Cessnock's darting superstar Simon Whitlock has fallen to Portugal's Jose De Sousa in the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts.
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Affectionately known as the Wizard, Whitlock was unable to back up from beating world No.1 Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-final.
De Sousa finished the game in the 28th leg winning 16-12 after Whitlock missed a chance on double 20.
Whitlock broke De Sousa's throw early to lead 5-2, but at 6-4 the complexion of the game changed and De Sousa took control to establish an 8-10 lead.
The Aussie broke back again for a 9-10 game, but De Sousa held off the challenge checking out in the 20th leg with 121.
De Sousa continued to hold Whitlock at bay and broke his throw again to lead 15-11 and throw for the match.
As he had done against Van Germen in the quarter-final Whitlock refused to lie down and broke De Sousa. He looked poised to cut the lead to two but missed a double 20 to give him the leg.
After throwing 121 again to get himself back into the leg, De Sousa closed out with a double 16 to advance to the grand final.
He will face James Wade who won a 16-15 thriller against Dimitri Van den Bergh after not leading at any stage of the match.