By Paul Woodage.
There was drama and excitement as the big guns joined the parade in Sindelfingen, Germany for day two of the European Darts Grand Prix.
Ian White began his defence of the trophy he won in March last year with a solid performance in defeating 2010 Grand Slam champion, Scott Waites. The number three seed is hunting for the fourth European Tour event title of his career and will now meet Michael Smith in the last 16 who dismantled Derk Telnekes 6-0.
The newly crowned Premier League Champion, Glen Durrant continues his quest for back to back titles with a win over the young German Nico Kurz. Could Duzza follow on from his first PDC major by adding a maiden European trophy to his mantelpiece? You certainly wouldn’t bet against him right now.
World No.1, Michael van Gerwen is safely through to the next round after a resounding 6-1 victory over Mervyn King. The Green Machine reversed the heavy 6-1 defeat inflicted upon him by King the last time they met and sets up a meeting with his good friend Vincent van der Voort in round three.
There was also another rematch from the previous European Tour event. En route to lifting his maiden PDC title, Devon Petersen knocked out Gerwyn Price but the South African won’t be adding this title to his recent German Darts Championship crown. The Welshman was in excellent form winning 6-2 and next up for the Iceman is Portugal’s Jose de Sousa after he comfortably saw off German qualifier Ricardo Pietreczko.
Unfortunately for the crowd there will be no German involvement on the final day of the event. Gabriel Clemens fell victim to James Wade and in the evenings final game their number one, Max Hopp couldn’t find a way past the Dutch Destroyer, Vincent van der Voort who narrowly won 6-4.
Daryl Gurney was the highest of the three seeded players to exit the tournament at the first hurdle. Dutchman Maik Kuivenhoven produced a shock and the biggest win of his career by taking the deciding leg to claim the scalp of the Northern Irishman.
Following on from his excellent run in reaching the semi finals of the World Grand Prix, Dave Chisnall was hoping to add this European trophy to the Danish Darts Open he bought back from Copenhagen last June. However Darius Labanauskas had other ideas and sent Chizzy packing. The Lithuanian will now face Joe Cullen for a place in the quarter finals after the Rockstar overcame Belgian Kim Huybrechts in his round two match.
Somewhat surprisingly, Krzysztof Ratajski was also defeated at the first time of asking by Amsterdam’s Martijn Kleermaker.. The Dutch Giant upset the odds and advanced to the next round where he will meet former World Champion Rob Cross who came through 6-5 against Adam Hunt.
There won’t be any Irish involvement on the final day of the event as World Cup pair Willie O’Connor and Steve Lennon were halted in their tracks by Nathan Aspinall and Jamie Hughes respectively. The Asp will now face James Wade in a tasty looking last 16 tie and Yozza goes up against the big Austrian Mensur Suljovic after he saw off the impressive debutant Dave Evans.
Here are all the results from day two…
Saturday October 17
Second Round
Afternoon Session
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Ian White 6-2 Scott Waites
Michael Smith 6-0 Derk Telnekes
Glen Durrant 6-3 Nico Kurz
Jose De Sousa 6-0 Ricardo Pietreczko
Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Joe Cullen 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Jamie Hughes 6-5 Steve Lennon
Evening Session
Martijn Kleermaker 6-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
Rob Cross 6-5 Adam Hunt
James Wade 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Devon Petersen
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 David Evans
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Mervyn King
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 William O’Connor
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Max Hopp
Sunday October 18
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Third Round
Maik Kuivenhoven v Glen Durrant
Ian White v Michael Smith
Darius Labanauskas v Joe Cullen
Gerwyn Price v Jose De Sousa
Mensur Suljovic v Jamie Hughes
Martijn Kleermaker v Rob Cross
James Wade v Nathan Aspinall
Michael van Gerwen v Vincent van der Voort