Grand Prix race tightens on day one of Euro Tour
Mervyn King is in the World Grand Prix qualifying places after day one of the Euro Tour event in Germany.
The King beat Steffen Siepmann 6-1 to move into the second round of the German Darts Championship in Hildesheim. He pushes out Latvia’s Madars Razma, who was in the final qualification spot after a brilliant Autumn Series.
King also moved ahead of Jeffrey De Zwaan on countback. De Zwaan is now in serious danger of missing out on the Grand Prix in Coventry, after he lost 6-3 in round one to Devon Petersen.
Elsewhere on day one of the Euro Tour event:
- Chris Dobey is closer to Grand Prix qualification thanks to a 6-3 win over Ryan Murray
- Jeff Smith, Steve Lennon and William O’Connor kept their slim hopes alive of qualifying for Coventry
- Five German players made round two, the most ever in the history of the Euro Tour
- Scott Waites made his Euro Tour debut and won his first round game
King cruises through but De Zwaan in trouble
Mervyn King knew he had to win his first round match this afternoon to avoid missing out on the World Grand Prix for the first time in his career. He did just that, beating Germany’s Steffen Siepmann 6-1 in the final game of the afternoon session.
King went a double break of throw ahead early on to lead 4-0 against Siepmann, who missed seven darts for the fourth leg. The German player would eventually get a leg back, hitting double 10 in the next leg for a break of throw.
However, that was as good as it got for Siepmann, as King won the next two legs in 15 and 13 darts respectively to complete a routine win and move back into the qualifying spots for Coventry next month.
As King knocked out Razma, it also meant that Jeffrey De Zwaan dropped into the final qualifying spot. He knew he had to win against the African Warrior Devon Petersen, who’s already qualified for the Grand Prix.
In what was a scrap between the pair, Petersen got out to an early 3-1 lead. But, missed darts at a double from the South African in the next two legs allowed De Zwaan back into the contest, as he found a 60 and a 104 outshot to make it 3-3.
Petersen though held firm. Despite being 3/13 on the doubles at the halfway mark, the African Warrior pounced on two missed darts from De Zwaan for the seventh leg, hitting double 10 to lead 4-3. That seemed to break the Black Cobra’s heart, as Petersen reeled off the next two legs to win 6-3.
De Zwaan will now be hoping other results go his way this weekend to stay in the World Grand Prix qualification spots, starting with Jonny Clayton losing tomorrow to Chris Dobey. Dobey beat Ryan Murray 6-3 in the evening session, further helping his bid to return to the Grand Prix where he made his maiden semi final last year.
Smith, Lennon and O’Connor remain alive
Other players need excellent runs this weekend in order to qualify for the Grand Prix at the Ricoh Arena next month.
One such player is Jeff Smith, who needs to make the quarter finals to guarantee a qualification spot. He went 5-2 up on host nation qualifier Franz Roetzsch, before the German got the game back to 5-5. Smith though held his throw, and won the match 6-5 with a 15 dart hold to move into round two. He will face Mensur Suljovic tomorrow evening.
Steve Lennon has to make the semi finals to move into the qualifying places. On day one of the Euro Tour event, he beat Boris Kolstov comfortably 6-2, but faces a second round match against world number one Michael van Gerwen.
William O’Connor must make the final to qualify, and he got his campaign off and running with a 6-1 demolition of Sweden’s Daniel Larsson. The Magpie will play Rob Cross in the final game on Saturday afternoon.
One player that will not be at the Grand Prix is Jason Lowe. He was 4-1 up on Germany’s young star Nico Kurz, but conceded the last five legs to lose 6-4 despite averaging 100.2. Kurz will play James Wade tomorrow.
What else happened?
Kurz was one of five players from Germany to make it through to round two, the first time that’s ever happened in a Euro Tour event.
The other players to join him on day one of the Euro Tour event were:
- Gabriel Clemens who beat Steve West 6-1. Clemens had already guaranteed his World Grand Prix spot
- Max Hopp who beat Reece Robinson 6-2. Hopp needs to win the event to get an unlikely World Grand Prix place
- Dragutin Horvat who defeated Ronny Huybrechts 6-4 for his first victory on the Euro Tour in two years
- Lukas Wenig who beat Cody Harris 6-4. It was Wenig’s first victory on the Euro Tour
Another player who got his maiden win on the Euro Tour today was Scott Waites. Making his debut, he beat fellow debutant Darren Penhall 6-3.
Danny Noppert produced the highest average of the day. The Dutchman hit a 102.6 in his 6-2 victory over Josh Payne.
Richard North won a last leg decider 6-5 against Ron Meulenkamp, while Adam Hunt beat Steve Brown 6-3 to move into round two.
Finally, Michael Smith played Alan Tabern in the last game of the evening. Bully Boy won 6-2, hitting a 167 outshot in the process.
View the:
- PDC Order of Merit. The top 16 players will qualify for the World Grand Prix, with the top eight seeded.
- PDC Pro Tour of Merit. The top 16 players who aren’t already in the top 16 on the normal order of merit will qualify
Day One Results
First Round
Scott Waites 6-3 Darren Penhall
William O’Connor 6-1 Daniel Larsson
Richard North 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp
Steve Lennon 6-2 Boris Koltsov
Jeff Smith 6-5 Franz Roetzsch
Lukas Wenig 6-4 Cody Harris
Dragutin Horvat 6-4 Ronny Huybrechts
Mervyn King 6-1 Steffen Siepmann
Danny Noppert 6-2 Josh Payne
Adam Hunt 6-3 Steve Brown
Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Steve West
Nico Kurz 6-4 Jason Lowe
Max Hopp 6-2 Reece Robinson
Devon Petersen 6-3 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Chris Dobey 6-3 Ryan Murray
Michael Smith 6-3 Alan Tabern
Day Two Fixtures
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Dave Chisnall v Lukas Wenig
Jermaine Wattimena v Mervyn King
Adrian Lewis v Danny Noppert
Daryl Gurney v Gabriel Clemens
Nathan Aspinall v Dragutin Horvat
Glen Durrant v Scott Waites
Rob Cross v William O’Connor
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Jonny Clayton v Chris Dobey
Ian White v Max Hopp
Mensur Suljovic v Jeff Smith
Michael van Gerwen v Steve Lennon
Peter Wright v Michael Smith
Krzysztof Ratajski v Richard North
Gerwyn Price v Devon Petersen
Joe Cullen v Adam Hunt
James Wade v Nico Kurz