It was a sensational night at the World Matchplay as the Team Unicorn trio of Gary Anderson, Joe Cullen and Jeffrey de Zwaan powered into the quarter-finals.
But for Michael Smith, it is the Winter Gardens exit door as he lost a big lead and went down to Dave Chisnall.
De Zwaan was nerveless as he edged out Adrian Lewis 11-9, while Cullen thrashed Daryl Gurney with a composed display.
And it’s Cullen against Gary Anderson in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Anderson staged a magnificent fightback
The PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship is to expand to 96 players with a prize fund of £60,000 this year, providing greater opportunities for young players from across the globe.
Team Unicorn’s Dimitri Van den Bergh will defend his title in November, having claimed the honour in 2017 by defeating Josh Payne in the final.
In a move which mirrors the expansion of the William Hill World Darts Championship, an additional 32 places will be made available as the tournament grows to a new level.
There
It’s taken seven long years but Kim Huybrechts has tasted victory at the World Matchplay....and what a win it was!
After six successive 1st Round defeats, the Team Unicorn ace edged out John Henderson in a last leg shoot-out.
James Wade was also involved in a thriller as he was forced to dig deep to beat Jermaine Wattimena in a tie-break 12-10.
But for Jelle Klaasen a night to forget as he slumped to a heavy defeat against Peter Wright.
But Huybrechts thriller took top billing on Monday night in
Gary Anderson justified his favourite tag on day two of the World Matchplay.
He upped the ante beating Stephen Bunting 10-7 on Sunday night at the Winter Gardens.
There were also key victories for fellow Unicorn stars Joe Cullen and Ian White, but Kyle Anderson bowed out.
Gary stepped up when it mattered.
“There was a bit of pressure up there with everyone making me favourite and I made a bit of a mess of things at the start, but pleased with the way I finished it off and happy to get through that
It will rank as one of the biggest upsets in the 25-year history of the World Matchplay and it is Unicorn new boy Jeffrey de Zwaan who stunned World No.1 Michael van Gerwen on the opening night at the Winter Gardens.
De Zwaan shocked Van Gerwen 10-6 with a classy, cultured and cool display. A sensational result and the second time he’s beaten the World No.1 in a TV ‘Major’ this year after his triumph at the UK Open.
Make no mistake, this was thoroughly deserved as he forced Van Gerwen into a series
Michael Smith has claimed the biggest title of his career!
The Team Unicorn star was crowned Shanghai Masters Champion on Saturday as he beat Rob Cross 8-2 in the final.
He swept aside Michael van Gerwen in the semi-final before dominating Cross in the final.
“It’s an amazing feeling to win a big TV title. I know it isn’t a Major but this is a big deal for me going forward. It is another big step and to beat the World No.1 and World Champion to do it makes it very special,” Smith said.
He went 4-0
It was a massive Shanghai Surprise.
Unicorn star Gary Anderson was knocked out of the Shanghai Darts Masters by Royden Lam. The No.1 seed losing a last leg decider to the Asian No.1 on Friday.
But he only has himself to blame.....crucial missed doubles cost Gary dearly and just days after winning the US Darts Masters in some style, Anderson failed to fire in China.
So instead of an all Unicorn quarter-final, it is Lam who will take on Michael Smith.
Anderson missed two darts to break in the opening
Gary Anderson will begin his quest for back-to-back PDC World Series of Darts titles against Royden Lam at the 21.co.uk Shanghai Darts Masters on Friday.
The event will see eight Asian representatives, three in Team Unicorn, taking on eight top stars of the sport over two days at the Pullman Hotel Shanghai South.
Last weekend's US Darts Masters champion and Unicorn star Anderson will meet Hong Kong star Lam - the current PDC Asian Tour number one - in an exciting first round fixture.
Last year's
Starting to incorporate the number of each blog in this darts science refresher course into the title seemed like a good idea at the time. “3 Degrees of Incidence” wasn’t great, maybe, but I was pretty happy with “4 Stalling”. This latest one had me scrabbling around a bit, though.
I did briefly flirt with “5 Bore On”, which, as this blog gets a mite technical later, contains both a regrettable element of truth and a regrettable pun on element atomic number 5. Instead I’ve reluctantly settled, as
Gary Anderson produced a stunning display of dazzling darts to light up Las Vegas as he was crowned US Darts Masters king!
The Team Unicorn superstar claimed his 6th World Series title in some style. From 1-4 down, he reeled off seven straight legs to beat Rob Cross 8-4 in the final at the Mandalay Bay.
Earlier Gary produced an epic fightback to take a thrilling all Unicorn semi-final in a deciding leg against James Wade.......Wade had earlier walloped Michael van Gerwen and was 6-2 up against Anderson,
