The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsWorld number one Michael van Gerwen has been knocked out of the European Darts Grand Prix in Germany after Mensur Suljovic produced a show-stopping 109 average to down the top seed, who also averaged a magical 111 on an eventful day two as seven seeds were dumped out of the competition.
Raymond van Barneveld continued his good form, and averaged just under 96 in a 6-1 demolition of ‘The History Maker’ Brendan Dolan. The Dutchman took his chances when they came and hit six of his doubles from just nine attempts to progress to final day on Sunday.
Lee Evans is making his European Tour debut a debut to remember as he saw off Terry Jenkins in the second round of the competition, claiming a 6-4 victory. Jenkins started well and moved quickly into a 2-0 lead and then led 3-1, but Evans fought back to move into the third round, nailing 109 on the way.
Jeffrey De Zwaan wired D12 for a nine-darter on day one in Germany, but wasnt able to continue to reach the same heights as he did on Friday, coming up against Mervyn King, looking to defend his European Grand Prix trophy, ‘The King’ claiming a 6-2 win.
Steve Beaton moved into the third round of the tournament with a last-leg win over Justin Pipe. The methodical thrower found himself 2-0 and then 3-1 up before Beaton made a comeback. A superb 141 checkout helped Beaton take the lead, before Pipe forced a decider. However, Pipe wasn’t able to claim the win as Beaton produced an excellent 11-darter to claim victory.
Kim Huybrechts showed some of his best form that earned him a place at the 2015 Premier League as he averaged 105.71 in a 6-4 win over Dave Ladley. The underdog raced into an early lead before the Belgian won three consecutive legs in just 38 darts to move within one leg of victory. Ladley took the match to a tenth leg, but he wasn’t able to complete a short-lived comeback.
Mickey Mansell opened up the tournament’s action on Friday with a 6-1 win, but his European Tour campaign came to an end as he was beaten by an in-form Ian White, looking to follow up his impressive World Grand Prix run with a good showing here. The Stoke thrower averaged 97 in a 6-3 victory over the Northern Irishman.
Gerwyn Price secured a great win over Max Hopp on day one in Germany, and continued his good run of results with a good win over Benito van de Pas in round two. Admittedly, ‘Ice Man’ was not at his best throughout the match, and averaged just 88 in a 6-3 victory over the Dutch star.
David Pallett managed to make it to finals day in the last European Tour event, but his campaign came to an end in the second round here, losing to an on-form Jelle Klaasen, who averaged an impressive 104. Klaasen broke in the very first leg and never looked back, cruising to 6-4 victory.
Joe Cullen recorded a shock victory over Dave Chisnall in the first game of the evening session. A 103 average helped Cullen to a 6-2 win over the Premier League semi-finalist. ‘The Rockstar’s’ clinical finishing played a massive part in his win, hitting six double in just seven attempts, missing just one dart at double in the whole match.
Mark Webster would have been looking to build on his semi-final appearance at the World Grand Prix, but could only make the second round here as he was knocked out by James Wade. The number three seed broke the throw in the eight leg to open up his advantage to 5-3 before closing out the match with a 13-dart ninth leg.
Simon Whitlock averaged just over 100 in a solid win over Jamie Caven. ‘Jabba’ broke throw in the very first leg, but continued to lose too many darts to the left throughout the rest of the match. Whitlock did exactly the same as Cullen had done early on in the evening, hitting six doubles from just seven attempts on his way to winning the match 6-4.
Number two seed Michael Smith made his way through to the third round with a solid 6-3 win over Dean Winstanley. Smith raced into a 5-1 lead, and took his foot off the gas a little and allowed Winstanley to get a couple more legs on the board before finally closing out the match for a 6-3 win.
Robert Thornton will be full of confidence and looking to go on and potentially win this tournament after his World Grand Prix success. He didn’t reach the heights that he did in winning the Grand Prix, but beat what was put in front of him, defeating Johnny Clayton in a match that went to a tense last-leg decider. Thornton trailed 5-3, but won three legs on the spin to move into the third round.
Mensur Suljovic produced the performance of the tournament so far as he defied a world class average of 111 from world number one Michael van Gerwen to average 109 and claim a 6-4 win and dump the top seed out of the competition. Van Gerwen led 3-2, but the in-form Austrian turned the match on it’s head to lead 5-3 before closing out the match on his favourite double 14.
Vincent van der Voort was in control of his match with former Lakeside Champion Stephen Bunting, and found himself 4-2 up before Bunting won four consecutive legs, including a superb 134 checkout on his way to securing a 6-4 victory over the Dutchman in what is his second capitulation in just over a week.
Peter Wright rounded off the day’s action with a 6-4 win over Jermaine Wattimena. The Dutchman took the opening leg against the throw after Wright missed D10 for a 140 checkout. However, this never distracted the world number four, who went on move into the third round.
Saturday 17th October
Afternoon Session
Second Round
Brendan Dolan (8) 1-6 Raymond van Barneveld
Terry Jenkins (12) 4-6 Lee Evans
Mervyn King (16) 6-2 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Justin Pipe (10) 5-6 Steve Beaton
Kim Huybrechts (7) 6-4 Dave Ladley
Ian White (5) 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Benito van de Pas (15) 3-6 Gerwyn Price
Jelle Klaasen (11) 6-4 David Pallett
Evening Session
Second Round
Dave Chisnall (9) 2-6 Joe Cullen
James Wade (3) 6-3 Mark Webster
Simon Whitlock (14) 6-4 Jamie Caven
Michael Smith (2) 6-3 Dean Winstanley
Robert Thornton (6) 6-5 Jonny Clayton
Michael van Gerwen (1) 4-6 Mensur Suljovic
Vincent van der Voort (13) 4-6 Stephen Bunting
Peter Wright (4) 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Sunday 18th October
Afternoon Session
Third Round
James Wade v Simon Whitlock
Robert Thornton v Jelle Klaasen
Kim Huybrechts v Steve Beaton
Michael Smith v Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright v Stephen Bunting
Ian White v Lee Evans
Raymond van Barneveld v Joe Cullen
Mensur Suljovic v Mervyn King
