Michael van Gerwen recorded a 104.15 average in beating Jose Justicia in the second round of the German Darts Championship. The Dutchman who came into the tournament after a huge win on night 5 of the premier league, returned to form in Germany with a 6-3 win over the Spaniard.
The Dutchman seems in fine form and will be hoping for a win in the Euro Tour with “Mighty Mike” failing to win on the Euro Tour last year. He is certainly showing the form and ruthlessness he had in the years of his dominance within the PDC. Van Gerwen faces Damon Heta’s conqueror Martin Lukeman in the third-round tomorrow afternoon.
World number one Peter Wright was given a scare in his second round tie with German youngster Martin Schindler. “Snakebite” came through a 6-4 winner despite averaging 7 points fewer than his opponent with Schindler’s average just shy of 100.
The Scotsman faces Krzysztof Ratajski in the third round after the Polish international beat Jamie Hughes in the opening match of the day. The “Polish Eagle” was impressive on his doubles with six out of thirteen converted and included a 128 checkout in beating Hughes.
Karel Sedlacek defeated Chris Dobey in a 6-0 whitewash after beating Adrian Lewis on Friday. Sedlacek was clinical on his doubles with a 50% checkout rate including a 100 checkout in dismantling “Hollywood”. He faces the Portuguese number one Jose de Sousa in the third round on Sunday.
The reigning champion Devon Peterson is out after losing 6-2 to Michael Smith. The Englishman reached the final in Brighton on Thursday and continued his good form by knocking the defending champion out. The “African Warrior” took out a 117 checkout, but his scoring evaded him in his defeat with Smith going on to face Dave Chisnall in the next round.
Elsewhere Jonny Clayton and Mensur Suljovic made winning starts with Suljovic dismantling world championship quarter finalist Callan Rydz in a 6-0 win. Clayton beat Scott Waites 6-2 to set up a third-round tie with the Austrian on Sunday.
The German Darts Championship continues Sunday with the third-round matches set to be played across the afternoon.
Evening Results:
Jose de Sousa 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Michael Smith 6-4 Devon Peterson
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Jose Justicia
Peter Wright 6-4 Martin Schindler
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Scott Waites
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Callan Rydz
Karel Sedlacek 6-0 Chris Dobey
Third Round Matches:
Michael van Gerwen v Martin Lukeman
Peter Wright v Krzysztof Ratajski
Ryan Searle v Dimitri van den Bergh
Michael Smith v Dave Chisnall
Joe Cullen v Daryl Gurney
Jonny Clayton v Mensur Suljovic
Rob Cross v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jose de Sousa v Karel Sedlacek
—–ENDs—–
Words: Harry Masterson
Image: PDC
