Michael van Gerwen maintained his hopes of retaining his German Darts Masters title with victory over home favourite Reine Eidams, whilst Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis, Peter Wright and Michael Smith also progressed to round-three at the Ballhausforum, Dolce Hotel, Munich, on Sunday evening.
Van Gerwen and Eidams met in a repeat of their classic first-round clash at the World Championships four months ago, and the Dutchman was pushed by the German, before eventually prevailing 6-3 with a 97 average, which is slightly underwhelming by The Green Machine’s exceptionally high standards.
It was a topsy-turvy start to the encounter, with four successive breaks of throw. Eidams spurned the chance to secure a fifth successive break with one dart at D16, but this proved to be an expensive miss, as van Gerwen reeled off three straight legs; going 5-2 up with a classy 138 finish.
Eidams remained in contention by posting D10 and very nearly reduced the arrears to 5-4 by wiring the bullseye for a spectacular 164 finish. Nevertheless, Van Gerwen clinched victory in sumptuous style with an eye-catching 132 checkout, with successive bulls, followed by D16, to sink the impressive German.
Elsewhere, World champion Gary Anderson produced a fabulous performance to demolish Dutch Darts Masters finalist Daryl Gurney 6-1 and ease into round-three. Anderson averaged 106.59 and hit 50% of his doubles to ease past the talented Northern Irishman.
Gurney kicked off proceedings by holding throw in 17 darts, before Anderson reeled off three consecutive legs with 11, 15 and 13 darters. The decisive blow was dealt in the fifth leg, as Anderson took out 132 on the bull with Gurney poised on D16, and the Scot maintained his dominance to close out a comprehensive 6-1 victory.
Adrian Lewis survived a valiant fightback from John Bowles to progress through to the last 16 and set up a clash against James Richardson on Monday. Jackpot averaged 99 and recorded three maximums, but having led 5-1, Bowles reeled off three straight legs to reduce the arrears to a solitary leg, before Lewis completed victory with a fine 13-darter.
Jelle Klaasen continued his imperious run of form as he breezed through to round-three with a 6-0 whitewash victory over stablemate Ronny Huybrechts. Klaasen recorded 60% on the doubles and averaged 104.86 in a dominant display; not even allowing ‘The Rebel’ a solitary dart at double. ‘The Cobra’ will face Ian White tomorrow afternoon.
Premier League star Michael Smith survived one-match dart as he edged out former BDO man Jeffrey de Graaf in a deciding leg. Apart from the opening leg, de Graaf led for the duration of the contest and missed the bullseye for a 164 finish and a 6-4 victory.
However, the Dutchman capitulated on his own throw in the decider, and Smith converted an 84 finish for a 15-darter to complete the comeback. ‘Bully-Boy’ averaged 96.43 and will now renew his rivalry with Mensur Suljovic in the last 16.
Peter Wright showed his class as he came through a tight-affair against former world champion Stephen Bunting. Bunting defeated Wright to win his second PDC ranking title in Barnsley a fortnight ago, but Snakebite exacted his revenge, punishing ‘The Bullet’s’ 26% on the doubles to squeeze through 6-4.
Wright started off slowly but improved considerably as the contest progressed and finished with 6 maximums to his name. Yet, Wright’s finishing was the decisive factor; he converted 6 out of his 8 attempts at double and sealed his progression to the third-round with a sublime 121 checkout on the bull.
Benito van de Pas eased through to the last 16 in Munich by virtue of a convincing 6-2 victory against an under-par Devon Petersen. The South African broke throw in the opening leg, but the 23-year-old Dutchman established control with fine finishes of 160 and 112, before sealing his progress in the eighth leg with an average of 91.75.
Former BDO world number one James Wilson produced a brilliant comeback to dump out fifteenth seed Mensur Suljovic. The Austrian stormed into a 3-0 advantage, but ‘Jammie Dodger’ rallied superby; and winning six of the remaining seven legs and clinching victory with a nerveless 13-dart hold, to finish with an average in excess of 97.
German Darts Masters
European Tour Event Two
Ballhausforum, Dolce Hotel, Munich
Sunday March 27
Second Round-Evening Session
Adrian Lewis (6) 6-4 John Bowles
Jelle Klaasen (10) 6-0 Ronny Huybrechts
Michael Smith (2) 6-5 Jeffrey de Graaf
Peter Wright (3) 6-4 Stephen Bunting
James Wilson 6-4 Mensur Suljovic (15)
Gary Anderson (12) 6-1 Daryl Gurney
Benito van de Pas (13) 6-2 Devon Petersen
Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-3 Rene Eidams
Common Lewis,lets win the lot.as your biggest fan I hope to meet u at the dart board one day