Taylor powers on in Vegas

Taylor: Through to last four

LAS VEGAS DESERT CLASSIC
R Scholten 11-2 M King
P Taylor 11-4 A Gray
James Wade 11-7 Andy Hamilton
Peter Manley 11-8 Alan Tabern

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Phil Taylor overcame a sluggish start to see off Adrian Gray 11-4 and seal his place in the semi-finals of the Las Vegas Classic.

The Power looked set to be cut when he slipped 3-1 behind to the same opponent who knocked him out of last year's SkyBet World Grand Prix.

However, the three-time Desert Classic winner came roaring back, losing just one more leg to set up a showdown with Roland Scholten, who had hammered Mervyn King 11-2 in the first quarter-final.

At one stage the 13-time world champion reeled off seven straight legs to close out the match following his early scare at the Mandalay Bay Resort.

Missed chance

Gray, who had beaten Sam Rooney 8-3 to reach the last eight, was left to look back on what could have been having missed double 18 to take a 3-0 lead.

Although he did level at 4-4 at one stage, Taylor moved through the gears before admitting to Sky Sports afterwards that he had been fortunate.

"Adrian played really well," he said. "He took the darts off me the first leg and I couldn't seem to get back at him - he was very consistent.

"I was having shots at doubles and missing, but he wasn't. If it was first one to six I would be out now."

With defending champion Raymond Van Barneveld gone, Dutch hopes of a win in America rest on the arrows of Scholten.

'The Tripod' managed to take seven successive legs to cruise through against an out-of-sorts King who failed to find the same kind of form he had displayed against Darin Young in the previous round.

Wade through

Like Taylor earlier James Wade had to battle back from an early deficit before limping over the line against Andy Hamilton.

The world number three made a stunning start with a checkout of 170 in the first leg but soon found himself 3-2 down.

A run of five straight legs, including a bullseye finish, put Wade on the brink of victory at 10-4 and although he endured a late wobble, losing three on the bounce, double 10 was enough for him to end the match.

"I thought I was in a lot of trouble at the end, he let me off a lot of shots," a relieved Wade said to Sky Sports afterwards.

The final semi-final spot went to Peter Manley, as he ended the run of giant-killer Alan Tabern with an 11-8 victory.

A scrappy match never caught fire as Tabern failed to rediscover the form that had seen him send Barneveld packing the previous evening.