Taylor crashes to Dutch ace

The 14-time world champion Phil Taylor has crashed 5-1 to Vincent van der Voort at the Grand Slam of Darts.

Taylor still goes through to the latter stages after two earlier victories and van der Voort had lost to Anastasia Dobrymyslova in his previous match.

But the Dutchman shrugged off that setback and hit two maximums allowing an under-par Taylor little leeway.

He took the opening leg after three missed doubles from Taylor and increased his lead to 3-0 as Taylor struggled to get his three-dart average over 80.

Van der Voort led 4-0 at the break but Taylor at last showed his quality by taking the fifth leg and almost took the sixth when attempting a 167 check-out, his final arrow hitting the 25 instead of the bull.

But van der Voort remained unfazed and calmly found double 16 to give him the greatest victory of his career.

Dobromyslova's final game against Mark Webster was a straight shootout for a spot in the last 16.

The Russian looked capable of pulling off another shock after opening a 2-1 lead over a nervy Webster.

But Webster regrouped to reel off four straight legs and secure second position in Group A.

Two former world champions John Part and Raymond van Barneveld served up an absolute cracker later in the evening.

Part won the clash of the titans 5-4 but it was not quite enough to ease his Dutch opponent out of a qualifying place.

Part averaged over 100 but had to win 5-2 or better to go through and knew his fate when Barney hit a clutch of 180s in going 3-2 up.

But Part, playing for pride, levelled at 4-4 and then hit a 102 check-out in the decider for a morale-boosting win.

Earlier, Darryl Fitton edged past Mervyn King in Group A.

King led 2-1 at one stage against an opponent who had nothing left to play for.

But Fitton roared back in a topsy-turvy match and took the deciding leg with a stunning 11-darter.

Kevin Painter sealed his place in the knockout stages with a thumping 5-0 victory over Francis Hoenselaar.

The women's world champion narrowly failed to snatch the first leg and was always on the receiving end after that.

Tony O'Shea completed the league phase unbeaten after a 5-2 success over Colin Lloyd.

The number eight seed swept through his first two matches earlier and then ensured he will top his group after taking charge of the match by racing into a 4-0 lead.

Kirk Shepherd secured his place in the knockout stages with a 5-3 comeback victory over Steve Maish.

Shepherd, the 2008 PDC World finalist, looked to be on the way out when his wildcard opponent took a 2-0 lead.

But Shepherd kick-started his fightback with a 145 check-out in the next leg and though Maish twice levelled, Shepherd was always in control.

He now only needs to get himself for his next match on Thursday after injuring his foot celebrating at the end.