Phil Taylor conquered Raymond van Barneveld in Grand Slam of Darts semi-final
Sunday 15 November 2015 18:50, UK
World No 1 Michael van Gerwen will face the great Phil Taylor in what could be an enthralling Grand Slam of Darts final in Wolverhampton on Sunday night.
Van Gerwen produced the latest in a series of imperious displays to beat rising star Michael Smith 16-6 in his Sunday afternoon semi but Taylor also impressed, recovering from a sluggish start to beat old rival Raymond van Barneveld 16-12.
Taylor and Van Barneveld have played some superb matches over the years but this one did not live up to the hype early on, with the duo both below-par.
Van Barneveld led 2-0 and 4-3 before Taylor began to show signs of life, reeling off five legs in a row to lead 8-4, only for the Dutchman to respond by winning the next three.
Moments of quality had still just been sporadic until that point but the players took a short break with Taylor leading 8-7 and, when they returned, the match suddenly became a classic, as the duo began powering in the maximums.
Taylor was looking particularly sharp and led 12-8 and 14-10 but then missed crucial doubles in back-to-back legs and Van Barneveld closed to within 14-12.
But a crucial 27th leg went the way of Taylor after he hit double-seven with his third dart, with Van Barneveld sitting on a finish.
And Taylor then comfortably held throw to clinch victory, finishing the match with 11 maximums and an average of 100.84, despite his uncharacteristic start.
Earlier on, top seed Van Gerwen was never behind against Smith and completed a 16-6 win in grand style with a 170 check-out.
The Dutchman accelerated into a 4-1 lead as both players produced some high scores and, although Smith rallied briefly to win the sixth leg, he was left to rue a costly miss of double-one in the eighth and then failed to find a finish in the ninth.
Van Gerwen made a 147 checkout - the highest of the tournament at that point - to make it 10-4, but saved the best for the last throw of the game with a superb 170, illustrating the quality of a performance which featured eight maximums and a 102.19 average.
Watch Van Gerwen take on Taylor live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 7pm tonight.
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