The second Euro Tour of the year got underway as the German Darts Championship began in Hildesheim.
Devon Peterson won the event last year and will get underway tomorrow when he faces world number four Michael Smith in the evening session.
The first match saw former BDO world champion Scott Waites face Finland world cup star Marko Kantele, with Waites prevailing to the next round in a 6-3 victory. “Scotty 2 Hotty” averaged 87.83 and hit a checkout of 72 in the victory which sees the Englishman through to face Jonny Clayton in the second round.
Daryl Gurney also came through on Friday after beating Lukas Wenig despite averaging less than the German star. Wenig only missed two darts at double in the match, but Gurney came through with the Northern Irishman hoping to push on and return to top form in 2022.
Gurney will face Luke Humphries in the penultimate game of the afternoon session on Saturday.
Adrian Lewis lost his match in Hildesheim as the former back-to-back world champion lost in a crushing 6-2 defeat to Karol Sedlacek. “Jackpot” hit more maximums than his opponent, but the Czech Republic star averaged an impressive 94.42 including a 118 check out in the process.
Lewis lost in the second round of the world championship to Gary Anderson and will be disappointed not to get through to the next round here in Germany.
Sedlacek will face Chris Dobey in the last match on Saturday.
There were comfortable victories for the likes of Dave Chisnall, Vincent van der Voort and Alan Soutar with a strong performance from “Chizzy” as he averaged 99.11 in beating Stefan Bellmont 6-1 giving him German number one Gabriel Clemens tomorrow.
The action continues on Saturday with world number one Peter Wright facing hometown favourite Martin Schindler, and high-flying Michael van Gerwen facing Jose Justicia after his second premier league victory in Brighton on Thursday.
First Round Matches:
Scott Waites 6-3 Marko Kantele
Alan Soutar 6-3 Luc Peters
Martin Lukeman 6-2 Jimmy Hendriks
Martijn Kleermaker 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Darius Labanauskas 6-2 Niko Springer
Ricky Evans 6-3 Nathan Rafferty
Jose Justicia 6-4 George Killington
Martin Schindler 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Stefan Bellmont
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Gian van Veen
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Lukas Wenig
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Joe Murnan
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Adrian Lewis
Second Round Matches: Afternoon
Krzysztof Ratajski v Jamie Hughes
Rob Cross v Martijn Kleermaker
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Darius Labanauskas
Damon Heta v Martin Lukeman
Ryan Searle v Vincent van der Voort
Dimitri van den Bergh v Alan Soutar
Luke Humphries v Daryl Gurney
Joe Cullen v Ricky Evans
Second Round Matches: Evening
Jose de Sousa v Kim Huybrechts
Michael Smith v Devon Peterson
Gabriel Clemens v Dave Chisnall
Michael van Gerwen v Jose Justicia
Peter Wright v Martin Schindler
Jonny Clayton v Scott Waites
Callan Rydz v Mensur Suljovic
Chris Dobey v Karel Sedlacek
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC Europe
Report by Harry Masterson
