Nico Kurz and Max Hopp were victorious on the eighth day of the William World Darts Championship, so for the first time we have two Germans in the third round. Kurz continued his strong performance from the match against James Wilson seamlessly and didn’t let himself get upset when Joe Cullen snatched the first set from him. Kurz kept his nerve and won the next three sets against Cullen who was seeded 15th.
Max Hopp, seeded 24, was the favourite against Benito van de Pas, who beat Gabriel Clemens. Until 2:2 it was a close game, but in the decisive set the “Maximiser” found his way into the game and won the set with three consecutive legs.
At the end of the day, Peter Wright had to fight hard to avoid failing in the first match, as he did last year. Noel Malicdem stood up to “Snakebite” and brought the game to the Sudden Death. Peter Wright then played his routine, secured the throw-up and finished the eleventh leg with a 13-darter.
Darren Webster 3-0 Yuki Yamada
Mervyn King 3-2 Ciaran Teehan
Jonny Clayton 3-0 Jan Dekker
Ricky Evans 3-1 Mark McGeeney
Nathan Aspinall 3-1 Danny Baggish
Nico Kurz 3-1 Joe Cullen
Max Hopp 3-2 Benito van de Pas
Peter Wright 3-2 Noel Malicdem
