In front of a raucous crowd in Munich, the
German Darts Grand Prix with both
Damon Heta and
Lee Evans guaranteeing their return tomorrow thanks to wins over
Gabriel Clemens and
Peter Wright respectively.
German hero Gabriel Clemens was up against 2nd seed Damon Heta. With the Australian up against not only the German Giant but also the capacity crowd in Munich, Heta immediately went about quieting the audience and broke the throw to take the first leg. A number of missed darts at double in the second leg though allowed Clemens to level things up.
The third leg also went to Clemens and all the hard work Heta had done early on to quieten the crowd seemed to have gone to waste but with Clemens missing double 16 the Australian saw his chance and took it, taking out 100 and levelling things back up.
A scrappy leg then followed with Clemens the man to eventually nudge ahead 3-2 after both men had passed up opportunities. A 15-dart hold of throw from Heta was much needed as he again brought the match back to all square. A subsequent hold for Heta saw him take the lead and as he moved to just a leg away from the win courtesy of a cleanly taken 75, the usually calm Australian let out a big reaction. A few moments later Heta pinned double 16 for a 49 checkout and the match.
Snakebite Peter Wright was up next, fresh off the back of seemingly returning to form on Thursday night at the Premier League, up against Lee Evans and it was the Scotsman who started the better of the two, comfortably taking the opening leg.
Evans responded though, holding throw in the second leg to get back on level terms before a brilliant 12-darter finished in style with a 121 on the bull saw Evans take a 2-1 lead. In a messier leg 4, Wright had the chance to punish Evans misses but he couldn't and Evans was able to return and extend his lead with a third straight leg.
More misses on the outer ring for Wright in leg 5 and Evans was again there on hand to punish Snakebite moving 4-1 up with another break of throw. With a solid, 15-dart hold of throw, Evans comfortably moved just a leg away from one of the biggest wins of his career. With Evans setting up double 18, Wright had the chance to prolong the tie, but two clear darts at tops came and went allowing Evans to return and book his place in Monday's round three courtesy of double 18.