The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsDefending champion Peter Wright was eliminated on an eventful Saturday at the darts in Dusseldorf, where Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith and James Wade along with many other big names sealed their spots in the last sixteen of the competition.
Afternoon Session:
Justin Pipe progressed to the last sixteen with a 6-4 win over Kevin McDine. The World number sixteen led 3-1 before McDine pulled it back to 4-4, but ‘The Force’ took the ninth and tenth legs to book his place in the next round.
John Henderson’s hopes of building some momentum were ended in the last thirty-two in the second match of the afternoon. He was beaten by Terry Jenkins, who averaged 102.73 in a convincing 6-1 win, which included a classy 160 checkout.
The number five seed Brendan Dolan booked his place on finals day Sunday after beating Mark Walsh via a 6-2 scoreline. The Northern Irishman raced into a 4-1 lead and then finished off the job to progress through to the last sixteen.
Benito van de Pas, who was seeded following Gary Anderson’s withdrawal, was knocked out at his first hurdle by Johnny Haines, who saw off the International Darts Open runner-up in a 6-3 win.
Mark Webster recovered from his disappointment of missing out on a spot at the World Matchplay in Blackpool as he bounced straight back, knocking out number fifteen seed Steve Beaton in an impressive 6-1 victory.
Former Premier League player Wes Newton was knocked out in the second round by an in-form Mervyn King, in a match that saw eight 180s. ‘The King raced into a 4-1 lead before sealing the win four legs later, winning 6-3.
Robert Thornton booked his place in the next stage of the competition in a nail biting clash with Dimitri van den Bergh, who was unlucky not to win. ‘The Thorn found himself 4-2 behind, but battled back to win a last-leg decider, taking out 91 in the final leg.
Former BDO man Alan Norris made sure that he would be playing on Sunday as he edged out Ian White in a last-leg decider to move into the last sixteen. White battled back from 5-2 down, but Norris managed to seal the win in the eleventh and final leg.
Afternoon Session Results:
Justin Pipe 6-4 Kevin McDine
Terry Jenkins 6-1 John Henderson
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Mark Walsh
Johnny Haines 6-3 Benito van de Pas
Mark Webster 6-1 Steve Beaton
Mervyn King 6-3 Wes Newton
Robert Thornton 6-5 Dimitri van den Bergh
Alan Norris 6-5 Ian White
