European Championship Day Two – Price & MvG Shocked by Rodriguez & Dobey

The 2022 Cazoo European Championship continued in Dortmund on Friday, as the first-round action draws to a close at the Westfalenhalle.

Rowby-John Shocks Price To Set Up Tie With Wright

Peter Wright went into European Championship as World Number One, however, knowing 120k was to come off following his success in 2020 which means Gerwyn Price jumps above him in the running order.

Price & Wright knew that if they both won they would meet in the second round and it was Wright up first.

With two holds of throw to open the game, Wright then came into his own with an 11-dart hold before a break of throw. That break seemed to impact Meikle who struggled to find his scoring.

Snakebite continued in fine fettle moving won one leg away after making it four on the spin. Wright missed one match dart for a 103 checkout in style, but he found the double 16 next time round for a 101 checkout out to defeat Meikle 6-2 with a 103 average.

Rowby-John Rodriguez wasn’t interested in the World Number One fight and to the delight of the German crowd, he defeated Gerwyn Price 6-4

Both players looked so strong on their throw, however with 10,14 & 15 dart-winning legs for Price he lead by 10 points on the average.

Rowby-John Rodriguez shocks Gerwyn Price
Rowby-John Rodriguez shocks Gerwyn Price.

The first break came in the seventh with Rowby-John checking out in style with a 92 out including two double 18s and the young Austrian followed it up with a hold of throw to move a leg away.

Price held with a 98 checkout to close the gap to one, but it was Rowby-John’s night, and finished with a 100 checkout to seal the tie with Peter Wright.

Dobey Rumbles MvG

Let’s Get Ready to Rumble was the walk-on for Dobey, and the Geordie was ready for his first TV win over Michael van Gerwen defeating him 6-5.

It was four straight holds of throw to open up the proceedings. Hollywood then stopped the run of holds with a 14-dart break followed by a 16-dart hold.

He had the opportunity for a 5-2 lead but missed three in hand at tops to allow MvG back in and then slipped on tops in the next leg into a single five bed to allow MvG to level the score up.

The moment of the game was to come in leg nine, with Dobey missing another leg dart at tops again, Michael van Gerwen fired in a 160 to lead 5-4. We had more drama in the game with Michael missing four match darts with Dobey hitting double five to take us to a decider.

After a 57 visit by both players, it was two 180’s from Chris Dobey that gave him the advantage and he sealed the win with an 11-dart leg.

The reward for Chris Dobey is a second-round tie with Jose de Sousa.

Jose de Sousa upset the German crowd with a 6-1 demolition job over Martin Schindler

Two 12-dart legs and one 13-dart leg saw The Special One race into a 3-0 lead. With the opening leg being sealed with a 140 checkout. The only roar in the game from the crowd was in leg four with Schindler finding a 13 darter of his own.

De Sousa made sure he stepped on the gas for the rest of the game and defied the whistling and boo’s from the crowd to secure a 6-1 victory, averaging 105.

Chizzy Demolishes Bunting

Dave Chisnall whitewashes Stephen Bunting in the opening game on night two.

The recent Pro Tour & Euro Tour title winner brought that current form into this game and fired in a 121 checkout to take the third leg.

The only thing missing from Chisnall’s game was the normal 180’s but he saved them for one in each of the last legs and stormed past The Bullet with a 107 average, the highest of the tournament so far.

Dave Chisnall will face Jonny Clayton in round two, with The Ferret being the final name to book his place into round two

Jonny Clayton ended the hopes of a German victory in Dortmund, defeating Gabriel Clemens

Following two holds of throw, we saw our first finger point from Clayton after he broke Clemens to lead 3-1.

This followed four holds of throw. The crowd played an important part in the fightback but Clayton like De Sousa earlier on, ignored the booing and after missing an handful of darts, secured the win against Gabriel Clemens.

Dimi Dancing Into Round Two

Dimitri Van den Bergh keeps his dream alive of becoming European Champion with a 6-2 over Daryl Gurney

There was nothing to split the players into the early stages with five straight holds seeing The DreamMaker before he stepped it up a level to get the first break of the game with an 11-darter.

Dimi followed it up with a strong hold, before punishing three leg darts by Gurney to seal the victory.

Dimi will face Ross Smith in round two after Smith defeated this year’s Premier League finalist.

The game started with fireworks, with both players finding ton-plus checkouts to hold throw, a 130 by Ross Smith, followed by a 154 out for Joe Cullen.

The hold of throws continued before Joe Cullen hit back-to-back 180s in leg five to take the lead for the first time before a hold to lead by two.

Smith’s fightback started with a 12-dart leg followed by an 11-dart break of throw. Smith regained the lead to move one away before punishing Rockstar’s missed darts to seal the victory.

2022 Cazoo European Championship
Friday, October 28 
8x First Round
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Stephen Bunting
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Ross Smith 6-4 Joe Cullen
Jose de Sousa 6-1 Martin Schindler
Peter Wright 6-2 Ryan Meikle
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Chris Dobey 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Jonny Clayton v Gabriel Clemens

Saturday, October 29
Afternoon Session (1345 local time, 1245 BST)
4x Second Round
Vincent van der Voort v Danny Noppert
James Wade v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Luke Humphries v Ryan Searle
Michael Smith v Josh Rock
Best of 19 legs

Evening Session (2000 local time, 1900 BST)
4x Second Round (Order of Play TBC)
Jose De Sousa v Chris Dobey
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Ross Smith
Peter Wright v Rowby-John Rodriguez
Dave Chisnall v Jonny Clayton