Today the final decisions were made in groups B, D, F and H at the Grand Slam of Darts at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson won the decisive match against Ryan Searle 5-3, putting him in the last 16. The “Flying Scotsman” had a hard time in his first two group matches (one win and one loss) and had not come close to his top form. Against Searle Anderson was much better, which was necessary considering the strong match of Searle (average of 102 points). Especially the finishing of the former World Champion was sensational and made the difference in the end. Five out of six attempts on the doubles were successful by Anderson and he even got two high finishes of 111 and 119 for the match.
Nathan Aspinall also took his chance and qualified for the round of the last sixteen of the Grand Slam of Darts for the first time in his fourth attempt. He won his match against Ricky Evans clearly by 5:1. However, this clear result was unnecessary from the point of view of “Rapid”, because his scoring was sensational with six 180s in six legs. However, he struggled mightily on the doubles. Evans was only able to make use of one of eleven attempts and Aspinall benefited from this in an ice-cold manner.
The closest match of the day was probably played between Damon Heta and Jermaine Wattimena. Not only did Heta win 5-4, but the average of the two opponents was absolutely identical at 86.14. It was almost logical that both players also had chances to win the game. The Dutchman missed three match darts in the final leg, Heta took advantage of the mistake and played his way into the second round on his debut.
In the last game of the session Rob Cross booked his ticket for the round of the last 16. “Voltage”, who lost yesterday against Dave Chisnall, played a strong game today, but was really challenged by his opponent. Luke Humphries threw everything at him with an average of over 102 points. Cross himself played an average of over 100 and especially the early stages of the game, in which he was able to take a 3-0 lead, paved the way for the world champion to a 5-2 victory and to the round two.
In the remaining four games of the session, in which the player top of the table met the last of the groups, there was not much to play for, but there was still plenty of action:
In the first game of the day, the top-placed player was suddenly and completely unexpectedly trailing 4-0. Simon Whitlock started the game with six perfect darts, but lost the leg to Adam Gawlas, who subsequently took advantage of further missed opportunities of the “wizard” and only needed one more leg for the upset. But the Australian tried everything and actually managed to turn the game around to 5:4.
The other three table toppers also kept their perfect records and each took their third victory in the third game.
Dimitri Van den Bergh continues to show his impressive form with an average of 104.33. His third ton-plus average this week. He left current BDO World Champion Wayne Warren from Wales hardly any chance and won clearly by 5:1. “The Dreammaker” also missed a dart on the double 12 for the perfect game.
Meanwhile, James Wade and Dave Chisnall both got a 5-2 win at the end of their group phase.
Chisnall was victorious in a game of missed chances against Justin Pipe. Both players ended up with an average of well under 90 and the double percentages of 20 and 11% respectively speak for themselves.
“The Machine” James Wade inflicted a third defeat to current Premier League champion Glen Durrant. Durrant again stayed below 90 on average and had no chance against Wade and his strong 95 average.
Tomorrow evening at 7pm GMT the last matches in groups A, C, E and G will take place. In Group A “The German Giant” Gabriel Clemens still has a good chance of advancing to the next round. Live on Sky Sports, DAZN, Sport1 and RTL 7.
2020 Boyle Sports Grand Slam of Darts, Wednesday November 18, 8x 1st round
Simon Whitlock 5:4 Adam Gawlas (B)
Dave Chisnall 5:2 Justin Pipe (D)
James Wade 5:2 Glen Durrant (F)
Dimitri Van den Bergh 5:1 Wayne Warren (H)
Jermaine Wattimena 4:5 Damon Heta (F)
Gary Anderson 5:3 Ryan Searle (B)
Nathan Aspinall 5:1 Ricky Evans (H)
Rob Cross 5:2 Luke Humphries (D)
2020 Boyle Sports Grand Slam of Darts, Thursday November 19 (7pm GMT), 8x 1st round
José de Sousa – Lisa Ashton (C)
Michael Smith – Krzysztof Ratajski (C)
Jonny Clayton – Mikuru Suzuki (G)
Gerwyn Price – Ryan Joyce (G)
Ian White – Dirk van Duijvenbode (E)
Peter Wright – Devon Petersen (E)
Gabriel Clemens – Adam Hunt (A)
Michael van Gerwen – Joe Cullen (A)
