Top two seeds Luke Humphries and Stephen Bunting comfortably advance in Swiss Darts Trophy while Raymond van Barneveld picks up pivotal victory in Grand Prix race

Round two has concluded in the Swiss Darts Trophy, with the two highest seeds Luke Humphries and Stephen Bunting advancing, clinching convincing wins respectively against Callan Rydz and Chris Landman.

The world number one won half of his legs with ton+ checkouts. The first one was a painful one for Rydz, hitting the 117 after The Riot missed four darts at double 11. A couple of legs later, he took out 108 and hit five out of five doubles in the first five legs. He could not keep it at 100%, but still finished in style, taking out 136 to send him through to round three with a 6-2 triumph.

Stephen Bunting joined the former World Champion into round three with a 6-3 win over Landman. The Countryman was threatening early on, heading into a 2-0 lead, before The Bullet racked off three consecutive legs to take advantage. He then turned up the heat, culminating the match with a 13-darter and a pair of 11-darters.

Five-time World champion Raymond van Barneveld picked up a crucial victory in his hunt for World Grand Prix qualification, defeating Damon Heta 6-5 in a tense last-leg decider. The Heat was on fire early on, finding a magical 132 checkout along with a 110 in the preliminary stages. Heta went into a 4-2 lead, but three legs on the bounce from Barney got him back into it, before a last-leg decider was set up.

Van Barneveld got the advantage in the leg, and was the first to a double, wiring a match dart at tops. Heta had a challenging 123 checkout, managing to leave double nine but unable to find the green bit. Barney cleaned up on double 10, and just about kept his Grand Prix hopes alive.

It is concerning times for Dave Chisnall and Peter Wright after their defeats earlier today, and last year’s champion Martin Schindler heaped more misery on the pair with a clinical 6-2 win over World Cup teammate Ricardo Pietreczko. The Wall produced a commanding performance, overpowering his under-par compatriot.

With this victory, Schindler becomes the first German player to be ranked in the top 16 in a historic day for him and his country. Adding to that, he has now leapfrogged Chizzy, who just squeezes in the top 16 Order of Merit.

Jermaine Wattimena produced an eye-catching display against the inform Josh Rock, demolishing him 6-1 while averaging over 107. All his legs that the Machine Gun won were 15 darters or less, as he cruised to an impressive win. He will face Luke Woodhouse tomorrow, who produced a tournament record 110.69 average earlier today.

Jonny Clayton came close to beating both averages with an exceptional performance against Nathan Aspinall. The Ferret took out 124 early on and was consistently averaging around the 110 mark throughout the match. Despite this, The Asp would not go away, sticking just behind him and keeping the pressure on.

Aspinall had a golden chance to force a last-leg decider but just missed the bull for a 90 checkout. Throughout this, Clayton had missed six match darts, and eventually clinched the win on double two. His average settled at 106.74, with it having been a good few points higher if he managed to wrap the game up earlier.

Ryan Joyce squeezed through to the third round after overcoming James Wade in a last-leg decider. There was a dramatic leg halfway through, where The Machine missed the bull for a 170 checkout, just before Joyce was one bull away from a show-stopping 150 checkout shot. In the end, Relentless managed to get the better of the world number five with a 14-darter.

Chris Dobey ended the night’s proceedings with a 6-4 victory over Mensur Suljovic. The first six legs went with throw, as Suljovic fell back on his reliable double 14 on a few occasions. However, two missed doubles downstairs allowed Hollywood to nick the lead, and first break of throw in the match. Dobey would go on to pin a 13-darter to seal his spot in round three.