LEWIS ENJOYS WHITEWASH AS WHITLOCK BATTLES BACK IN EUROPEAN DARTS OPEN
WORLD CHAMPION Adrian Lewis swept into the second round of the European Darts Open with a 6-0 whitewash of Karsten Kornath, as Simon Whitlock produced a remarkable comeback to defeat Ross Smith in Dusseldorf.
Lewis bounced back from his first round loss to James Hubbard in the second European Tour event a fortnight ago in Berlin with a clinical display to see off the German qualifier without dropping a leg on Friday night.
The Stoke ace, seeded as number one for the European Darts Open this weekend in the absence of Phil Taylor, will now play Steve Beaton in Saturday^s second round, following his 6-3 win over Tony Littleton.
Number two seed James Wade avoided a potential upset with a 6-3 win over Sweden^s Magnus Caris, and will now play Jelle Klaasen on Saturday, following the Dutchman^s 6-1 win over Mark Hylton.
World number six Simon Whitlock, though, had to come from 5-2 down to claim a 6-5 win over Ross Smith in their first round contest.
Whitlock now plays Belgium^s Ronny Huybrechts, whose European Tour debut began with a 6-5 win over Peter Wright as he joined brother Kim - who defeated Paul Nicholson 6-2 - in the second round.
Kim Huybrechts now plays Dave Chisnall in the second round, with the German Darts Championship runner-up from a fortnight ago defeating Germany^s Kevin Munch 6-1 on Friday.
Five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld saw off Stoke^s Ian White 6-2 and now plays Brendan Dolan, who edged out Dean Winstanley 6-5 in their first round contest.
Colin Osborne joined Lewis in picking up a whitewash win, against Jim Walker, and now plays Kevin Painter after the McCoy^s Premier League Darts star won 6-3 against young Dutchman Ryan De Vreede.
PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion Hubbard claimed another big scalp as the teenager knocked out Andy Hamilton 6-5, and he now plays Bristol^s Steve Brown, who was a 6-2 winner against another young star, Arron Monk.
Dutchman Vincent van der Voort and Michael van Gerwen progressed with wins over Jamie Lewis and Wayne Jones, but there was disappointment for their fellow countryman Co Stompe, who lost 6-1 to Mark Dudbridge.
Welshman Richie Burnett produced the day^s most impressive performance, averaging 121 in a 6-2 win over Andy Jenkins which sets up a second round clash with Scott Rand on Saturday.
Ronnie Baxter and Mervyn King will clash in a high-profile second round game after they saw off Devon Petersen and Stuart Kellett respectively, while Brian Woods^ narrow win over Jamie Caven sets up a clash with van Gerwen.
Speedy Services UK Open winner Robert Thornton defeated local qualifier Maik Langendorf to set up a clash with van der Voort, while youngster Joe Cullen saw off Terry Jenkins in style to avenge two World Championship defeats to the world number ten.
Cullen now plays Johnny Haines in the second round, with the Swindon man knocking out Alan Tabern 6-2.
Croatian Tonci Restovic defeated Denis Ovens to set up a clash with Mark Walsh, who was a 6-5 winner against Wayne Jones, while Andy Smith^s narrow defeat of Mick Todd - for the second successive European Tour event - sees him progress to a second round game with Michael Mansell, with the Northern Irish left-hander defeating Colin Lloyd.
German hopes will rest on Tomas Seyler, who defeated three-time World Champion John Part 6-3 and now plays Gino Vos, the young Dutchman who knocked out the Austrian Darts Open winner Justin Pipe by the same scoreline.
Wes Newton and Scott Rand received Byes through to the second round, with their scheduled first round opponents Steve Maish and Gary Anderson withdrawing from the tournament.
Play continues from 1pm (local time) on Saturday, with the second round games split across two sessions at the Maritim Hotel in Dusseldorf, with the third round, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final following on Sunday as players compete for the £15,000 first prize.
European Darts Open
European Tour Event Three
Friday July 6
First Round
Gino Vos 6-3 Justin Pipe
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Jamie Lewis
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Wayne Jones
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Kevin Munch
Mervyn King 6-3 Stuart Kellett
Ronnie Baxter 6-2 Devon Petersen
Joe Cullen 6-1 Terry Jenkins
Tonci Restovic 6-3 Denis Ovens
Mark Walsh 6-5 Mark Jones
Andy Smith 6-5 Mick Todd
Johnny Haines 6-2 Alan Tabern
Steve Beaton 6-3 Tony Littleton
Michael Mansell 6-2 Colin Lloyd
Kevin Painter 6-3 Ryan de Vreede
Steve Brown 6-2 Arron Monk
James Hubbard 6-5 Andy Hamilton
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Ross Smith
Robert Thornton 6-1 Maik Langendorf
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Ian White
James Wade 6-3 Magnus Caris
Adrian Lewis 6-0 Karsten Kornath
Tomas Seyler 6-3 John Part
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Paul Nicholson
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Dean Winstanley
Colin Osborne 6-0 Jim Walker
Ronny Huybrechts 6-5 Peter Wright
Mark Dudbridge 6-1 Co Stompe
Jelle Klaasen 6-1 Mark Hylton
Richie Burnett 6-2 Andy Jenkins
Brian Woods 6-5 Jamie Caven
Scott Rand Bye (Gary Anderson withdrew)
Wes Newton Bye (Steve Maish withdrew)
Saturday July 7
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
Kevin Painter v Colin Osborne
Joe Cullen v Johnny Haines
Michael van Gerwen v Brian Woods
Mark Walsh v Tonci Restovic
Gino Vos v Tomas Seyler
Ronnie Baxter v Mervyn King
Michael Mansell v Andy Smith
Scott Rand v Richie Burnett
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Vincent van der Voort v Robert Thornton
Wes Newton v Mark Dudbridge
Kim Huybrechts v Dave Chisnall
James Wade v Jelle Klaasen
Simon Whitlock v Ronny Huybrechts
Adrian Lewis v Steve Beaton
Raymond van Barneveld v Brendan Dolan
James Hubbard v Steve Brown