Two of Merseysides finest dartists collided in Dublin tonight as Dave Chisnall took on Stephen Bunting in the last 16 of the World Grand Prix of Darts.

It was ‘Chizzy’ who came out on top as he defeated his rival in straight sets, to clinch a 3–0 victory.

In the first leg, it was first blood to Bunting as he dominated the opener and took an early lead. ‘The Bullet’ then doubled his lead as he checked out a 106, courtesy of ‘Chizzy’ missing a dart at the bullseye for a 167 checkout.

Chisnall then bounced back with a 14 dart leg to keep himself within touching distance of Bunting. The first set went down to a deciding leg as Chisnall levelled it up at two legs a piece. It was the St Helens man who took the opening set after winning three legs on the spin and putting himself 1-0 up.

Chisnall hit the first 180 of the match in the opening leg of the second set, however it was not good enough to win him the leg as Bunting went 1-0 up again. The second leg was a reversal of the first, as Bunting hit a 180 – yet lost the leg. The 39-year-old also won the third leg to give him a 2-1 lead. Chisnall clinched the second set and gave himself a handy lead at 2-0.

Chisnall then took the opening leg of the third set to put himself in the driving seat and one foot into the quarter-final. He then won the second leg of the third set to give himself a healthy lead. By this stage, Bunting was well and truly up against it as Chisnall was showing no signs of slowing down.

Bunting had his chances to prolong the match but missed too many darts at double, before Chisnall punished the missed darts and clinched victory in what was an incredibly impressive display.

‘Chizzy’ booked his place into the last eight of the World Grand Prix of Darts where he faces world number 13 and UK Open champion, Nathan Aspinall.

The St Helens man enters the quarter-final as the only player left in the competition representing Merseyside.

Photo credit – Marco Verch – Creative Commons Licence

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