Our Blog

Defending Grand Slam champion Raymond van Barneveld and last year’s runner-up Michael van Gerwen both made winning starts in Wolverhampton on Saturday, when James Wade, Robert Thornton, Mark Webster, Simon Whitlock and Paul Nicholson all also enjoyed victories.

van Barneveld saw off youngster Ricky Evans 5-2, while van Gerwen edged past fellow Dutchman Vincent van der Voort 5-3 to take two points from the first match of the group stage.

Wade produced fabulous finishes of 160 and 130 in his 5-2 success over Peter Wright, with Webster, Whitlock and Nicholson all triumphing by the same scoreline against Wes Newton, Ross Smith and Kevin Painter respectively.

Thornton produced a clincial display to complete a 5-0 whitewash over Mark Walsh.

Individual match reports are available on each of the player’s offical websites or via the links below.

Robert Thornton 5-0 Mark Walsh

Mark Webster 5-2 Wes Newton

Simon Whitlock 5-2 Ross Smith

Raymond van Barneveld 5-2 Ricky Evans

James Wade 5-2 Peter Wright

Paul Nicholson 5-2 Kevin Painter

Michael van Gerwen 5-3 Vincent van der Voort