BoyleSports Grand Slam of Darts – Day 5 Review

Ruthless Peter Wright powered through to the BoyleSports Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals in superb fashion alongside Dave Chisnall, Michael Smith and Glen Durrant on Wednesday.

Wright produced a relentless performance to see off Rob Cross 10-3 at the Aldersley Leisure Village, ending the world number two’s hopes of a third televised title of 2019.

Cross had remained in touch with Wright at 3-2 despite an early barrage from the Scot, who then won six straight legs to move into a 9-2 advantage before closing out a heavy win.

Wright had won all three group stage matches and is now the 8/1 second favourite behind 10/11 favourite Michael van Gerwen to lift the Eric Bristow Trophy on Sunday.

In-form Chisnall was another 10-3 winner as he too moved into the last eight in style, averaging 102 against Ryan Harrington as the qualifier’s Wolverhampton debut came to an end on Wednesday.

Chisnall made the early running with a pair of 14-darters and also finished 104 to move 4-0 up before a superb 154 checkout got Harrington off the mark.

Legs of 13, 14 and 11 darts helped Chisnall into a 7-1 lead before Harrington hit back with a 13-darter and an 87 finish to pull back to 7-3.

Chisnall, the 2014 finalist, restored his cushion with a 14-darter before pinning double six and double four to secure his last eight spot in a fourth successive televised event.

Glen Durrant came back from 3-0 and 7-4 down to book his place in the quarter-finals for a second time in three years after edging out Germany’s Gabriel Clemens 10-9 in a thriller.

Wolverhampton debutant Clemens looked set to continue his impressive march after dominating the contest, but ultimately paid the price for one missed match dart.

Durrant showed his battling qualities to force a deciding leg in which he landed a 177 to be first to a finish, and double eight for a 14-darter completed his gutsy fightback.

Durrant now plays Michael Smith, who averaged 101.56 in his impressive 10-7 defeat of Daryl Gurney to reach the last eight for the first time since 2015.

Northern Irish ace Gurney made a strong start to land a trio of 14-darters as he took an early 3-1 lead, before Smith landed a pair of 11-dart finishes and a 100 checkout as he hit back to level at four-all.

Smith then finished a 13-darter and a 110 checkout to take his run to four straight legs as he took a 6-4 advantage and extended that cushion to 8-5 before holding his nerve to seal the win.

The second round concludes on Thursday with the remaining four matches, including reigning champion Gerwyn Price taking on Darren Webster.

World number one Michael van Gerwen meets Ian White, while an all-Scottish clash sees Gary Anderson play Robert Thornton and James Wade faces Adrian Lewis.