John Part stormed off the stage – angry at the crowd – after beating Raymond van Barneveld, but the win didn’t keep him in the tournament.
Barney’s defeat means he now plays Mervyn King in the 2nd Round, while Kirk Shepherd will face a terrific all Unicorn clash against Kevin Painter.
Anastasia bowed out after a great display…..Phil Taylor was trounced by Vincent van der Voort and unbelievably, Colin Osborne blew it big time…..he is out of the Grand Slam, so Taylor will now play Colin Lloyd in the second round.
So, where to start?!
John Part was fuming at the crowd’s reaction at the Wolves Civic and he left the stage without shaking Barney’s hand, although he apologised backstage after his frustration boiled over.
Both players averaged 100 in a fantastic match. The Canadian had to win 5-2 or better but Barney did enough, in a game which featured five 13 dart legs and nine 180s.
Barneveld looked on course for the win, which would have seen him top the group, when he led 4-3….but back came Part and an 88 check-out levelled it. The both kicked off the decider with 180s and it was left to the Canadian to win it with a fabulous 12 darter and a 102 finish.
It was certainly a case of if only for Part.
Barney’s defeat meant that Kevin Painter topped the group after his 5-0 win over Francis Hoenselaar. He banged in check-outs of 118 and 148 in a convincing performance.
“The pressure was on,” Painter admitted. “So I’m just glad to get the win and move on to the knock-out stages.”
It should be a great showdown between Painter and Kirk Shepherd.
This is Shepherd’s best performance since he reached the World Championship Final two years ago but he didn’t help himself by aggravating his broken foot when celebrating his victory!
It was a winner-takes-it-all clash against Steve Maish and Shepherd soon found himself 2-0 down, but after that, he was brilliant….a 145 finish followed by 95 on the bull and he soon wrapped it up with D16.
“My foot gave way again and I’m in agony,” he said. “But I am delighted because it has been a really difficult couple of years for me. Maybe this is the start of something.”
Taylor was almost human! Just 48 hours after losing to Anastasia, Van der Voort enjoyed one of the best wins of his career.
‘The Power’ averaged only 90 and spared his blushes by winning the fifth leg after falling 4-0 down!
“He beat me fair and square,” said Taylor. “I had better get back practicing, because that wasn’t very good.”
Somehow though, you just can’t see Taylor playing as poorly again this week, as he chases that hat-trick of Grand Slam titles – and he will relish taking on Lloyd.
But it should have been a repeat of the Championship League Darts Final against Osborne…..how ‘The Wizard’ didn’t win, goodness only knows.
He was 4-1 up against Brian Woods….all he had to do was win to go through but Osborne contrived to chuck it away and lost 5-4.
After hitting a fourth 180, he missed a dart at tops to win the match 5-3 and then watched Woods hit every double….it was a bitter blow.
Anastasia gave it a real go against former BDO World Champion Mark Webster but the fairytale run came to an end….but yet again, she has written a stack of headlines at the Grand Slam.
The first four legs went against the throw but at 2-2, Ana was very much in the game. Webster though, found an extra gear and he reeled off three legs on the spin to win it.
“I have enjoyed every minute of it,” said Anastasia. It’s been fun and I have to kick on from this experience.”
Next up for Ana is the Russian World Championship qualifiers at the end of the month, when she will be bidding for a place at the Ally Pally.
Tuesday results:
Mervyn King 4-5 Darryl Fitton
On Wednesday, Andy Hamilton has to win the all Unicorn clash with James Wade if he wants to go through, while Adrian Lewis and Gary Mawson are playing just for pride….
Wednesday’s final group matches:
Terry Jenkins v Adrian Lewis
By STUART PYKE at the Grand Slam of Darts
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC
