17/11/2020

Grand Slam of Darts 2020 schedule: Tuesday afternoon session, featuring Anderson, Wade and Durrant

Day two of the Grand Slam of Darts could be even more enlightening than the first.

If you've watched the Grand Slam before, you know the score. The losing players from each day one match will play each other, as will everyone who won their opening match. It does mean that we'll likely end the day with players who have a 100 per cent record and are likely to go through, and some who could be on zero points and the brink of elimination.

Ricky Evans might find it quite harsh that he's in the latter group, having averaged 95 and generally played alright. Unfortunately, he was on the end of the best average mustered in any Grand Slam game, ever. Next up is Wayne Warren, who averaged 54 points fewer than Dimitri van den Bergh in a limp defeat to Nathan Aspinall.

Luke Humphries will probably still be kicking himself now, almost 24 hours on from his match against Dave Chisnall. Thanks to squandered match darts, he now faces a battle to survive. The world youth champion's scoring looked good, so it'll be more about firming up on the doubles against Justin Pipe, who himself gave Rob Cross too many chances to steal legs.

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The third tie gives Adam Gawlas another chance to shine after a performance against Gary Anderson that wasn't to be sniffed at. Ryan Searle will be smarting after letting Simon Whitlock off the hook, and needs to stay on the Aussie's heels, if not Anderson's.

Damon Heta will of course be annoyed with his defeat yesterday, a result of a slow start against James Wade. But it's worth considering that his opponent averaged 104 and did little wrong. Glen Durrant, however, has an awful lot to fix and very little time.

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And so we move onto the winners. Gary Anderson's interview game's a 10 out of 10, but the darts weren't quite there. Simon Whitlock, meanwhile, was very solid on the doubles against Ryan Searle. The Wizard should have serious aspirations of winning this group, with the rookie Adam Gawlas his last opponent.

James Wade and Jermaine Wattimena set out their respective stalls very early in a group that looked tough to call on paper. That's especially true of Wade, but Wattimena's double-hitting put even the Machine to shame. It's very likely that this one will be much tighter than their respective first games.

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Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall were both tipped as potentially vulnerable, but both have come through their first game unscathed. Chizzy will be chastened by a close shave against Luke Humphries, while the real intrigue is whether Cross' flagging confidence will be bolstered by swatting Justin Pipe aside.

Nathan Aspinall sleepwalked past Wayne Warren. He can't expect anything like that easy ride here. Dimitri van den Bergh was simply marvellous, averaging 114.85 against Ricky Evans (it could've been more if he'd nailed match dart at the first attempt). If he keeps that up then nobody beats him - but the reason he got the record average in the first place is because nobody keeps up astronomical form. The A-game will need to come out again to see off the Premier League runner-up.