On the second day of the European Darts Grand Prix the top favourites entered the action as usual. Only world champions Peter Wright and Adrian Lewis cancelled their participation before the start of the tournament.
Two of the seeded players already left the tournament on Saturday afternoon. The first surprise of the afternoon was provided by Dutchman Maik Kuivenhoven, who knocked world number seven Daryl Gurney out of the tournament with a 6-5 draw. Kuivenhoven showed a clear improvement compared to the previous day and scored a total of six 180s.
Dave Chisnall was brutally punished for his double faults, losing 6-3 to Darius Labanauskas.
Meanwhile, world number four Michael Smith had no problems with the young Dutchman Derk Telnekes. Smith played a strong 103 average and won 6:0. Last year’s winner Ian White also beat Scott Waites by 6:2 legs. Joe Cullen finished his game against Kim Huybrechts spectacularly. The “Rockstar” took out 170 points to win 6:3 – it is the only 170 in the tournament so far.
Nico Kurz, who only managed to beat Stefan Bellmont with a lot of effort on Friday, met the new Premier League winner Glen Durrant. Kurz and Durrant held the upper hand in their first three throws before Durrant was able to secure a break at 3:3, leaving Kurz with no more chances. 6:3 was the final score for “Duzza”, who nevertheless found praise for Nico Kurz. “He is one of the best dart players in Germany,” said Durrant, who admitted that he would have to improve on the final day to have a real chance of winning the title in Sindelfingen.
Ricardo Pietreczko, on the other hand, played a qualitatively weak game without claiming a leg against the Portuguese Jose de Sousa. Pietreczko could not continue his good performance from the first round.
Around 200 spectators were present in the evening session in the Sindelfinger Glaspalast. In compliance with the hygiene concept, the evening went smoothly for all spectators. Particularly celebrated was the world number one Michael van Gerwen, who was able to achieve a relaxed 6:1 victory over Mervyn King. Van Gerwen was visibly impressed by the audience after the match. “One of the best audiences ever. The atmosphere among the spectators was phenomenal,” said van Gerwen, who still sees room for improvement in his performance.
On the other hand, the last two German starters Gabriel Clemens and Max Hopp were eliminated. Clemens could not take his chances against James Wade consistently, Wade punished this by finishing 110 and 116 one after the other and thus won 6:4. Max Hopp also did not find his game. Although Vincent van der Voort also had big problems, Hopp could not prevail. Van der Voort was on hand at the right moments and won 6-4.
The renewed clash between Gerwyn Price, the current World Grand Prix Champion, and Devon Petersen, the last winner of a European Tour event, was more one-sided than many had expected. Price quickly broke away and won 6:2, finishing 150 points in the middle of the game. Price thus took impressive revenge for the defeat that Petersen inflicted on him in Hildesheim.
The best Austrian on the PDC Tour, Mensur Suljovic, also managed to move into round 2. Suljovic is currently working with a mental coach, as he explained after the game, in order to improve his game again after he recently had slipped in the rankings. With success: In the 6:3 against David Evans “The Gentle” played the highest average tof the day with 105.43 points.
In the evening, Krzysztof Ratajski from Poland lost to the Dutchman Martijn Kleermaker. Kleermaker is thus in the last 16th place at his second ET event for the second time.
Here is an overview of all the results again:
Afternoon session:
Daryl Gurney 5:6 Maik Kuivenhoven
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
Dave Chisnall 3:6 Darius Labanauskas
Joe Cullen 6:3 Kim Huybrechts
Jamie Hughes 6:5 Steve Lennon
Evening session:
Krzysztof Ratajski 2:6 Martijn Kleermaker
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
This will result in the following round of the last sixteen on Sunday:
Maik Kuivenhoven : Glen Durrant
Ian White : Michael Smith
Darius Labanauskas : Joe Cullen
Gerwyn Price : Jose de Sousa
Mensur Suljovic : Jamie Hughes
Martijn Kleermaker : Rob Cross
James Wade : Nathan Aspinall
Michael van Gerwen : Vincent van der Voort
