Kurz dumps out Anderson, Wade eases through against Munch as German Darts Masters begins in Cologne

Wade slayed 'The Dragon' with a typical Machine performance where he hit all the mid range finishes to perfection and made it look very easy against Munch.

It was sealed with a brilliant 88 checkout on the bull as Wade marks his return to the World Series with style after his victory at the Finals last year.

He claimed the first leg having to chase round the board for double two and Munch got into the tie holding his throw with a double eight to go 1-1.

Wade though reeled off two quick legs including a break and a 14 darter to go 3-1 up with the Aldershot ace starting to find his rhythm. He continued to be clinical moving 5-1 up and one away from victory with an 84 checkout.

Munch stopped the rot and broke the throw of Wade but this wasn't enough to mount a comeback with Wade smashing in the aforementioned 88 on the bull to move through.

Kurz on the other hand defeated Anderson on his return to Germany, a country that 'The Flying Scotsman' doesn't frequently visit due to not playing on the European Tour and it didn't prove to be a happy hunting ground.

The German showed promise in previous appearances in the tournament nearly defeating Jamie Lewis last year but this time out he became the first German to move through the first round in this World Series event with a quite stunning display.

He had a dream start hitting a 116 checkout and potentially showing a sign of what was to come. Anderson though came back to level up and break the throw and he surged ahead further with a 100 checkout to go 2-1 up.

Kurz though pounced on Anderson missing double 20 for a 116 checkout of his own and he levelled it up and in a superb passage of play, the 22-year old smashed in the biggest checkout of them all, the 170.

More missed doubles from Anderson allowed him to extend that lead further but there was a potential twist in the tale with the former two time World Champion brutally punishing Kurz with a 138 checkout.

Anderson always kept one leg behind and it went to 5-4 but Kurz kept his cool to hit double eight and claim the biggest victory of his career and one of the biggest upsets in World Series history.

Click here for more information on the German Darts Masters, the second World Series event on this year's calendar.

James Wade (90.9) 6-2 (82.29) Kevin Munch
Gary Anderson (92.8) 4-6 (95.03) Nico Kurz
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21:15 Raymond van Barneveld v Gabriel Clemens
21:45 Mensur Suljovic v Maik Langendorf
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22:45 Rob Cross v Max Hopp