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

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

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE DAILY SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

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