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FIVE STARS PROGRESS AT SINGHA BEER GRAND SLAM OF DARTS

PHIL TAYLOR, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright, James Wade and Benito van de Pas all booked places in the knockout stages of the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts with victories in Sunday's second group games at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

Six-time Grand Slam winner Taylor followed up Saturday's big win over Darryl Fitton with a 5-1 romp against Stoke rival Ian White to ensure his progression from Group D. Taylor will now take on Webster in Monday's final group games, and is in confident mood as he begins his preparation for Wednesday's second round.

"I'm really pleased to be through," said Taylor. "The game with Ian was closer than the scoreline suggested, but you can't relax and you've got to keep going because everyone's nervous and we're all scrapping to get through. It's a longer format on Wednesday so I can look forward to that but I'll be giving it my best shot against Darren Webster too."

White now faces a winner-progresses shoot-out on Monday with Fitton, after the BDO World Trophy champion overcame Webster 5-4 to keep his hopes of securing a second round place alive.

PDC World Champion Anderson whitewashed Nathan Derry 5-0 as he secured qualification from Group E, following up his opening win over Glen Durrant with a ruthless display against the qualifier.

"It's nice to be through and I'm happy with the way things are going," said Anderson. "A few doubles were on the wire there and it's slowly coming for me with the glasses and the new darts, but I'm winning and that's a good thing." Durrant and Derry now meet in Monday's decider, after the BDO number one eliminated Alan Norris with a 5-1 triumph in their second group matches.

"I've never beaten Alan before so I'm absolutely delighted to win there," said Durrant. "He's one of the biggest scorers I've ever played but I had to stay with him, I knew if I could get my chance at a double that I could take them. There were a lot of positives to take from the game against Gary, but I still lost the game, and I knew that was tonight was even more difficult than playing Gary."

Number five seed Wright has also secured progression to the second round following his clinical 5-0 demolition of Simon Whitlock in their second Group C game, as the Scot averaged 107.36 in a fine display.

"Simon's been in really good form but he didn't turn up today and I did," said Wright. "I'm playing Ted Evetts next and he's a fantastic player on the floor and he's getting the experience on TV now. He's one of the players who's going to be there for the future. I'm progressing with these darts and I'm going to be better than anyone else with these darts - just you watch!"

Whitlock now faces a shoot-out with Canada's Jeff Smith, who bounced back from his opening-day loss to Wright with a 5-4 win over Ted Evetts, with the Lakeside Championship finalist edging a deciding leg.

"I was behind in every single leg but Ted played quite well, and when the opportunity presented itself at the end I was lucky enough to take it," said Smith. Yesterday I had lots of opportunities against Peter but I felt flat and the doubles deserted me, but I'm still alive now and I play Simon next and now it's do-or-die."

Former Grand Slam of Darts finalist Wade again followed a slow start with a strong fightback as he followed up Saturday's victory over Jamie Hughes with a 5-3 defeat of James Wilson. Wilson took an early 2-0 lead, but left-hander Wade hit back strongly to win five of the next six legs, including a brilliant 157 checkout to seal the win.

"It wasn't my best performance again but I'm through and I can build on this," said Wade. "In the last two games I've felt like I'm going to play well and when I'm missing it's all around the wires and it's not far off. In the last two games I haven't played remotely close to how I can play. I've put some good practice in but getting it on stage is a completely different thing."

That result, coupled with Hughes' outstanding 5-1 win over Dave Chisnall - where the Tipton ace averaged 106.32 - means that Wade has now qualified, with 2014 Wolverhampton finalist Chisnall eliminated. Hughes, meanwhile, now takes on Wilson in a winner-takes-all showdown on Tuesday to determine who qualifies alongside Wade from Group G.
"I expected a humdinger against Dave and I feel for him because he's a class player and he deserves more than he's got out of this tournament, but it happened for me today," said Hughes. "It's a very funny and frustrating game at times, but that's what makes it intriguing."

Benito van de Pas became the fifth player to secure his second round place when he claimed a 5-1 win over Scott Mitchell in Sunday's final game, to follow up his opening win over Chris Dobey.

"It feels very good to be through," said van de Pas. "I'm here to win games and when I was 4-1 up today I had the feeling like I have every week in the floor tournaments, and finally now I have that feeling on stage. I'm happy with that but there are still improvements I can make in my game."

Emerging star Dobey bounced back with a memorable 5-3 win over number three seed Adrian Lewis, who is now eliminated following back-to-back defeats.

"It's a massive win," said Dobey. "Adie's a great player. He wasn't at his best but I think I've given him a good game and it's put me in a position to qualify. I've beaten players like Adie before but to do it on the big stage is massive, I've got to play my own game against Scott, but I'm in it to win it."

Reigning Grand Slam of Darts champion Michael van Gerwen is almost certain of a second round place following his second successive win, with his 5-1 win over Brendan Dolan meaning that he needs to win just one leg agains Max Hopp on Monday to guarantee progression.

"This was better," said van Gerwen, who sealed victory with a 126 bull finish. "I think I did well and I'm glad I did well because now I'm nearly through to the next round and that's an amazing feeling."

Former World Youth Champion Hopp gave himself a chance of progressing with a 5-3 win over three-time Lakeside Champion Martin Adams as he responded well to his narrow loss to Dolan.
"I have a lot of respect for Martin and I know what he's achieved, and I'm glad I won that game," said Hopp. "Yesterday I missed two match darts but I knew I needed to win today."
Adams now takes on Dolan on Monday night in their final Group A game, where all four players still have a chance to progress - albeit a tall order for the 60-year-old BDO stalwart.

2012 Grand Slam champion Raymond van Barneveld claimed a second impressive win of Group F, following up his 110 average in Saturday's defeat of Nathan Aspinall with an average of nearly 105 as he overcame fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert 5-2.

"Danny played an awesome game against Mensur yesterday so I had to be focused and my finishing was great, and I'm happy with the win," said van Barneveld.

Aspinall still has an outside chance of qualifying on Tuesday against Noppert, despite his 5-3 loss to Mensur Suljovic as the Austrian came from 2-0 down - after the youngster took out 128 and 137 - to claim four straight legs as he picked up a first win.

"I'm very relieved that I won this match because it was very close," said Suljovic. "Nathan was playing superb darts, especially in the early stages of the match, but I found my rhythm and started to hit triples and doubles, so I'm very happy with the result."

Robert Thornton came from 3-0 down to claim his second win of Group B with a 5-4 triumph against young Belgian Dimitri Van den Bergh, who missed two match darts in the deciding leg of their contest.

"I started too slowly and I need to start quicker from now on," said Thornton. "It shows the temperament of a fighter who won't give up until that last dart goes in, and that's what I do. I've had a difficult last couple of years but everything's starting to come right now. I'm putting in a lot of hard graft."

Gerwyn Price boosted his chances of qualification with a 5-2 win over 2010 Grand Slam of Darts winner Scott Waites, with the reigning Lakeside Champion needing a big win in his third group game on Tuesday, against Van den Bergh, if he is to progress.
"I was under a bit of pressure to get a win and thankfully I came through," said Price. "I had to dig myself out of this situation; I'm practising well and it's not happening at the moment on stage, but some time it's going to click and I'll have a good run."

Van Gerwen remains the odds-on 8/11 favourite with Sun Bets, the official betting partner of the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts, following his opening match, with Anderson the 5/1 second favourite, Taylor the 11/2 third favourite, Wright rated 14/1 to claim his first televised win and Wade a 16/1 chance.

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