European Championship Saturday Afternoon Round-up | Gerwyn Price and Stephen Bunting impress as reigning champion departs in Dortmund

The first four matches in the second round of the European Championship have taken place. Some top names were in action with title contenders looking to put their names in the quarter-finals.

Gerwyn Price began events by defeating Cameron Menzies, before another one-sided contest saw Stephen Bunting route Kim Huybrechts. The number one seed Ross Smith saw off Damon Heta, while the reigning champion, Gian van Veen, fell to a dangerous Luke Woodhouse with the first two last-eight ties confirmed.

Price has made the final of the last three major events. The 2019 runner-up will be hard to beat after a great finishing display against Menzies, who saw him win seven of the last eight legs to prevail 10-4.

The opening legs were on throw, but there were chances. Menzies failed to break in the opening leg with a 113 checkout getting Price out of jail. Two legs later, double eight was missed for a 127, and the Scot would rue these opportunities. He pinned tops to level at 3-3, but from that point Price moved up the gears.

He made it seven holds on the spin before a second 113 checkout of the match moved him a break to the good. A 180 had left Menzies handy on 112, but the damage had come earlier in the match. Menzies was wayward on the bull, and he failed to break back. ‘The Iceman’ set up tops from 89 but had to wait and see if Menzies could take out the 148. It was not threatened, and Price went into the second break 7-3 to the good.

Right after the second interval, the former world champion backed up that latest break. That troubling spell ended as Menzies ended his rut on double 18. That followed a spell of six legs in a row, and Price made it seven in eight with a 75 finish in two darts. He finished in style, taking out a third ton+ checkout in the form of a 109 outshot to sail into the quarter-finals.

Bunting returned to his best form in a commanding 10-3 win over Huybrechts. He found four ton+ checkouts and found 10 of his 18 attempts at doubles, five of the misses coming in the final leg.

Huybrechts, who has not won a match in this tournament since 2015, was not even supposed to be competing. Following Luke Humphries withdrawal, he raced to Dortmund to feature, but his campaign ended at the hands of a world class opponent.

Bunting got out of the blocks the quicker, sailing into a 2-0 lead. After some confusion with the water on the tables, Huybrechts finally got in the game as he broke back on tops. This joy would not last long. A terrific 116 checkout on double 18 reinstated Bunting’s advantage, and he went into the opening interval 4-1 to the good. 96 went in two with double 18 happy hunting ground.

The astonishing finishing continued into the next leg. 108 and 100 were taken out seemingly with ease. A slight blip saw him miss two darts at a double before double five saved his skin. Huybrechts was offered just a third dart on the outer ring in that leg, a rare chance that was not taken.

After Bunting made it six consecutive legs, Huybrechts finally ended the drought. He would need a miracle if he was going to turn this match around. He began the attempted comeback with a 13-dart break, but his work was undone with a tremendous 121 checkout as Bunting remained visit-perfect. That would end in what was the final leg of the match. The former Masters champion took six attempts to see it out, finally getting over the line on double five to conclude a brilliant performance.

Smith began his tie against Heta like a rocket. However, the number one in Europe and 2022 champion almost blew a comprehensive lead after a stuttering finish which saw Heta almost get back in the match. In the end, the number one seed proved to be too strong and won 10-7.

From the off, Smith was a man on a mission. An 11-dart break with an 81 checkout sent out an ominous statement of intent. He followed that with a clean 62 finish before missing his first dart of the match on tops. Heta was not able to respond, and Smith confirmed another break. Another swift checkout went in the form of 72, and ‘Smudger’ was flying. He went six darts into the perfect leg but was still almost lost it after Heta came close to the 132. That bull attempt was his first shot at a double, and he would not return with another 11-dart break, culminating in a one-sided first session.

Smith was averaging over 112 and missed just one double on the outer ring. One leg later, his average plummeted by 10 points with doubling woes for the first time becoming apparent. ‘The Heat’ navigated his dart into a blocked bull segment for a 95 checkout to get on the board. It was one of two breaks back, but Smith managed to bolster his advantage as four consecutive holds moved the Englishman 7-3 ahead.

14 and 13-dart holds continued the recent pattern as Smith edged closer to the finishing line. Heta looked to continue the holds of throw, but Smith was on song. A 180 was backed up with a 124 outshot. One match dart was spurned as Heta closed the gap to 9-6. On throw, Smith bust his score twice and spurns another three match darts. Heta continued to edge closer and wasted opportunities to move one leg behind. Smith eventually stumbled over the finishing line with his eighth match dart.

Gian van Veen travelled to Dortmund as the reigning champion following is maiden major success this time last year. Despite being in some good form, his hopes of defending the title have come crashing down in a 10-6 defeat to Luke Woodhouse, who is in the last-eight for the second time.

Woodhouse found back-to-back 180s before taking out 117 for a 12-darter. Van Veen quickly responded, surviving a commendable 132 effort by ‘Woody’ as he won two games on the spin to lead 2-1. Woodhouse was finding the treble 20 bed for fun but was chasing doubles. A sloppy effort on 52 allowed Woodhouse to break back. He then took out 79 on tops and had the upper hand.

The second session began with a sluggish leg, saw Woodhouse break in 20 darts. He made it four legs on the bounce as van Veen struggled to get himself going. He found a spark in the next leg, taking out 142 on double 11 as his rival waited patiently on double 10. Woodhouse responded with a 114 outshot on tops and it was evident that van Veen was not totally satisfied on stage. He corrected himself on double 10 but trailed 6-4.

Van Veen came back out and quickly got the match back on throw with a 118 checkout at the bottom of the board. Woodhouse soon reinstated himself as the man to beat with a clutch 80 finish on double five. He stamped his authority on the tie as he found the double 18 segment twice for a 129 checkout to move two from the victory. He missed tops for a 107 checkout to lead 9-5, but a 120 outshot by the reigning champion closed the gap to two. Woodhouse moved within one of the quarter-finals, and he had a golden opportunity after three darts at tops were narrowly blown. Woodhouse showed him how it was done, and sets up a quarter-final showdown against Ross Smith.