Van Gerwen survives a scare as Wright falls on day 2 in Munich

After both making the last 16 of the PDC European Tour event in Munich, Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross will face off in a thrilling third round game at the Interwetten German Darts Grand Prix on Sunday.

In recent years, Van Gerwen and Cross have had a number of famous battles, including last month’s German Darts Championship final, which the Dutchman won.

They’ll play again on the European Tour circuit on Monday, after European Champion Cross overcame Karel Sedlacek in round two despite 21 missed doubles, while Van Gerwen survived a scare against Chris Dobey in round two.

Dobey led 3-1 and 5-3 against Van Gerwen before missing two match darts at double 18 in the game’s ninth leg, forcing a decider, which the Dutchman won by finishing 93 to advance.

Van Gerwen is looking forward to taking on Cross on Sunday afternoon as he begins his quest for a record-breaking 34th European Tour victory.

 

“Rob is a phenomenal player,” said Van Gerwen. “He’s tried to battle back and you need to do really well if you want to beat him – but I feel good, I feel confident.

 “To win games like this gives you a lot of energy, and that’s really important. There is still a lot of work to do but to start off the tournament like this means a lot.

 “Chris had a couple of really good finishes to make it difficult, but there can only be one winner and I’m really glad that’s me.

“That was probably a match I would have lost last year but I’ve got confidence now. The crowds are back and this is what we want.”

Scott Waites reached the final day of a European Tour event by defeating World Champion Peter Wright 6-5 in Munich.

Wright appeared to be on his way to a seventh European Tour triumph after taking a 5-3 lead, but Waites came back with rounds of 68 and 71 to keep his chances alive and pinned double 16 in the deciding leg.

The former Grand Slam of Darts champion will now face Damon Heta, who stunned Raymond van Barneveld by averaging nearly 100 in his 6-4 victory

Wesley Plaisier became the first Dutchman to reach the final 16 of a European Tour event as he came back from a 4-3 deficit to upset Masters champion Joe Cullen 6-4

He will now face fellow countryman Dirk van Duijvenbode, who won his second round encounter with Boris Krcmar with a 14-darter in the deciding leg.

Max Hopp continued his comeback with a 6-3 victory over Dimitri Van den Bergh, finishing 50% of his darts at a double to advance to the last 16 and delight the German fans.

He will now face Premier League player Jonny Clayton, who averaged over 102 in a 6-2 victory over Dave Chisnall on Sunday.

Madars Razma of Latvia eliminated second seed Jose de Sousa and advances to face former World Youth Champion Keegan Brown, who defeated Callan Rydz 6-3.

Martin Lukeman advanced to the final 16 of a European Tour tournament for the second time by defeating German number one Gabriel Clemens 6-3, winning four straight legs from a 3-2 deficit and sealing his victory with a 115 checkout.

After top seed Gerwyn Price withdrew due to illness on Sunday afternoon, Lukeman will face Ireland’s Keane Barry in the second round.

Michael Smith, a World Championship finalist, held off a strong fight from Berry van Peer to win 6-4, averaging just over 100 to set up a match against Luke Humphries.

Humphries overcame Jeffrey de Zwaan in the third round by winning four straight legs from a 4-2 deficit.

In the deciding leg of their second round encounter, Martin Schindler survived four missed match darts from Brendan Dolan before hitting double 16 to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.

Schindler will face Ryan Searle in the third round, who came back from a two-all tie with Danny Baggish to win 6-2 by following a pair of 13-darters with a 112 finish to finish with a 100 average and six doubles from nine attempts.

2022 Interwetten German Darts Grand Prix 

Sunday April 17

Second Round

Afternoon Session 

Keegan Brown 6-3 Callan Rydz

Rob Cross 6-3 Karel Sedlacek

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Boris Krcmar

Madars Razma 6-4 Jose de Sousa

Wesley Plaisier 6-4 Joe Cullen

Luke Humphries 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan

Martin Schindler 6-5 Brendan Dolan

Jonny Clayton 6-2 Dave Chisnall

 

Evening Session 

Max Hopp 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Damon Heta 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld

Martin Lukeman 6-3 Gabriel Clemens

Keane Barry Bye (Gerwyn Price withdrawn due to illness)

Scott Waites 6-5 Peter Wright

Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Chris Dobey

Ryan Searle 6-2 Danny Baggish

Michael Smith 6-4 Berry van Peer

 

Monday April 18

Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)

Third Round

Keane Barry v Martin Lukeman

Martin Schindler v Ryan Searle

Scott Waites v Damon Heta

Jonny Clayton v Max Hopp

Madars Razma v Keegan Brown

Michael van Gerwen v Rob Cross

Michael Smith v Luke Humphries

Wesley Plaisier v Dirk van Duijvenbode

 

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST

Quarter-Finals

Barry/Lukeman v Schindler/Searle

Waites/Heta v Clayton/Hopp

Razma/Brown v Van Gerwen/Cross

Smith/Humphries v Plaisier/Van Duijvenbode

 

Semi-Finals

v

v

 

Final