Smith beats pain barrier to edge out Gurney in thriller, Whitlock hits stunning 143 checkout to defeat Clemens

Smith didn’t look injured at the start but started to feel it towards the end where the St Helens ace produced his best darts. He hit a 98 average with seven 180’s en-route with the turning point being a brilliant 155 checkout where he went T20, T19, D19.
Despite that Gurney produced the goods to force the decider but he fluffed his lines on a 111 checkout allowing ‘Bully Boy’ to hit double 20 for the win.
Over on Stage 2, Simon Whitlock came from 8-5 down to see off German ace, Gabriel Clemens and despite him not being in the best form as of late, he produced his best when it mattered.
This was in the form of a 143 checkout to claim the win. Krzysztof Ratajski is also through to continue his good form as of late. He saw off another of the dark horses for the title in Jonny Clayton with a 99 average in a 10-7 win.
Continuing with in-form names, Dave Chisnall is also through seeing off Martin Schindler with ease with a 10-5 victory.
He’ll be one of the biggest names remaining in the draw for the Last 16 especially if the likes of Rob Cross head out in the remaining games.
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James Wade (91.5) 10-7 (95.7) Max Hopp
Michael Smith (98.3) 10-9 (97.5) Daryl Gurney
Mensur Suljovic v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Mervyn King v Rob Cross

Madars Razma (92.1) 2-10 (97.8) Nathan Aspinall
Simon Whitlock (88.3) 10-8 (87.8) Gabriel Clemens
Jamie Lewis v Josh Payne
Jamie Hughes v Gerwyn Price

Steve Beaton (96.6) 10-8 (92.9) Keegan Brown
Krzysztof Ratajski (99.3) 10-7 (93.7) Jonny Clayton
Simon Stevenson v Kim Huybrechts
Jermaine Wattimena v Luke Woodhouse

Mickey Mansell (91.7) 8-10 (98.7) Steve Lennon
Dave Chisnall (96.1) 10-5 (90.8) Martin Schindler
Ross Smith v Steve West
Richard North v Cristo Reyes