Stunner at Wolverhampton Grand Slam of Darts as Raymond van Barneveld goes out

He suffered a group stage defeat to Mervyn King after winning his first two matches. The Dutch star's 5-3 loss to King saw his opponent leapfrog him in the Group E table.

And with Tony O'Shea winning 5-1 against Ricky Evans earlier last night, van Barneveld's reign at Wolverhampton Civic Hall was over.

"Raymond's a great player and a great friend, but I had job to do and I managed to win and get myself through," said King. "It was a hard match.

"The objective was to hit him hard and early on I managed to do that – only to let him back in again! Raymond missed a couple of doubles in the middle of the game and I was in the mood to take my opportunity.

"I've not had the greatest of times since I lost my father, and it is a big factor in my life. It's been so hard to try and recapture the form that I had when I was in the Premier League and it's coming back slowly."

Wes Newton's 5-4 win over Simon Whitlock, coupled with a 5-3 win for Mark Webster against Ross Smith earlier in the night, meant that the Australian topped Group G to leave Newton and Webster in a nine-dart shoot-out.

Webster's 137 with his second trio of arrows proved decisive and took him into the knockout stages.

Telford's Ted Hankey reckoned mind games played a part in beating Michael Smith and going through.

'The Count' beat the World Youth Champion 5-1, hitting a 180 with his first three arrows before a resounding 115 checkout to decide the winner-take-all contest last night. Hankey meets Simon Whitlock tomorrow night.

Smith likes a fast pace at the oche but Hankey's game plan involved taking his time.

He said: "I feel good but I was lucky really, he missed a few doubles and I cleaned up.

"Michael is a great young player but he didn't seem that comfortable on the stage with me, I have got a lot of time for him but I slowed the game down and did what I had to win.

"I don't think I broke any rules and I played some good darts myself."