "I never gave up and got the win in the end, but it was hard. It's my first time in the quarter-finals in my second Grand Slam and I'm delighted that I'm not going home."
Painter, last year's Players Championship Finals winner, remains on course to challenge for a second major title this weekend following a solid performance, as he won five straight legs to move from two-all to leading 7-2 before completing the win.
"It's nice to get through," said Painter. "There's something about Wolverhampton in that I tend to do well here, and things have gone okay for me over the years. "I've averaged 91, and on another day it might not have been good enough but he didn't fire on all cylinders. I had my moments and when it was 3-2 at the break, I knew I had to push on from there and I did."
Painter added: "I've beaten Dean in the group stages on a shorter format but this should be a great game. "He's hitting his doubles well and I've got to settle down a little bit and hit a few better scores - I think my finishing's good but my scoring isn't as good as it could be. It's your finishing which wins you matches, so hopefully I can carry that on."