Grand Slam of Darts 2015: Friday Scores, Results and Latest Schedule
Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld set up a mouth-watering semi-final showdown at the Grand Slam of Darts, as they each came through their respective matches on Friday evening.
The Wolverhampton Civic Hall was treated to a pair of wonderful showings from these icons of the game. Van Barneveld started the night with a swagger, coasting past Mark Webster in his quarter-final clash. Taylor was too good for Robert Thornton in his match and looks in fine shape ahead of the semi-final tie with his longstanding rival.
Here’s a recap of the results from Friday’s gripping session, the matches to come over the weekend and a look back at the best of the action from the first two quarter-final contests:
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| Raymond van Barneveld | 16-12 | Mark Webster |
| Phil Taylor (3) | 16-7 | Robert Thornton (6) |
| Michael van Gerwen (1) | vs. | Kim Huybrechts |
| Adrian Lewis (5) | vs. | Michael Smith |
| Phil Taylor (3) | vs. | Raymond van Barneveld |
Taylor, Van Barneveld Set for Titanic Semi-Final Tussle
Taylor showed he's a player who's ready to win this title for the seventh time on Friday, wrapping up an easy 16-7 win over Thornton.
The Scot has played well throughout this tournament to this point and would have fancied his chances against Taylor, who has been a little streaky in recent matches. However, the 16-time world champion has always had a penchant for stepping up in the big contests and showcased some of his very best form during this encounter.
After what was initially an even start, The Power turned on the style, including checkouts of 167, 120 and a 10-dart leg. Actor Andrew Whyment paid tribute to the standards the man from Stoke-on-Trent set:
Van Barneveld is the man who’ll face him in the last four, as he put Webster to the sword with a splendid exhibition of darts.
The Welshman was ruthless in his play in his last playoff match, hitting doubles regularly to pinch precariously poised legs. However, Barney showed he can be a dead-eye on the finishes too, as he took an early hold in this contest. At 6-2, the PDC Twitter feed commented on how polished the Dutchman’s finishing had been:
There were some flickers of real quality from Webster despite stumbling out of the blocks. A 110 after the third interval helped spark a mini revival, and even when the Welshman was 13-9 down, he didn’t relinquish, eventually cutting the gap back to one.
However, Van Barneveld remained composed, upping the ante again with a 124 finish in the penultimate leg and eventually winning 16-12. Afterward, he revealed he's confident of potentially going all the way in this competition:
Saturday’s quarter-final matches should be equally as exciting as the pair played out on Friday. Michael van Gerwen was magnificent in his playoff win on Thursday and will be keen to continue his immaculate form when taking on the dangerous Belgian Kim Huybrechts. Adrian Lewis faces Michael Smith in the other tie.
The match fans will be looking forward to the most in the semi-finals, regardless of Saturday’s results, will be between Taylor and Van Barneveld. These two played out arguably the finest darts match of all time in the 2007 world championship final, and ever since, there’s always an extra sense of anticipation when they take to the oche.
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