Dutch Dominate and Seeds Crash in Hildesheim

It was the Netherlands who enjoyed the most success on day two of the German Darts Championship, with a trio of representatives sealing safe passage into Sunday.

The afternoon began with an all-Netherlands clash between rising star Gian van Veen and Niels Zonneveld, which eventually went the way of the reigning World Youth Champion. Both players were impressive, but at 3–3, Van Veen found an extra gear and edged a high-quality battle 6–4.

Danny Noppert and Wessel Nijman were the other two Dutchmen to book their places in the last sixteen. Former UK Open winner Noppie wasn’t at his best – but fortunately for him, Luke Woodhouse was even further off his game, missing far too many attempts at the outer ring.

Nijman, by contrast, produced a superb display to dismiss Belgian number one Mike De Decker with ease. But, erhaps the shock of the day came courtesy of Cameron Menzies, who demolished Rob Cross 6–1. It wasn’t the result that raised eyebrows, but the margin. The Scot was sublime; Voltage, meanwhile, couldn’t find his spark.

After Peter Wright edged Ricardo Pietreczko in a dramatic last-leg decider, it sets up an all-Scottish showdown on Sunday afternoon.

Another contest that went the distance saw Damon Heta surrender a 4–1 lead as Steve Lennon mounted a brilliant comeback to dump the Australian out. The Polish Eagle, Krzysztof Ratajski, continued his resurgence with a superb ton-plus average to end Ryan Searle’s hopes.

To close the session, Dave Chisnall lit up the stage with ten maximums to silence the home crowd and oust Gabriel Clemens. Not a great day for the German faithful, who now have only Martin Schindler left to cheer for. Still, that’s not a bad horse to back – The Wall tends to do rather well on the Euro Tour. He’ll meet William O’Connor this evening.

Saturday October 18

Second Round

Afternoon Session

Gian van Veen 6-4 Niels Zonneveld

Damon Heta 5-6 Steve Lennon

Danny Noppert 6-3 Luke Woodhouse

Ryan Searle 3-6 Krzysztof Ratajski

Mike De Decker 2-6 Wessel Nijman

Rob Cross 1-6 Cameron Menzies

Peter Wright 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko

Dave Chisnall 6-4 Gabriel Clemens

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)