World Grand Prix
Quarter Finals
beat Dave - but I can do it and I’ll be confident.”
Michael van Gerwen’s title defence ended abruptly at the quarter
final stage as Dave Chisnall produced arguably his best ever televised
performance to secure a 3-2 victory.
Phil Taylor put the trials and tribulations of his second round match
with Paul Nicholson behind him as he took the opening set of his quarter
final with Gary Anderson 3-0 in 12, 13 and 13 darts.
Chisnall, who hit no less than ten 180s on his way to the win, found
himself 2-0 up after a dazzling early display, but van Gerwen hit back
to level the match at two sets all.
The sixteen time World Champion also took the second set comfortably,
and despite a revival from Anderson, who took the third set, the match
was soon over with Taylor securing a 3-1 win to move into the semifinals.
At this point it would have been sensible to assume that the man with
the momentum would go and finish off his comeback, but Chisnall
evidently had other plans. The St Helen’s ace secured the opening two
legs of the deciding set in 13 and 15 darts and despite van Gerwen
closing the gap to 2-1 it was Chisnall who ultimately took the set 3-1
to seal an incredible victory.
“I wanted to lay down a marker and it was important to win that first
set and put him under pressure, which I did,” said Taylor. “It was a
tough match but Gary missed a few crucial doubles and let me off.”
“Gary’s a great player, world class, and I want to shake him sometimes!
He could be better than me, he’s a better 180 scorer and when he
hits his doubles then you might as well go home, but I took advantage
tonight.”
“I’m over the moon, I can’t believe it,” said Chisnall. “This is my best
win because I knew that if I produced what I can do then I’d have a
chance, and I played well.”
Justin Pipe took the opening two sets of his match with Andy Hamilton,
but will have been nervous of the battling Hamilton after the Stoke
ace closed the gap in the third set. In the end it was Pipe who closed
the match out 3-1, booking a semi-final spot for only the second time
in a PDC major.
Pipe would move on to face Chisnall, with the winner not only
looking to move into a PDC major final for the first time but also
to guarantee themselves a spot in the Grand Slam of Darts in
November.
“It’s a massive win for me,” said Pipe. “We’re both grinders
and I’ve learned a lot from Andy, and I’m so happy to beat him
and reach the semi-finals.”
“I think it’s the biggest win of my career. Last night was massive
to beat Adrian, and this is huge - it means a huge amount to me
to be in the semi-finals. It shows how far I’ve come in the game
in the last three years.”
“I’ve got a big task in the semi-finals and it’s going to be hard to
Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig
“It’s a massive win
for me”
Justin Pipe
Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig
“I’ve beaten Phil Taylor in the World Championship before and now I’ve
beaten Michael here, so I’ve shown that I can beat the two best players
in the world.”
Phil Taylor
The last semi-final spot was secured by James Wade who overcame
Simon Whitlock in a tense match that saw Wade first complaining to
the referee about Whitlock’s supposed slow play, before ending up
with a fine himself for stepping into the exclusion zone when Whitlock
was throwing.
“Michael didn’t play his best darts and even when he came back I felt
I was scoring better than him. I’m really happy to be through and I’ve
not shown my best yet - but that was close to it.”
“You have to have a good start against Michael because if you don’t,
he’ll get confidence from you not hitting your doubles, but I was
building confidence from him not hitting his doubles.”
“I wanted to lay
down a marker
and it was
important to win
that first set and
put him under
pressure, which I
did”
The darts themselves were as good as you would expect from such an
experienced and talented duo, with Whitlock moving into a the lead
at 1-0 and again at 2-1. The Australian then missed a dart at the bull
to win the match, before Wade took the fourth set to level things up
at 2-2.
From then on in there was only one winner, with Wade taking the
deciding set to book his place in the semi-finals against Phil Taylor.
“I’m very happy,” said Wade. “Maybe I was a bit lucky but I hit the
right shots at the right times, and that’s a good sign.”
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