Champions League of Darts 2016: Winner, Prize Money, Final Scores and Results
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Michael van Gerwen qualified for the semi-finals of the 2016 Champions League of Darts after beating Peter Wright in a virtual Group A playoff in Cardiff on Sunday. MVG had to beat Snakebite after Phil Taylor outclassed him on the tournament's opening night.
James Wade and Gary Anderson also booked their places in the final four. Wade beat and eliminated Michael Smith, while the Flying Scotsman sent Adrian Lewis packing.
Taylor was already through, but he warmed up for the evening session with a comprehensive win over Robert Thornton. Taylor is showing no signs of slowing after his stunning dismantling of MVG on day one.
Here's the semi-final lineup, per BBC Sport:
Here are the results from the afternoon session:
| Group | Player | Score | Player |
| B | James Wade | 10-5 | Michael Smith |
| B | Gary Anderson | 10-5 | Adrian Lewis |
| A | Phil Taylor | 10-2 | Robert Thornton |
| A | Michael van Gerwen | 10-5 | Peter Wright |
PDC.tv
All scoring and match information, per PDC.tv.
The semi-finals and final will take place in the evening session.
Not even a 134 checkout from Snakebite could slow Van Gerwen. The Dutchman was 4-1 in front after a Wright miss on doubles proved costly.
By contrast, Van Gerwen was landing the doubles. He hit double-eight twice before finding double-10 to go three ahead.
Yet another double-eight later helped stretch Van Gerwen's lead to 7-2. It was 7-3 at the interval, but as Live Darts made clear, MVG was in firm control:
A 46 checkout put Van Gerwen two away from the semi-finals. Eventually, he closed things out at 10-5 to earn his spot in the final four.
MVG hasn't quite been himself so far, but no player will want to see him in the tournament's decisive phase.
Wade went into an early 3-2 lead during what proved to be a back-and-forth battle with Smith. The latter was guilty of some costly misses on doubles to let Wade in:
Smith was scoring well, having taken down a 110 checkout in the second leg. But his erratic form on doubles was costing him.
The same problem allowed Wade to get an early break and start to create some distance from Smith:
Wade eliminated Smith from semi-final contention when he took out double-eight in the next leg. From then on, Smith was merely playing for pride.
While he earned some, Smith couldn't keep pace with Wade's scoring. The Machine hit yet another maximum to move five in front, per BBC Sport:
Wade finished with some impressive numbers to his credit:
Afterward, he reflected on his return to Cardiff during an interview with BBC Sport (h/t Live Darts):
Wade has often been the nearly man of the sport. Yet, he'll take some beating on this form.
Lewis actually broke throw against world champion Anderson, despite the latter having made a perfect start on the first day of the tournament. Jackpot took out double-10 to claim the first leg and then had Anderson reeling by winning the second.
Yet, if Anderson was rattled, he didn't show it. In fact, the Scot hit a maximum before a 110 checkout to get back in the match. Next, he took down 54 to level it.
However, Lewis won the next three to move 5-2 ahead. But misses at doubles in the next leg proved critical, per PDC Darts:
A 106 checkout put Anderson into the final four. It also meant Jackpot wouldn't make it.
Anderson had hit maximum five times by the time he was 7-5 ahead. Another 106 checkout put him 9-5 in front, before Anderson wrapped things up for this third win in a row.
The Flying Scotsman sounded more relieved than impressed by his eight-leg comeback:
Taylor was already in the semi-final, but the Power could have provided the first nine-darter of this tournament. However, Taylor ultimately came up one dart short in front of the Cardiff crowd.
BBC Sport Wales relayed these highlights:
Taylor was 7-2 up in no time at all. He soon wrapped up top spot in Group A after closing things out emphatically at 10-2.
These stunning numbers saw Taylor through:
Taylor is playing some of the best darts of his long and storied career. Still, he'll know it will still take something special to beat competition the level of Anderson or Van Gerwen if he's going to win the tournament.
Check back later for the results of the semi-final matches and the final.
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