PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts - Day Six Reports

REPORTS and reaction from Thursday's play at the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts, as the second round comes to a conclusion at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

The four matches include number two seed Phil Taylor against Gary Mawson, a repeat of the 2005 World Matchplay final between John Part and Colin Lloyd and number three seed Gary Anderson taking on in-form Roland Scholten.

Watch the action live on ITV4, while DartsTV subscribers can listen to live audio commentary, and a free live scoreboard is also available.
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PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts
Second Round
Thursday 22 November
Kevin Painter 10-7 Mervyn King (Match 7)
Roland Scholten 7-10 Gary Anderson (Match 8)
John Part 7-10 Colin Lloyd (Match 6)
Phil Taylor 10-4 Gary Mawson (Match 5)
Live on ITV4 from 5.45pm-10.30pm

KEVIN PAINTER 10-7 MERVYN KING

KEVIN PAINTER produced one of his finest displays to progress to the quarter-finals of the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts with a 10-7 victory over Mervyn King.

The Group G winner continued his great form in the event by coming from 4-1 and 6-4 down to storm past one of the pre-event favourites.

Painter landed nine maximums in the contest, with his heavy scoring seeing him power through late on to take the spoils.

He hit four of those 180s in the opening four legs, but found himself 3-1 down after King bounced back from losing the opening leg to take four in a down and lead by three at the first break.

Painter hit back with a 13-darter, and hit two more maximums in cutting back to 5-4 before a pressure double nine from King saw him retain a two-leg cushion.

A seventh 180 from Painter in leg 11 helped him set up an 82 finish, before King landed double top to move 7-5 up.

Painter hit back with a 13-darter, and levelled the match on double top before going in front for the first time since the opening leg with a double four finish to lead 8-7.

Four missed darts at double top from King in the next allowed Painter to take another leg, and a 120 Shanghai finish saw the PDC Order of Merit Qualifier take victory.

"That's the best I've played for a long while and I enjoyed it," admitted Painter. "When you play someone like Mervyn, if you don't score heavily he will beat you.

"I couldn't believe I was 4-1 down at the first break because I'd played so well, but I kept my head up and eventually I broke him back.

"When I went 8-7 up, Mervyn missed three darts at a double and I nicked that leg, and that was crucial.

"This year I've been playing well and when I'm playing as well as I can I don't fear anybody."

King had finished second in Group H but admitted: "Kevin played better than me on the night and deserved to win.

"I went 4-1 up in the first session and he kept pegging me back."

Match Stats

Kevin Painter	10-7	Mervyn King
18	100+	22
11	140+	14
9	180	2
32.42	Ave1	30.86
97.27	Ave3	92.57
120	High Finish	78

GARY ANDERSON 10-7 ROLAND SCHOLTEN

GARY ANDERSON held off a brave fightback from Roland Scholten to move into the last eight of the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts with a 10-7 victory.

The number three seed looked set to romp into the quarter-finals when he took leads of 6-1 and 9-3.

Scholten won four legs to pull back into the contest, but there was no stopping Anderson, who hit a sixth maximum of the game on his way to sealing the win.

"At 9-3 it should have been over and I missed a few doubles," admitted the Scotsman.

"At one stage I thought I'd thrown it away but thankfully I managed to get the winning leg. I started well and everything was fine but I lost my way a little bit."

Anderson kicked off the match with a 13-darter and then took out 121 for a 2-0 lead, with Scholten taking advantage of two missed doubles to get off the mark.

Scholten wasted a golden opportunity to level in the fourth, missing four doubles to allow Anderson in to take the leg on double three and move 3-1 up.

The WDF number one also took the next three legs, including finishes of 121 and 96, to move 6-1 up before a 96 from Scholten in reply saw him cut the gap.

Anderson took out 64 on tops in the ninth before Scholten hit back with a second maximum of the match in the next to trail 7-3.

Anderson moved further in front with a pressure double seven, with Scholten sat on a finish, and a brilliant 158 finish of two treble 18s and the bullseye put Anderson 9-3 up and to the brink of victory.

The Scot missed double top in the next, with Scholten taking out double 16 to stay in the match and winning the next on double 18.

Anderson then missed the bullseye for a 132 finish for victory, with Scholten landing double eight to remain in the contest, and a two-dart 66 finish saw him take a fourth straight leg.

He finally saw the comeback end in the next, with a missed double top from Scholten allowing Anderson back to the oche to land double five.

Anderson now meets Kevin Painter in the quarter-finals, six days after suffering a 5-1 loss to the Englishman on the event's opening day.

"I don't know if it's about revenge," said Anderson. "If Kevin plays the way he can and I play how I started in this game it will be good."

Scholten admitted: "Gary outscored me and he played better than me, which was why I lost.

"I missed some doubles to level in the fourth leg and that came back to haunt me throughout."

Match Stats

Roland Scholten	7-10	Gary Anderson
32	100+	24
9	140+	17
3	180	6
31.90	Ave1	32.78
95.70	Ave3	98.35
96	High Finish	158,121x2

JOHN PART 10-7 COLIN LLOYD

JOHN PART powered into the quarter-finals of the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts with a 10-7 defeat of Colin Lloyd at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

The Canadian recovered from a slow start to come from 2-0 down to storm 5-2 up, and then showed his World Champion's class to hold off a Lloyd fightback to seal the win.

Lloyd began brilliantly, landing double top at the first time of asking in the opening two legs to lead 2-0, only to see two darts at the same bed go high in the third.

Part stepped in one double eight to get off the mark, and won the nest four legs, including a 13-darter, to move 5-2 up.

Lloyd opened leg eight with a maximum, and took out 150 to halt Part's run, although the Canadian responded with two 180s in taking the next.

Lloyd sneaked the tenth with a 99 checkout on double top, but two more legs from Park put him 8-4 to the good.

The pair traded scores of 180 and 140 in the next, with a 12-darter from Lloyd seeing him pull back to 8-5, only for Part to reply in kind to move a leg away from the win.

Lloyd landed double ten in the next two legs to stay in the contest, with Part suffering double trouble as he approached the finishing line.

However, a double 18 finish sent the double World Champion into the last eight.

"I played very well overall I guess," said a satisfied Part. "I worked pretty hard and there was a lot of great stuff in the middle.

"I had to dig hard after going 2-0 down but getting the third leg was pretty important because if he'd got that it would have been difficult.

"If Colin gets a sniff he'll start taking out shots and punishing you and I missed some darts by a distance, but I came back well."

Match Stats

John Part	10-7	Colin Lloyd
21	100+	21
8	140+	14
5	180	2
32.06	Ave1	31.22
96.18	Ave3	93.67
118	High Finish	150

PHIL TAYLOR 10-4 GARY MAWSON

PHIL TAYLOR stepped up his challenge at the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts with a 10-4 defeat of Gary Mawson.

The 13-time World Champion ended American hopes with a thoroughly professional display, averaging 103.17 and landing five 180s.

Taylor never looked in trouble after taking an early 4-1 lead, with a 95 finish from Mawson as close as he could get following an early barrage from the darting legend.

Taylor also enjoyed six perfect darts in one leg with back-to-back maximums, although a nine-darter went begging.

Mawson won leg six on double 16, but Taylor took the next three to lead 7-2 before Mawson landed a fine 136 finish to cut the gap.

He also punished six missed doubles from Taylor in the next to reduce the arrears to three legs, only for legs of 12 and 13 darts to send Taylor 9-4 up.

Taylor's power scoring was too much in the next, as three ton-plus scores pushed him clear, and he even had the luxury of three missed darts at double eight before returning to wrap up the win.

Match Stats