Vincent van der Voort

Legend Taylor hammered by Van der Voort

Published: Wednesday, 18 November 2009, 9:03AM

World champion Phil Taylor suffered a shock 5-1 defeat by Vincent van der Voort as the action at the Grand Slam of Darts reached fever pitch.

Taylor, who hadn't dropped a leg in his opening two games, had no answer to Dutchman van der Voort who had a point to prove following his shock defeat to Anastasia Dobromyslova on Sunday.

"I played the worst game of my life two days ago and I wanted to put it right," said van der Voort, who finishes third in Group A. "This shows how fast things can change in darts."

Taylor admitted: "I didn't want to lose but he beat me fair and square.

"It was hard for me to get up for the match because I was already through and it's a bad day at the office, but I'll be back on the practice board on Wednesday and will be ready for the second round on Thursday."

Taylor was joined in the second round by Mark Webster, who came from 2-1 down to defeat Dobromyslova 5-2 in their winner-takes-all encounter.

Raymond Van Barneveld,Colin Lloyd and Kirk Shepherd also claimed places in the last 16.

Five-time World Champion van Barneveld progressed despite suffering a 5-4 loss to John Part, who misses out in Group D despite two victories.

Kevin Painter was the group's other qualifier, having hit finishes of 148 and 118 in whitewashing Womens World Champion Francis Hoenselaar.

There was high drama in the conclusion to the other two groups, with Tony O'Shea and Colin Lloyd qualifying from Group B.

O'Shea's 5-2 win over Lloyd secured his unbeaten status and left Lloyd needing Brian Woods to defeat Colin Osborne if he was to progress.

Osborne took a 4-1 lead in the game, but failed to close out the win as Woods hit back to take four straight legs and the win.

In Group C, Kirk Shepherd included a 145 finish in taking a 5-3 win over ITV Wildcard Qualifier Steve Maish to join Mervyn King in qualifying.

King had earlier lost 5-4 to Darryl Fitton, who was unable to qualify after losing his opening two games.

The results mean Taylor takes on Lloyd in Thursday's second round, while O'Shea meets Webster, Painter takes on Shepherd and King faces van Barneveld.

Groups E-H play their final games on Wednesday night, with matches including the crucial meeting of BDO World Champion Ted Hankey and Simon Whitlock.

PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts

Tuesday November 17

Groups A-D Final Games

Darryl Fitton 5-4 Mervyn King

Vincent van der Voort 5-1 Phil Taylor

Kevin Painter 5-0 Francis Hoenselaar

Tony O'Shea 5-2 Colin Lloyd

Kirk Shepherd 5-3 Steve Maish

John Part 5-4 Raymond van Barneveld

Mark Webster 5-2 Anastasia Dobromyslova

Brian Woods 5-4 Colin Osborne