Paul Nicholson's plan for Grand Slam

Grand Slam of Darts contender Paul Nicholson is hoping to avoid meeting Phil Taylor in the first knockout stage by finishing top of Group F.

'The Asset' is in pole position going into the final group game against Magnus Caris at Wolverhampton Civic Hall tomorrow night, after wins over Barrie Bates and Wes Newton.

Taylor will also win Group F if he beats Mervyn King, before the two groups merge to make up second round clashes on Friday night.

And Nicholson, a Geordie who holds Australian nationality, is hoping to meet Taylor a bit further down the line, with showdowns against Steve Beaton and King also possible.

'The bad boy of darts' has history with Taylor, stemming from a row between the two after Nicholson waved him off after beating him at the UK Open in June.

Nicholson was at the Money Shop on Darlington Street in Wolverhampton city centre this afternoon, where he played over 50 fans in a 'six versus nine' darts challenge.

But the 32-year-old nearly met his match in Sangeeta Kohli, 22, a third-year student at the University of Wolverhampton.

In a competition to 'win the board' with the highest score in each of the two hours the PDC pro was there, Mark Curley, from Bilbrook, took the first hour's board with 248 in his nine darts.

But Miss Kohli, who claimed to have never played darts before, won the board for the second hour with a respectable score of 216.

However, when the fun was done, Nicholson vowed there will be no letting up when he returns to the Civic oche tomorrow night.

He said: "I can't rest until I have won the group, I know that from experience and it's also financially worth my while to finish top.

"Really, I would rather play Phil in the quarter-finals, but I have only played him once in a best of 19 format before.

"There's mutual respect between us, it's all been blown a bit out of proportion but I would still love to knock him off his perch!

"But there's no easy games in this tournament, no matter who comes first in the knockout stages."