Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor are through to the Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals
Thursday 17 November 2016 06:35, UK
Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor both progressed to the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts after comfortable wins in Wolverhampton.
World No 1 Van Gerwen continued the defence of his title with a 10-5 victory over Robert Thornton and was joined in the next stage by Taylor, who defeated Jeff Smith by the same scoreline at the Civic Hall.
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Peter Wright is also safely through after a one-sided 10-3 win over Daryl Fitton, setting up a showdown with Taylor in the next stage, while Brendan Dolan edged out Gerwyn Price 10-9 to earn a quarter-final against Van Gerwen.
Following Monday's whitewash defeat by Darren Webster, there would not be a repeat of that sluggish start from Taylor against Smith, and he broke with a 12-dart leg for a 4-2 lead.
Smith, this year's runner-up at the BDO World Championship, reduced the deficit to 7-3 with a fantastic 152 finish, but paid the price for an array of missed darts at a double and 'The Power' sealed victory on double 10.
Van Gerwen traded legs with Thornton in a frenetic opening to their match, with the Scotsman rattling through an early 129 checkout.
A further 145 finish kept Thornton in touch at 6-3 down, but MVG bettered his opponent with the biggest possible checkout as a sizzling 170 opened a 7-4 advantage.
Ending with an average of over 103, Van Gerwen completed victory with double 18, and will be hoping for another emphatic win over Dolan after demolishing the Irishman 5-1 in the group stages.
Earlier in the night, Dolan had battled back from 4-0 down to defeat Price in a see-saw match which was littered with breaks.
Wright has only dropped a handful of legs since the start of the tournament and would hand out another thrashing to Fitton.
The BDO player led 3-2 at the first break, but Wright then reeled off eight legs in a row during a composed display of finishing.
