Disaster for Deutschland as top seed knocked out on night 1 of European Championship
It was a night to forget for the home crowd as both Gabriel Clemens and top seed Martin Schindler suffered defeats at the hands of Dutch opponents. The first of the German stars to bow out at the first hurdle was Gabriel Clemens who suffered a 6-1 defeat against Michael van Gerwen. MVG who averaged over a ton reeled off four straight legs and restricted the Gentle Giant to only 5 attempts at the outer ring and taking out a 116 early to silence the home crowd.
German hopes of a bit of revenge in the very next game were short lived as German number 1 and top seed Martin Schindler was guilty of a slow start against Dirk van Duijvenbode and giving the Dutchman too much a cushion finding himself 5-1 down in hardly no time. Despite staging a mini comeback The Wall had left himself too much to do and van Duijvenbode held his throw in the ninth leg to win 6-3.
Dave Chisnall missed all 12 attempts at a double in his 6-0 defeat at the hands of Michael Smith.
Any hopes Ross Smith had of winning this title for a second time were soon wiped away as he fell behind 4-0 to debutant Luke Woodhouse. Despite Smudger getting a break back in the very next leg – Smith committed the cardinal sin of being unable to hold after breaking and Woodhouse then held in 15 darts to complete a comfortable 6-1 victory to book his place in round 2.
Gary Anderson did what Gary Anderson does best in averaging over 100 and hitting 30% of his doubles in defeating Stephen Bunting 6-3. Bunting himself hit 2 maximums but 8 missed darts at the double cost him any hope of making it through to the next round. Next up for Gary is a mouthwatering clash against Michael van Gerwen.
Elsewhere in the final match of the evening Michael Smith wasted no time in booking his place in the second round whitewashing fourth seed Dave Chisnall 6-0. Smith who uncharacteristically failed to hit a single maximum did register 3 ton plus finishes including a majestic 161. Fortunately he found this big finish because there wasn’t much else to shout about.
The standout performance of the night came in the very first match as Ritchie Edhouse averaged just shy of a 110 in getting passed World Youth Championship finalist Gian van Veen 6-1. With the first 2 legs being shared Madhouse went bonkers from there on in reeling off 5 legs on the spin which included a 145 checkout to book a darting date with Bully boy himself.
Daryl Gurney continued his recent resurgence as he got past Welshman Gerwyn Price 6-3. Both players averaged high 90’s but it was Superchin who got the all important break of throw in the 8th leg to take the game away from his opponent. Despite Price being more clinical on the outer ring – Gurney gave himself more opportunities which in turn gave him the win. The big talking point of the match came after it had concluded where Gerwyn Price took to social media to confirm he was taking a month off ending any hopes for Price fans of seeing their man at the Grand Slam of Darts.
The evening’s other match so Ryan Searle pitted against Raymond van Barneveld and it was heavy metal who came out on top winning 6-2. Despite Barney outscoring his opponent in the 180’s and 140’s it was the more consistent Searle who ended with a 101 average that came out on top. His reward for beating the 5 time champion of the world is a second round tie against Luke Woodhouse.
European Championship night 1 results
Gian van Veen 1-6 Ritchie Edhouse
Gerwyn Price 3-6 Daryl Gurney
Ross Smith 1-6 Luke Woodhouse
Stephen Bunting 3-6 Gary Anderson
Ryan Searle 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Gabriel Clemens
Martin Schindler 3-6 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dave Chisnall 0-6 Michael Smith