The RTL7 International Masters is turning into a terrific tournament and we could yet see a Phil Taylor/Raymond van Barneveld showdown in Monday’s Final.
The pair were convincing winners in Sunday’s quarter-finals, but Adrian Lewis lost a fantastic match to an inspired Gary Anderson.
‘The Power’ was again firing on all cylinders as he raced into the semi-finals in Holland with a terrific 8-3 victory in the all Unicorn clash against James Wade.
Wade had squeezed into the quarter-finals, winning a dramatic last leg decider in his Group D clash with Simon Whitlock.
The Unicorn man and the Australian were both beaten 8-4 by Gary Anderson, who topped the group, so it became a straight shoot-out for the last quarter-final spot…..and after Whitlock had missed three darts for the match, Wade pinched it in the decider.
But, despite a 99 average, he was no match for Taylor……the 15 times World Champion appears to have recovered fully from his ‘blip’ at the end of last year and he again looks back to his very best.
He raced three legs clear and although Wade managed to get two on the board, Taylor won four on the spin to open up a 7-2 lead.
To be honest, Wade didn’t do a lot wrong but Taylor clinched the win with a 108 finish to set up a mouth-watering semi-final against Anderson.
Taylor’s end average was 107.65
And Barney was also at his brilliant best again!
He was a convincing 8-3 winner over Roland Scholten and now plays Vincent van de Voort in the semi-finals.
Barneveld nailed fabulous finishes of 161 and 170 in winning his first two legs of the match! And from 2-2, he reeled off five legs on the spin and there was no coming back for Scholten from that barrage of scoring…..and Barney wrapped up the win hitting D8, with a 100 average.
Lewis was beaten by Anderson for the first time in nearly two years….it was a high quality affair, with both players averaging over 100, but the Scot gained swift revenge after Lewis’ Premier League victory in Glasgow.
Lewis though, will feel he missed a trick, because he lost 8-5 after being 4-0 up!
Anderson simply produced a golden spell of tungsten….he moved ahead for the first time at 6-5. The Unicorn man missed darts at ‘tops’ to level and after his opponent moved 7-5 in front, Lewis again missed more doubles.
And the Scot won it in style with an 11 darter after a sixth 180.
In the other quarter-final, Van der Voort edged out fellow Dutchman Co Stompe 8-6
Quarter-Final results:
Co Stompe 6-8 Vincent van der Voort
Phil Taylor 8-3 James Wade
Raymond van Barneveld 8-3 Roland Scholten
Gary Anderson 8-5 Adrian Lewis
Semi-Final line-up:
Vincent van der Voort v Raymond van Barneveld
Phil Taylor v Gary Anderson
• Meanwhile, there is some good news from Down Under, where Team Unicorn ace Barry Jouannet has won the last event on the Australian Grand Prix circuit. ‘China’ was a 6 legs to 4 victor over Anthony Fleet in the final of the Albion Park Open
By STUART PYKE
Photos courtesy Chris Sargeant