Van Gerwen Powers Past De Zwaan In BoyleSports World Grand Prix

Michael van Gerwen stormed into the BoyleSports World Grand Prix quarter-finals with an imperious 3-0 defeat of Dutch rival Jeffrey de Zwaan in Dublin on Tuesday night. The reigning champion in the double-start event had endured some nervous moments during Sunday's first round win over Jamie Hughes, but produced the highest average of the tournament so far at 94.79 as he powered past De Zwaan. The youngster had defeated Van Gerwen in both the UK Open and World Matchplay in 2018, but was restricted to just three darts at a finishing double during a one-sided contest. Four-time champion Van Gerwen raced through the first set in little over four minutes, landing two 12-darters and finishing 134 as he asserted his dominance. De Zwaan took out a 120 finish in the second, only for Van Gerwen to double his advantage with a 3-1 scoreline before repeating that in the third to complete the win. "I know what I'm capable of and I think played really well," said Van Gerwen. "I had to because Jeffrey is a good guy and a phenomenally talented player, so you have to put him under pressure to make sure you keep on top of him. "I'm very confident and I feel really good. With my scoring power and my finishing, I can't really complain." Van Gerwen will now meet Mervyn King in Thursday's quarter-finals in a repeat of the 2012 World Grand Prix final, which the Dutchman had won to claim his maiden PDC televised title. "I've got Mervyn next and I want to play exactly the same against him," said the World Champion. "Of course I fancy my chances but Mervyn is playing really well again and I need to make sure I'm sharp." King reached his second successive televised quarter-final as he came from a set down to defeat two-time World Grand Prix champion James Wade 3-1. Wade, the 2007 and 2010 winner at the Citywest Convention Centre, had claimed the opening set 3-2 as he chased a spot in the quarter-finals. However, the left-hander paid for failing to close out set two as King levelled the tie in a dramatic deciding leg. The 2012 finalist then landed a ten-darter in taking set three 3-2 before sweeping through the next without reply to book a last eight place, following up July's run to the same stage at the World Matchplay. "I'm so pleased to be through," said King, who last reached the quarter-finals in Dublin in 2014. "James is a classic double top and double ten hitter, but I was a little bit more consistent than him. "I don't think I played that badly in the first set but I missed a couple of things and he punished me, and I had to dig in just to get back level, but from the third set I started firing. "I'm not here to make the numbers up - I'm here to win the title and I've always said that if Mervyn King turns up, Mervyn King stands a good chance of winning." Ian White won through to his first World Grand Prix quarter-final since 2015 with a 3-1 win over Michael Smith, who continued his record of failing to win past the last 16 in Dublin. White led 2-1 early on, only to miss his chance to close out the set as Smith capitalised on two missed doubles with a 14-darter before winning the deciding leg on double ten. White, though, opened set two with a 12-darter to spark a run of seven successive legs as he moved into a 2-1 lead in the game and also took the advantage in set four. Smith hit back to win two of the next three as he saved the set, but the fightback was brief as tops sealed White's spot in the last eight. "I'm delighted to win but it was hard work," said White. "Michael's my practice partner and a close friend so it's hard playing someone you know so well. "I thought I could have won the first set, but I kept myself focused and not many players win seven legs in a row against Michael Smith. "I wanted to get towards the latter stages to give myself a chance and I'm glad I'm still going. It's coming up to the end of the year so every major tournament is big and I want to prove to everyone that I can play up there." White will now play Chris Dobey, who reached his third televised quarter-final with a superb 3-1 victory over two-time World Champion Gary Anderson. The Scot, a former Dublin finalist, defied a showpiece 134 checkout from Dobey to claim the opening set 3-2, only to see the Newcastle youngster come from 2-1 down to level in the second. Dobey then finished 90, 60 and 110 to win the third without reply, before securing his last eight place by claiming set four with a 3-1 scoreline. "I think my overall performance was pretty good and I'm delighted to have won," said Dobey. "I knew I had the game to beat Gary and I had to keep my cool, and it's up there with my best performances on stage. "It means a lot to me. This is a great competition to be in and I like the double-start format - I think it suits my game. I'm not here to make the numbers up, I'm in it to win it but I'm not going to look any further forward than the next game." The second round concludes on Wednesday with the remaining four matches, headlined by the clash between World Matchplay champion Rob Cross and reigning Lakeside Champion Glen Durrant. Former World Grand Prix finalists Dave Chisnall and Peter Wright will play Stephen Bunting and Jermaine Wattimena respectively, while UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall is up against Danny Noppert. 2019 BoyleSports World Grand Prix Tuesday October 8 Second Round Mervyn King 3-1 James Wade (2-3, 3-2, 3-1, 3-0) Ian White 3-1 Michael Smith (2-3, 3-0, 3-0, 3-2) Michael van Gerwen 3-0 Jeffrey de Zwaan (3-0, 3-1, 3-1) Chris Dobey 3-1 Gary Anderson (2-3, 3-2, 3-0, 3-1) Wednesday October 9 (1900 start) Danny Noppert v Nathan Aspinall Dave Chisnall v Stephen Bunting Rob Cross v Glen Durrant Peter Wright v Jermaine Wattimena