Barney Records First Round Win As Bunting Wins Lakeside Battle

Raymond van Barneveld, Stephen Bunting and other big names booked their places in the second round of the competition in Germany on day one of the European Darts Grand Prix.

Mickey Mansell kicked off the tournament’s action with a commanding 6-1 victory over Robbie Green. The Word Cup star capitalised on some poor doubling from Green, who took out an impressive 156 in leg he won, and averaged 92 on his way to the second round, where he will face Ian White.

An in-form Mark Webster booked his place in the next round with a win over Stephen Willard. The former Lakeside Champion averaged just under ninety in a solid 6-3 victory. The 32-year-old will be looking to follow up his World Grand Prix semi-final run with another good run in Germany, but he faces James Wade, which is no easy task.

Raymond van Barneveld has just dropped out the top sixteen in the world, and will be aiming to fight his way back among the world’s best as soon as possible. He began his quest to do exactly that with a first round win over Johnny Haines, averaging a promising 100 on his way to a 6-3 victory.

Jyhan Artut was the first German player to bite the dust in front of his home crowd as he averaged a solid 91, but was beaten by Lee Evans 6-3. Missed doubles from Artut were punished by Evans, as he won through to face Terry Jenkins in the second stage of the competition.

Mensur Suljovic climbed up a few places in the World rankings following a semi-final run at the World Grand Prix, and to continue his rise, reaching the latter stages of these European Tour events will help him do that, and he began his campaign with a 6-4 victory over Mark Barilli. Suljovic raced into a 4-1 lead, but Barilli levelled the tie, but the Austrian won the last two legs to progress into the second round.

Dave Ladley booked his place in the second round with a 6-4 win against Swedish star Magnus Caris. Ladley found himself 5-2 up, before Caris won three legs on the bounce to force a decider, but Englishman Ladley won the eleventh leg to move into the next round where he will face Kim Huybrechts.

Young star Rowby-John Rodriguez was knocked out the competition in the penultimate match of the afternoon by another young ace Jeffrey De Zwaan, who wired D12 for the perfect leg during a 6-3 win over the Austrian, his ninth dart of the leg sneaking into D9. He will come up against Mervyn King.

Joe Cullen concluded the first session of the tournament with a 6-3 victory against Antonio Alcinas. Cullen found himself 2-1 down, but turned the match on its head to lead 3-2, before winning four of the next five to close out the win and will meet Dave Chsinall on Saturday.

Steve Beaton will face Justin Pipe in the next round of the European Grand Prix following a 6-3 win over Mark Walsh. However, Beaton had to work for his win as he was 3-2 down before he rattled off four consecutive legs to win the match.

Jermaine Wattimena also won four consecutive legs to reach the second round as he found himself 5-2 down and just one leg away from exiting the competition at the first hurdle against Robert Marijanovic. A crucial 174 and 89 checkout proved to be the turning point in a gripping match in Germany as Wattimena completed the comeback of the opening day.

Home crowd favourite Max Hopp was knocked out of the competition by Gerwyn Price in a last-leg decider. Hopp was just a single leg from victory at 5-3 up, but Price recovered and won three legs on the bounce to move through to the second round hitting D20 to claim victory.

David Pallett will be looking to repeat what he did on the European Tour in September and reach the semi-finals or perhaps improve on that, and he began his weekend with a 6-4 win over rapid Rickey Evans. Pallett averaged 90 and will face Jelle Klaasen on Saturday.

Dean Winstanley broke throw in the final leg of the match to win a thriller of a match against South African star Devon Petersen. Winstanley produced a stunning 11-darter in the eleventh leg after Petersen moved 5-4 up just a couple of legs before. After the dramatic win, Winstanley comes up against Michael Smith in round two.

Jamie Caven wasn’t at his best, but he managed to beat Host Nation qualifier Stephan Stoyke 6-4 and move into the next round. Caven took the first leg, but missed darts at double in the second meant Stoyke hit back, but this was only a minor blip as the Stoke thrower booked his place in the second round where a clash with Simon Whitclock awaits.

Stephen Bunting got the better of Alan Norris in a repeat of the 2014 Lakeside final, and the result was the same as Bunting claimed the win. Norris nailed a couple of combination finishes early on, but fell 5-3 behind before he hit back with a 161 checkout, but the Premier League star closed out the match.

Johnny Clayton rounded off the day’s action with a 6-0 whitewash of Host Nation qualifier Kevin Munch in a drab affair in which both players produced averages in the mid-seventies. Clayton will face World Grand Prix Champion Robert Thornton in the second round.