Reigning champion Gerwyn Price and two-time semi-finalist Michael Smith will headline Wednesday’s action at the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts, as the second round gets underway in Wolverhampton.
Day Five of the £650,000 event will see four second round ties take place on a blockbuster night at the Aldersley Leisure Village, with three World Champions among those bidding to seal quarter-final spots.
Price has won all three Grand Slam events staged at the Wolverhampton venue, and he continues his bid for a fourth Eric Bristow Trophy with a tie against UK Open champion Danny Noppert.
Despite posting three ton-plus averages in the round-robin phase, Price came perilously close to an early exit, with Dave Chisnall spurning two match darts to eliminate him on Monday night.
However, the Welshman produced the goods in a thrilling finale to continue his pursuit of the £150,000 top prize, firing in a 12-darter to keep his Grand Slam dream alive.
“It is testament to my game that I’m giving players opportunities and I can still come through it,” declared the three-time Grand Slam champion.
“My only focus is the game against Danny but I’m playing well, so when I sharpen up on my game I think I’m pretty much unbeatable.”
Elsewhere, former World Cup partners Michael Smith and Rob Cross will collide in a mouth-watering last 16 tussle, after Cross scraped past Martin Schindler in a dramatic Group D shoot-out on Monday.
Smith, meanwhile, stormed through to the knockout stages with a 100% record in Group C, and the world number four is now eyeing a place in a fourth successive Grand Slam quarter-final.
“I want to win every game and that’s the mentality I’ve got,” claimed the St Helens star, who has won a record-breaking 16 consecutive games in the Grand Slam Group Stages.
“This is one of my favourite tournaments and I want to keep my good record here going, but Rob Cross is a World Champion for a reason, so it doesn’t get any easier.”
Wednesday’s opening last 16 tie will see 2012 champion Raymond van Barneveld take on World Cup winner Simon Whitlock - a semi-finalist at this event two years ago.
Van Barneveld rolled back the years to seal top spot in Group A, defeating world number one Price, 2014 runner-up Chisnall and World Youth Champion Ted Evetts to progress in style.
“I really believe I can do this and I’ve shown that I can,” said the five-time World Champion, who is through to the last 16 in Wolverhampton for the first time since 2017.
“Everybody knows an in-form Ray van Barneveld is hard work to beat. If it doesn’t work, we work harder. The belief is always there, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”
Van Barneveld and Whitlock are the oldest players left in this year’s field, and the Australian veteran has also impressed, winning two of his three round-robin games to advance from Group B.
“I think I deserved to get through, but it was absolute torture waiting to see if I’d done it,” admitted Whitlock, who averaged 99 and hit six 180s in his decisive clash against Christian Perez.
“Raymond is a five-time World Champion. He is still very, very good and he can beat anyone on his day, a bit like myself, so it’s going to be a great match.”
In the evening’s finale, Masters champion Joe Cullen takes on Dirk van Duijvenbode, who claimed three consecutive wins in Group D to reach the last 16 for the first time in his career.
The Dutchman – a finalist at the World Series of Darts Finals in September – has also scooped two Pro Tour titles in 2022, although he believes there is still more to come.
“I’m delighted with my results but not my performances. I know I can do a lot better,” said Van Duijvenbode, who defeated Cross, Schindler and Adam Gawlas in the round-robin phase.
“I know there is more in the tank and I want to make at least the quarter-finals of every TV event, so that is my goal.”
Cullen recovered from 3-1 down to defeat four-time Women’s World Champion Lisa Ashton in his final Group C tussle on Monday, and he’s now eyeing a place in his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
“It feels like a new tournament starting now, so I’m going to put the Group Stage behind me and go again on Wednesday,” reflected the 33-year-old, a Premier League runner-up in June.
“Dirk is a great guy. I spend a lot of time with him and I’m looking forward to it. It should be a fantastic game.”
The second round action concludes on Thursday night, as three-time champion Michael van Gerwen takes on debutant Josh Rock in a highly-anticipated clash.
Luke Humphries meets European Champion Ross Smith, Jonny Clayton plays Scottish star Alan Soutar, while World Grand Prix runner-up Nathan Aspinall faces Jermaine Wattimena.
The tournament is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts
Wednesday November 16 (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round Matches
Raymond van Barneveld v Simon Whitlock
Michael Smith v Rob Cross
Danny Noppert v Gerwyn Price
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Joe Cullen
Best of 19 legs