Tag: sport

Former Arsenal midfield Paul Merson believes Brentford’s Ivan Toney must be selected to go to the World Cup in Qatar. 

Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk tells Jamie Redknapp he expects Sunday’s game against Manchester City to be as intense as ever.

Every Scottish Premiership boss tells Sky Sports News what they think of VAR and its introduction to the top-flight.

In episode four of Aquaphobia we hear travel around the country to get the experiences of different water sports and hear from a double Olympic water polo champion in the United States

Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane pick their top three players and managers n the Premier League, footballers of all time, and pundits!

Liverpool have been having some joy down the right flank and it delivers the equalising goal from Nunez.

Michael van Gerwen stays on course for his sixth World Grand Prix title after reaching his seventh final with a tirade of tungsten bashing to dismantle old foe Peter Wright, as Nathan Aspinall dethroned Gerwyn Price from his position as world No 1 to reach Sunday’s final in Leicester

Michael van Gerwen put an end to his war of words with Peter Wright by demolishing his old adversary to set up a showdown with surprise-finalist Nathan Aspinall at the World Grand Prix.

Van Gerwen stormed into the final with a ruthless straight-sets rout of ‘Snakebite’ Wright, dropping just one leg in a one-sided contest.

Aspinall, meanwhile, battled past 2020 champion Gerwyn Price to earn his first appearance in the World Grand Prix final.

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MVG thrashed Wright in the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix, winning 4-0 and only dropping one leg!

Wright endured a nightmare from the off as Van Gerwen took out 167 in the game’s opening leg and stamped his dominance on the tie by winning the first set without the world champion having a dart at a finishing double.

He also finished 94 and 98 to take command in set two, before punishing misses from Wright to double his lead in the tie.

Checkouts of 67 and 54 saw ‘Mighty Mike’ extend his winning streak to eight legs before Wright finally got off the mark by taking out 73 to pull back to 2-1 in the third set.

The Scot, though, paid for missing his chance to level the set as Van Gerwen closed out the set to close in on another appearance in the final.

He then finished 124 to open the fourth set, double 16 to move 2-0 up and punished further misses from Wright to seal victory on tops.

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Wright showed Van Gerwen respect after the Dutchman hit a monstrous 167 finish on the bullseye in the first leg of their clash

“With my performance in the last few days I expected to win, but you still have to do it against a guy like Peter Wright,” said Van Gerwen, who has also seen off Gary Anderson, Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey in Leicester this week.

“He didn’t look well and I don’t know what happened there, but you need to take advantage of that.

“He’s a phenomenal player but he didn’t turn up tonight and I did the right things for myself at the right moment. Early doors I played well and that gave me confidence.”

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Michael van Gerwen on Wright thrashing: ‘For a mediocre player, I’m not doing too bad!’

Van Gerwen has won the Premier League and World Matchplay this year, and has recovered from his own wrist surgery to return to top form and silence his doubters.

“I don’t have to justify myself,” he added. “Everyone knows what I’m capable of, and when Michael is there they’re all scared.

“I have to win my games and I hope I can keep performing like this tomorrow as well.

“In winning the Premier League I didn’t play my A-game, and I didn’t really play my A-game in the World Matchplay but I still won it. Now I think I’ve played some decent darts and I’m really happy for myself.”

Aspinall ended world No 1 Price’s bid to reach a third successive World Grand Prix final in the first semi-final.

‘The Asp’ started the brighter and landed a 14-darter and a 113 finish as he claimed the opening set 3-1, but Price responded with 121 for a 12-darter on his way to the second set.

However, Aspinall fired in a 13-dart leg as he moved ahead again in the match, before two missed darts at double 16 from Price allowed the Stockport thrower in to land double five as he moved 3-1 up in the tie.

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Price flexed his muscles with two massive back-to-back finishes including a 127 checkout on the bull, but despite his big finishes, it was Aspinall who eventually dumped him out

Aspinall then moved to the brink of victory in set five, leading 2-1 before Price levelled, and when the former UK Open and US Darts Masters champion missed a match dart at double 16, the 2020 winner pounced with a 117 checkout to snatch the set and keep his hopes alive.

Price then took out 107 and 127 in successive legs to come from behind to lead in the sixth leg, but missed doubles allowed Aspinall in to level before a 13-darter saw him clinically close out the win.

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Nathan Aspinall said reaching the World Grand Prix final ‘means so much’ following his recovery from a serious wrist injury

“To be in the World Grand Prix final, I’m absolutely on cloud nine,” said Aspinall, who landed a clinical 56 per cent of his finishing doubles in the tie.

“It means so much. I’ve put so much work in since my injury and worked so hard. Finally, I’m back in the final of a major and I’m buzzing.

“I think I should have won the game 4-1 but it wasn’t to be – nerves took their toll on me and Gezzy, when he needed to, took some amazing shots out.

“I thought he was going to kick on and his double tops were going to start going, but it just didn’t happen; I have no idea why and I’m thankful that I won.”

Nathan will have to sharpen up, but has he got the game? Yes! He knows that he’s the underdog and he’s been the underdog the whole event but he’s got the belief. He knows what it takes and he knows he’ll probably have to play better tomorrow than he did tonight. The chances he’ll get tomorrow won’t be as many, but all he can do is come up here and try his best. Can he win it? Yes, he can! But he’ll probably have to do what Robert Thornton did in 2015 and that is hit tops in a relentless way and probably have that little bit of luck with Michael van Gerwen missing. I think that’s what probably needs to happen.

Wayne Mardle on Van Gerwen vs Aspinall

Van Gerwen will be firm favourite going into Sunday’s final, with Aspinall the outsider to claim the £120,000 top prize and lift the new World Grand Prix trophy at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.

You can watch the World Grand Prix final on Sky Sports Arena and Main Event on Sunday, October 9 from 7.30pm.

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Nathan Aspinall secured a shock win over Michael Smith; Martin Lukeman came through with a surprise upset against James Wade; Gerwyn Price secured a dominant victory as Joe Cullen overcame Damon Heta in a tight contest

Michael Smith suffered a shock first-round exit at the hands of Nathan Aspinall in a night full of upsets at the World Grand Prix in Leicester.

The Stockport man came away with a 2-1 win over Smith as the world No 4 struggled to find his rhythm on the doubles.

Martin Lukeman provided the performance of the night in a shock victory over James Wade, while Gerwyn Price put in a professional performance against Martin Schindler and Joe Cullen overcame Damon Heta.

The final match of the evening was touted as a big encounter and it did not disappoint as Smith and Aspinall faced off in a fast-paced clash.

Aspinall started the encounter with much more promise, breaking Smith early with a 116 finish to go two legs ahead.

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Nathan Aspinall started his match against Michael Smith with a 116 checkout in the first round of the World Grand Prix

‘Bully Boy’ fought back to claim a leg of his own but it was not enough as the world No 16 took advantage of some inaccuracy on the doubles to claim the first set.

The second set continued in the same vein as the first as Aspinall raced into a two-leg lead but Smith was not ready to go down without a fight and checked out on 95 to keep himself in the tie before backing it up with a 101 finish to bring the set level.

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Smith took out this finish to level the second set against Aspinall

A crucial leg followed and a lovely 171 put Aspinall close to victory with three match darts, but he failed to take his chance and Smith checked out on D10 to bring it to a set apiece.

A nervous third set ensued but Aspinall managed to find his form to secure a 3-0 whitewash, checking out on D16 to take the match.

Price cut an ultra-confident figure as he stepped out for his clash with Schindler and he got off to a flying start, breaking the throw in the first leg and holding his own to power ahead.

With both players unable to find the doubles to checkout, Schindler battled his way back with a D5 in the third leg of the set but it was to no avail as ‘The Iceman’ discovered his accuracy once again to take out D2 for the first set.

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Gerwyn Price enjoyed this 101 finish on his way to victory over Martin Schindler

The Welshman’s dominance continued into the second set as Schindler was unable to get comfortable, a sublime 101 finish to break the throw spurring him on to victory and into the second round.

Lukeman came through with the biggest upset of the night against Wade, taking the first set in three straight legs and stunning the world No 5 to secure his first televised victory.

Lukeman, who sits outside the world top 50, was easily finding some big maximums while Wade struggled to get going on the doubles, Wade at one point needing seven darts to get his leg going on the doubles.

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Martin Lukeman caused a huge upset, beating James Wade in the first round

The second set produced a partial fightback from Wade as he brought his average back up, a crucial D2 keeping him in the tie but the third leg saw Lukeman battle well and hold his throw with a D10 to take the lead.

Out of nowhere, Wade found a vital 121 finish to bring it to a deciding leg but it was Lukeman who ended with three match darts and used them well, hitting the D8 to secure the biggest win of his career so far.

It was touted to be a tight and exciting match-up and Cullen and Heta did not disappoint in their opening set, trading breaks of throw and ton-plus finishes before a D16 saw Cullen take the opener.

Heta take complete control in the second set, breaking Cullen twice, including a brilliant 115 finish, to take a 3-0 whitewash and bring the tie all square but Cullen took the final set and the match on D8 to conclude a gritty and enthralling match.

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Joe Cullen struck an early break in his first-round match against Damon Heta

The tight contests continued as former world champion Rob Cross and former World Grand Prix champion Daryl Gurney faced off, both players holding their throw before Cross’ inability to find the crucial double to start, missing nine times, gifted Gurney a chance to break and take the first set.

After Cross fought back in the second set, hitting two maximums and breaking Gurney to make things even, ‘Superchin’ held it together and broke Cross early in the final leg to take the big win.

Last year’s semi-finalist Danny Noppert was back to show his form on the doubles again as he took on Gabriel Clemens. An astonishing second leg saw the Dutchman take 13 darts to get going on the double but he rallied to leave himself on a ton-plus finish of 101 to seal the leg before going on to take the set.

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Danny Noppert missed 12 darts at double to get started in the second leg of his game against Gabriel Clemens but still managed to win the leg after a remarkable turnaround

Clemens fought back for a couple of legs but Noppert raised his game and grinded out a 2-0 win as he looks to go one step further than 2021.

With three debutants on show as the opening round came to a close, there were some upsets to be had and Madars Razma had a strong showing as he won 2-1 against Ryan Searle, taking the first set after breaking the throw twice before taking out a lovely 108 finish to win the match and progress to the second round.

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Andrew Gilding hit this 102 checkout on his way to winning the first set of his first-round match against Ross Smith

An all-British tie between Ross Smith and Andrew Gilding saw Smith come away with the spoils in a closely-fought 2-1 victory.

Wednesday sees the players from night one back in action as Adrian Lewis faces Chris Dobey, Peter Wright is up against Krzysztof Ratajski, Michael van Gerwen plays Stephen Bunting and Jonny Clayton faces off against Dimitri Van den Bergh as the second round gets under way.

Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts. You can watch the 25th staging of the World Grand Prix ‘Double in, Double out’ set format on Sky Sports all the way through to the final on October 9 in Leicester.