GARY ANDERSON is the first man into the semi-finals of the Topic International Darts League following a 6-3 win over James Wade.

The Scotsman produced an incredible display to see off Wade, finishing with an end average of almost 108 but sitting on a 114 average when he took a 4-1 lead.

Anderson landed 12 maximums in the match, including six perfect darts in one leg to dream of hitting a third nine-darter of the week.

That was not to be, but Anderson went on to complete a superb win and maintain his unbeaten record throughout the event so far.

Wade played his part in an absorbing contest, hitting eight 180s of his own and averaging a consistent 105 throughout.

Perhaps the Englishman squaring the third set at one-leg all proved a red rag to Anderson’s bull – with the latter hitting back-to-back 180s and leaving himself 50 after nine darter, only to see Wade – who had landed two maximums of his own in the leg – check out in 12 darts.

Anderson went on to win the next five legs without reply in 15, 11, 15, 11 and 12 darts to set up a 4-1 lead at the break with a 114.09 average – taking out 124 on the bull to win the fifth set with Wade sat on double top.

Wade returned to win set six, but Anderson won the seventh without reply to move to within one of the match.

Two good legs from Wade saw him pull back to 5-3, and the pair shared 12-darters in the next before another fine leg from Anderson set up a two-dart 62 finish for the game.

“He was brilliant,” said a shell-shocked Wade afterwards. “That’s probably the best I’ve played on TV and I’ve lost 6-3!

“I was great against Chris Mason in the World Matchplay last year, but I didn’t keep up my average over that length of time.

“I think I only had two ‘bad’ shots during the game, but apart from that I didn’t do anything wrong at all.

“It happened to me the last time I played here, three years ago, when Raymond van Barneveld beat me and I don’t think there was a leg over 14 darts.

“I had about a 100 average then and he Ray everything out and it was the same tonight – I almost feel like I’ve been cheated, not in a nasty way because he played so well.

“I can’t see me playing like that ever again and losing – on that form I believe I could have beaten Phil Taylor. I’ve really enjoyed the week though.”

Anderson has now defeated seven players en route to the semis, overcoming Roland Scholten, Wayne Mardle and Mervyn King in the First Round, Gary Robson, Martin Adams and Mark Dudbridge in the Second Round and then Wade, setting up a semi-final against Darryl Fitton or Adrian Lewis.

Match Stats

TONY O’SHEA 6-4 RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD

TONY O’SHEA’S dream week at the Topic International Darts League continued with a 6-4 win over Raymond van Barneveld to put himself into the semi-finals of the tournament.

O’Shea landed a nine-darter on Wednesday against Adrian Lewis to follow Phil Taylor’s perfect leg, and the Stockport thrower remained in top form against the World Champion.

He trailed 3-1 at one stage, but produced some superb finishing to take five of the final six sets for victory.

Van Barneveld began strongly, winning sets one, three and four without reply and including a 112 finish, with O’Shea replying in set two with a 126 finish and then taking the deciding leg on double top.

He punished missed doubles from van Barneveld in the fifth set to pull back to 3-2 at the break and then level the game by winning the next, also without reply.

A 116 finish and then an 11-darter gave van Barneveld set seven, but crucially taking the eighth in a decider gave O’Shea the momentum.

The Englishman moved ahead for the first time by winning the ninth set 2-0, and his power scoring saw him seal the win by taking the next 2-1.

“I’m so happy,” said O’Shea. “To beat a guy like Raymond and reach the semi-finals is great.”

O’Shea had a double boost, being informed afterwards that Opel Netherlands would reward his nine-darter earlier in the week with an Opel Tigra Twin Top – which he had initially been denied after Taylor scooped the prize 24 hours earlier.

A stunned O’Shea added: “Beating Raymond was a surprise but this is unbelievable – what a night!”

Match Stats

ADRIAN LEWIS 6-2 DARRYL FITTON

ADRIAN LEWIS produced a superb display of finishing to see off Darryl Fitton 6-2 in the Topic International Darts League Quarter-Finals.

The 22-year-old will now face Gary Anderson in a mouth-watering semi-final on Saturday after booking his last four place in a fine showing.

He trailed 2-1 before winning a crucial fourth set 2-0 – hitting a 170 finish in the first leg before taking out 100 with 20 and two double tops.

That sparked a run which saw Fitton – who landed nine maximums to one in the match - only win one leg in the remainder of the game as Lewis romped into the semis.

“My finishing was the difference,” admitted Lewis. “His scoring was great, but he missed a lot of doubles.

“My scoring was poor early on but my finishing was fantastic.”

Fitton took the first set 2-0, opening the match with a 12-darter, before Lewis won the second in a deciding leg.

Fitton hit two maximums in taking the third in 13 and 14 darts before Lewis found his range on the doubles.

After winning the fourth set in superb style, Lewis took the fifth and sixth without reply and only a fine 124 checkout in the seventh saw Fitton stem the tide.

Lewis moved 5-2 up by hitting back on double ten to win that set, and then took advantage of Fitton misses to wrap up the win.

On facing Anderson – who averaged 108 in defeating James Wade 6-3 earlier on Friday – in the semis, Lewis added: “I’ll have to improve probably 100% against Gary!

“He has been superb all week and his display against James was awesome, it will be a tough match.”

Match Stats

MARK WEBSTER 6-2 GARY ROBSON

MARK WEBSTER stormed past Gary Robson to reach the semi-finals of the Topic International Darts League.

The Welsh youngster reached his second major semi-final thanks to a 6-2 triumph against the 2005 World Darts Trophy champion.

Robson, who was battling against a bout of ‘flu, never recovered after going 4-0 down early on as Webster won eight of the first nine legs in the contest.

Robson hit back in style to win the fifth and sixth sets in 14, 13, 15 and 14 darts.

But Webster moved 5-2 up with back-to-back legs to take the seventh set without reply thanks to a 13-darter, and came from 1-0 down in the eighth to seal the win.

The 23-year-old plumber from Denbigh now meets Tony O’Shea in Saturday’s semi-final in the hope of winning a place in his first major final.

Match Stats

Second Round

Thursday Round Up

Phil Taylor crashed out after losing 7-6 to Michael van Gerwen in the final group game. The result meant both players missed out as Darryl Fitton and Raymond van Barneveld took the top two places going on to the quarter finals to face Adrian Lewis and Tony O’Shea respectively. Barney beat Fitton 7-6 in their final match.

Lewis got the better of Simon Whitlock 7-4 to book his spot at the expense of The Wizard, while O’Shea followed his 9-dart feat the previous night by ensuring it wasn’t in vain as he beat Wayne Mardle 7-5.

The other two quarter finals feature the only two players still with 100% records. Gary Anderson will face James Wade in a potential cracker while Mark Webster tackles Gary Robson who defeated Martin Adams in their final group game to go through on leg difference. Anderson disposed of Dudbridge to keep his momentum going, while Wade beat Scott Waites. Mark Webster had no problems in beating Tony Eccles and maintain his perfect record.

Wednesday Round Up

Tony O’Shea matched Phil Taylor’s feat 24 hours earlier in hitting the perfect leg…and winning nothing! Taylor had already won the car on offer so O’Shea can only keep the memories. He made sure it didn’t go waste and beat Adrian Lewis 7-4 to put himself right in line for a quarter final place and put the pressure on Lewis to qualify.

Raymond van Barneveld beat countryman Michael van Gerwen to put the youngster out while Gary Anderson & Mark Webster kept up their 100% records. Martin Adams moved into contention with a win over Mark Dudbridge and Darryl Fitton caused an upset in beating Phil Taylor to leave The Power needing a win over MVG in his final match tomorrow.

Simon Whitlock and Scott Waites were the other two winners, overcoming Tony Eccles and Wayne Mardle to give themselves a good chance of making the quarter finals.

Tuesday Round Up

Round two got off to the best possible start, especially for Phil Taylor, as he crashed in his fourth 9-dart finish in major competition. The fact that it came in a high pressure game against his biggest rival would have made it all the sweeter and shows just what character The Power possesses. The 7-4 victory also moved Taylor to joint top of Group J with Darryl Fitton sat alongside him after a 7-2 win over Michael van Gerwen.

In Group I, Gary Anderson was once again in devastating form averging 109 in his 7-1 crushing of Lakeside Champion Martin Adams. Anderson tops the group with Mark Dudbridge in second following a narrow 7-6 victory over Gary Robson.

Groups K and L went with form in the first round of games – Adrian Lewis beat Wayne Mardle and Simon Whitlock beat Tony O’Shea to sit first and second in Group K, while James Wade was again impressive in beating Tony Eccles with Mark Webster keeping up his 100% record with a slim 7-6 defeat of Scott Waites.

First Round

Monday Round Up

Colin Lloyd went from first to third in Group F and crashed out of the competition after losing his final game to Mark Dudbridge, despite having four darts to win. Dudbridge and Tony O’Shea both knew they would progress if they could win their final match and that is precisely what happened to leave a disappointed Lloyd heading home earlier than expected.

Martin Adams edged a tense decider against Barrie Bates 6-5 to move into round two with Adrian Lewis from Group E. Lewis continued his hot sreeak recording a 102 average against Mario Robbe.

Mark Webster suprisingly won Group H with a 100% record after beating Niels de Ruiter in his final game. He finished ahead of Phil Taylor who secured second spot with a 6-4 win over Ronnie Baxter. That means Taylor will now line up in the ‘Group of Death’ along with Raymond van Barneveld, Michael van Gerwen and Darryl Fitton.

Fitton it was who went through from Group G, behind the impressive James Wade, after narrowly beating Jelle Klaasen 6-5 in their decider. Dennis Priestley finished bottom of the group without a win and will head to prepare to the Premier League finals.

Sunday Round Up

Raymond van Barneveld and Gary Anderson moved through to round two with 100% records and superb averages – Anderson hitting 108.8 against Mervyn King! Wayne Mardle followed Anderson from Group A following wins over Roland Scholten and Mervyn King. King departed without a win in the first round. Scott Waites joined Barney from Group D at the expense of Martin Atkins and Ross Montgomery.

The other decided groups saw Gary Robson & Simon Whitlock progress from Group B at the expense of PDC pair Peter Manley & John Part. All four players wnet into their final games on one win each and the two BDO stars sneaked through after narrow final game wins.

Michael van Gerwen and Tony Eccles topped Group C ahead of two other PDC big guns Terry Jenkins and Andy Hamilton. Hamilton won their ‘play off’ to leave Jenkins without a win or a point and on an early plane home. Hamilton had earlier been whitewashed by van Gerwen without getting to a double. van Gerwen will now face Barney in round two and there is the distinct possibility that Phil Taylor could also be in their group!

Elsewhere, Phil Taylor secured his first win by beating Niels de Ruiter as Mark Webster took control of Group H with a 6-3 win over Ronnie Baxter to make it two wins. Adrian Lewis took out BDO World Champion Martin Adams who will have to beat Barrie Bates in his final game to go through from Group E. James Wade kept up his fine form to record his second win and look favourite to progress from Group G. Dennis Priestley is out following two defeats and the second place will go to the winner of the Jelle Klaasen v Darryl Fitton match. Group F is still not decided although Colin Lloyd looks favourite after two wins. Mark Dudbridge and Tony O’Shea sit on one win each but if both win their final game they will progress.

Saturday Round Up

The first round groups are taking shape but Group B looks no nearer to being clear with all four players on a win apiece. Sunday’s games should be exciting with everything to play for.

Elsewhere, defeat for Taylor leaves him with no margin for error with Ronnie Baxter in fine form – taking out Niels de Ruiter by the biggest scoreline of the day, 6-1. The same is true for Andy Hamilton, Terry Jenkins, Dennis Priestley and Wayne Mardle who cannot afford another slip up.

Gary Anderson is virtually though to round two after two wins with Mervyn King departing after losing both his opening games. Raymond van Barneveld was a comfortable winner in his first game, recording a 103 average. James Wade almost matched him with a 102.5 average in his narrow win over Darryl Fitton.

Raymond van Barneveld will be looking to regain the title he won in 2006 by beating Colin Lloyd 13-5 in the final. Phil Taylor bombed out at the quarter final stage last year, losing to The Wizard Simon Whitlock. He also lost to Jelle Klaased and will be looking to improve this year Whitlock went on to narrowly lose to Barneveld in the semi final and will be hoping for a repeat showing this time around.

2006 also saw Michael van Gerwen come of age as he reached the quarter finals (also losing out to Barneveld) beating Martin Adams & Colin Lloyd in the early rounds. How far can he go this year having been given a wild card and having to come through the tough preliminary stage. There are some big names alongside MVG battling it out for a place in round one – the likes of Ronnie Baxter, Merv King, Chris Mason, Gary Robson & Richie Burnett will be hopeful of reaching the first round proper.

The first round draw has thrown up some cracking groups with the possibility of one or two ‘groups of death’ should the big names come through the preliminary round. King for instance would join Gary Anderson, Roland Scholten and Wayne Mardle in group one. Should van Gerwen qualify he will join Tony Eccles, Terry Jenkins and Andy Hamilton in perhaps the toughest group of the lot.

All in all it looks set up for a classic week of darts and a real taster for the Grand Slam of Darts later in the year. Game on!

DartsMad Predictions

Preliminary Round Qualifiers

Group One – Mervyn King
Group Two – Gary Robson
Group Three – Michael van Gerwen
Group Four – Vincent van der Voort
Group Five – Wayne Jones
Group Six – Andy Jenkins
Group Seven – Robbie Green
Group Eight – Ronnie Baxter

First Round Qualifiers

Group A – Wayne Mardle & Mervyn King
Group B – Peter Manley & Simon Whitlock
Group C – Terry Jenkins & Andy Hamilton
Group D – Raymond van Barneveld & Scott Waites
Group E – Martin Adams & Adrian Lewis
Group F – Colin Lloyd & Andy Jenkins
Group G – Dennis Priestley & James Wade
Group H – Phil Taylor & Ronnie Baxter

Winner – Phil Taylor
Runner up – Raymond van Barneveld

The tournament begins on Friday 4 May with the Preliminary Round. The games for the AFAB Junior IDL are noted by a J.

For the tournament draw and groups, click here.

Topic International Darts League
Preliminary Round – Friday 4 May

First Round

Second Round

Quarter-Finals – Friday 11 May

Semi-Finals – Saturday 12 May

Final – Sunday 13 May