WHITEWASH SEES DURRANT PROGRESS AS DOLAN, DOBEY & FITTON QUALIFY
GLEN DURRANT whitewashed Nathan Derry to secure progression to the knockout phase of the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts on Monday, as Brendan Dolan, Chris Dobey and Darryl Fitton also qualified for the second round at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall.
BDO number one Durrant continued his impressive Grand Slam debut as he joined PDC World Champion Gary Anderson in progressing from Group E in the £400,000 tournament.
Durrant had lost narrowly to Anderson in their opener on Saturday, but followed up his win over Alan Norris with a clinical clean sweep against newcomer Derry, who was restricted to only two darts at a double in the match.
"I'm absolutely delighted to be in the last 16," said Durrant, who took out a superb 150 finish during the contest. "I felt really good there and I'm loving this event so far.
"Nathan's a nice guy but you can't take any prisoners on stage and I'm really happy with this win."
Number two seed Anderson had earlier completed his group stage with a third successive win as he overcame Norris 5-2 to secure the £2,500 Group Winner's Bonus as well as continue his challenge for a first Grand Slam triumph.
Northern Irish ace Dolan eliminated three-time BDO Lakeside Champion Martin Adams with his victory in their decisive Group A clash, in a result which also knocked out Germany's Max Hopp.
Dolan now qualifies alongside Michael van Gerwen - who won his third successive group match as he saw off Hopp 5-1 - to move through to Wednesday's second round.
"It means so much for me to get through the group," said Dolan. "There was a lot of pressure and tension there for both of us.
"I've never been one to suffer from nerves and I don't usually get like that, but as soon as I got on stage the importance of the game and the fact that I was playing a great player like Martin hit me.
"I didn't handle it as well as I could but I got the result. I've had a poor year but this is the third time I've made the last 16 on TV and I can build on this."
Six-time Grand Slam of Darts winner Phil Taylor had already qualified for the knockout stage after two Group D wins over the weekend, but ended the round-robin phase with an uncharacteristic whitewash to Darren Webster.
The Stoke legend was punished for missing seven darts at doubles as Webster claimed a consolation victory, with Darryl Fitton joining him in qualifying after a dramatic win over Ian White.
"Phil was out of sorts but that's a huge result for me because it will give me confidence going forward," said Webster. "It's not been a great tournament for me but I can take a lot from that win to set me up for the rest of the year."
White looked set to progress alongside Stoke rival Taylor when he led 3-1 and 4-3, but twice missed the bull for victory and then saw a dart at double four agonisingly land in double 13 in the deciding leg, as Fitton stepped in to land double eight to snatch victory.
"It was a difficult game for us both but I never give up," said Fitton. "Ian gave me a chance and I took it. I was hoping that he'd miss and he did, and I squeezed that double eight in.
"There was no pressure on me and I'm so happy to have won."
Dutchman Benito van de Pas also closed out the group stage with a third successive win as he overcame Adrian Lewis 5-2, with the two-time World Champion knocked out without claiming a point over the three days.
"I was already through but I wanted to win this game, like I want to win every game," said van de Pas "I'm feeling good, I'm playing well and every week I'm getting better on the stage.
"It was an important game and I've topped the group, and wins like this make me stronger."
Van de Pas was joined in qualifying from Group H by youngster Chris Dobey, whose emergence continued with a composed 5-3 win over former Lakeside Champion Scott Mitchell as he progressed.
"It was a tight group but I knew I'm good enough to get out of the group and I've shown that I deserved to go through," said Bedlington's Dobey.
"It was a struggle near the end of the game but Scott let me in with a few missed doubles, and it was nice to get over the winning line."
The round-robin phase concludes on Tuesday with the remaining eight matches as the other four groups play their third games.
While Peter Wright and James Wade have already secured their progression, two other groups see all four players still in with a chance of qualifying for the knockout stage.
Van Gerwen is now the 4/6 tournament favourite with Sun Bets, the official betting partner of the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts, with Anderson the 5/1 second favourite and Taylor a 6/1 chance to win his seventh Wolverhampton title.
Tickets for the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts can be purchased by calling 0870 320 7000 or online at www.theticketfactory.com/PDC .
Watch live on Sky Sports or through the PDC's series of worldwide broadcast partners, as well as online via www.LIVEPDC.TV for International Pass Subscribers (outside of UK, Ireland and Netherlands).
Follow live scores and dart-by-dart match information at the PDC Live Scores Website .
See latest betting odds with Sun Bets , the official betting partner of the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts.
SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts
Monday November 14
Groups A-D-E-H Final Games
Adrian Lewis 2-5 Benito van de Pas (H)
Gary Anderson 5-2 Alan Norris (E)
Phil Taylor 0-5 Darren Webster (D)
Michael van Gerwen 5-1 Max Hopp (A)
Brendan Dolan 5-3 Martin Adams (A)
Chris Dobey 5-3 Scott Mitchell (H)
Nathan Derry 0-5 Glen Durrant (E)
Ian White 4-5 Darryl Fitton (D)
LEAGUE TABLES
GROUP A - completed
|
|
P |
W |
L |
+/- |
Pts |
|
Michael van Gerwen (Q) |
3 |
3 |
0 |
+11 |
6 |
|
Brendan Dolan (Q) |
3 |
2 |
1 |
-1 |
4 |
|
Max Hopp (E) |
3 |
1 |
2 |
-3 |
2 |
|
Martin Adams (E) |
3 |
0 |
3 |
-7 |
0 |
GROUP B – after two games
|
|
P |
W |
L |
+/- |
Pts |
|
Robert Thornton |
2 |
2 |
0 |
+3 |
4 |
|
Gerwyn Price |
2 |
1 |
1 |
+2 |
2 |
|
Dimitri Van den Bergh |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Scott Waites |
2 |
0 |
2 |
-5 |
0 |
GROUP C – after two games
|
|
P |
W |
L |
+/- |
Pts |
|
Peter Wright (Q) |
2 |
2 |
0 |
+9 |
4 |
|
Simon Whitlock |
2 |
1 |
1 |
-1 |
2 |
|
Jeff Smith |
2 |
1 |
1 |
-3 |
2 |
|
Ted Evetts (E) |
2 |
0 |
2 |
-5 |
0 |
GROUP D - completed
|
|
P |
W |
L |
+/- |
Pts |
|
Phil Taylor (Q) |
3 |
2 |
1 |
+3 |
4 |
|
Darryl Fitton (Q) |
3 |
2 |
1 |
-2 |
4 |
|
Darren Webster (E) |
3 |
1 |
2 |
+2 |
2 |
|
Ian White (E) |
3 |
1 |
2 |
-3 |
2 |
GROUP E - completed
|
|
P |
W |
L |
+/- |
Pts |
|
Gary Anderson (Q) |
3 |
3 |
0 |
+9 |
6 |
|
Glen Durrant (Q) |
3 |
2 |
1 |
+8 |
4 |
|
Nathan Derry (E) |
3 |
1 |
2 |
-9 |
2 |
|
Alan Norris (E) |
3 |
0 |
3 |
-8 |
0 |
GROUP F – after two games
|
|
P |
W |
L |
+/- |
Pts |
|
Raymond van Barneveld |
2 |
2 |
0 |
+7 |
4 |
|
Mensur Suljovic |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Danny Noppert |
2 |
1 |
1 |
-1 |
2 |
|
Nathan Aspinall |
2 |
0 |
2 |
-6 |
0 |
GROUP G – after two games
|
|
P |
W |
L |
+/- |
Pts |
|
James Wade (Q) |
2 |
2 |
0 |
+4 |
4 |
|
Jamie Hughes |
2 |
1 |
1 |
+2 |
2 |
|
James Wilson |
2 |
1 |
1 |
+1 |
2 |
|
Dave Chisnall (E) |
2 |
0 |
2 |
-7 |
0 |
GROUP H - completed
|
|
P |
W |
L |
+/- |
Pts |
|
Benito van de Pas (Q) |
3 |
3 |
0 |
+8 |
6 |
|
Chris Dobey (Q) |
3 |
2 |
1 |
+3 |
4 |
|
Scott Mitchell (E) |
3 |
1 |
2 |
-2 |
2 |
|
Adrian Lewis (E) |
3 |
0 |
3 |
-9 |
0 |
MATCH STATS
| Average | 180s | Finishing | Average | 180s | Finishing | |||
| 100.19 | 3 | 2/6 | Adrian Lewis | 2-5 | Benito van de Pas | 100.90 | 2 | 5/7 |
| 97.3 | 2 | 5/6 | Gary Anderson | 5-2 | Alan Norris | 94.60 | 1 | 2/3 |
| 87.08 | 1 | 0/7 | Phil Taylor | 0-5 | Darren Webster | 96.35 | 0 | 5/11 |
| 95.93 | 4 | 5/14 | Michael van Gerwen | 5-1 | Max Hopp | 87.37 | 0 | 1/2 |
| 80.87 | 0 | 5/15 | Brendan Dolan | 5-3 | Martin Adams | 80.96 | 2 | 3/17 |
| 92.74 | 1 | 5/11 | Chris Dobey | 5-3 | Scott Mitchell | 92.61 | 1 | 3/14 |
| 76.20 | 0 | 0/2 | Nathan Derry | 0-5 | Glen Durrant | 97.60 | 2 | 5/10 |
| 88.86 | 3 | 4/11 | Ian White | 4-5 | Darryl Fitton | 87.27 | 0 | 5/13 |