World Grand Prix of Darts 2015: Scores, Results, Updated Schedule After Friday
Robert Thornton and defending champion Michael van Gerwen will meet in the final of the World Grand Prix of Darts 2015 after both cruised through their respective semi-finals on Friday. Van Gerwen easily beat Mark Webster 4-1, while Thornton took a little more time getting past Mensur Suljovic, winning 4-2.
The PDC's official Twitter account shared the full bracket of the tournament, with the final set to take place on Saturday. Thornton and Van Gerwen will start their match at 8:30 p.m. BST:
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Recap
Mighty Mike was the favourite to repeat as Grand Prix champion entering the tournament and continued his fine form on Friday, easily handling Webster in five sets. The Dutchman averaged more than 10 points higher than his opponent and was excellent in the checkout department, making 56 percent of his doubles.
Webster spent most of the night chasing Van Gerwen, who once again showed off his explosive scoring. As bet365 shared, he's been the dominant force in darts throughout the year:
Webster broke throw in the first leg and forced a decider in the first set, but Van Gerwen kept his composure to finish double 16 and take a 1-0 lead. He took the momentum from the decider to win the following two legs but struggled with his opening doubles, allowing Webster to claw his way back and force another decider, grabbing the set by taking out 103 in superb fashion.
That was the sign for Van Gerwen to step things up a notch, and he'd lose just two more legs the rest of the way. Mighty Mike swept the third set, easily took the fourth despite missing several opening doubles and finished things off in spectacular fashion, taking out 74 to book his spot in the final.
ByTheMin Darts was in awe of his performance:
As shared by the PDC's official Twitter account, Van Gerwen was more than satisfied with his performance, although he wants to do better with his starting doubles:
Earlier in the day, Thornton finally ended Suljovic's strong run, winning 4-2 to become the first player to qualify for the final.
The Austrian looked great during the first few sets but crumbled under the pressure, allowing the Thorn to complete the comeback. Thornton held the advantage in scoring, finishing just over 90, while Suljovic did better on his doubles but couldn't keep up during the legs.
Suljovic came close to playing in his first major televised final, and the PDC rightly congratulated him on a fantastic run:
He opened the match with a quick 3-1 win in the first set and repeated the feat in the third, having lost the second to the Thorn in a decider. While the Scotsman struggled on the doubles, an area Suljovic has excelled in all week, his scoring kept him in the match. Through the first two sets, he managed an incredible seven 180s.
The turning point came in the final leg of the fourth set, when Thornton left 56 on the board and opened the door for his opponent to steal the leg. Suljovic missed on the doubles, however, handing Thornton the set and all of the momentum, and the Austrian never recovered.
While he managed to hang around in the final set and force a decider, Thornton's 11th 180 proved to be too much, and the Scot finished things off by taking out 14 tops.
Sky Sports' Laure James is already looking forward to the final:
Thornton hasn't won a major tournament since the 2012 UK Open, although he did win the European Darts Open earlier this year, beating Kim Huybrechts in the final. He gave Van Gerwen a strong challenge during this year's World Championship, coming back from 3-0 down and eventually losing 5-3.
Mighty Mike has already won the UK Open, World Matchplay and Masters in 2015 and seems to be at the top of his game at the age of 26. He's never lost a World Grand Prix final and should be considered the strong favourite on Saturday.
All statistics are courtesy of the PDC's official website.
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