Sherrock slays Suljovic again to reach Grand Slam quarters

Fallon Sherrock continued her tungsten fairytale at the Grand Slam of Darts after defeating Mensur Suljovic 10-5 to reach the quarter-finals in Wolverhampton on Thursday.

Superstar Sherrock raised the roof at the Aldersley Leisure Village with another remarkable performance to defeat the Austrian with three maximums and a 90.58 average to set up a mouth-watering last eight clash with Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright.

Wright dethroned Jose de Sousa in a final leg shootout after coming out on top in a disjointed performance, hitting eight 180s but averaging just 90.41.

Michael Smith came close to landing a nine-darter in his excellent win against Joe Cullen as he made it through to the quarter-finals of the tournament for the third straight year.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Michael van Gerwen faced Scotland’s two-time finalist Gary Anderson in the final match of another dramatic night of action.

Super Sherrock does it again

History-maker Sherrock went up against Suljovic in a repeat of their World Championship classic and it didn’t disappoint.

‘The Queen of the Palace’, who produced an inspired comeback to stun Gabriel Clemens and create another moment of sporting history on Tuesday night, famously defeated the Austrian to reach the third round at Alexandra Palace in 2019.

But the former Champions League winner was out for revenge and he made a composed start to take a 2-0 lead before the boisterous crowd rose to their feet following a superb ton-out with an 11-dart leg followed by a stunning 124 on the bullseye from Sherrock.

She made it three legs on the spin, nailing double nine to lead 3-2 before sinking double five after Suljovic failed with five missed darts at doubles. ‘The Gentle’ was averaging below 80 and Sherrock took full advantage with another sublime bull-finish for 5-3.

The 27-year-old then made it six out of the last seven legs for 6-3 before Suljovic stopped the rot.

However, Sherrock then broke again with a 15-darter to edge closer to the last eight. She moved one leg away from victory with double 17 and made it through to a showdown with Wright by landing double nine.

Wright ends De Sousa’s reign

De Sousa continued his title defence against world No 2 Wright in a match which had all the makings of a very tight encounter and so it proved, with the Portuguese star taking a 3-2 lead before the first interval.

It was very much nip and tuck until ‘The Special One’ swooped in the 10th leg with a timely 174 and 32 to head into the break with a 6-4 advantage.

Wright came out firing maximums with his back against the wall, responding with a superb 12-dart leg and then levelling at 6-6 after taking out 68. He nailed an 80 checkout to win his third consecutive leg, but wasn’t able to consolidate his lead, with his opponent pinning double four to make it 7-7.

The 51-year-old Scot was feeling the heat but he somehow scrambled his way to a hold of throw with double 16, having appeared on the brink before sinking 82 to hit the front at 9-8.

World Matchplay champion Wright threw for the match, but he failed with five match darts, and that allowed De Sousa in for double 10 to make it 9-9 and send the contest the distance.

However, Wright eventually dethroned De Sousa as he sank double 16 to make it through and breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Smith powers past Cullen

Former semi-finalist Smith went into his last 16 meeting with Yorkshireman Cullen having come through the group stage with a 100 per cent winning record and was aiming for his maiden major TV title.

The St Helens thrower made the better start and had chances to extend his lead to 4-1, but he squandered darts at double one, allowing ‘The Rockstar’ to finally land double 16 and stay in touch at 3-2.

The pair shared breaks of throw following the first mini-break before ‘Bully Boy’ regained the upper hand at 4-3 and maintained his two-leg cushion to lead 6-4 in a race to 10.

Double five with his last dart in hand enabled Smith to move 7-5 ahead before he made his move by sinking tops and double nine to close to within one leg of going through.

He came within a millimetre of landing an epic nine-darter in the 15th leg, but Smith maintained his composure to complete a convincing 10-5 victory and take his place in the quarter-finals.

Don’t miss a dart from the Grand Slam of Darts which continues all weekend from Wolverhampton’s Aldersley Leisure Village – join us from 7pm on Sky Sports Arena this Friday night. Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts