Gerwyn Price (Picture: Taylor Lanning/PDC)

Darts results: Gerwyn Price comeback sets up quarter-final clash with Raymond van Barneveld at Grand Slam of Darts

By Sporting Life

Darts

Thu November 17, 2022 · 2y ago

Gerwyn Price produced a stunning comeback to defeat Danny Noppert and set up a quarter-final with Raymond van Barneveld at the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts.

The defending champion has won this event every time it's been staged at the Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton (2018, 2019, 2021) and has now won 22 of his 25 matches on this stage, with his only defeats coming in the group stages.

Price kicked off the game in style with a blockbuster 150 checkout but an unfazed Noppert bounced back to open up leads of 3-1 and 7-4 to leave in big trouble.

But the Iceman once again used his incredible mental strength to dig deep like a true champion, winning three of the next four legs before unleashing a stunning 164 checkout on the bullseye to level up at 8-8.

That knocked the stuffing out of the UK Open champion and didn't see another dart at a double as Price roared into the quarter-finals with a fourth successive 100+ average of the tournament (100.1).

Price, who hit 10 of his 13 attempts at doubles, said: "Danny was the better player earlier on. I was fortunate to get through that game, but the 164 was massive.

“Raymond has been playing at the top level for the last 30 years, he knows how to win, so I need to improve on Friday night or Raymond is going to give me another lesson."

Click here for Gerwyn Price's thoughts on the 'hate' towards Fallon Sherrock

Earlier, van Barneveld rolled back the years to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2016.

The 55-year-old, who defeated Michael van Gerwen to win this trophy 10 years ago, upset the odds to top a group with Gerwyn Price, Dave Chisnall and Ted Evetts but questions marks were raised by Michael van Gerwen about his chances of coping with the longer best-of-19 legs format.

However, in a thrilling game against another veteran in 53-year-old Simon Whitlock, he averaged 94 and threw six 180s during a 10-8 victory that brought the Barney Army to their feet.

The Wizard, who won the World Cup for Australia earlier this season, averaged just over 101, threw four maximums and a pair of 100+ checkouts to push the crowd favourite hard but ultimately came up short.

The five-time World Champion said: “How good was Simon tonight? All credit to him, he was fantastic, but I’m so happy with this win. I played really well. I am sure everyone watching at home would have loved it to go to a last leg, but fortunately for me that bullseye went in at the end.”

Michael Smith booked his place in the quarter-finals for the fourth year in succession with a hard-fought 10-8 victory over Rob Cross.

Bully Boy, who is still searching for his first major title, has yet to fire on all cylinders in Wolverhampton this week despite being one of the tournament favourites and found it a struggle to defuse Voltage.

Smith averaged 96 compared to his opponent's 97 and threw three fewer 180s with five but after Cross fought back from 8-5 down to level up at 8-8, the St Helens ace regained his composure to take the next two legs.

“Rob is a World Champion for a reason so I knew it was going to be tough, and I couldn’t put him away,” conceded Smith, a two-time semi-finalist in Wolverhampton.

“I’ve made the quarter-finals or better in the last four years, and that gave me belief. I’m competing against the best players in the world, so it should be fun!”

Smith will next face Joe Cullen, who celebrated his wedding anniversary in style by thrashing an out-of-sorts Dirk van Duijvenbode 10-4.

“I felt like I needed to keep playing well because I felt like Dirk was going to kick into gear at some stage,” reflected Cullen, who averaged 95 and converted two ton-plus checkouts to advance.

“I’m looking forward to playing Michael again on Friday. It’s almost a new tournament now, and I think I’ve got as good a chance as anyone. I’m here to win.”

Grand Slam of Darts: Results

Group Stage

Scoring System: Each competitor plays each other once in a best-of-nine legs match, with two points going to the winner. The top two from each group will then progress to the knockout stages.

Group A

Dave Chisnall 3-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price 5-1 Ted Evetts
Dave Chisnall 5-2 Ted Evetts
Gerwyn Price 4-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld 5-0 Ted Evetts
Gerwyn Price 5-4 Dave Chisnall

Group B

Simon Whitlock 5-2 Mensur Suljovic
Danny Noppert 5-4 Christian Perez
Mensur Suljovic 5-2 Christian Perez
Danny Noppert 5-2 Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock 5-3 Christian Perez
Danny Noppert 5-4 Mensur Suljovic

Group C

Joe Cullen 5-1 Ritchie Edhouse
Michael Smith 5-3 Lisa Ashton
Ritchie Edhouse 5-2 Lisa Ashton
Michael Smith 5-1 Joe Cullen
Joe Cullen 5-3 Lisa Ashton
Michael Smith 5-1 Ritchie Edhouse

Group D

Dirk van Duijvenbode 5-4 Martin Schindler
Rob Cross 5-2 Adam Gawlas
Martin Schindler 5-3 Adam Gawlas
Rob Cross 3-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dirk van Duijvenbode 5-3 Adam Gawlas
Rob Cross 5-4 Martin Schindler

Group E

Nathan Aspinall 4-5 Alan Soutar
Peter Wright 5-1 Fallon Sherrock
Nathan Aspinall 5-1 Fallon Sherrock
Peter Wright 5-4 Alan Soutar
Alan Soutar 5-2 Fallon Sherrock
Peter Wright 2-5 Nathan Aspinall

Group F

Damon Heta 2-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Jonny Clayton 5-0 Leonard Gates
Damon Heta 5-4 Leonard Gates
Jonny Clayton 5-0 Jermaine Wattimena
Jermaine Wattimena 5-1 Leonard Gates
Jonny Clayton 2-5 Damon Heta

Group G

Ross Smith 4-5 Luke Woodhouse
Michael van Gerwen 5-2 Nathan Rafferty
Ross Smith 5-2 Nathan Rafferty
Michael van Gerwen 5-1 Luke Woodhouse
Luke Woodhouse 4-5 Nathan Rafferty
Michael van Gerwen 4-5 Ross Smith

Group H

Ryan Searle 5-4 Josh Rock
Luke Humphries 5-2 Scott Williams
Josh Rock 5-4 Scott Williams
Luke Humphries 5-1 Ryan Searle
Ryan Searle 3-5 Scott Williams
Luke Humphries 3-5 Josh Rock

Grand Slam of Darts: Knockout stages

Wednesday November 16 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)

Raymond van Barneveld 10-8 Simon Whitlock
Michael Smith 10-8 Rob Cross
Danny Noppert 8-10 Gerwyn Price
Dirk van Duijvenbode 4-10 Joe Cullen

Thursday November 17 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)

Nathan Aspinall v Jermaine Wattimena
Alan Soutar v Jonny Clayton
Michael van Gerwen v Josh Rock
Ross Smith v Luke Humphries

Friday November 18
Evening Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)

Two matches

Saturday November 19
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)

Two matches

Sunday November 20
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Semi-finals (Best of 31 legs)

Two matches

Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Final (Best of 31 legs)

Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2