Van Barneveld off to a flyer

Van Barneveld: easy win

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Raymond van Barneveld kicked off his bid for the PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts in impressive fashion as he swept past Kirk Shepherd with a 5-1 win.

The Dutchman stormed into a 4-0 lead with a 100-plus three-dart average.

Shepherd did rally to avoid a whitewash, but van Barneveld closed out the match to set up a clash with fellow Group E winner Robert Thornton on Sunday.

"It's a great start for me," commented the five-time world champion. "At 4-0, Kirk started to play like the player who reached the World Championship final, but darts is a strange game."

By contrast, Wayne Mardle endured a nightmare start as he crashed to a resounding 5-0 defeat to Kevin McDine - a semi-finalist in the same tournament last year.

Mardle later described his performance as "one of the worst displays of my career" and now faces a must-win clash with women's world champion Anastasia Dobromyslova.

Australian number one Paul Nicholson produced the biggest shock of the opening day as he edged out WDF world number one Gary Anderson 5-4 in a thrilling contest.

Wade on form

PDC world number three James Wade overcame Niels de Ruiter 5-1 and takes on Denis Ovens on day two, while the Dutch youngster faces Adrian Lewis.

Mervyn King beat Michael van Gerwen 5-1, Alan Tabern saw off Simon Whitlock 5-3, Andy Jenkins defeated Vincent van der Voort in a deciding leg, while Wes Newton was another 5-4 winner in his match with Colin Lloyd.

PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England 1st rd results:

Denis Ovens 5-2 Adrian Lewis
Andy Hamilton 5-3 Brian Woods
Robert Thornton 5-3 Gary Mawson
John Part 5-1 Anastasia Dobromyslova
Phil Taylor 5-0 Phill Nixon
Colin McGarry 5-4 Mark Webster
Darryl Fitton 5-2 Kevin Painter
Darin Young 5-4 Terry Jenkins
Andy Jenkins 5-4 Vincent van der Voort
Kevin McDine 5-0 Wayne Mardle
James Wade 5-1 Niels de Ruiter
Paul Nicholson 5-4 Gary Anderson
Raymond van Barneveld 5-1 Kirk Shepherd
Alan Tabern 5-3 Simon Whitlock
Mervyn King 5-1 Michael van Gerwen
Wes Newton 5-4 Colin Lloyd