World News – GB – World Grand Prix 2020: Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson suffer shocking quarter-final defeats

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Simon Whitlock and Dirk van Duijvenbode will meet in an unlikely semi-final of the World Grand Prix on Sunday after the duo send Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson to Coventry to pack their bags

A tournament that saw six of the eight seeds beaten in the first round had its biggest surprises on Saturday night as Van Duijvenbode, 28-year-old eggplant farmer and world No. 73, stunned Anderson, only for world n ° 1 and 5 time champion Van Gerwen will follow him just over an hour later

The other semi-final will see Gerwyn Price take on two-time runner-up Dave Chisnall – the Iceman is the only seed left after avoiding the same fate as Van Gerwen in the last game of the night against Jeffrey of Zwaan

Simon Whitlock produced an almost perfect display to end Michael van Gerwen’s two-year reign as world Grand Prix champion and keep his own title hopes alive just days after being added to the tournament

Whitlock was a late alternative after Adrian Lewis tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday, and he was at his best, scoring 107 and 100 spots on the way to an unlikely semi-final showdown with Dirk van Duijvenbode

The Wizard challenged a 108 average of Van Gerwen to win the first set, a pitching break in the second leg thanks to an elegant finish of 107 proving decisive for the Aussie, who lit the afterburner to win the second set

Whitlock won all three sets, including a brilliant top-top finish, on his way to a two-set advantage and Van Gerwen was left to catch up

The Dutchman had no response to Whitlock’s score and finish, and although Van Gerwen’s misery in the outer ring continued, Whitlock was ruthless in sealing a second top-tier victory over MVG in the last three months

The Australian beat the world No.1 at World Matchplay in July with an 11-4 second-round victory to end a 15-game losing streak against the Dutchman, and it was equally convincing on Saturday evening

Dirk van Duijvenbode continued the week of his darting life by stunning Anderson to enter his first televised semi-final and meeting Whitlock for a place in Monday night’s final

‘The Titan’, who won their tour card for the third time at Q-School in January, proved too strong for Anderson with big scores and an impressive finishing display ensuring Anderson the wait a world Grand Prix title

Van Duijvenbode led the opening rallies in the biggest game of his career – a Class 96 finish put the seal on the first set

Trailing 2-0 in the third set and on the verge of defeat, Anderson rallied to force a decisive step where the Dutchman’s missed dart for the game was punished by the Scotsman, who pinned the double top

There was to be no comeback as Anderson, one leg from the loss, was aiming for the treble rather than the double to start the fourth leg and Van Duijvenbode pinned the double top to mop 54 and seal the victory

Van Duijvenbode’s previous best performance in PDC was a semi-final at the Belgian Darts Championship earlier this year, but the victory guaranteed him at least £ 25,000 and keeps him in the race for a first PDC title

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Gerwyn Price assured that there will be at least one of the world’s best eight in the last four with a 3-1 victory over Jeffrey de Zwaan

The Iceman never made it past the quarter-finals in this event, but he did so by leading his game with the Dutchman, also a late alternative after Stephen Bunting tested positive for coronavirus, right off the bat

Price won the first four sets of the match as De Zwaan struggled to get there, but the Black Cobra stopped the rot and forced the second set to a decisive stage

With the winning post in sight, Price faltered for the first time and De Zwaan won the third set before the Welshman lived up to his world No.3 status

Having won three of the last four tournaments played, Price is the in-form player of the match and he won all three sets he needed to land another great semi-final – a spectacular 164 to get the job done

Dave Chisnall survived a match littered with missed doubles to beat Joe Cullen in a tie-breaker in the last game and advance to the semi-finals for the fourth time in the past eight years

The pair missed 55 doubles darts between them, Chizzy responsible for 33, but in the end, Chisnall’s 2-0 fight for the second game in a row saw him in the last four

Despite a quick start from Chisnall, which included a brilliant 150 finish to kick off the contest, it was Cullen who took the lead – but only after Chizzy, beaten by Van Gerwen in last year’s final, had missed nine darts to take the opening game

A brilliant 120 from Cullen kept the momentum going, but as the second set also went the distance, Chisnall remarkably missed five more darts. Cullen missed six, but pinned double-seven to double his lead

Chizzy returned to the game, sweeping the next three stages for the third set with another 150 scoring points before passing a loaded fourth set with a sizzling finish of 155 for a level contest.

Cullen hit back 2-0 in the decider, but it was Chisnall who crossed the line, aptly in a contest full of missed chances he saw three match darts go begging before pinning the winning double

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Professional Darts Corporation, World Grand Prix, Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Joe Cullen, Dave Chisnall, Gary Anderson, Kim Huybrechts, Simon Whitlock