It was an incredible all-Unicorn Grand Slam showdown, but the master beat the pupil in emphatic fashion as Gary Anderson saw off Michael Smith to go through to the quarter-finals.
What a match and what a performance from Anderson as he won 10-6, but take nothing away from Smith who played superbly and piled the pressure on his great friend!
But it was Anderson who came up with the darting magic and he will now face Mensur Suljovic in the quarter-finals on Friday.
"Michael was just superb at the start. I knew he'd come at me but it fired me up and I came up with some great darts," he said. "I had to but that means a lot. I couldn't let him beat me, could I?"
Smith raced into a 4-1 lead with two 180s, a 174, two 12 darters and an 11 dart leg. It was incredible. At that stage he was averaging 114.53. And in those five legs, Gary nailed 124 on the bull and just missed D15 for a 150 finish, as well as wiring the bull for a 170!
What was to come was mesmerising from Anderson.....he reeled off five legs on the spin in just six-and-a-half minutes and in only 69 darts. The match changed in the 6th leg when Gary hit a fabulous 164 finish with Smith sat on 25 to go 5-1 up.
In fact Anderson won seven straight legs before Smith stopped the rot. The Scottish star took his 180 tally to six and then missed six darts to win 10-5. But he made no mistake in the next leg and D2 got the job done with a 107 average.
Let's hope he can keep up this dazzling form, but fair play to Smith who gave it everything against his mentor.
Wednesday 2nd Round results:
Mensur Suljovic 10-2 Berry van Peer
Glen Durrant 10-8 Dave Chisnall
Gary Anderson 10-6 Michael Smith
Peter Wright 10-4 Stephen Bunting
Thursday 2nd Round schedule:
Daryl Gurney v James Wade
Phil Taylor v Darren Webster
Michael van Gerwen v Steve Lennon
Raymond van Barneveld v Rob Cross
By STUART PYKE in Wolverhampton
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC
