James Wade and Ross Smith win last gasp matches to reach Last 16 at Grand Slam of Darts

James Wade and Ross Smith secured a spot in the last sixteen at the Grand Slam of Darts. They had some work to do in their last group match, but managed to finish their last group match victoriously.

Wade knew before the start of the evening session that he had to win against Rowby-John Rodriguez to make it to the second round in Wolverhampton. However, Mickey Mansell's 5-1 defeat to Luke Humphries made it clear that a win would also see 'The Machine' become an instant pool winner.

It was not an outstanding match between Wade and Rodriguez. Wade threw an average of 87, compared to 86 for Rodriguez. Wade was soon in a seat when he managed to win the first two legs. Rodriguez broke the left-handed darter back in the third leg, but could not keep his own leg after that. Wade made it 3-1 with a 60 finish, and moments later provided a fine final touch with a 12-darter for a 5-1 final score.

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Wade will face Cameron Menzies, who finished second in Group B, in the second round. Mansell is the other player in Group A to advance to the knockout stage. The Northern Irishman held off Luke Humphries and will meet Danny Noppert in the next round.

Ross Smith had a poor start to the tournament by losing his first match against Ritchie Edhouse 5-1. But a 5-2 victory over Dave Chisnall left Smith in control of his own destiny as Scutt also lost to Edhouse after his victory over Chisnall. In a mutual duel, Smith and Scutt had to fight out who would advance to the last sixteen. It was 'Smudger' who won convincingly as he beat Scutt 5-0.

At the last sixteen, Smith will face Martin Lukeman. Lukeman finished first in the pool with Rob Cross, Peter Wright and Leonard Gates. Cross finished second in that group, and therefore will be paired with Edhouse.

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