Mervyn King reminded us of his ability on Saturday. On the second day of the Dutch Darts Championship in Zwolle, The King defeated Gerwyn Price in a last-leg decider to reach the third round and face Chris Dobey for a spot in the Quarter Finals.
The Iceman had recently missed out on the final four in the Premier League and complained of ‘burn-out’ due to the new Premier League format. He will have an enforced rest before more tournaments after losing early to the King.
The Ipswich-born veteran averaged 91.69 on stage and included a 115 checkout in the fifth leg to break throw, in what was the highest checkout of the match.
Double four with his first dart in hand gave the 56-year-old victory, sending the former world champion home early despite being the tournaments number one seed.
World Number one and reigning World Champion Peter Wright rediscovered the winning habit with a 6-3 win over Jermaine Wattimena. Snakebite recovered from the disappointment of missing out on a Premier League finals night place to set up a mouth-watering clash with home ace and UK Open Champion Danny Noppert.
Simon Whitlock also demonstrated that he retains elite tungsten skills, after impressing against Jamie Hughes on Friday he went one better and beat Premier League debutant and final four contender Joe Cullen. The Wizard from Aus so far has hit 10 maximums in the tournament finding five in both of his matches so far.
The all Winmau battle saw the Rockstar finish the highest checkout of the game, hitting 95 in the fifth leg to break the former world finalist’s throw and lead 3-2. The Australian though was to have the last laugh as he hit double sixteen to clinch a last leg decider and win 6-5, going through to face Daniel Larsson who beat former UK Open Nathan Aspinall 6-4 on Saturday.
Michael van Gerwen had no problems in his home country winning an all-Dutch affair with former World Champion Jelle Klaasen, sailing to a 6-2 win and a spot in the next round. Mighty Mike is already qualified for the Premier League in Berlin next month, arguably one of the most in-form players of the year with the likes of Joe Cullen, Jonny Clayton, and Luke Humphries.
The Netherlands star was in no mood to mess about, averaging 104.67 and including six maximums to delight the home faithful. Double eight with his first dart gave the Dutchman his sixth and final leg, despite The Cobra hitting the big fish in the opening leg. The World Number three is through to face Callan Rydz in the Third Round after he comfortably beat tournament 15th Seed Brendan Dolan 6-1.
Action continues on PDCTV today with the third round getting underway with the likes of Danny Noppert and Damon Heta all in action, as the tournament heads into its third and final day.
Saturday May 28
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Ryan Searle 6-3 Ross Smith
Damon Heta 6-3 Scott Waites
Boris Krcmar 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Daniel Larsson 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Callan Rydz 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Danny Noppert 6-5 Martin Schindler
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Jose De Sousa
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Ryan Meikle 6-2 Rob Cross
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Joe Cullen
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Peter Wright 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Jelle Klaasen
Mervyn King 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Michael Smith 6-4 Danny Jansen
Chris Dobey 6-1 Ritchie Edhouse
Sunday May 29
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Third Round
Ryan Meikle v Boris Krcmar
Peter Wright v Danny Noppert
Simon Whitlock v Daniel Larsson
Michael van Gerwen v Callan Rydz
Dave Chisnall v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Ryan Searle v Andrew Gilding
Damon Heta v Michael Smith
Mervyn King v Chris Dobey
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
- Quarter-Finals
- Semi-Finals
- Final
Format
All games up to and including the quarter-finals are the best of 11 legs, with the semi-finals the best of 13 legs and the final the best of 15 legs.
Prize Fund
- Winner: £25,000
- Runner-up: £10,000
- Semi-Finalists: £6,500
- Quarter-Finalists: £5,000
- Last 16 losers: £3,000
- Last 32 losers: £2,000
- Last 48 losers: £1,000
- Total: £140,000
—–ENDS—–
Images: Kais Bodensieck/PDC Europe
Words: Harry Masterson
