Taylor brushes aside Lewis to reach semis

Phil Taylor remains on course for his 15th world title after sweeping aside his former apprentice Adrian Lewis in the quarter-finals of the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.

Lewis had some encouraging moments in the opening stages, but Taylor soon found his rhythm and never let up as he rolled to a 5-0 victory.

Lewis was being swept aside as Taylor won leg after leg to race to a 4-0 lead.

Lewis managed to win the first leg of the fifth set, but Taylor quickly levelled matters.

In a tense third leg, Taylor hit a maximum but Lewis immediately hit back with one of his own and went on to take a 2-1 lead.

Taylor tied it at 2-2 and Lewis began to look like a man who knew the game was up.

He nevertheless managed a maximum but Taylor did not break sweat as he responded with a 100 and then a maximum of his own before finishing the job with a double eight.

“I thought there was a lot of pressure on Adrian to be fair,” Taylor told Sky Sports 1. “It’s okay getting past the first and second round but then you’ve got to perform.

“But you can start to play your proper darts now and that’s what I did.

“He was fantastic, but I just didn’t give him a chance really.

“I was focused, I wasn’t nervous. I was a bit excited about the game. I’m here to win the world championships, I really am up for this.”

Simon Whitlock had been the star of the earlier matches as he knocked out James Wade 5-3 in an outstanding battle.

The Australian hit 15 maximums and recorded an average of 105.37 as he saw off the challenge of Wade.

Whitlock took a 3-1 lead, then watched Wade come back to level the match at 3-3, before recovering his composure and finishing the job.

“That’s probably the hardest match I’ve ever played in,” Whitlock said on pdc.tv. “I was really focused and knew that I had to play at my best.

“My whole life has changed through this one tournament and I have been able to gain a sponsor too and that will enable me to move to the UK and play on the PDC circuit full-time this year. I try to play the board and not the player and I have full belief in my ability.”

Raymond van Barneveld cruised through with a 5-0 thrashing of Robbie Baxter.

In his third straight-sets victory of this tournament, Van Barneveld did not drop a leg in either of the opening two sets in a dominating performance.

Van Barneveld had suffered with tiredness in beating Kevin Painter in the previous round, but looks to be back on top form.

“I felt much better up on stage today,” he told pdc.tv. “In my last game I didn’t feel good and was uncomfortable but I had a nice rest on Thursday.”

Debutant Mark Webster continued his excellent tournament with a 5-3 win over Co Stompe.

Webster raced into a 4-0 lead before Stompe put a scare into the Welshman by responding with three straight of his own, but Webster finished the job in the eighth.