Luke Woodhouse has set his sights on a clash with Gerwyn Price at the Interwetten European Darts Open following a stunning opening to the PDC European Tour event in Leverkusen.
Englishman Woodhouse produced his highest recorded average of 109.98 in a brilliant 6-0 whitewash of Mickey Mansell in the stand-out performance of Friday’s first round at the Ostermann Arena.
Woodhouse finished six doubles from seven attempts in a fine display, limiting Mansell to just two darts at a double as he moved through to a second round tie with top seed Price on Saturday.
“I felt really good,” said Woodhouse. “Practice didn’t go so well, but I felt really comfortable up on the stage and the crowd was amazing – it went really well.
“Obviously Gezzy is an unbelievable player so I’m going to have to perform like that tomorrow then you never know. I’ve got all the respect in the world for Gezzy so we’ll see what happens.”
Darren Penhall was another whitewash winner, with Luc Peters having just one dart at a double in their tie as a 100 average set up the Englishman for a meeting with recent German Darts Grand Prix winner Luke Humphries.
Josh Rock claimed a third 6-0 victory of the afternoon session by seeing off fellow youngster Connor Scutt, and the emerging Northern Irish ace now plays Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski on Saturday.
German Darts Grand Prix runner-up Martin Lukeman saw his hopes of another strong run on the European Tour ended with a 6-3 loss to Dennis Nilsson, with the Swedish qualifier set to face Jose de Sousa in round two.
Daryl Gurney took out 78 in the deciding leg of his tie with fellow Northern Irishman Kevin Burness as he moved through to meet Michael van Gerwen in round two.
Scott Williams will meet World Champion Peter Wright on Saturday, after coming from 5-4 down to defeat Czech Republic ace Adam Gawlas 6-5.
Germany’s Martin Schindler delighted the Leverkusen crowd with a clinical 6-2 win over Ritchie Edhouse, finishing six doubles from 11 attempts, and he now plays European Champion Rob Cross.
Top-ranked German Gabriel Clemens was eliminated with a 6-3 loss to Dave Chisnall, who booked a tasty second round clash with Damon Heta.
Young German Nico Kurz was defeated 6-4 by Rowby-John Rodriguez as the Austrian set up a tie with Cazoo Premier League leader Jonny Clayton on Saturday night.
Berry van Peer came from 4-2 down to defeat Jermaine Wattimena 6-4, punishing 21 missed doubles from his fellow Dutchman to move into the last 32, where he plays Premier League star James Wade.
Cameron Menzies pulled clear from two-all to defeat Ian White 6-3 in their tie, sealing a second round meeting with Dimitri Van den Bergh with a superb 156 checkout.
Devon Petersen came from 5-4 down to win a deciding leg against youngster Kevin Doets, setting up the South African for a second round tie against former housemate Joe Cullen, the 2022 Masters champion.
Krzysztof Kciuk punished 13 missed doubles from Keane Barry as he set up a second round date with Ryan Searle courtesy of a 6-3 victory, taking out a 133 finish during the tie.
Maik Kuivenhoven survived four missed match darts from Stephen Bunting in the deciding leg of their clash as he set up an all-Dutch contest with Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Andrew Gilding came from 2-0 down to defeat Lukas Wenig 6-3 to move through to a tie with Brendan Dolan, stringing together five legs of between 12-15 darts in the process.
With America’s Danny Baggish having withdrawn, Karel Sedlacek will take on Nathan Aspinall in round two after receiving a bye.
Coverage will be streamed through DAZN for viewers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, via Sport1 in Germany and through PDCTV for subscribers in all other territories, as well as through bookmakers worldwide.
2022 Interwetten European Darts Open
Friday May 6
First Round
Afternoon Session
Luke Woodhouse 6-0 Mickey Mansell
Darren Penhall 6-0 Luc Peters
Dennis Nilsson 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Josh Rock 6-0 Connor Scutt
Scott Williams 6-5 Adam Gawlas
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-3 Keane Barry
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Lukas Wenig
Evening Session
Devon Petersen 6-5 Kevin Doets
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Kevin Burness
Berry van Peer 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Ian White
Martin Schindler 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Nico Kurz
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
NB: Karel Sedlacek receives Bye
