World Grand Prix - Report 4. Day
World Champion Adrian Lewis was knocked out of the PartyPoker.com World Grand Prix by Michael van Gerwen on Thursday night, as Andy Hamilton, Paul Nicholson and Wes Newton joined the Dutch star in moving through to the quarter-finals in Dublin.
Lewis became the eighth player from the world's top ten to be eliminated from the double-start tournament with his 3-1 loss to van Gerwen, as he joined the likes of Phil Taylor, James Wade and Gary Anderson in suffering defeat in the first two rounds.
The number two seed averaged only 80 throughout the match, and although he took the game's second set without reply never looked likely to progress to his fourth World Grand Prix quarter-final.
Van Gerwen needed only seven minutes to win the opening set 3-0, before Lewis took even less time to level by winning set two in the same fashion, squaring the game with a fine 13-dart leg. Lewis was also level in the fourth, but van Gerwen hit a 14-darter to break the deadlock and then made the World Champion pay for failing to hit his starting double in two visits as he took the set 3-1. Lewis kicked off the fourth with a 170 checkout and also led 2-1, but van Gerwen levelled on tops and then finished a 14-darter on double 16 for a huge victory.
"It feels great and it's a big step for me to beat the World Champion," said van Gerwen. "He's a world-class player and the number two in the world, so it's very exciting for me. It will give me even more confidence for the quarter-finals. It wasn't my best game and I had some loose darts and missed some doubles, but I hit the right doubles at the right time. I wasn't as focused as I wanted to be and I wasn't sharp enough so I need to change that for the quarter-finals, but I'm looking forward to the next match against Andy Hamilton and I always have good games against him. I think this is the most difficult tournament of the year because of the double start, but I hope I can win this now. So many top players are out already but I'm still in so I have a chance. It's another good result in a major tournament and my confidence is growing alll the time."
Hamilton booked his place in the quarter-finals for the third time in the last four years in Dublin with a narrow 3-2 win over Steve Beaton. Beaton hit a ten-dart finish in winning two of the first three sets, only for the World Championship runner-up to force a deciding set, which he took without reply to progress.
"I've made every major quarter-final apart from the UK Open this year, so I'm showing that I deserve to be in the top eight - there's no reason why I can't win this now," said Hamilton. Once Phil Taylor goes out of the tournament, even though he was in the opposite half to me, everybody pushes up their game because he's such a great player. There's going to be a new name on the trophy, and hopefully it's mine."
Number six seed Wes Newton - the runner-up in last month's PartyPoker.net European Championship - and Paul Nicholson were the night's other winners to progress to Friday's quarter-finals.
Newton was a 3-1 winner against Ian White, having won the game's first set despite three 180s from the emerging Stoke ace, who came from a leg down to win the second 3-1. White, though, missed three darts at double 18 to win the third set, as Newton edged back ahead before sealing victory in the fourth with a 13-dart leg.
"I'm really happy to come through that game," admitted Newton. "I was very nervous and it was one of the hardest games I've ever played. It was a real battle. Ian's a great player and he's been playing really well and I felt really good coming into the game, but neither of us found the extra gear that we needed. I'm still here though and I'm still fighting, and it's the first time I've got past the second round here so I'm happy with that. You see all the top seeds going out and everyone left in the tournament will see this as a really good opportunity, but I'm trying to put that to the back of my mind and just beat whoever's in front of me. I know in myself that I'm playing well but I'll have to play a bit better in the quarter-finals. I seem to be getting into the latter stages of tournaments quite often at the minute and I've got a winning mentality, but I'll have to dig a bit deeper against Paul and bring my top form out."
Nicholson moved into the last eight with a 3-1 win over resurgent Colin Osborne, who knocked out two-time champion Wade in the first round but was unable to repeat the trick against the Australian World Cup star.
Nicholson edged the first two sets 3-2 and, though Osborne won the third, he hit two 180s and won three straight legs to claim victory in the fourth, with his accuracy starting on double 16 and then switching immediately to treble 19 proving key.
"I went into the game very calm and thought I did a good job in the first set, but the second set was a bit more gritty," said Nicholson. "I dug deep and it's probably thanks to the mental preparation I did today that I didn't slip up in this. My starting was good - in the first two years of the World Grand Prix I went for double top and double 18, but when I won the Players Championship Finals I found that my best corner was the bottom left so I stayed there and threw at double 16 and 19. You have to play to your strengths in this game, and for me it's double 16, and staying on the 19 bed has worked to give me an extra dart - and I think I'll need that against Wes Newton."
The exits of six of the eight seeded players has seen van Gerwen installed as the new tournament favourite, with Nicholson as high as 16/1 to take the 100,000 pound first prize on Sunday. However, he said: "I'm more worried about myself. When Phil Taylor lost on Wednesday it was pretty dramatic, but that's in the other half to me so I couldn't have played him until the final and I don't worry about that. I'm just having fun, and I've realised that I wasn't having too much fun earlier this year because I was putting too much pressure on myself. I'm going to go up on stage with a smile on my face and I'm thrilled that I've made the quarter-finals."
Pictures with courtesy of Lawrence Lustig, PDC.