Eighth seed Raymond van Barneveld cruised into the quarter-finals of the Unibet World Grand Prix with a straight sets defeat of Steve Beaton in the second round in Dublin.
The two-time World Grand Prix finalist followed up his 2-0 win over Auckland Darts Masters champion Kyle Anderson on Sunday with another dominant performance as he raced into the last eight having yet to drop a set.
Beaton won the opening leg of the first two sets between the two former world champions, but let the Dutchman back in on both occasions as van Barneveld moved clear, winning the opener 3-1 and the second in a deciding leg after two missed doubles from Beaton to level.
Barney took the third set’s opening two legs, and though he missed three match darts to allow Beaton’s brief respite, an 80 finish sealed the five-time world champion’s last eight spot.
“I was never comfortable but Steve wasn’t at his best tonight and I feel like the luckiest guy on the circuit,” said van Barneveld, who will now play Michael van Gerwen’s conqueror John Henderson in Thursday’s quarter-finals.
“Steve started well but I managed to win the first two sets, which could have easily gone either way. I won and that’s what’s most important.
“I felt a lot of confidence coming into this tournament and Sunday was good against Kyle Anderson. This game wasn’t as good but I won and I’ll be practising hard ahead of the quarter-finals.”
Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC
lovethedartsmag.com 