Mervyn King topples Robert Thornton in Dublin

Robert Thornton was unable to repeat his heroics that saw him beat Phil Taylor as he was defeated 3-0 by Mervyn King in the quarter-finals of the PDC World Grand Prix.

The Scot beat the 15-time world champion in a final-leg decider two days ago, but he was unable to stop a ruthless King performance as he stormed through to the last four.

King will now play Brendan Dolan, after the Irishman saw off the challenge of Justin Pipe with a 3-1 win.

Wes Newton and Michael van Gerwen will meet in the other semi-final tie after they both came through thrilling matches on Friday night.

Newton hit back from 2-0 down to beat Paul Nicholson 3-2 and retain his hope of moving to number three in the PDC Order of Merit.

Dutchman Van Gerwen missed eight match darts before sealing a dramatic victory over Andy Hamilton in the final leg of the match on double two.