PHIL TAYLOR 16-7 PAUL NICHOLSON

PHIL TAYLOR'S quest to regain the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts title continued as he swept aside Paul Nicholson 16-7 to power into Sunday's semi-finals at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

Taylor never looked troubled after taking leads of 3-0 and 8-1 against Nicholson, who was unable to find the form which had seen him defeat the world number one in June's UK Open.

Nicholson had won the pre-match bullseye but handed Taylor the throw in an attempt to win an immediate break, which initially looked set to pay off when he opened with a 180 only to then miss five darts to take the opening leg as Taylor hit double ten to hold.

Taylor then broke with a superb 11-darter, which featured a 180 of his own, before moving 3-0 up courtesy of double 16.

Nicholson hit his second maximum of the game in taking the fourth on double five, landing a pressure third dart after Taylor had hit a 177 to leave 24, but it was the Stoke ace who struck the next blow.

He hit a 180 in a 14-darter to enter the first break 4-1 up and followed that with a 174 score in a 13-dart finish which he ended on double top.

Finishes of double 16 and tops moved Taylor 7-1 up before two misses from Nicholson allowed him in to pull further clear on double five.

Taylor posted another 180 in the next leg, but missed his chance to lead by eight legs when Nicholson stepped in to land double 16.

A 14-darter gave Taylor a 9-2 cushion before Nicholson produced his best spell of the game to win three successive legs, following up a double top finish with a pair of 14-dart checkouts in pulling back to 9-5.

Taylor, though, replied in the same manner with a treble burst of his own, twice hitting double six and once landing double 16 in restoring his advantage at 12-5.

Nicholson hit back with double 16, but Taylor took out 80 and then finished 88 on the bull before a 13-darter, which featured two 180s and a double 16 checkout, moved him to the brink of victory.

Nicholson hit his fourth 180 of the game in an 11-dart finish to hit back, but it was only delaying the inevitable as Taylor posted a ninth maximum and hit double 16 for a 13-darter to complete the triumph.

"It was a good game and I really enjoyed that," said Taylor. "Paul's got a lot of bottle and he kept coming back at me, even though he wasn't playing as well as he can.

"I'm over the moon to still be in the running and it would be special to win this title back on Sunday.

"It will be a hard day but I'm really looking forward to playing Adrian in the semi-finals because he's having a good tournament so far and getting back to his best."

Nicholson admitted: "The week as a whole has been good but tonight didn't go to plan, unfortunately it wasn't my time.

"I still enjoyed the game and I've learned a lot this week, which I can take on now to the Players Championship Finals and World Championship next month."