The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsFriday belonged to the unseeded players at the International Darts Open in Riesa as sixteen players progressed to the second round and will face the seeds on Saturday. Here is how Friday’s action unfolded.
Afternoon Session:
The afternoon’s action kicked off with John Henderson being knocked out in a dramatic last-leg decider by Matt Clark as the latter set up a seconde round tie with number two seed Peter Wright on Saturday evening.
Mensur Suljovic progressed to the next round with a 93.1 average beating Mark Walsh 6-2 in the second match of the afternoon. He will meet first time seed Benito van de Pas on Saturday.
Darren Webster failed to make it past the first round in Riesa as he was eliminated in a last-leg shootout losing to Matthew Edgar, who will face Dave Chisnall in the second round on Saturday.
Christian Kist was off-form and stunned by Robert Manijanovic as he whitewashed Kist in the fourth match of the afternoon, and the latter will play at the weekend, and will face number four seed Brendan Dolan.
Micky Mansell continued his good run of form from last weekend in the World Cup as he thumped Jeffery de Zwann 6-1 on Friday afternoon to set up a tie with ‘The Diamond’ Ian White in the next round.
Daryl Gurney played well as he beat Ken MacNeil 6-4 to book his place in the second stage of the competition, where he will play number five seed Simon Whitlock in the last of the second round ties.
Mark Barilli knocked out Home Nation Qualifier Daniel Zygla in the penultimate match of the afternoon via a 6-4 scoreline to second round meeting with Steve Beaton on Saturday afternoon.
It was fairly comfortable for William O’Connor in the last match of the afternoon as he knocked out Mike De Decker 6-2 to progress to the next round, where he will play an unbeaten man on the European Tour this year in Michael van Gerwen.
Evening Session:
Young Rowby-John Rodriguez booked his place in the second round after a 6-4 win over Adam Hunt in the first match of the evening session. He will play Vincent van der Voort in the next stage.
Max Hopp continued his blistering form in the second match of the night as he beat Kevin McDine 6-2 after hitting a nine-darter in the qualifier yesterday to set up a second round tie with Mervyn King.
James Wilson, aiming to find some form on the PDC, progressed to the second round with a strong showing in a 6-2 win over Eddie Dootson, he will meet number nine seed Justin Pipe on Saturday.
Cristo Reyes averaged over 100 as he knocked out Dean Winstanley 6-1 to make it through to the weekend. However, a tough match against Premier League player Kim Huybrechts awaits in the next round.
Johnny Clayton stunned Jyhan Artut to book his place in the second round. Clayton was 3-0 down but dropped just won leg from seven as he won the match 6-4. He will face number three seed Michael Smith on Saturday evening.
Tomas Seyler cruised through to the second round after a solid 6-1 win over Antonio Alcinas. Seyler will be aiming to play the same way when he plays Robert Thornton in the second round.
The unseeded Stephen Bunting booked his place for the weekend when he beat Jamie Robertson 6-2. Bunting will come up against Jamie Caven, seeded number fifteen, on Saturday night in Riesa.
The final match of the evening saw World Cup teammates Jamie Lewis and Mark Webster come up against each other. Lewis came out a 6-3 winner and will face Terry Jenkins on Saturday.
