Smith stuns Van Gerwen, Gurney edges past O'Connor

Ross Smith and Daryl Gurney are the final players through to the second round from the first session of action at the European Championship in Gottingen.

Smith dumped out Michael van Gerwen in a stunning 6-5 win which saw him take out 114 to claim the victory and further increase the likelihood of a new winner.

'Smudger' in the early going moved 2-1 in front averaging around 105 but this dwarfed to MVG's 119 average but despite that at the break it was 3-2 with Smith missing one dart to take the lead himself.

When they returned though, he hit the front again landing a fifth 180 to go 4-3 ahead. MVG responded in kind with an 11 darter to make it 4-4 and they exchanged legs before Van Gerwen forced a decider.

After a tense couple of visits, Smith brought himself down to a finish and didn't make no mistake pinning the 114 for victory which seemed to massively shock the Deal ace.

Gurney also had to claim a hard fought win seeing off William O'Connor averaging 98 and hitting five 180's in defeating 'The Magpie'.

'Superchin' was excellent in the early going going 4-1 up at the interval with 4/7 on the doubles as it looked like he was cruising.

That wasn't the full story though and O'Connor took successive legs to go only 4-3 down in a matter of time but despite that Gurney missed match darts which in this case allowed O'Connor a second chance as he went only one behind at 5-4.

Gurney didn't miss his second opportunity though confirming his place in the second round and averting a similar shock to Van Gerwen.

Click here for more information on the European Championship, which takes place in Gottingen this weekend.

European Championship 2019

Day One schedule

Joe Cullen (92.56) 6-2 (88.97) Mervyn King
Dave Chisnall (98.36) 6-3 (85.07) Dimitri Van den Bergh
Glen Durrant (97.37) 5-6 (95.28) Ricky Evans
Adrian Lewis (91.04) 1-6 (99.82) Simon Whitlock
Rob Cross (99.4) 6-3 (93.54) Darren Webster
James Wade (82.38) 0-6 (111.33) Jonny Clayton
Michael van Gerwen (105.1) 5-6 (98.64) Ross Smith
Daryl Gurney (98.78) 6-4 (84.55) William O’Connor

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