PAUL NICHOLSON 5-0 BARRIE BATES

PAUL NICHOLSON made an impressive start to his William Hill Grand Slam of Darts campaign with a whitewash victory over Welshman Barrie Bates in just 13 minutes.

Nicholson, making his third appearance in Wolverhampton, will now face Wes Newton in an eye-catching encounter on Monday evening.

"My one goal is to get through the group stage," said Nicholson. "I've set my stall out to win all three group matches.

"Last year I managed to win two games but it didn't prove to be enough to make it through to the knock-out phase."

He added: "I decided not to go to Benidorm and spent a bit more time at home before coming here. I think it was a wise decision as I feel fresh and ready for this event."

The Chorley-based thrower hit a 180 in the process of taking the opening leg and then broke his opponent's throw with an accurate attempt at double four to make an ideal start to the contest.

Nicholson hit another maximum in the third leg which was won with another successful dart at double four before hitting back-to-back maximums in the next.

That left the opportunity of a nine-dart finish, but the chance went begging when Nicholson's attempt at a seventh successive treble 20 was too high.

However, the leg was comfortably won in ten darts and the fifth soon followed as he hit double eight to round off a comfortable win.