Phil Taylor continued his dominance over former protégé Adrian Lewis with a 4-0 victory in the World Grand Prix quarter-finals.
The Power moves into semi-finals after yet another win over Lewis
Phil Taylor continued his dominance over former protégé Adrian Lewis with a 4-0 victory in the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix, and Terry Jenkins will be next up for 'The Power'.
Raymond van Barneveld faces Andy Hamilton in the other semi-final after the Dutchman ended home favourite Jacko Barry's hopes while 'The Hammer' beat Kevin Painter.
Lewis has locked a lot more composed of late and promised to push his old mentor all the way, and he certainly looked up for the fight after a fast start against the defending champion.
'Jackpot' kicked off with a 128 checkout as he took the first two legs, but it sparked a reaction from Taylor and he responded with three on the spin to win the opening set.
A 164 got Taylor off in the second, but Lewis was still firing and he went 2-1 ahead before missing two darts for the set and allowing the 14-time world champion to cash-in.
Distance
Again the third set went the distance but yet again Taylor took the vital set and that was enough, as he cruised through the fourth set and powered into the semi-finals to face Jenkins.
"He's a very, very good player," Taylor told
Sky Sports 1. "I don't think Adrian realises how good he is.
"Adrian gets very disappointed about himself and he's his own worst enemy at times. I can't say enough good things about Adrian, I think if he was in the other half of the draw he'd be in the final because he's been playing brilliantly.
"I think he played really, really well and he didn't really miss that much and although he's been beaten 4-0 it wasn't really that kind of game."
Jenkins stands in Taylor's way of the final after he beat his good friend Andy Smith 4-0 which included a 114 checkout for 'The Bull', and a host of missed doubles by 'The Pieman'.
Format
Jenkins made the semi-finals last year and the final the two years before, so he will be a stern test for Taylor at the 'doubles-in' format employed in Dublin.
The atmosphere at the Citywest Hotel IECC was at fever pitch as hometown hero Barry took to the stage against five-time world champion van Barneveld, but Irish eyes were not smiling for long.
The Dublinner did not disgrace himself but Barney raised his game a notch from the first two rounds and he fully deserved his 4-0 victory that sent him through into the last four again.
Hamilton will offer up van Barneveld's biggest test as the Stoke man looks in his very best form after beating Painter 4-1 in their quarter-final, capping victory with a sublime 149 checkout.
After dropping the opening set due to dodgy doubles, Hamilton took his game up through the gears and Painter could not compete, and now he plays last year's beaten finalist in Saturday's semis.
