PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam nears exciting conclusion - 10/10/2009

The inaugural PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam in London is racing to a finish with some of poker's biggest stars still battling for the $120,000 winner's cheque.

Stunning Second Round Puts McGuirk Back In Frame

First up on Saturday morning, Tony G meets Alec Torelli and Juha Helppi faces Ian Frazer in the remaining quarter-finals, with the winners of those two matches meeting in the semi-finals - Russian APPT High Rollers event winner Vladimir Geshkenbein takes on Englishman James Sudworth in the other semi-final.

Sudworth saw off online qualifier Massimo Mele and Dutch pro Lex Veldhuis to reach the semis, while Geshkenbein got past Brahim Hajji and David Steicke.

Frazer continues to draw tough opponents, beating Annette Obrestad and Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott to face Helppi in the quarter-finals, with the Finn beating Jonas Westerlund and then coming through a marathon session with Vicky Coren.

Tony G faces male opposition for the first time when he plays Alec Torelli after beating Jennifer Tilly and EPT Dortmund winner Sandra Naujoks, while Torelli has got past Ilari Sahamies and Antonio Esfandiari to get to the quarter-finals.

Luke "Full Flush" Schwartz and WSOP heads-up runner-up John Duthie were two of the big names to fall in the second round on Friday.

Live reporting on what promises to be an exciting final day at 3 Mills Studio in London is available at uk.pokernews.com where you can look back at the first two days of action.

Saturday's fixtures

Quarter-finals:

Tony G vs Alec Torelli

Juha Helppi vs Ian Frazer

Semi-finals:

Tony G/Alec Torelli vs Juha Helppi vs Ian Frazer

James Sudworth vs Vladimir Geshkenbein

Quarter-final results:

Alec Torelli beat Antonio Esfandiari
James Sudworth beat Lex Veldhuis
Vladimir Geshkenbein beat David Steicke

Second Round results:

Juha Helppi beat Vicky Coren
Frazer beat Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott
Alec Torelli beat Antonio Esfandiari
Tony G beat Sandra Naujoks
Alec Torelli beat Antonio Esfandiari
Tony G beat Sandra Naujoks
Lex Veldhuis beat Luke Schwartz
David Steicke beat John Duthie
James Sudworth beat Massimo Mele
Vladimir Geshkenbein beat Brahim Hajji

First Round results:

Ian Frazer beat Annette Obrestad
Sandra Naujoks beat Sammy George
Luke Schwartz beat Yevgeniy Timoshenko
Juha Helppi beat Jonas Westerlund
Lex Veldhuis beat Nam Le
Vicky Coren beat Peter Eastgate
Alec Torelli beat Ilari Sahamies
John Duthie beat Tom Dwan
Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott beat John Tabatabai
James Sudworth beat Phil Laak
Vladmir Geshkenbein beat Alex Keating
Brahim Hajji beat Neil Channing
David Steicke beat JC Tran
Tony G beat Jennifer Tilly
Massimo Mele beat Ivan Demidov
Antonio Esfandiari beat Andreas Johansson