Gary Anderson (Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

Grand Slam of Darts results: Gary Anderson to face Michael van Gerwen in semi-finals

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Sun November 18, 2018 · 6y ago

Michael van Gerwen overcame a real battle with Jonny Clayton to set up a Grand Slam of Darts semi-final with Gary Anderson in Wolverhampton.

Few gave the Ferret a realistic chance of repeating last Sunday's heroics, when he defied MVG's average of 108 to win a best-of-nine leg group match 5-4, but again he pushed the world number one hard in a 16-12 defeat.

Clayton showed no sign of intimidation and made his intentions clear as early as the sixth leg when two maximums and an 84 finish on the bullseye completed a 12-darter to level the scores at 3-3.

The Welshman followed that up with a stunning 142 checkout to move ahead and it wasn't until the 11th leg when he fell behind.

Even at 8-5 down his head never went down as he clawed it back to 9-9 due to averaging around the 100 mark and the three-time defending champion's wasteful finishing.

The next four legs were shared, effectively making it into another best-of-nine affair but this time van Gerwen rattled off back-to-back 11 darters to create some daylight before punishing a lapse in Clayton's play in the next two legs to move 15-11 ahead.

The Dutchman, who missed three match darts against Clayton in the group stages, then bizarrely spurned eight for a semi-final spot in the 27th leg, with the Ferret just about taking advantage on double one.

MVG finally got over the line with attempt nine in the next leg to seal his semi-final spot - but only after Clayton missed five of his own to extend the match.

The Dutchman, who is aiming for a fourth successive Grand Slam of Darts title, averaged 102, hit seven 180s and fired a high finish of 124 although he'll need to brush up on his doubles against Anderson, missing 30 of them in total.

It should be some showdown. Although MVG has won 18 singles titles this year, including the Masters, Premier League and last month's World Grand Prix, he's missed out on five of the other big majors in 2018, three of which won by the Flying Scotsman at the UK Open, World Matchplay and Champions League of Darts - where the pair met in the group stages.

Earlier on Saturday night, Anderson produced yet another ruthless performance as he thrashed Michael Unterbuchner 16-6 to reach the last four at the Aldersley Leisure Village.

The Flying Scotsman lived up to his billing as hot favourite by brushing aside the sole surviving BDO player left in the tournament, despite dropping the opening two legs of the match.

Anderson, who made the headlines over 'fart-gate' following his second-round victory over Wesley Harms on Thursday night, is into his sixth Grand Slam semi-final although it's one of the few majors he's yet to add to his glittering CV.

The 47-year-old couldn't be in much better form to end that drought, however, having dropped just 12 legs in his five matches so far, which included a 5-2 group stage victory over Unterbuchner, and averaging over three figures for the tournament.

Anderson posted an averaged of 101 in his quarter-final and although he only managed three 180s (which was good news for followers of Chris Hammer's betting tips), he weighed in with three 100+ checkouts, including a best of 152.

However, his German opponent did at least manage to beat that with a stunning - albeit consolation - 160 which saw him cut Anderson's lead to 12-5.

The 47-year-old is also chasing his fifth televised title of the season and fourth major having also lifted the UK Open, World Matchplay, and Champions League trophies for the first time in his career.

He will play van Gerwen in Sunday afternoon's semi-finals, which will also feature Mensur Suljovic v Gerwyn Price. The final will be played in the evening.