Phil Taylor through before Gary Anderson's surprise Grand Slam defeat
Thursday 12 November 2015 10:54, UK
Phil Taylor survived a scare to reach the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam, but Gary Anderson suffered a shock exit.
'The Power' was forced to battle back from 4-0 down to defeat Terry Jenkins 10-6 and world champion Anderson could not match this comeback, toppling out of the tournament with a 10-6 defeat to Mark Webster.
Raymond van Barneveld also booked his place in the quarter-finals with a bad-tempered win over James Wade, who refused to offer a handshake after his 10-7 defeat to the Dutchman.
Robert Thornton, the World Grand Prix champion, had opened the night with a 10-8 win, despite a classy 170 checkout from his opponent Robbie Green.
Next up was Taylor, who endured a torturous start, missing a string of darts at the double before a crucial and badly needed 97 checkout cut the deficit to 4-1 before the break.
That leg sparked a gritty response from the reigning champion, who reeled off the next five in a row to open a 6-4 advantage.
But Taylor still could not find any fluency and was far from happy with his performance after the winning dart.
"That was awful. It was a scrappy match, it was survival," he told Sky Sports.
"I thought you might as well enjoy it as you're going home anyway. You cannot get much uglier than that. You have to go up there and survive."
There was no way back for Anderson when he fell 6-2 down, with Webster taking out a spectacular 127, ending on the bull.
The Welshman produced a nerveless display of finishing, pinching legs despite the occasional spurt of high scoring from Anderson and he sealed victory with double 18.
In the closing encounter, Wade appeared to be heading to victory when he opened a 7-4 lead, despite erratic darts at the double.
Barney's steady rhythm visibly slowed and Wade tapped his watch with frustration, but the Dutchman clinically took out 120 on his way to levelling the match at 7-7.
Wade would not win another leg and stormed off stage after Van Barneveld had completed victory, drawing an angry reaction from the winner.
"James went off stage, never shakes hands, that's not really good," said Van Barneveld.
"It's not slowing him down. It's taking more concentration for myself. If he's got a problem with that, it's his problem."
Wade later took to social media to apologise for his actions, tweeting: "Not like me to be unprofessional I should have shook Ray's hand I admit that, I just let things get in my head!"
Live Grand Slam of Darts
Wednesday's matches (best of 19 legs)
Robert Thornton 10-8 Robbie Green
Phil Taylor 10-6 Terry Jenkins
Gary Anderson 6-10 Mark Webster
James Wade 7-10 Raymond van Barneveld
Watch Thursday's last-16 matches at the Grand Slam from 7pm on Sky Sports 1, or watch without a contract on NOW TV
