Saturday night in Göttingen and the sizeable shocks arrived, blowing the European Darts Trophy wide open in dramatic fashion. Fans packed into the Lokhalle hoping to see their nation’s top ranked player, Martin Schindler, march deep into Sunday’s action and perhaps even lift the trophy by the end of proceedings.
However, Richard Veenstra clearly had not studied that particular script and stunned the German audience by dispatching their main man with a polished and authoritative performance.In the Dutchman’s first round match, he was impressively clinical on the outer ring, though admitted afterwards to climb Wall, his scoring output would require significant enhancement. Whatever adjustments were made behind the scenes worked wonders.
Flyers returned to the stage reinvigorated, corrected the issue emphatically, and now advances to face Ryan Searle on Sunday afternoon.Just as the arena was beginning to digest that rather unexpected outcome – one widely considered by pundits to be a sizeable upset – Niels Zonneveld delivered an even more astonishing twist.
In an all Dutch encounter against the legendary Michael van Gerwen, Triple Z erupted into a sensational 4-0 lead. In fairness to the Green Machine, he barely placed a dart out of line; there was simply little he could do other than admire the extraordinary fluency of his compatriot.
The Dutch legend clawed back a couple of legs to threaten a comeback, but his 27-year-old countryman displayed composure and maturity beyond his years to complete the job. A glance at the statistics might prompt a double take, with MVG registering an imposing 107 average.
Zonneveld (above) finished only marginally behind, but the crucial factor was limiting Mighty Mike’s opportunities at leg winning doubles – something he accomplished with admirable efficiency. Another Dutch opponent awaits in the form of Jermaine Wattimena.
Earlier in the evening, German hopes had already taken a dent as Josh Rock eased past Paul Krohne. With all due respect to the home representative, that result did not quite generate the same level of astonishment as Schindler’s elimination. Rock now advances to meet Chris Dobey.
The performance of the night unquestionably belonged to Gerwyn Price, who produced a magnificent display to dispatch Joe Cullen. The Iceman averaged comfortably north of the ton and, following Wales’ Six Nations victory over Italy earlier in the evening, had even more reason to be smiling when he stepped onto the oche. He will hope that grin remains intact when he faces Danny Noppert in the last sixteen.
It has been something of a whirlwind period for Gian van Veen and adding a European Tour title to his already glittering European Championship triumph would be a most welcome addition. Without needing to reach top gear, the Dutch number one delivered a composed and methodical display to overcome what looked on paper a tricky test against Krzysztof Ratajski.
Van Veen executed the essentials with clinical efficiency, and when the Pole landed checkouts he did not strictly require, it made the task considerably easier for the 23-year-old. Next comes a mouth-watering clash with fellow young compatriot Wessel Nijman.
Finally, at the third time of asking, the German crowd were able to celebrate a home nation victory as Niko Springer edged past Stephen Bunting in a dramatic last leg decider. Unfortunately for The Bullet, a minority in the audience chose to whistle as he approached the oche, something that visibly unsettled the Liverpudlian. Full credit must go to Springer, who remained focused throughout and even appeared to offer an apologetic gesture to his opponent afterwards, seemingly acknowledging the unfortunate interference from sections of the crowd.
Bunting’s problem now becomes Ross Smith’s, as Smudger faces the last remaining German in the field.
Austrian veteran Mensur Suljović has appeared in at least one European Tour event every year since the circuit’s inception in 2012, and once again The Gentle finds himself deep in the tournament after overcoming Luke Humphries’ late replacement, Karel Sedlacek.
Evil Charlie, watched on by family in attendance, will be disappointed he did not perform closer to his capabilities, but Suljović remains firmly in pursuit of a fourth continental crown. Next up is Dirk van Duijvenbode.
The final place on Sunday’s stage was claimed by Kevin Doets, who defeated what was likely an extremely jet lagged Cam Crabtree.
The two players had enjoyed rather contrasting routes into the contest. Hawkeye had shattered the tournament record with a 117 plus average in his opening match, while Crabtree had been holidaying in America, entirely unaware he was on the reserve list, before hastily flying to Germany via Turkey to replace Jonny Clayton.
With hindsight, he may well have remained on vacation. While Doets did not quite reproduce the breathtaking brilliance of his first outing, it was another highly impressive display and more than enough to set up a Sunday showdown with Damon Heta.
And so round two concludes. A new champion will be crowned in Göttingen, but who it will be remains deliciously uncertain. Plenty of exceptional players remain in the hunt, many desperately seeking that elusive maiden European Tour title.
The action resumes slightly earlier on Sunday morning, beginning at 11am UK time, with matches played in draw order.
EUROPEAN DARTS TROPHY (ET2)
Göttingen, Germany (13-15 March)
ROUND TWO: Saturday
Evening Session Results
Josh Rock 6-4 Paul Krohne
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Joe Cullen
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Martin Schindler
Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Michael van Gerwen
Mensur Suljović 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Gian van Veen 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
Niko Springer 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Kevin Doets 6-4 Cam Crabtree
ROUND THREE: Sunday Afternoon
Fixtures (11am GMT)
Mensur Suljović V Dirk Van Duijvenbode
Danny Noppert v Gerwyn Price
Kevin Doets V Damon Heta
Niko Springer V Ross Smith
Gian van Veen v Wessel Nijman
Josh Rock v Chris Dobey
Niels Zonnerveld v Jermaine Wattimena
Ryan Searle v Richard Veenstra
—–Ends—–
Images: pdc
