PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts - Day Three Reports

REPORTS from Monday's eight matches at the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts, as Groups A-D complete the first round.

The four groups will play their third and final round robin games.

The action is LIVE on ITV4, with a highlights programme on ITV1 at 11.05pm

PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts
Monday 19 November
James Wade 5-1 Niels de Ruiter
Jelle Klaasen 4-5 Peter Manley
Andy Hamilton 5-3 Charles Losper
Chris Mason 0-5 Adrian Lewis
Raymond van Barneveld 5-2 Dennis Priestley
Kevin McDine 5-1 Shaun Greatbatch
Phill Nixon 4-5 Pat Orreal
Vincent van der Voort 2-5 Terry Jenkins

JAMES WADE 5-1 NIELS DE RUITER

JAMES WADE finished the group stage of the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts unbeaten following a 5-1 win over Niels de Ruiter.

The PDC world number three hit top gear on Sunday with a 102 average against Pat Orreal, and ensured a clean sweep of Group C by defeating de Ruiter.

The young Dutchman had only pride to play for after losing his opening two matches, and began well against Wade.

He took the opening leg on double top, and kicked off leg two with a 180 before Wade came back to level.

A two-dart 64 finish edged Wade in front, and a 180 in the next leg proved a hammer blow as he moved into the break 3-1 ahead.

Any hopes de Ruiter had of a comeback were further dashed in leg five, with Wade producing a stunning 158 finish of two treble 18s and the bullseye.

De Ruiter missed doubles in the next, allowing Wade to complete the win on double ten.

"You want to make an impression in every game you play, even though it wasn't essential that I won," admitted Wade.

"You want to play well and I did that, so I'm over the moon that I won."

Match Stats

James Wade	5-1	Niels de Ruiter
10	100+	9
5	140+	2
1	180	1
32.47	Ave1	28.38
97.42	Ave3	85.15
158	High Finish	40

PETER MANLEY 5-4 JELLE KLAASEN

PETER MANLEY edged out Jelle Klaasen 5-4 to gain a consolation victory at the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts.

Defeats to Kevin McDine and Shaun Greatbatch meant that Manley could not qualify for the last 16, no matter what the result of his clash with the former World Champion.

Klaasen had already ensured his place in the second round going into the game, and gave himself two chances to win the match before Manley prevailed in the deciding leg of an entertaining game.

Klaasen took the game's opening leg on double ten before the duo traded 180s in the second as Manley levelled, and then went in front on his favoured double top.

Klaasen landed 180s in the next two legs as he moved 3-2 up, only for Manley to again level.

The Dutchman took the seventh leg on double 16 to close in on a third successive group win, only to miss three darts for victory in the next leg as Manley forced a decider.

He was also first to the double in the ninth leg, only to be off-target with two more darts at double top, allowing Manley in to snatch the win on double 19.

"It's not been the real me this week but I'm pleased to finish with a win," said Manley.

"It was an incentive playing a World Champion like Jelle and I relaxed - I had nothing to play for and maybe I wish I'd had that attitude throughout.

"It's been disappointing but maybe I need to concentrate more on practice and knuckle down because I've let myself down.

"I came into the tournament a little bit tired and I've been very busy. Maybe I need to knock a few other things on the head that I do throughout the year and concentrate on myself a bit more."

Klaasen admitted: "I had my chances in this game but I'm through and that is the most important thing."

Match Stats

Jelle Klaasen	4-5	Peter Manley
15	100+	10
4	140+	9
3	180	2
31.19	Ave1	30.90
93.56	Ave3	92.71
94	High Finish	50

ANDY HAMILTON 5-3 CHARLES LOSPER

ANDY HAMILTON completed the group phase of the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts with a third successive win to top Group B following a 5-3 defeat of Charles Losper.

Hamilton will face the runner-up in Group A in the last 16 of the tournament on Wednesday after seeing off the challenge of the South African.

Defeats in his first two games left Losper unable to qualify for round two, but he produced his best display of the event to progress to next month's PDC World Championship with confidence.

Losper missed three darts to take a scrappy first leg before Hamilton took out double two, but the South African won the next two to lead 2-1 against the PDC world number six.

A 145 finish on double top seemed to wake Hamilton, who three successive legs, including a 90 finish on the bullseye, to lead 4-2.

Losper defied a 180 from the Englishman to take out double 16 and win leg seven, but Hamilton secured the win on double top.

Match Stats

Andy Hamilton	5-3	Charles Losper
10	100+	7
6	140+	5
1	180	0
28.59	Ave1	27.52
85.78	Ave3	82.56
145	High Finish	52

ADRIAN LEWIS 5-0 CHRIS MASON

ADRIAN LEWIS powered into the last 16 of the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts with a superb 5-0 whitewash of Chris Mason.

Both players went into their final round robin clash able to qualify for the second stage, but Lewis left Mason with few chances in a fine performance, averaging 101.55 and checking out 63% of his doubles.

Lewis punished a slow start from Mason to take the first leg on double top, and hit the same bed in the second after Mason missed double ten for a 137 finish.

A 78 finish on double 12 gave Lewis the third leg, and another double top finish saw him move a leg away from the win and a place in the last 16.

Lewis stormed clear in the next, missing the bullseye for a show-stopping 170 finish before completing the leg in 14 darts for the win.

"I'm quite shocked because I've never beaten Chris before and he has been playing really well," said Lewis. "I had a 102 average, won 5-0 and am through now so I can't complain!"

Match Stats

Chris Mason	0-5	Adrian Lewis
11	100+	9
0	140+	2
0	180	1
27.49	Ave1	33.85
82.48	Ave3	101.55
-	High Finish	78

RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD 5-2 DENNIS PRIESTLEY

RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD showed his champion class to end Dennis Priestley's hopes at the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts with a 5-2 win.

The final round robin game of Group A at the tournament saw Priestley needing a 5-3 win or better to either force a play-off or put himself automatically into the last 16.

He led 2-1 early on and produced some superb darts, only for van Barneveld to reel off four successive legs and seal top spot in the group.

Priestley made a brilliant start with an 11-darter in the opening leg, only for van Barneveld to hit back with a 120 Shanghai finish in the second.

The Dutchman also landed a 180 in leg three, but Priestley took out double top to move 2-1 up.

A brilliant 116 checkout saw van Barneveld enter the break level, with both players having 100 percent checkout stats and 105-plus averages.

The heavy scoring continued in leg five, with van Barneveld taking out double nine with his third dart as Priestley waited on a finish.

Priestley kicked off the sixth leg with back-to-back 180s, but the potential nine-darter went begging and he missed double top for a 94 finish as van Barneveld capitalised to land double 16.

It was a telling blow, with three more misses at double top in the next spelling the end of Priestley's challenge as van Barneveld wrapped up the win.

"I hate it when you're having to count how many legs you have to get to win, but I had to focus on winning the game," said the Dutchman.

"Dennis is a fantastic player and he had a 102 average and only won two legs. He put me under extreme pressure.

"I'm glad to finish such a tough group with three wins and I can look forward to the second round now."

Priestley admitted: "With Chris losing 5-0 it left me with a mountain to climb and to be honest it was never going to be on.

"If I'd hit the doubles as cleanly as Raymond I'd have been okay, but I didn't take them and that's why he's a World Champion.

"Overall on the three games, it is the three darts I missed against Adrian (who won 5-4) which decided it."

Priestley recently revealed that he is suffering from prostate cancer, and is now expected to book himself in for surgery after being eliminated from this event, leaving himself a month to recover before the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.

"Now I've lost I'll speak to the hospital in the morning and probably go in on Wednesday for the operation," added Priestley.

Match Stats

Raymond van Barneveld	5-2	Dennis Priestley
11	100+	13
4	140+	4
2	180	3
34.69	Ave1	34.51
104.08	Ave3	103.53
120,116	High Finish	81

KEVIN McDINE 5-1 SHAUN GREATBATCH

KEVIN McDINE stormed into the second round of the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts with a 5-1 win over Shaun Greatbatch.

The youngster won a place in the £300,000 event through the ITV Wildcard Qualifiers six weeks ago, and has now come through Group D to seal a place in the last 16.

Greatbatch's best moment came in winning leg two to level at one-all, but he faced an uphill battle after a two-leg blitz from the youngster put him 3-1 up at the break.

Three missed doubles from Greatbatch saw him waste a chance to pull back the fifth leg, with McDine landing double four to move 4-1 up.

He then sealed the win with a superb 102 checkout on double 16 to set up a second round meeting with PDC number three James Wade.

"It's nerve-wracking up on stage," admitted McDine, who only turned professional in April.

"It's still new to me and the fans were chanting my name, which is amazing and I enjoyed that.

"I've played James three times and lost them all, so it won't be easy! I'll need to average over 100 when I play him."

Match Stats

Kevin McDine	5-1	Shaun Greatbatch
12	100+	10
3	140+	5
2	180	1
32.49	Ave1	30.29
97.47	Ave3	90.87
102	High Finish	40

PAT ORREAL 5-4 PHILL NIXON

AUSTRALIA'S Pat Orreal made a miraculous fightback to edge out Phill Nixon and win a place in the second round of the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts.

Orreal was a late replacement in the tournament after Australian Open winner Glenn Power was forced to pull out following visa problems.

The Queenslander has taken his chance with both hands, defeating Niels de Ruiter on Saturday and coming from 4-0 down to defeat Nixon in the winner-takes-all clash.

Nixon seemed set to romp to an easy win when he punished slack finishing from Orreal to move ahead.

He took out 64 for the first two legs and then won the next two on double nine and tops to move to just one leg away from the win.

Orreal landed a maximum in leg five to kick-start his challenge, taking out double eight to get off the mark.

Nixon then missed double 16 to take the match in the next, with Orreal staying alive on double two.

Further misses in the next allowed Orreal to cut the gap to 4-3, and amazingly the Australian hit double top in the next to send the game into a decider.

He crucially hit a second 180 to leave a finish in the next, missing double 11 for a 142 checkout before returning to nail double seven for an incredible win.

"All credit to Phill, I was gone and I had to slow down because I was rushing," said Orreal, who meets Jelle Klaasen in round two.

"It's tremendous, a dream come true for me."

Nixon admitted: "The winning double just wouldn't go for me. I missed too many doubles and I couldn't get my game back at the end."

Match Stats

Phill Nixon	4-5	Pat Orreal
12	100+	9
4	140+	4
1	180	2
25.54	Ave1	27.30
76.61	Ave3	81.89
64x2	High Finish	60

TERRY JENKINS 5-2 VINCENT VAN DER VOORT

TERRY JENKINS reeled off four successive legs to progress to round two of the PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts.

The Group B seed saw his hopes of reaching the last 16 of the tournament hanging by a thread in his decisive match with the Dutchman, who led 2-1 early in the contest.

But a superb recovery from Jenkins saw him set up a round two date with PDC World Champion Raymond van Barneveld.

The crucial moment in the match came in the fifth leg when, with the scores tied at 2-2 when Jenkins secured the first break of throw.

A 177 score saw him first to a checkout, and he landed double top for a 3-2 lead that he would never relinquish.

A stunning 140 checkout saw him move 4-2 up, and van der Voort was punished for three missed doubles in the next to allow Jenkins to land double top for victory.

"I knew I had to dig in today and I was focused," said Jenkins. I was really determined to beat Vincent and he let me in a couple of times.

"The turning point was breaking him in the fifth leg and I didn't really make any mistakes today, which is pleasing."

Match Stats