In the heart of Budapest, it was a Frenchman making the headlines on Saturday night. Thibault Tricole pulled off the shock of the Hungarian Darts Trophy so far, surviving six match darts to nick a dramatic last-leg victory over Premier League star Stephen Bunting.
The Bullet will be scratching his head wondering how he let this one go, especially when cruising at 5-2. But slip he did, and fair play to the plucky Frenchman, who simply refused to roll over. Tricole has flirted with the Euro Tour half a dozen times, but now he’s swimming in uncharted waters with his first run to a final day.
For Bunting, he’s probably wishing he’d nipped over to Anfield instead to watch Liverpool win the Merseyside Derby. There was a neat bit of symmetry today – the evening session started the same way as the afternoon: with a German win. Around lunchtime, it was their top dog Martin Schindler. By supper, it was young pup Niko Springer. The 22-year-old toppled world number ten Damon Heta with a 6-1 thrashing. Sure, the Aussie wasn’t exactly on it, but Springer couldn’t care less. He took full advantage and now sets up a Sunday showdown with Rob Cross.
Local Welsh chip-shop owner, Gerwyn Price is still on track for a second Euro Tour title of the year. He brushed aside Richard Veenstra 6-2 in a match that could have been uglier if the Dutchman hadn’t actually hit the few doubles he did get. Trouble was, he didn’t get enough. Price marches on to face Raymond van Barneveld and the Budapest Barney Army.
If you’re going to scalp Michael van Gerwen – especially the same MVG who just dominated the World Series – you need him on an off day. Matty Dennant must have prayed to the darting gods, because MVG turned up a little flat. Problem was, Dennant still didn’t make it count. An average below 80 won’t cut it, and MVG strolled through anyway, setting up an all-Dutch dust-up with Danny Noppert.
The World Champion Luke Littler followed a similar script in his clash with Joe Cullen. The Rockstar will be furious – he caught Littler in second gear, which is rare, and still couldn’t cash in. While Littler’s numbers looked human for once, they were still far too much for Cullen, who’s been showing glimpses of form lately.
The teenager marches on to face Schindler next.Then came the world number one, Luke Humphries, who got the better of his mate Nathan Aspinall. It was the kind of high-quality clash you expect from them: both averaged in the high 90s, they shared seven 180s, but Cool Hand always had his nose in front and never let it slip. That’s basically the story.
Josh Rock, meanwhile, continues to be darts’ man of the moment. He powered past Ricardo Pietreczko in a game that turned into a checkout clinic. Rock flew into a 4-0 lead before Pikachu suddenly started pinging ton-plus finishes like they were going out of fashion – 124, 126, even a 161.
For a moment, Rock looked rattled, but he closed it out 6-3 to leave Ricardo muttering about the slow start that killed him.
Finally, current Grand Prix champ Mike De Decker wrapped things up, beating Tom Bissell to complete the Sunday lineup. Belgium will have two men in the hat thanks to De Decker and Huybrechts. As for Bissell, he’ll be happy enough with his Budapest adventure, but this was the end of the road.
It all comes to a head tomorrow – and after a day of shocks, Barney resurrections, and French flair, who knows what’s next?
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Damon Heta 1-6 Niko Springer
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Richard Veenstra
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Matthew Dennant
Luke Littler 6-1 Joe Cullen
Luke Humphries 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Stephen Bunting 5-6 Thibault Tricole
Josh Rock 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Mike De Decker 6-2 Tom Bissell
Round Three (Sunday)
Luke Humphries v Mike De Decker
Rob Cross v Niko Springer
Thibault Tricole v Josh Rock
James Wade v Kim Huybrechts
Luke Littler v Martin Schindler
Gerwyn Price v Raymond van Barneveld
Michael van Gerwen v Danny Noppert
Chris Dobey v Cameron Menzies
—– Ends—–
Images: Gábor Kiss/PDC Europe
