The second round of the German Darts Championship got underway in Hildesheim with Martin Lukeman coming through a high-quality affair with world number 23 Damon Heta.
The “Heat” averaged a very impressive 108.82 in losing but its Lukeman who makes it through to the third round. “Smash” averaged over 104 and sealed the decisive leg after Heta missed a dart at single 13, with Englishman hitting double four on his first dart.
Daryl Gurney faced Luke Humphries in the penultimate game of the day with Gurney winning yesterday against Lukas Wenig. The Northern Irishman also came through on Saturday afternoon taking out “Cool Hand Luke” 6-4 in Hildesheim with a 95.94 average. Gurney will hope to get back to winning PDC titles, which he was once doing a few years back.
Rob Cross defeated Martijn Kleermaker 6-2 in the second match of the day. The former world champion showed glimpses of the performances he pulled off back in 2018 with an impressive 60% checkout rate in his second-round match. Cross also averaged just under 100 in defeating the Dutchman.
Joe Cullen responded well after his defeat to Michael van Gerwen on Thursday in the Premier League. He played Ricky Evans in the final match of the session and comfortably defeated “Rapid” with a 102 average, with Cullen looking to find the form that won him the Masters back in January.
Elsewhere Vincent van der Voort was defeated 6-4 by Ryan Searle and Dimitri van den Bergh defeated Alan Soutar despite the Scotsman taking out an impressive 135 checkout. The Belgian won 6-4 with Soutar also recording a 50% checkout rate.
The action continues tonight with the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright getting their German Darts Championship campaigns underway.
Afternoon Results:
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Jamie Hughes
Rob Cross 6-2 Martijn Kleermaker
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Damon Heta
Ryan Searle 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Dimitri van den Bergh 6-4 Alan Soutar
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Luke Humphries
Joe Cullen 6-3 Ricky Evans
Evening Matches:
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—–
Words: Harry Masterson
Image: PDC
