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Raymond van Barneveld has caused a resounding sensation by beating Gerwyn Price again at the Grand Slam of Darts. After a somewhat stiff start, there was no measure to the Hagenaar, who only really had something to fear from his opponent from Wales in the final phase. In the decisive legs, however, he kept a cool head for a place in the semi-finals: 16-13.
Van Barneveld kept up well until 3-3, but when the Dutchman failed to make it 4-4 with two arrows, he saw Price quickly run to 8-3.
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A fearless and relaxed throwing Van Barneveld did not let this falter and crept closer to the Welshman leg by leg. For example, he put away an inning with 150 on 32 to make it 8-6. A leg later he even walked into the second break with a deficit of ‘only’ 8-7. Van Barneveld took his first lead when he made it 9-8. With that he seemed to break Price’s self-confidence, because in the next inning he even made it 10-8 with a finish of 157. It didn’t matter much if Barney seemed to throw out 170 in the leg that followed, but after twice triple 20 he just missed the double bull.
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However, the four-time world champion was definitely on steam and, with a score of 13-10, ended up in the decisive phase of his match against the current number one in the world. Price was quite upset, because when Van Barneveld seemed to give away his leg, The Iceman was unable to throw out a score of 20, making it 14-10 instead of 13-11.
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Then some sand got into the engine from The Hague. Van Barneveld conceded three legs, but knocked out a score of 71 at 14-13 and needed one more leg. In it he got six arrows to throw 156 and after he missed the first match dart it was hit in the next inning. Van Barneveld will continue the tournament on Sunday in the semi-final against Michael Smith.
Afterwards, Van Barneveld was partly full of disbelief. “What happened here?” he said in front of the Viaplay cameras.
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Tasty appetizer
In the match for Van Barneveld, Smith and Joe Cullen already served a delicious starter. ‘Bully Boy’ Smith got off to a great start and held a double leg lead over his opponent for a long time. Cullen himself, however, did not go unpunished either, with a finish of 170, among others.
The momentum turned in Cullen’s favor as he moved into a 10-9 lead. Smith seemed to have lost his concentration, saw his scores collapse and had to be careful not to be completely wiped off the board. Just in time, however, he found his second breath, because at 15-13 he stepped on the accelerator again. At 15-15 he then had enough for one match dart.
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