The big tournament starts tonight in Citywest, but over the weekend two players hit the sort of form that means they will need to be watched closely.
As with all major tournaments, the weekend preceding the World Darts Grand Prix in Citywest played host to two smaller tournaments with very strong fields.
Saturday’s action saw Dutchman Michael Van Gerwen triumph in the final over Robert Thornton, coming from 4-1 and 5-3 down to take the last three legs with finishes of 70, 124 and 110. Impressive stuff, eh?
But Thornton showed that Saturday’s performance was no flash in the pan as he went one better on Sunday, beating fellow Scot Gary Anderson in the final 6-5.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Thornton was understandably happy with his weekend’s work.
“It’s brilliant to win this – I’m over the moon,” said Thornton. “I’ve had a couple of quarter-finals and semi-finals recently and got to the final yesterday, so I thought I was due a win and hopefully there’s many more to come.”
The road to that next success starts tonight as he plays Mark Walsh in the very first game on the oche tonight in Citywest.
“I’m chuffed to bits and I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll rest up tonight, have a couple of hours’ practice tomorrow and then just enjoy the game tomorrow night.”
If Thornton does keep up his good form, and gets past Walsh, then in all likelihood he will face Phil Taylor in the second round. That will be the real test for Thornton’s form.
The World Grand Prix runs at Citywest from October 8-14. We have VIP packages to the event to give away courtesy of McCoy’s so click here for your chance to win.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
