World Grand Prix - Report Quarterfinals

MIGHTY MIKE EDGES PAST HAMILTON AS NEWTON, KING & HOME FAVOURITE DOLAN PROGRESS TO SEMI-FINALS
Michael van Gerwen edged out Andy Hamilton in a five-set thriller to reach the PartyPoker.com World Grand Prix semi-finals on Friday night, and is joined in the last four by Brendan Dolan, Wes Newton and Mervyn King at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin.

Dutch star van Gerwen reached his first televised PDC ranking semi-final with a nervy 3-2 win over Hamilton - having looked at one stage as if he had thrown away the win. Van Gerwen won two of the game's first three sets to lead 2-1 and moved to the brink of victory in set four, only to miss four match darts before Hamilton hit a stunning 160 checkout to take the set and stay alive. The 23-year-old then came from a leg down to lead 2-1 in the decider but missed four further match darts as Hamilton sent the contest into a final-leg shoot-out, but van Gerwen posted a 180 to pull away before finishing double two for a remarkable win.
Van Gerwen, who won the 2006 World Masters before joining the PDC circuit the following year, will now take on Wes Newton in Saturday's semi-finals as he bids to claim the 100,000 poundfirst prize on Sunday night.
"I nearly threw the game away but I'm so glad that I won," said van Gerwen. "Andy's a difficult player to play and we always have great matches - his 160 was brilliant after I had missed some match darts and it hurt. "But mentally I still believe in myself and the last set was great, I played very well. "It's one of the hardest games I've ever had and the best against Andy, and it's a special moment for me. "It feels great to be in the semi-finals and it gives me so much energy and confidence. It will be a cracking game against Wes and I'm very excited about it."

Hamilton's run to the quarter-finals means he has reached the last eight in the World Championship, World Matchplay and European Championship this year, but he was denied a second World Grand Prix semi-final with the defeat.
"After losing the first set against the throw I was always chasing the game, and I couldn't break Michael's throw enough," said Hamilton. "I struggled on my starting doubles and wasn't sure which one to go for, and it just didn't happen for me tonight. "I gave myself a chance with the 160 to force the deciding set but I didn't take it. Michael threw well tonight and the better man won. "I'm not disconsolate though because I've got to another major quarter-final and showed why I'm in the world's top eight. I'll move on from here now and I'm looking forward to the tournaments we've got coming up."

Newton also progressed to the last four in dramatic fashion, coming from two sets down to defeat Paul Nicholson 3-2 in their quarter-final. Nicholson came from 2-1 down in the first set to win five straight legs in taking command of the game. Newton, though, edged the third 3-2 and finished 113 to seal the fourth set before completing the fightback by winning the decider 3-1.
The Fleetwood ace, last month's European Championship runner-up, had also battled from behind in his first round win over Ronnie Baxter, and admitted: "I'm not making it easy for myself.
"Before the game I felt really good, but Paul took his chances and deserved a two-set lead. "Even at 2-0, I felt inside me that it was going to come good eventually and I just kept believing - and after the game against Ronnie it was in the back of my mind that I could come back, and I turned it around. "I got a bit of momentum towards the end of the game and got the win, so I'm happy. "I'm feeling good and I'm practising well, and I'll keep trying to improve in every game. I feel I can put a really good game together at the minute and hopefully it will click on Saturday."

The other semi-final will feature Mervyn King and Brendan Dolan, the Northern Irish favourite who is on course to reach the World Grand Prix final for a second successive year following his 3-1 defeat of Justin Pipe.
Dolan took out finishes of 107 and 101 as he won the game's opening set without reply, and although Pipe took the second to level - landing a 147 checkout in the process - the crowd favourite's fine finishing saw him win the next two sets to claim a semi-final spot.
"It's fantastic to be back in the semi-finals again," said Dolan. "Doing this shows that I'm not just a one-hit wonder after last year, but there's still work to be done. "All though the tournament, my finishing has been pretty excellent. It used to be the worst part of my game but at the moment it's the best - I feel there's a lot more in me, though, so I've got to get that right for the semi-finals. "To win the first set was great and really settled me down. It's a very hard tournament mentally because of the double start, but the crowds are pulling me through when it gets tough. "I've got so much support here and it's brilliant for me. They play a major part in my success here and it's such an adrenaline rush when I go up on stage."

King, meanwhile, needed only 31 minutes to defeat Robert Thornton in straight sets, dropping only four legs as the Scot failed to repeat the performance which had seen him defeat Phil Taylor on Wednesday. Thornton actually won the game's first two legs, but King hit back strongly to take the set 3-2 before winning the next two 3-1 as he reached his first major semi-final for over 18 months.
"I'm delighted to be in the semis now," said King. "Nobody had given me a chance of getting past Terry Jenkins in the first round, and to be honest I don't blame them because for the last two years I've not been close to my best. "In the last three or four months I've put a lot of hard work in and a lot of hours on the board and made a few changes in my darts, and it has made a big difference."
King admitted that he felt sympathy for Thornton, having also defeated Taylor previously only to falter in his next match in a major, at both the 2009 Premier League and 2011 Players Championship Finals. "It's a pressure you don't think you're carrying until you play, and then you feel it," said King. "You can feel every eye in the audience drilling into the back of your head waiting for you to produce what you did to take Phil Taylor out, and when you're not doing it, it gets worse and worse. "I can understand the pressure he was under, and to be honest I didn't think he was going to falter under it. "He doesn't succumb to pressure very often, but tonight he did and I'm grateful he did because otherwise he would have been a very hard nut to crack because I wasn't on top form there and I didn't play as well as I did in the first two games. "I wasn't at the races in the first couple of legs and Robert took full advantage, but I gave myself a chance in that first set and took it."





Pictures with courtesy of Lawrence Lustig, PDC.



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