Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson and Raymond van Barneveld all won in the 2017 Grand Slam of Darts at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Sunday.Defending champion MVGsurvived a 4-2 deficit to win a thriller against Rob Cross in the evening session, before Barney closed out the day's play by overcoming Gerwyn Price after being 3-0 down on a day of comebacks.Like Van Gerwen, who qualified for the last 16, Taylor came back from 4-2 down, surviving four match darts, before beating Robbie Green.Earlier, Anderson qualified for the last 16 after beating a struggling Berry van Peer in an emotional match during the afternoon session.Here are the results from the day's matches:Afternoon SessionGroup AAlan Norris 3-5 GlenDurrantPeter Wright 5-0 CoreyCadbyGroup FJeffreydeZwaan3-5 Scott MitchellDaveChisnall2-5 Stephen BuntingGroup GMensurSuljovic5-4 Michael SmithJames Wilson 5-2 MarkMcGeeneyGroup HSimonWhitlock2-5 Cameron MenziesGary Anderson 5-1 Berry van PeerEvening SessionGroup AJoeMurnan3-5 Ross MontgomeryMichael vanGerwen5-4 Rob CrossGroup DDarren Webster 5-2 DannyNoppertDaryl Gurney 5-3 Mark WebsterGroup BSteve Lennon 5-0 Jamie HughesRaymond vanBarneveld5-4GerwynPriceGroup CJames Wade 5-1 PeterMachinPhil Taylor 5-4 Robbie Green Fullstandingsand anupdated scheduleare available at thePDCofficial website. Afternoon RecapDaveChisnallwas stunned by Stephen Bunting when the latter pinnedbullseyeto complete an 81 checkout and open a 2-0 lead. It was 4-1 whenChisnallhit double-four to stay in the match, but he would get no closer as Bunting saw things out in the next leg.Scott Mitchell beat JeffreydeZwaanin the other match in Group F.Earlier, Anderson had booked his place in the last 16 by beating Van Peer in an emotional match. The latter was reduced to tears as he continued to struggle againstDartitisnot being able to release the dartperLewis Winterof theDaily Express.Anderson's experience proved decisive as Van Peer struggled, leading to a comprehensive 5-1 win for the Flying Scotsman. Afterward, Anderson offered words of support for his vanquished opponent:Elsewhere in Group H, Cameron Menzies saw off SimonWhitlock5-2, meaning elimination for the latter. Menzies will next play Van Peer to decide who will progress to the last 16.Group E saw Peter Wright recover from his shock loss to GlenDurranton Saturday. Snakebite whitewashed CoreyCadbyto keep his qualification hopes alive.Solid form on the doubles helped Wright make it through, per Live Darts:Durrantalso qualified after earning his second straight win when he topped Alan Norris to keep him in pole position in Group A.Unlike Wright,MensurSuljovichad a tougher time seeing off Michael Smith.Suljoviceventually scraped the win, despite Smith's impressive scoring at theoche:The other match in Group G featured James Wilson beating MarkMcGeeneywith room to spare.Evening RecapThe evening session started with Ross Montgomery eliminating JoeMurnan. As Live Darts detailed, Montgomery put together impressive form on the doubles:Next up, Darren Webster stormed into a 3-0 lead over DannyNoppert. The latter responded by completing a 42 checkout to finally get on the board.Noppertmade it 3-2 when he pinned double-10, but Webster won the next two legs to confirm the win.The other match in Group D was a thriller as Gurney overcame Mark Webster.SuperChinwas unerring on doubles, perPDCDarts:Later, Steve Lennon broke throw to move 4-0 ahead against Jamie Hughes. Lennon then wasted no time completing the whitewash to lay down a marker in Group B.A healthy scoring average was the foundation for Lennon's win:James Wade did what he needed to do to eliminate PeterMachinand register his first win in Group C. The Machine isn't in the best form, but he has the ability to go far in this tournament if he finds his groove.Taylor couldn't find his range on doubles, allowing Green to race into a 3-1 lead. Yet, a costly miss from Green helped The Power get back in it at 3-2 after hitting double-eight.Not deterred, Green pinned double-13 to move within a leg of a stunning upset. The shock win was delayed when Taylor completed a 93 checkout to move to within one.A 105 finish made it 4-4 amid some vintage darts from The Power. Taylor hit 140 and landed a maximum to start the next leg, before hitting double-16 to escape defeat and wrap up a dramatic comeback.The stats showed how close this instant classic was:Now it was time for VanGerwen's meeting with Cross, a rematch of this year's GrandPrixfinal, won by Mighty Mike. VanGerwengot a reprieve when 1-0 down as Cross squandered three chances to break throw, allowingMVGto level things up.Cross had VanGerwenreeling when he took out double-four, then completed a 170 checkout after findingbullseyefor a 4-2 lead. Mighty Mike responded with a 180, before landing double-eight got him back to within one.Inexplicably, Cross missed two match darts at tops, allowingMVGto pin double-18 and even things at four apiece. VanGerwenwrapped things up by hitting double-14.MVG's average showed he has carried his best form into this tournament as he reached the next round:Price took out 49 then hit double-10 to go 2-0 up against VanBarneveld. It was 3-0 Price when the Iceman missed double-nine, allowing Barney to pin double-10 to get on the board.VanBarneveldfound double-nine to make it 3-2 and put the pressure back on Price. Needing a response, the latter hit tops for a 4-2 advantage.Yet, in a true show of composure in the clutch, Barney found double-12 to cut the gap again. He was now in the groove on doubles, and double-four finally drew VanBarneveldlevel.Double-10 wrapped up Barney's fightback. Afterward, he described his nerves after falling behind early:The big names are all making their presence felt so far. VanGerwen, Taylor and VanBarneveldall need to play better, especially since Anderson is in fine form.
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