Van Gerwen survives a scare as the big names shine in Gottingen “I had to battle and that gives me energy”

Michael van Gerwen overcame a significant scare from German prospect Niko Springer as he began his quest to win the Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Trophy for the third time.

Van Gerwen won at the Lokhalle in Göttingen in 2017 and 2018, and he’ll be one of 16 players vying for the Winamax European Tour title in the event’s final stages on Sunday.

However, the 37-time European Tour event champion had to come back from 3-0 and 5-3 down against Springer before securing victory with a 14-dart final leg.

Van Gerwen now faces World Youth Champion Gian van Veen in Sunday afternoon’s third round, but labelled Springer as arguably the strongest German player on the circuit following a high-quality contest

“We all know how good Niko Springer is and I had to fight really hard,” said Van Gerwen. “I had to battle and that gives me energy – but I think there’s a lot more in the tank. I’m going to make sure I keep my focus.”

Luke Humphries required a 134 finish with treble 18 and two double tops to eventually break Boris Krcmar’s resilience, who averaged nearly 103 in defeat to the world number one.

Krcmar scored 127 and 104 to bring the score equal after eight legs, and Humphries admitted: “I thought he played really well and I had to pull out some of my best stuff.

“I’m playing okay but I’m not getting results. It wasn’t my best performance but I love the European Tour – I really feel up for it this weekend, I really want to prove something to myself and go on a decent run.”

On a sensational day of second round action, Jermaine Wattimena achieved his second-highest career average in a stunning victory over Chris Dobey.

Wattimena’s 6-4 victory featured legs of 14, 15, 15, 14, 13, and 11 darts as he averaged 111.07 to defeat the Premier League standout, who took a 3-1 lead with back-to-back 12 darters early in the game.

German number one Martin Schindler averaged over 107 in a superb effort to defeat fourth seed Jonny Clayton 6-1, kicking off his pursuit for a third European Tour title in style.

Gerwyn Price and Ryan Searle also had a fantastic match, with the Welshman winning 6-4 and hitting checkouts of 167 and 136, among six doubles from 10 attempts.

Searle averaged 105.62 and hit five 180s in loss, while Price averaged 103.74 as he advanced to the third round.

World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker held off a late rally from Peter Wright to win 6-4 over the two-time World Champion in a high-quality match in which both players averaged more than 105.

Dave Chisnall advanced to the third round against Ross Smith after defeating Ricky Evans 6-1, landing six doubles on nine attempts in a polished display.

Smith improved on Friday’s outstanding first round performance by defeating recent UK Open finalist James Wade 6-2, averaging more over 99 points per set.

Rob Cross won four straight legs over Andrew Gilding, while Michael Smith came back from two down to overcome Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 in a confidence-boosting performance that sets up a match against Humphries.

Wessel Nijman defeated fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert in the deciding leg, winning the first five legs on double eight before pinning double ten for the win.

Cameron Menzies punished Damon Heta for failing to seal victory in their match, with the Scot winning the final three legs to advance to the last 16, where he will face De Decker.

Van Veen defeated Josh Rock in a battle between the reigning and past World Youth Champions, landing 121 checkouts and averaging more over 100.

Dimitri Van den Bergh was another seeded player to fall on Saturday afternoon, as Ryan Joyce powered in a 167 checkout en route to a 6-4 victory.

Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson punished Luke Woodhouse for 15 missed doubles as the Scot rallied from 3-0 behind to go to the final day with a 6-4 triumph.

Nathan Aspinall set up a showdown with Wattimena by defeating Ritchie Edhouse in a final leg, despite the European Champion landing checkouts of 170 and 130 in a late rally from 5-2 down to take the tie all the way.

Van Gerwen survives a scare as the big names shine in Gottingen 

Wessel Nijman 6-5 Danny Noppert

Ross Smith 6-2 James Wade

Rob Cross 6-4 Andrew Gilding

Cameron Menzies 6-5 Damon Heta

Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Chris Dobey

Michael Smith 6-2 Ricardo Pietreczko

Gian van Veen 6-4 Josh Rock

Ryan Joyce 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh

 

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)

Gary Anderson 6-4 Luke Woodhouse

Gerwyn Price 6-4 Ryan Searle

Dave Chisnall 6-1 Ricky Evans

Mike De Decker 6-4 Peter Wright

Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Niko Springer

Luke Humphries 6-4 Boris Krcmar

Martin Schindler 6-1 Jonny Clayton

Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse

 

Sunday March 23

Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)

Third Round

Cameron Menzies v Mike De Decker

Rob Cross v Ryan Joyce

Gerwyn Price v Wessel Nijman

Michael van Gerwen v Gian van Veen

Dave Chisnall v Ross Smith

Martin Schindler v Gary Anderson

Nathan Aspinall v Jermaine Wattimena

Luke Humphries v Michael Smith

 

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)

Quarter-Finals

Semi-Finals

Final