Photo courtesy of Chris Sargeant/PDPA

RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD’S bid to return to major honours in Holland was boosted when he reached the semi-finals of the RTL7 International Masters on Sunday night – and he is joined in the last four by Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson and Vincent van der Voort.

Van Barneveld powered past Roland Scholten 8-3 in Sunday’s quarter-finals to set up an all-Dutch semi-final with van der Voort at the Hotel Zuiderduin in Egmond aan Zee.

The five-time World Champion, who had progressed through his group unbeaten 24 hours earlier, opened with finishes of 161 and 170 against Scholten, and broke a two-all deadlock with five successive legs on his way to victory.

“I’m really happy to be into the semi-finals and hopefully I can win the title on Monday,” said van Barneveld, who averaged 99.53 in a strong display.

“I’ve been in good form and it’s great to keep that going. My finishing was good and it will be important to keep that up against Vincent.”

Van der Voort booked his place in the last four by defeating Group A winner Co Stompe 8-6.

Stompe led 5-4 at one stage, but missed doubles cost him dearly as van der Voort won four of the final five legs to seal victory.

Monday’s other semi-final will feature Phil Taylor and Gary Anderson, after they defeated James Wade and Adrian Lewis respectively.

Anderson had won through Group D unbeaten earlier in the evening, overcoming both Wade and Simon Whitlock 8-4 before left-hander Wade edged out the Australian 8-7 in their deciding game to progress to the last eight.

Taylor’s strong form continued with an 8-3 defeat of Wade in their quarter-final, as the 15-time World Champion averaged 107.65 in defeating the world number three.

“I’m delighted to be through to the semi-finals and even though I look serious, inside I’m enjoying every minute of this tournament,” said Taylor.

“My finishing was superb against James and it had to be because he was coming off the back of a great win against Simon. Gary will be another tough test on Monday and I love playing him.”

Anderson ensured his place in the last four with his first win over Lewis since 2009, as he came from 4-0 down to avenge his defeats in January’s World Championship final and Thursday’s Premier League Darts contest.

Lewis started superbly to break throw twice in the opening four legs in leadin 4-0, but Anderson was aided by finishes of 96, 82 and 88 in hitting back to leve.

Lewis landed the third of his four 180s in taking the ninth leg, but Anderson added three more maximums of his own in winning the next four without reply, sealing victory with a second 11-dart finish of the game.

“I’m looking forward to playing Phil again because we seem to bring the best out of each other,” said Anderson, who lost 8-6 to Taylor in the Premier League a fortnight ago.

“It was a tough night for me to play two group games and the quarter-finals, but I’m really pleased to be through to the semis now.

“I hit back well when Adrian went 4-0 up, but once I got back to four-all I knew I could kick on and get the win.”

World Champion Lewis said: “Gary played well and I took my foot off the gas after going 4-0 up, which I shouldn’t have done.

“Once I let him in he took some good finishes out and he was the better player on the night. With the standard now you can’t afford to miss more than one dart at a double and my misses cost me.”

Wade will get a chance to avenge his loss to Taylor when they meet in the Premier League Darts in Brighton next Thursday, and he said: “Phil played better than me but I am coming back into form slowly.

“I can take a lot of positives out of this, especially how I played against Simon Whitlock, and I played well in patches, but my whole game isn’t too far off.”

Coverage is live in the Netherlands through RTL7 and also via www.rtl7.nl.

RTL7 International Masters
Sunday March 20
Group D
Gary Anderson 8-4 James Wade
Gary Anderson 8-4 Simon Whitlock
James Wade 8-7 Simon Whitlock

Quarter-Finals
Co Stompe 6-8 Vincent van der Voort
Phil Taylor 8-3 James Wade
Raymond van Barneveld 8-3 Roland Scholten
Gary Anderson 8-5 Adrian Lewis

Monday March 21 – 10pm start – tickets €30
Semi-Finals
Vincent van der Voort v Raymond van Barneveld
Phil Taylor v Gary Anderson

Followed by Final