"He couldn't remember my name, so he'll probably not remember me beating him" - Mickey Mansell sends message to disrespectful Wade

For the first time in his career, Mickey Mansell is into the quarter-finals of a TV major at the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts. Having come through his group at the expense of Luke Humphries, Mansell rather comfortably dispatched former UK Open champion Danny Noppert on Wednesday night, 10-7 to reach the last eight.

Impressing with a 99 average and hitting 10/15 on the doubles en route to victory, an early spurt saw the 51-year-old Northern Irishman win six legs in a row to gain an early advantage. Although Noppert came back into the contest from there, the Dutchman had left himself too much work to do.

“I’m ecstatic to be through,” reflected Mansell afterwards in his post-match press conference. “The field I’ve came through so far, it’s a confidence boost that I’m not here by luck and I’ve played very well to be in the position that I am.”

"The only difference (on the big stage) is I’ve only got one or two opportunities between Players Championship, UK Opens or World Championships, they are breaks from maybe two or three days in a row. The three days in a row playing on the stage is a big advantage and winning in the group I was in and coming out of it, it gave me a lot of confidence," he continues, despite having actually lost his final group game. "I had to put things into perspective. The best player in the world and the world number one (Luke Humphries) was in that group so to get beaten by him on Monday wasn’t a disappointment. I was glad of the day off to have a mental switch-off.”

In the quarter-finals, another somewhat surprising name awaits in the form of Cameron Menzies. The Scot defeated James Wade in a thrilling last leg decider on Wednesday to break new ground himself in Wolverhampton. In Mansell's post-match comments though, the experienced Northern Irishman had a message for Wade after what he'd perceived to be disrespect following their group stage encounter. "He couldn't remember my name three days ago so he'll probably not remember me beating him..." Mansell recalled spikily. "If you tell somebody what you don't want, he'll get more of it."

As mentioned though, the pair will have to wait to renew rivalries as Wade was dumped out by Menzies. With only the Scot, Martin Lukeman and Rob Cross standing between Mansell and a first major final though, just how far can go? “It’s no different to what happened two weeks ago," concludes Mansell, alluding to the qualifying tournament that saw him defeat the likes of Raymond van Barneveld and Gerwyn Price just to get to Wolverhampton. "It’s about winning one game at a time and focusing on my technique and beliefs and see where that gets me.”