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Barney survived a few scrapes to come through the qualifiers in Newport – along with Steve Beaton, Andy Callaby and Alan Green – and the Dutch ace could meet Team Unicorn’s 13-times World Champion in the 2nd round in Ireland.

Defending champion Taylor will face an all-Unicorn clash against Wes Newton in the 1st round at the City West Hotel, while Barney plays Alan Warriner….and if they both win, it’s all on in round two! What a prospect!

But Barney’s joy meant huge disappointment for Unicorn new-boy Andy Hamilton, who lost 5-3 to the Dutchman in the final qualifying match…..the Stoke publican just failing to repeat his victory over Barneveld in the World Matchplay qualifiers.

2004 Sky Bet World Grand Prix winner Colin Lloyd has a tough 1st round tie to look forward to…..another all-Unicorn affair against former World Champion Bob Anderson and what about Peter Manley against Chris Mason…..another of the highlights of a compelling line-up for Dublin.

And in a twist of darting fate, old rivals Kevin Painter and Andy Callaby – the only two players to have beaten Taylor in the eight year history of the event – will also get it on in the 1st Round.

In a tense qualifying tournament, there was no joy for Team Unicorn. Hamilton came the closest to booking his ticket to Dublin. Ray Carver was beaten 5-1 by Jimmy Mann in the 2nd round…..and Michael Barnard was beaten at the same stage 5-3 by Gary Welding.

Barneveld was actually on the verge of going out in the semi-finals but his opponent Paul Whitworth missed four darts for the match, while rising star Colin Osborne lost 5-4 in a thrilling final to veteran Steve Beaton.

In the main draw for Dublin, James Wade kicks-off against Irish qualifier Paul Watton, John Part takes on Lionel Sams, while Adrian Lewis has a tough start against UK Open runner-up Barrie Bates.

World Grand Prix qualifiers: Semi-Finals

Andy Callaby 5-3 Bob Crawley
Steve Johnson 5-4 Jamie Harvey
Raymond Van Barneveld 5-4 Paul Whitworth
Andy Hamilton 5-2 John Kuczynski
Alan Green 5-0 Rocco Maes
Gary Welding 5-3 Ian Whillis
Colin Osborne 5-0 Colin Monk
Steve Beaton 5-1 Darren Webster

Finals:

Andy Callaby 5-1 Steve Johnson
Raymond Van Barneveld 5-3 Andy Hamilton
Alan Green 5-2 Gary Welding
Steve Beaton 5-4 Colin Osborne

2006 SkyBet World Grand Prix draw (seeds in brackets)

Colin Lloyd (1) v Bob Anderson
Anto McCracken (Ireland) v Mark Walsh
Kevin Painter v Andy Callaby
Andy Jenkins v Terry Jenkins
Peter Manley (5) v Chris Mason
Lionel Sams v John Part
Wayne Mardle (4) v Denis Ovens
Gareth Gray (Ireland) v Andy Smith
Phil Taylor (2) v Wes Newton
Alan Warriner v Raymond Van Barneveld
Roland Scholten (7) v Dave Askew
Mark Dudbridge v Steve Beaton
Dennis Priestley (6) v Geoffrey Matthews (Ireland)
Adrian Lewis v Barrie Bates
Ronnie Baxter (3) v Alan Green
Paul Watton (Ireland) v James Wade

BY STUART PYKE