Topic IDL Quarter-Finals

REPORTS and reaction from the quarter-finals of the Topic International Darts League in Nijmegen.

The tournament is being held at the Triavium, with the semi-finals taking place on Saturday evening.

Topic International Darts League
Quarter-Finals
Gary Anderson 6-3 James Wade
Tony O'Shea 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Darryl Fitton
Mark Webster 6-2 Gary Robson

Semi-Finals
Tony O'Shea v Mark Webster
Gary Anderson v Adrian Lewis
Best of 17 sets, best of three legs per set
Please note semi-finals begin at 5.30pm CET and are preceded by Junior IDL Semi-Final between Oskar Lukasiak and Pascal van Mourik (5pm)

Pictures courtesy Ans Westerdaal-Darts4You

GARY ANDERSON 6-3 JAMES WADE

GARY ANDERSON is the first man into the semi-finals of the Topic International Darts League following a 6-3 win over James Wade.

The Scotsman produced an incredible display to see off Wade, finishing with an end average of almost 108 but sitting on a 114 average when he took a 4-1 lead.

Anderson landed 12 maximums in the match, including six perfect darts in one leg to dream of hitting a third nine-darter of the week.

That was not to be, but Anderson went on to complete a superb win and maintain his unbeaten record throughout the event so far.

Wade played his part in an absorbing contest, hitting eight 180s of his own and averaging a consistent 105 throughout.

Perhaps the Englishman squaring the third set at one-leg all proved a red rag to Anderson's bull - with the latter hitting back-to-back 180s and leaving himself 50 after nine darter, only to see Wade - who had landed two maximums of his own in the leg - check out in 12 darts.

Anderson went on to win the next five legs without reply in 15, 11, 15, 11 and 12 darts to set up a 4-1 lead at the break with a 114.09 average - taking out 124 on the bull to win the fifth set with Wade sat on double top.

Wade returned to win set six, but Anderson won the seventh without reply to move to within one of the match.

Two good legs from Wade saw him pull back to 5-3, and the pair shared 12-darters in the next before another fine leg from Anderson set up a two-dart 62 finish for the game.

"He was brilliant," said a shell-shocked Wade afterwards. "That's probably the best I've played on TV and I've lost 6-3!

"I was great against Chris Mason in the World Matchplay last year, but I didn't keep up my average over that length of time.

"I think I only had two 'bad' shots during the game, but apart from that I didn't do anything wrong at all.

"It happened to me the last time I played here, three years ago, when Raymond van Barneveld beat me and I don't think there was a leg over 14 darts.

"I had about a 100 average then and Ray took everything out and it was the same tonight - I almost feel like I've been cheated, not in a nasty way because he played so well.

"I can't see me playing like that ever again and losing - on that form I believe I could have beaten Phil Taylor. I've really enjoyed the week though."

Anderson has now defeated seven players en route to the semis, overcoming Roland Scholten, Wayne Mardle and Mervyn King in the First Round, Gary Robson, Martin Adams and Mark Dudbridge in the Second Round and then Wade, setting up a semi-final against Darryl Fitton or Adrian Lewis.

Match Stats

TONY O'SHEA 6-4 RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD

TONY O'SHEA'S dream week at the Topic International Darts League continued with a 6-4 win over Raymond van Barneveld to put himself into the semi-finals of the tournament.

O'Shea landed a nine-darter on Wednesday against Adrian Lewis to follow Phil Taylor's perfect leg, and the Stockport thrower remained in top form against the World Champion.

He trailed 3-1 at one stage, but produced some superb finishing to take five of the final six sets for victory.

Van Barneveld began strongly, winning sets one, three and four without reply and including a 112 finish, with O'Shea replying in set two with a 126 finish and then taking the deciding leg on double top.

He punished missed doubles from van Barneveld in the fifth set to pull back to 3-2 at the break and then level the game by winning the next, also without reply.

A 116 finish and then an 11-darter gave van Barneveld set seven, but crucially taking the eighth in a decider gave O'Shea the momentum.

The Englishman moved ahead for the first time by winning the ninth set 2-0, and his power scoring saw him seal the win by taking the next 2-1.

"I'm so happy," said O'Shea. "To beat a guy like Raymond and reach the semi-finals is great."

O'Shea had a double boost, being informed afterwards that Opel Netherlands would reward his nine-darter earlier in the week with an Opel Tigra Twin Top - which he had initially been denied after Taylor scooped the prize 24 hours earlier.

A stunned O'Shea added: "Beating Raymond was a surprise but this is unbelievable - what a night!"

Match Stats

ADRIAN LEWIS 6-2 DARRYL FITTON

ADRIAN LEWIS produced a superb display of finishing to see off Darryl Fitton 6-2 in the Topic International Darts League Quarter-Finals.

The 22-year-old will now face Gary Anderson in a mouth-watering semi-final on Saturday after booking his last four place in a fine showing.

He trailed 2-1 before winning a crucial fourth set 2-0 - hitting a 170 finish in the first leg before taking out 100 with 20 and two double tops.

That sparked a run which saw Fitton - who landed nine maximums to one in the match - only win one leg in the remainder of the game as Lewis romped into the semis.

"My finishing was the difference," admitted Lewis. "His scoring was great, but he missed a lot of doubles.

"My scoring was poor early on but my finishing was fantastic."

Fitton took the first set 2-0, opening the match with a 12-darter, before Lewis won the second in a deciding leg.

Fitton hit two maximums in taking the third in 13 and 14 darts before Lewis found his range on the doubles.

After winning the fourth set in superb style, Lewis took the fifth and sixth without reply and only a fine 124 checkout in the seventh saw Fitton stem the tide.

Lewis moved 5-2 up by hitting back on double ten to win that set, and then took advantage of Fitton misses to wrap up the win.

On facing Anderson - who averaged 108 in defeating James Wade 6-3 earlier on Friday - in the semis, Lewis added: "I'll have to improve probably 100% against Gary!

"He has been superb all week and his display against James was awesome, it will be a tough match."

Match Stats

MARK WEBSTER 6-2 GARY ROBSON

MARK WEBSTER stormed past Gary Robson to reach the semi-finals of the Topic International Darts League.

The Welsh youngster reached his second major semi-final thanks to a 6-2 triumph against the 2005 World Darts Trophy champion.

Robson, who was battling against a bout of 'flu, never recovered after going 4-0 down early on as Webster won eight of the first nine legs in the contest.

Robson hit back in style to win the fifth and sixth sets in 14, 13, 15 and 14 darts.

But Webster moved 5-2 up with back-to-back legs to take the seventh set without reply thanks to a 13-darter, and came from 1-0 down in the eighth to seal the win.

The 23-year-old plumber from Denbigh now meets Tony O'Shea in Saturday's semi-final in the hope of winning a place in his first major final.

Match Stats