Reigning champion Phil Taylor made a winning start to defending his title at the 2015 edition of the Singha Beer Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton, England, as the Power brushed aside Martin Phillips with the minimum of fuss.There were also big wins for tournament heavyweightsRaymond van Barneveld, Gary Anderson and James Wade in the best-of-nine-legs format.Here are the results from the afternoon session:RecapWorld champion Anderson was in ominous form as he whitewashed Larry Butler. The Flying Scotsman was in fine fettle from the off, hitting 180s for fun. All told, it took him just 10 minutes to dispatch Butler.Taylor set a similar pace by producing another whitewash to blank Martin Phillips. A double-20 sent the current tournament champion through.As Live Darts noted on Twitter, Taylor's scoring efficiency was excellent:Clearly determined not to be outdone by Taylor and Anderson, Van Barneveld raced into a three-leg lead against Andy Boulton. A maximum provided the platform for a 4-0 advantage.The mercurial Dutchman then comfortably took the fifth leg to seal the session's third whitewash in a row.In the bid to outdo his illustrious rivals, Van Barneveld's scoring rate had been even more impressive:It was also a fairly easy afternoon's work for Wade, who dismantled Michel van der Horst with little effort. In fact, Wade's only tricky moment came when it was time to close the match. He couldn't hit a modest 81 checkout and needed three throws for double-10.But having made the third count, he advanced.On his day, Wade is a tricky opponent for anyone. He's capable of putting lengthy scoring runs together from the oche. But too often, he disappoints and fails to hit peak form. It's a mistake he can't make again in a field this talented.While Wade enjoyed a relatively easy time of things, Robert Thornton made harder work of it against Geert De Vos. Despite hitting four maximums, The Thorn consistently found himself pegged back. At four legs apiece, he fluffed his lines twice with match darts at tops.But hitting that mark to cap 76 eventually saw Thornton advance.In the afternoon session's mild upset, former finalist Terry Jenkins was seen off by Jonny Clayton. The latter went 4-1 ahead before nearly letting Jenkins back into it. But hitting tops finished things off for the tournament debutante.While Clayton rode his luck at times, fortune certainly wasn't on Keegan Brown's side during his match against Mark Webster. Falling Darts were the bane of Brown's life, according to the PDC.tv official Twitter feed:After falling 3-0 behind, Brown took two legs in a row. But Webster held off the comeback with a 130 checkout to seal the win. PDC.tv provided highlights of the finish:Earlier, Robbie Green had started the day by staking himself to a two-leg lead against Rowby-John Rodriguez. A maximum gave Green the first leg, while hitting double-16 let him break throw in the second.It was another 180 that set him up for a 133 checkout to take the match.Taylor, Anderson and Van Barneveld have all served notice to tournament favourite Michael van Gerwen that they mean business at this year's event. Based on this evidence, the prolific Dutchman certainly won't have things all his own way in Wolverhampton.All scoring and match information via PDC.tv.
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