Phil Taylor hits back at Andy Fordham after opening win at Grand Slam of Darts
Saturday 7 November 2015 18:42, UK
Phil Taylor began the defence of his Grand Slam title with a whitewash win and then called for a clash with rival Andy Fordham.
'The Power' has been incensed by Fordham's comments ahead of the tournament and offered some strong words of his own to 'The Viking' after his ruthless 5-0 rout of Martin Phillips at Wolverhampton Civic Hall.
Averaging around 103, Taylor was a class above his opening Group H opponent and sealed victory with a classy 120 finish.
But this ruthless win did not lighten the mood of the six-time winner, who admitted he would welcome a showdown with Fordham on the oche.
"A few comments have just been made," Taylor told Sky Sports. "I hope he qualifies, I really do. Let's see if he can throw darts like he does talking. Hopefully Mr Fordham will qualify.
"How do I respond? No response because I don't know what he's talking about, so let's carry on.
"If he wants publicity, this is the first time he's played on TV for a while, let's see how he gets on, seriously."
Gary Anderson and Raymond van Barneveld also started with whitewash victories in the group stages.
Anderson's scoring was far too hot for American Larry Butler, while Van Barneveld produced a clinical display of finishing in his thrashing of Andy Boulton.
But there was an early shock in the afternoon session as debutant Jonny Clayton claimed a 5-3 win over world No 10 Terry Jenkins.
Clayton raced into a 4-1 lead before Jenkins battled back to within one leg, but the Welshman worked down to a finish with a timely 180 and pinned double 20 to dish out a setback to 'The Bull'.
James Wade avoided any similar problems, completing a 5-2 win over Dutchman Michael van der Horst, but Robert Thornton, the reigning Grand Prix champion, was made to work for a 5-4 victory against Belgium's Geert De Vos.
Mark Webster won a bizarre battle with Keegan Brown, who suffered a 5-3 defeat after a succession of darts slipped out of the board.
The Isle of Wight man was left shaking his head after being plagued by bounce outs and Webster clinched the win with an impressive 130-finish.
Live Grand Slam of Darts
Earlier in the day, Robbie Green had kicked off the action with a routine 5-3 win over Austrian Rowby-John Rodriguez.
Watch Saturday night's matches at the Grand Slam from 7pm on Sky Sports 2.
