Van Duijvenbode and Smith through to quarter-finals in Trier with massive averages
PDCSunday, 02 July 2023 at 14:50
Dirk van Duijvenbode and Michael Smith impressively advanced to the last eight on Sunday afternoon at the European Darts Matchplay. Sunday night they face each other in the quarterfinals at the Euro Tour tournament in Trier.
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Van Duijvenbode made short work of Dimitri van den Bergh and defeated the Belgian dart player 6-0. 'Aubergenius' recorded an average of 107.36 in the process and went six out of ten on the doubles.
In the first leg, the Dutchman took advantage of four misses on Van den Bergh's doubles. Then he stepped on the gas pedal. With a 13-darter, 12-darter and an 11-darter the darter from 's Gravenzande quickly made it 4-0.
Van Duijvenbode then started the fifth leg with three strong scores, but eventually needed four darts to hit the double. He then closed the match handsomely with an 85 finish in the sixth leg.
Smith was too strong for junior world champion Josh Rock after a spectacular match. A 14-darter, 161 finish and a 13-darter gave 'Bullyboy' a 3-1 lead. Rock halved the deficit with a 65 finish, but then saw Smith throw an 11-darter for 4-2.
He then missed three chances to make it 5-2, before Rock narrowly edged in at double 8 to make it 4-3. The Northern Irishman then levelled the score with a fine 71 check-out.
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Yet it was Smith who then regained the lead with another 11-darter. Rock had one chance at 5-5 in the tenth leg, but missed the bullseye. Smith then decided the match with a 14-darter and finished the match with an average of 111.33 and a finishing percentage of 60 percent.
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