German Darts Championship Round-Up: Dirk van Duijvenbode records 117.74 average in crushing performance while Stephen Buntng and Josh Rock crash out in high-quality session

There was a plethora of high averages in the second evening session of the final German Darts Championship in Hildesheim, with Dirk van Duijvenbode threatening the tournament record in a stunning 6-2 win over Chris Dobey.

After hitting a nine-darter in the first round, the Aubergenius prolonged his impressive form on the oche by racking up the third highest average in the tournament’s history. He started with two double 19’s to break the throw and followed up with an 11 darter. He was fortunate to go 3-0 ahead after Hollywood failed to pin his attempts on the outer ring, but he would get on the board with a clinical 85 outshot. Van Duijvenbode once again went downstairs to the double 19 segment for a bizarre 123 checkout, and after Dobey clinched his second leg of the night the Dutchman completed an astonishing display. His final average came out as 117.74, the third highest ever recorded on the European Tour.

Former finalist Ricky Evans has made it to the final day of a European Tour for the first time in three years after knocking out the highly touted Josh Rock 6-2. The World Cup kept pace with Evans in the opening stages before Evans sprant away from him, winning four legs from 2-2 to cause a huge shock. He took out 102 and hit 75% of his doubles to dispose of an under-par Rock.

Number one seed Stephen Bunting could not produce the goods to defeat Ryan Joyce, losing 6-4. Relentless was faultless on the doubles early on, pinning his first two double to go 2-0 ahead before punishing sloppiness from The Bullet to go halfway from entering the third-round. Bunting replied with a 110 checkout, before punishing a missed dart at double 16 from Relentless to close the gap to 4-2. He put the tie back on throw with an 11-darter, but a poor following leg saw Joyce move one away from victory. He almost sealed it with a 160 checkout but wrapped up a big win on double 10.

Nathan Aspinall started the evening with a fantastic 6-4 triumph over Ross Smith, averaging over 107 enroute to victory. The Asp took a controlling 3-0 lead, with two breaks of the Smith throw completed. He missed five darts on the outer ring to make it 4-0 as Smudger got on the board. He backed that up with a hold before Aspinall took out 100 in two to double his advantage once more. He found tops once more to go 5-3 ahead, and two legs later almost managed to secure the victory with a stunning 140 checkout. He cleaned up a leg later to cement himself as one of the favourites for the title in Hildesheim.

However, his performance was matched by an outstanding Jermaine Wattimena who defeated James Wade 6-3 despite The Machine averaging over 106. Wade started on the front foot with a 13 and 12 darter to go 2-0 ahead, with the Dutchman finding an 11 darter to show his intentions. Wade would find another 13-darter but unknowingly to him that would be incredibly his last leg of the match despite currently averaging over 110. Wattimena went berserk from then, winning five legs on the bounce which included a fabulous 164 to take the lead for the first time. He swept up the final two legs for an eye-catching triumph, with his final average coming in at 107.47.

William O’Connor’s faint hopes of confirming a European Championship spot went up in smoke after a 6-4 loss to Martin Schindler. The German took out 164 to go ahead, but The Magpie flew away with four high-class legs. He had a dart to go 5-1 ahead but was unable to convert as The Wall stopped the rot with a 19-darter. This would be the beginning of his own streak, where he won five consecutive legs to advance in front of his beloved home crowd in Halle 39.

In the other contests, Jonny Clayton proved too strong for Raymond van Barneved, prevailing 6-3. He suffered a slow start, losing two legs on the spin before winning three consecutive legs to take the lead. Barney draws level but is unable to keep up with Clayton who once more claims three legs in a row to secure victory. Despite missing 14 darts at double, The Ferret averages over 96 in a solid display.

It was very easy for Gerwyn Price, who fell back on his stunning scoring power to overcome Christian Kist 6-1. While his doubling was not on point, Price usually found himself a decent chunk ahead due to a number of two treble visits. After going 2-0 up, the Dutchman got a leg on the board but was no contest for The Iceman who won the remaining four legs.