Raymond van Barneveld stole the show on day two of the European Championship in Germany.
Barney came from 3-1 down to win a fantastic all Unicorn clash 6-4 against Andy Hamilton….and incredibly, the Dutchman has now won 14 consecutive matches against Hamilton in competition.
“I had to play well,” he said. “Andy was firing and I had to fire back, but that was a great confidence boost for me.”
Hamilton started the match with a fantastic 146 finish to break throw and back-to-back finishes of 80 took him to 3-1 and ‘The Hammer’ was throwing in the next leg.
But nobody should have doubted Barneveld….he hit two 180s and an 81 finish on the bull and two more maximums saw him win three straight legs.
Hamilton levelled at 4-4 but Barneveld wasn’t to be denied and he hit a 6th 180 and D10 won it with a 102 average…..it was great entertainment!
It was the second consecutive year that Barneveld has beaten Hamilton in the 1st Round of this tournament.
His reward is a 2nd Round showdown with Mark Walsh.
Adrian Lewis was angry with his performance, even though it was still too good for Vincent van der Voort.
“I will have to play a lot better if I want to challenge for this title,” he said. “My finishing was poor to be honest, but I will get better.”
The World Champion missed 22 darts at a double, despite racing into a 4-1 lead with the help of two terrific finishes….106 and 128.
He should have won 6-1, but after hit two 180s and a 174, he then proceeded to miss NINE match darts against the Dutchman, before finally hitting ‘tops’ to set up a 2nd Round clash with Dave Chisnall.
Unicorn stablemate James Wade was a man in a hurry, as he brushed aside the challenge of Sweden’s Magnus Caris.
He got frustrated by the pace of the match and probably should have won 6-0, but it was impressive enough from the World No.3, who will now face Ronnie Baxter in Saturday’s 2nd Round in Germany.
From one leg apiece, Wade put his foot on the gas, as hit four 180s and then nailed 116 to win….just like Lewis, he will surely get better as the format now increases, with those 2nd Round games over the best of 19 legs.
Wes Newton’s fabulous run of form continued, as he disposed of Andy Smith in clinical fashion.
He was 4-0 up inside ten minutes, hitting a brilliant 167 finish and he hadn’t missed a dart at a double!
Smith managed to win a couple of legs, but he couldn’t compete with Newton, who will now face Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts in round two.
Newton averaged 99 and only missed two darts at double in the match.
He remains in the form of his life.
Elsewhere on Friday night, last year’s European Championship runner-up Wayne Jones was beaten after blowing three match darts! He missed three at D16 to win 6-4, only for Mark Walsh to storm back to win in the deciding leg.
Dave Chisnall missed 12 darts at doubles in the opening two legs of his game with Jelle Klaasen, but still came back to beat the Dutchman 6-4 with a 97 average.
Ronnie Baxter won a thriller against Michael van Gerwen, with both players averaging 101 and Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts made a terrific TV debut, as he averaged just shy of 100 in beating Antonio Alcinas.
Friday 1st Round results:
Wayne Jones 5-6 Mark Walsh
Jelle Klaasen 4-6 Dave Chisnall
Ronnie Baxter 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Antonio Alcinas
James Wade 6-1 Magnus Caris
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Wes Newton 6-2 Andy Smith
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Andy Hamilton
Saturday 2nd Round (best of 19 legs):
1pm:
Simon Whitlock v Colin Lloyd
Terry Jenkins v Paul Nicholson
Phil Taylor v Mervyn King
Gary Anderson v Peter Wright
7pm:
Wes Newton v Kim Huybrechts
Adrian Lewis v Dave Chisnall
James Wade v Ronnie Baxter
Raymond van Barneveld v Mark Walsh
By STUART PYKE at the European Championship in Germany
Photos courtesy Chris Sargeant