The quarter-final line-up is set at the
Flanders Darts Trophy with Gian van Veen and James Wade through, but there is no place for Gerwyn Price. While Nathan Aspinall saw off Stephen Bunting to complete the last eight.
Price was facing off against Ross Smith in the match of the session. A tie that saw the bullish in-form Iceman face the even more in-form 'Smudger', who won Budapest just two weeks ago and has also claimed Riesa this season, and it was Smith who narrowly sealed the win.
Albeit not without it being an arduous affair for Smith, who had to survive a comeback. Price was 4-1 down and missed a match dart at double 20 in the deciding leg as Smith got over the line to book his spot in the quarter-finals.
Smith started superbly hitting a 142 checkout for 1-0, and then he broke with a 106. Brilliant combination ton plus finishing from the former European Champion. Smith lost his throw after missing darts for 3-0, but he was back for 3-1 on double 20. He then made it 4-1 on double 10. Price, though, came back breaking again after both exchanged multiple 180s, and he soon levelled at 4-4, albeit with Smith missing darts to break back.
Smith went to the point of no return at 5-4 with a 158 checkout, but in the decider, it was Price who missed a dart to win it as Smith came back to mop up double eight. For his next opponent, Ryan Joyce, who reached a fourth
European Tour quarter-final, it was also a big win in regard to surviving a scare as he faced off against Jermaine Wattimena.
He punished two missed match darts from Wattimena to snatch a deciding leg win and progress in Antwerp. Joyce previously snubbed the European Tour due to the fact he doesn't like flying, but 'Relentless' has proven that he can do it in these events time and again and he now faces the forerunner after a 6-5 win.
Van Veen brings Dutch delight
Gian van Veen now faces Chris Dobey and it was a 6-5 win for 'GVV' against Kevin Doets in an all-Dutch derby to start proceedings off.
Van Veen, who is top seed this weekend, managed to hold his nerve to seal a deciding leg win over Doets despite 'Hawkeye' zoning in with a 106.2 average and six 180s. But he couldn't manage to find the win. Could it be Van Veen's weekend?
He went 1-0 up with a 57 checkout, and then Doets levelled on double 18 for 1-1. Van Veen went 2-1 up on double 20 and then broke with a 74 checkout. A real turning point as Van Veen then went into a 4-1 lead on double 16.
Albeit a poor leg relative to Doets saw the latter back in it, he hit 86 for 4-3 down and then levelled for 4-4 with a 115 checkout after Van Veen had left 36 waiting to break again. Van Veen went one away, and in the decider, he hit the front with an 180 and 66 checkout to win it.
| 99.51 |
Average (3 Darts) |
106.24 |
| 9 |
100+ Thrown |
18 |
| 7 |
140+ Thrown |
4 |
| 4 |
180 Thrown |
6 |
| 74 |
Highest Checkout |
115 |
| 0 |
Checkout 100+ |
1 |
| 75 |
Checkout percentage |
45.45 |
| 6 / 8 |
Checkout |
5 / 11 |
He now faces Dobey, who managed to succeed 6-5 over Ryan Searle. Again, more of a theme in this session than anything else was the guilt-edge way that many won through with deciders aplenty. As well as missed match darts, as Dobey survived two match darts from Searle in the deciding leg and got over the line in a marathon of missed doubles.
It was also a marathon of breaks to start the tie, as the opening six legs were all breaks with Dobey finally holding for 4-3 on double 10. The rest of the game went with throw ironically as Dobey hit double nine for 5-4, and then Searle sent it all the way but missed darts in the decider, allowing Dobey to hit double eight for the win.
Wade through as Aspinall completes comeback win
James Wade is also through after narrowly prevailing over Rob Cross 6-5. He averaged 101.6 and, with the aid of six 180s, snared a narrow 6-5 victory to move into tonight's quarter-finals.
He started off being broken by Cross, who hit 67 for 1-0 before Wade made it 1-1 with a 41 checkout. He then finally held with an 82 checkout. Cross led again momentarily with double nine for 3-3 from Wade, though taking it away as he then held with 80 for 4-3.
Cross made it 4-4 on double eight before then Wade held on double 20 for 5-4. He sealed the deal with a 78 checkout to narrowly squeak through. There he faces Danny Noppert, who continues his resurgent run of form with a near 101 average to see off Wessel Nijman 6-4.
| 101.59 |
Average (3 Darts) |
96.33 |
| 14 |
100+ Thrown |
16 |
| 6 |
140+ Thrown |
7 |
| 6 |
180 Thrown |
2 |
| 82 |
Highest Checkout |
160 |
| 0 |
Checkout 100+ |
1 |
| 42.86 |
Checkout percentage |
35.71 |
| 5 / 12 |
Checkout |
3 / 12 |
This was a game with fine margins, and Noppert edged them. He started with a 137 to hold before then leading further with an 88 checkout and double 20 for 3-2. Noppert didn't get many chances on the Nijman throw until the crunch, as Nijman left 147, and Noppert hit 180 for 41 and pinned it for 6-4.
Damon Heta did what Noppert couldn't and averaged 101.01, with Luke Woodhouse losing 6-3 despite averaging close to 103 himself. Heta vanquished Michael van Gerwen this weekend and is having a welcomed run.
Heta led 1-0 with a 55 checkout and then broke with an 84 checkout for 3-1. He held from there on double six after Woodhouse missed chances to break straight back. He did hold the next leg on 81, but Heta continued to stretch the advantage and went 5-2 up with a 78 checkout. He sealed the deal on 76.
He now faces off against Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-finals. Aspinall saw off Bunting in the showpiece tie to end the session, and it was a narrow 6-4 win for 'The Asp'.
Aspinall was down early with Bunting leading 3-0. Bunting hit 158 for 2-0 and then double 20 to consolidate the break. But the middle part of the game held the key. Aspinall went 3-2 down, breaking on 72, but despite Bunting breaking back on 81, Aspinall came back on double 16 for 4-3.
He held vitally on double eight for 4-4 and then broke again on 65 for 5-4 before sealing the deal with a 95 checkout. A superb comeback win.