Raymond van Barneveld will face Gerwyn Price

Raymond van Barneveld stunned Gerwyn Price

Darts results: Raymond van Barneveld stuns Gerwyn Price again to reach the Grand Slam of Darts semi-finals

By Sporting Life

Darts

Fri November 18, 2022 · 2y ago

Raymond van Barneveld continued his incredible fairytale run at the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts by coming from 8-3 down to stun Gerwyn Price 16-13 in an unforgettable quarter-final.

Barney had to come through a last-gasp qualifying event just to book his place in Wolverhampton last week following a tough season on tour before defying the odds to top his group with maximum points.

He branded his 5-4 victory over Price in the group stage as one of the "best wins of my career" but with so little recent experience of long format darts in majors, few expected the 55-year-old's revival to last too much longer.

After averaging almost a ton in a thrilling 10-8 triumph over Simon Whitlock in the previous round, he was a huge underdog ahead of his eagerly-anticipated rematch with the defending champion, who had lifted the trophy in each of the three years it's been staged at the Aldersley Leisure Village (2018, 2019, 2021) and won 22 of his 25 matches here.

Anyone letting their heart rule their head were feeling naive when Price stormed into an 8-3 lead with an average well in excess of 100 but the Iceman was then punished for a host of missed doubles and six legs later it was incredibly 9-8 in van Barneveld's favour before the five-time world champion, who came out of retirement in February 2021, raised the roof with a stunning 157 checkout.

From there he took control and showed no sign of buckling towards the finishing line as he ran out a 16-13 victory that few saw coming.

“I was struggling for many years, but I’m so happy right now. What a feeling,” said Van Barneveld.

“I’m probably in the top five players of all-time along with Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Eric Bristow and John Lowe, and everyone knows I can do this. It is all about belief. I love to play darts, I love to play in front of this amazing crowd, and I believe I can win this.”

The 2013 champion, who has now risen to 32 on the Order of Merit and will now be seeded for the World Championship, averaged 99.64 compared to Price's 101.78, hit six of the 17 180s in the match and pinned 45.7% of his doubling in a vintage all-round display.

Barney last reached a semi-final of a ranking major back at the 2017 World Championship - two years before he decided to retire due to a long spell in the doldrums.

Ahead of his tie with Price, van Barneveld told Sporting Life: "Sometimes, angels appear in the sky and help you - like they did at 8-8 against Simon and many times in the past - so I hope they can keep on coming down!"

They sure did.

In Sunday afternoon's semi-finals he will now meet Michael Smith, who kept alive his hopes of a maiden major title by defeating Joe Cullen 16-15 in another classic.

Bully Boy, who has lost three major finals this calendar year including the World Championship back in January to take his tally of runners-up trophies to eight, looked well on course for a place in the last four when opening up an 8-5 lead over his good friend.

The Rockstar, who had previously raised the roof with a 170 checkout to level matters at 4-4, bounced back and defied a barrage of 180s from his opponent to go 13-10 up and although Smith clawed a couple of legs back in succession, he was soon one away from victory at 15-13.

Cullen left himself eight in the next leg but never got the chance to seal victory as Smith took out 70 with his last dart in hand at double 20 before forcing a decider with a stunning 11-darter.

The St Helens ace pulled away with four 100+ visits to leave 76, only for Cullen to throw a timely maximum to bring his score down to 64 and pile on the pressure.

Smith held his nerve to pin tops with his last dart in hand to seal a spot in the Grand Slam semi-finals for the second year in a row.

“When I was 15-13 down it was now or never,” admitted Smith, who averaged 100 and landed 14 maximums to prevail in a Wolverhampton classic.

“I feel sorry for Joe because I love him like a brother, but someone had to lose, and I’m so glad I was able to get over the line.”

The quarter-final line-up will be completed on Saturday night, as three-time champion Michael van Gerwen takes on Luke Humphries, while World Grand Prix runner-up Nathan Aspinall faces debutant Alan Soutar.

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 10-6 Jermaine Wattimena
Jonny Clayton 8-10 Alan Soutar
Michael van Gerwen 10-8 Josh Rock
Luke Humphries 10-8 Ross Smith

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

Michael Smith 16-15 Joe Cullen
Raymond van Barneveld 16-13 Gerwyn Price

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