It was an incredible night of darts at the Grand Slam! ‘ The Bull’ went on the charge to dump No.1 seed Raymond Van Barneveld out of the tournament, Andy Hamilton edged out Adrian Lewis in an all-Unicorn nail-biter and James Wade crashed out on a night of darting drama. Jenkins was inspired against the World Champion and eventually ground Barney into submission, as the Dutchman felt the pressure and missed important doubles at crucial times. The Unicorn ace now plays Hamilton in the quarter-finals, after one of the best wins of his career. Jenkins started the match with a 180 and looked supremely confident. He hit 105 and 120 finishes to give him a 5-3 lead…..back came Barney to edge ahead 7-6 but after that, it was one-way traffic. A superb 75 finish broke the Barney throw and Jenkins kept pounding in the big scores. He won four consecutive legs and his favourite double the top sealed a famous win. Jenkins averaged 102 and thoroughly deserved his win. He said: “I have been struggling over the last couple of months but that was much more like it. Sometimes, it’s easier to play someone like Raymond and if I carry on playing like that, who knows!?” ‘The Hammer’ set up a quarter-final clash against his Unicorn stablemate by pipping Lewis in a terrific tungsten tussle. At five apiece, it was still all to play for and eight of those 10 legs went against the throw. Lewis was struggling with his finishing, while Hamilton banged in 113 and 108 check-outs. The 15th leg proved crucial. Hamilton broke the throw again and he held his nerve to book his ticket into the last eight. He said: “There was a lot of pressure and tension up there but my finishing was just a little better in the end.” A disappointed Lewis conceded he had blown it: “It was just one of those nights, I’m afraid. My finishing let me down and that was that.” Unicorn’s World Matchplay and World Grand Prix Champion James Wade was stunned by young Geordie Kevin McDine in a sensational match at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall. The No.3 seed was 5/1 ON to reach the quarter-finals but McDine – a qualifier for the GSOD – produced the performance of his life, averaging an amazing 106! To be fair, Wade didn’t do a lot wrong. His end average was 102, he hit six 180s and a brilliant 170 finish in the 4th leg. After trailing 2-1, Wade won five out of the next six legs to take control. But then we witnessed a stunning five legs from ‘Supamac’ McDine averaged 125 in winning five consecutive legs. In that purple patch, he hit four maximums, a 177, a 100 finish and a 92 check-out on the bull. Wade missed four darts to pull it back to 8-9 but McDine wasn’t to be denied and double eight saw him clinch a famous win. Wade said: “He played brilliantly and I have no complaints. I’d like to think I didn’t lose the match – he won it with an amazing display. I think he would have beaten anyone with that performance. There’s nothing I can do about it now, so I will just start my planning and preparation for the World Championship.” McDine will now face former BDO World Champion Jelle Klaasen in the quarter-finals, after the Dutchman won a last leg decider against Aussie Pat Orreal. Wednesday’s 2nd Round results (best of 19 legs): Jelle Klaasen 10-9 Pat Orreal James Wade 7-10 Kevin McDine Andy Hamilton 10-8 Adrian Lewis Raymond Van Barneveld 7-10 Terry Jenkins Thursday’s 2nd Round schedule (best of 19 legs): Kevin Painter v Mervyn King Roland Scholten v Gary Anderson John Part v Colin Lloyd Phil Taylor v Gary Mawson BY STUART PYKE Photo courtesy of Chris Sargeant
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