Van den Bergh edges past Aspinall in marathon Grand Slam Quarter-Final

Dimitri van den Bergh is through to the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts after seeing off Nathan Aspinall in a marathon tie to begin proceedings in the evening session.

Van den Bergh was behind for most of the tie but suddenly took the lead only for Aspinall to peg him back and go one away but it went all the way to a decider as 'The Dreammaker' denied 'The Asp' in the last leg.

To begin the tie, it was very much all Aspinall with a start which saw Van den Bergh kicking off with back-to-back 180's but it was 'The Asp' who took the opening leg with a 71 checkout.

A first 180 and a 76 checkout saw Aspinall open up a two leg cushion with a break from there but he couldn't hold and give himself a 4-1 lead.

Van den Bergh squandered four darts at double though when they returned and it was a 4-2 lead for Aspinall. They both struggled to hold throw though with all five legs in the second session going against throw but Aspinall moved into a 6-4 lead.

Successive legs went to Van den Bergh and Aspinall as neither could cement a lead but it was Aspinall who went 9-6 up with three in a row at the next break.

Van den Bergh followed that up though with a 14-darter and a 110 checkout to stay in touch at 10-8 behind. But Aspinall continued to have a cushion at 11-9 at the next break.

A pivotal time in the match followed though as Van den Bergh took out 130 on the bull for a 12-darter and an 11-10 deficit and from there after Aspinall wired the bull for a 161, Van den Bergh led for the first time at 13-12.

An 11-darter saw Van den Bergh move further clear at 14-12 but as was the flow of the match, the lead didn't stay for long as Aspinall broke to make it 14-14 and then went one away at 15-14.

Van den Bergh though denied Aspinall by sending it all the way and then winning the decider to end a marathon tie.

Nathan Aspinall (94.92) 15-16 (97.8) Dimitri van den Bergh

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