Grand Slam of Darts 2020: Simon Whitlock thrashes Gary Anderson to book last-16 spot
Written by News on 18/11/2020
Simon Whitlock despatched Gary Anderson to qualify for the last 16 of the Grand Slam of Darts, as Dave Chisnall, James Wade and Dimitri Van den Bergh also secured their progress.
Whitlock made it two wins from two in Group B with a 5-1 thrashing of the two-time Grand Slam finalist, who looked out-of-sorts throughout as he continues to nurse a knee injury and failed to register a single maximum in the contest.
Anderson’s defeat means that the Flying Scotsman will need to beat Ryan Searle in their final group match to ensure he maintains his record of having never failed to reach the knockout stages in the tournament’s history.
Searle will head into that match off the back of knocking out Czech teenager Adam Gawlas in a final-leg thriller, where he survived a match dart and averaged just under 100 on his way to a 5-4 victory.
An entertaining afternoon session saw Chisnall, Wade and Van den Bergh all register their second wins in successive days and also qualify for the next round, while Premier League champion Glen Durrant became the first high-profile name to be eliminated.
Chisnall sees off Cross
Dave Chisnall booked his place in the last 16 by punishing missed doubles from former world champion Rob Cross to claim a 5-2 victory and move top of Group D.
Cross took out a 114 finish to go 2-0 up against the throw but lost the next five legs, squandering a number of opportunities to extend the contest, with Chisnall’s final match against Justin Pipe now a dead rubber.
Pipe was eliminated after missing a match dart on his way to a narrow 5-4 defeat against Luke Humphries, with the winner of Humphries’ final round-robin game against Cross set to decide the other qualifier in that group.
Durrant dumped out
Durrant – a semi-finalist in last year’s event – suffered a second defeat in as many days and looked below-par once again, with Damon Heta breezing past him 5-1 to register his first points of the tournament.
Defeat for “Duzza” ensured Wade’s qualification from Group F with a game to spare, with the two-time Grand Slam finalist coming through a tight contest against Jermaine Wattimena to see off the Dutchman 5-3.
Australian Heta will now go head to head with Wattimena in the final set of group fixtures to determine which of the Grand Slam debutants will qualify for the next round.
Van den Bergh cruises through
Van den Bergh followed up his record-breaking victory over Ricky Evans with another 5-1 win as he brushed aside Nathan Aspinall to qualify for the knockout stages with a game to spare.
Van den Bergh fired a tournament record 114.85 average in Monday’s success and average over 100 again on his way to a win by the same margin, with his superior leg advantage ensuring he will be through regardless of his result against already eliminated Wayne Warren.
Evans recovered from going 3-1 down to defeat Warren 5-3 in the opening game of the afternoon, setting up a winner-takes-all match with Aspinall to decide who else progresses from Group H.
Don’t miss a dart from the Grand Slam of Darts on Sky Sports as the action continues on Wednesday – join us from 3pm on Sky Sports Arena and follow us @SkySportsDarts for updates and clips throughout the tournament
(c) Sky Sports 2020: Grand Slam of Darts 2020: Simon Whitlock thrashes Gary Anderson to book last-16 spot
