Mission Recap – Trio Advance To The Grand Slam Knockouts

Mission Recap – Trio Advance To The Grand Slam Knockouts

Team Mission have made their mark already at this year’s Grand Slam of Darts with three players progressing to the knockout stages in Wolverhampton.

Ritchie Edhouse continued his fine form in front of the TV cameras as he won all three of his matches to finish top of Group D.

The recent European Championship winner posted 103 and 105 averages in victories against Ross Smith and Dave Chisnall, helping him to advance through the group stage for the first time.

Grand Slam debutant Martin Lukeman also topped his group with a perfect 3-0 record to win Group C.

‘Smash’ had stormed through the tour card holder qualifiers with four 100-plus averages to book a debut in Wolverhampton, and his impressive run continued with wins over former world champions Peter Wright and Rob Cross.

Ryan Joyce booked his spot in the last 16 of the Grand Slam after winning a straight shootout against Michael van Gerwen last night.

‘Relentless’ took out 80 in two darts for a 14-dart leg in the decider to knock out the world number three and finish second in Group G.

Wessel Nijman produced a trio of 105-plus averages but incredibly finished his debut campaign in the Grand Slam without a win.

The Dutchman posted averages of 106, 105 and 111 in narrow defeats to Stephen Bunting, Josh Rock and Gian van Veen, as he finished with a tournament average of 107.

Rock’s bid to reach the knockout stages in Wolverhampton for a third consecutive year fell just short last night.

‘Rocky’ was beaten 5-2 in his winner-takes-all clash in Group H with Bunting, as the Northern Irishman finished third in the ‘group of death.’

Connor Scutt also lost out in his straight shootout to progress through the group stages, as Ross Smith prevailed in their decisive clash in Group D on Monday night.

‘The Sniper’ flew out of the blocks on his Grand Slam debut, averaging 104 and whitewashing Chisnall 5-0 on Saturday, but defeats to Edhouse and Smith over the next two days saw him finish third in the group.

Elsewhere, Dominik Grüllich narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the PDC Europe Super League on Friday night.

The German topped Group B with eight wins from his 10 games to advance to the knockout stages, where his run continued with victories over Andree Welge and Kevin Troppmann.

Grüllich’s Ally Pally bid ended in a 7-6 defeat in the semi-finals to the recent WDF World Masters finalist Kai Gotthardt, who would go on to beat Paul Krohne 8-7 in the final to secure a spot at the PDC World Darts Championship in December.

Robyn Byrne enjoyed a successful weekend at the Killarney Darts Festival with several title wins on home soil.

The Dubliner beat Paige Pauling 5-2 in the final of the Killarney Open ladies’ event and teamed up with Katie Sheldon to lift the Irish Open ladies’ pairs title.

Byrne then whitewashed Priscilla Steenbergen 5-0 to clinch the WDF-ranked Irish Classic ladies’ title on Saturday.

Mission’s player development manager Darryl Fitton made his return to the big stage at the World Seniors Darts Masters last week.

‘The Dazzler’ was beaten 4-1 in sets by Northern Ireland’s Neil Duff in the first round. After losing the game’s first five legs, Fitton responded by claiming four of the next five legs before Duff halted his comeback and pinched the fifth set in a decider.

Pictures: PDC

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