Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld set up a clash of World Champions with Peter Wright at the Interwetten German Darts Open with a whitewash of Ian White in Friday’s first round in Jena.
Five-time World Champion Van Barneveld rolled back the years with a clinical display to efficiently see off White at the Sparkassen-Arena, hitting six doubles from ten attempts.
The 55-year-old punished nine missed doubles from White during the contest, and finished with a flourish as legs of 13 and 11 darts sealed the win.
Van Barneveld now plays reigning World Champion Wright in a highlight of Saturday’s second round fixtures
“I’m happy with the win and looking forward to tomorrow,” said Van Barneveld. “I love to play Peter – I love him to bits, but tomorrow it’s my stage.
“We all know what he can do, but he’s struggling sometimes and if I play my good game I can beat him – but I have to play really well tomorrow.”
He added: “The first two or three legs were a bit dodgy but fortunately I won those, and then you see Ian struggling. Ian wasn’t playing his game, but I’m happy to beat him.”
Geert Nentjes and Danny van Trijp were other Dutchmen to enjoy 6-0 wins in Friday’s first round as they also progressed to the second round of the PDC European Tour event, where they meet Krzysztof Ratajski and Martin Schindler respectively.
Nentjes averaged 98 and finished six doubles from ten attempts to whitewash Josh Rock – a quarter-finalist last weekend in the Hungarian Darts Trophy – while Van Trijp was too strong for John Henderson.
Martin Lukeman was the day’s most impressive performer with a superb 103.58 average in his 6-1 win over Gabriel Clemens.
The German averaged over 107 in reply, winning his only leg with a 13-darter, but Lukeman posted two 12-dart legs and sealed the victory with a 13-darter of his own to set up a clash with Rob Cross.
Daryl Gurney will now play Dirk van Duijvenbode following his 6-3 defeat of Connor Scutt, while Alan Soutar overcame Lukas Wenig by the same scoreline to set up a meeting with Damon Heta.
David Evans held off a fightback from Martijn Kleermaker – who hit back from 5-0 down to trail 5-3 at one stage – as he moves through to play Dimitri Van den Bergh on Saturday.
Scott Williams suffered a first-round defeat for the first time on the European Tour, as former World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks set up a tie with Dave Chisnall with a 6-3 success, which included a key 136 checkout.
Luke Woodhouse edged through a tight contest against Keane Barry, hitting a second 11-darter of the game to force a deciding leg before surviving a missed match dart at the bull from the Irish ace before progressing to a tie with Ryan Searle.
Jamie Hughes came from 3-0 and 5-2 down – landing a 164 finish along the way – as he forced a deciding leg against Daniel Larsson, who landed a timely 180 as he edged through to meet top seed, Luke Humphries, in round two.
Jim Williams survived three missed match darts across two visits from Karel Sedlacek in a dramatic deciding leg to their tie, as he created an all-Welsh clash with recent NZ Darts Masters winner Jonny Clayton.
Dragutin Horvat hit back from 2-0 down to defeat Jeff Smith 6-4, and the Host Nation Qualifier now plays Jose de Sousa in Saturday’s second round.
The pre-tournament withdrawals of Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Adrian Lewis and Darren Webster meant that four players received a Bye in the first round.
Steve Beaton will now play Nathan Aspinall on Saturday, Lewy Williams takes on world number one Gerwyn Price, Ross Smith faces UK Open champion Danny Noppert and Joe Murnan meets Joe Cullen, last weekend’s Hungarian Darts Trophy winner.
Saturday’s second round sees the 16 seeded players enter the £140,000 event, with the tournament set to conclude on Sunday across two sessions in Jena.
Coverage will be streamed through DAZN for viewers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and through PDCTV for subscribers in all other territories, as well as through bookmakers worldwide.
2022 Interwetten German Darts Open
Friday, September 9
First Round
Afternoon Session
David Evans 6-3 Martijn Kleermaker
Bradley Brooks 6-3 Scott Williams
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Keane Barry
Daniel Larsson 6-5 Jamie Hughes
Jim Williams 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Dragutin Horvat 6-4 Jeff Smith
Evening Session
Danny van Trijp 6-0 John Henderson
Geert Nentjes 6-0 Josh Rock
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Connor Scutt
Alan Soutar 6-3 Lukas Wenig
Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Ian White
Martin Lukeman 6-1 Gabriel Clemens
Byes: Steve Beaton, Ross Smith, Lewy Williams, Joe Murnan
Saturday September 10
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Ryan Searle v Luke Woodhouse
Jose de Sousa v Dragutin Horvat
Krzysztof Ratajski v Geert Nentjes
Dimitri Van den Bergh v David Evans
Danny Noppert v Ross Smith
Dave Chisnall v Bradley Brooks
Nathan Aspinall v Steve Beaton
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Daryl Gurney
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Damon Heta v Alan Soutar
Luke Humphries v Daniel Larsson
Joe Cullen v Joe Murnan
Peter Wright v Raymond van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price v Lewy Williams
Martin Schindler v Danny van Trijp
Jonny Clayton v Jim Williams
Rob Cross v Martin Lukeman
—–ENDS—–
Images: Kais Bodensiek / PDC Europe
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