It was raining direct breaks. Four-time European Championship winner Van Gerwen immediately broke ‘Hollywood’, but was immediately broken back by op bullseye to aim. One leg later, Van Gerwen was ahead again with 2-1. Average was around 110 and all his finishes went out. At the first break, the Brabander led 4-1.
Immediately after the break he aimed for a nine-darter, but the eight arrow went just wide. The score was 5-1, but two legs later it was 5-3. Dobey recovered himself and suddenly had a 115 average. Suddenly it was 5-4. Fortunately for the Dutchman, he went into the break at 6-4.
After the next rest period, rebreaks continued to rain, but in Van Gerwen’s favor: 8-5. Both played at a high level. ‘Mighty Mike’ went to 9-5 and needed one more leg. And so it came. 10-5. In the quarterfinals he will face Daryl Gurney.
‘Mighty Mike’ survived seven match darts against fellow countryman Wessel Nijman in the first round. Ultimately he won the decisive decider 6-5.
Impressive Gian van Veen makes mincemeat of Ryan Searle
Gian van Veen (23) won his match in the second round in an impressive manner. The Dutchman impressively put Ryan Searle aside: 10-2.
Gian van Veen. © ANP/HH
The Giant started excellently, after two legs an average of 120 and a score of 2-0. A little later he also made it 3-0, despite a chance of a rebreak from ‘Heavy Metal’, as Searle’s nickname is. Van Veen was in good form when it came to scoring. At the break it was 4-1. An almost perfect start.
After the rest period he shot to 6-1. Just before the new break he made it 8-2 in a fantastic way: via the ‘Big Fish’, throwing 170.
Van Veen’s average was just under 110. There was no stopping him Heavy Metal this afternoon in Dortmund. Wervelwind Van Veen threw him out: 10-2. Van Veen defeated Damon Heta 6-3 in the first round.
Danny Noppert is also in the last eight, after he fought his way past Nathan Aspinall. Last week The Asp was the tormentor of a number of Dutch people at the German Darts Championship and Noppert also had a very difficult time against the Englishman in the opening phase. But he recovered well from the poor start and ran away to 10-7 in the final phase, partly thanks to a beautiful 130 finish.
Jermain Wattimena had less success against Ricardo Pietreczko. The score was 10-6.
Exit Luke Littler
Who is not there in the quarter-finals is world champion Luke Littler. He lost to James Wade, who was on a roll. In fact, The Nuke was behind the times from the start. And when he fought back, he was quickly put behind again by Wade: 7-10.
Raymond van Barneveld wiped out by Luke Littler at European Championships
Afternoon session (from 1 p.m.)
• Ryan Searle – Gian van Veen 2-10
• Daryl Gurney-Ross Smith 10-6
• Martin Schindler-Ryan Joyce 7-10
• Chris Dobey – Michael van Gerwen 5-10
Michael van Gerwen escapes at the European Championships: survives seven (!) match darts against Wessel Nijman after a thrilling ‘decider’
Evening session (from 7.15 pm)
• Ricardo Pietreczko – Jermaine Wattimena 10-6
• Nathan Aspinall – Danny Noppert 7-10
• Luke Littler-James Wade 7-10
• Luke Humphries – Cameron Menzies 10-9