On a dramatic Saturday night, Raymond Van Barneveld, James Wade and Adrian Lewis produced fantastic displays resulting in Wade and Barney facing each other in an all Unicorn quarter-final!
And the overall average from all eight players across the four games was 100.14 – spectacular stuff!
But Lewis took centre stage in a quite brilliant game to beat Dave Chisnall 10-5, winning six consecutive legs in amazing fashion, with a display that brought the crowd to its feet!
Incredibly, the World Champion was averaging 111 after five legs but losing 3-2, as the St Helens man gave as good as he got in what was a European classic!
Chisnall was then 5-4 in front but missed ‘tops’ to break the Lewis throw. ‘Jackpot’ squeezed a dart into D10 and it changed the game.
He set off on a golden spell…..here is what Lewis did…..
A146 check-out for 6-5…..a 5th 180 and 104 finish….then a 6th maximum for 8-5….in the next leg, Lewis hit six perfect darts and he won it with a 123 check-out on the bull.
It really was THAT good!
“The crowd were brilliant with all their singing and it inspired me to be honest,” he said. “I thought I was going to give them a 9 darter! But I have to keep playing like that if I want to challenge for the title on Sunday.”
Lewis finished with a 106 average, while Chisnall averaged 100.51 and didn’t get a look in!
Barney was back to his best and it was great to see, as he came from behind to topple Mark Walsh 10-5.
From 3-1 down, this is the magic the Dutchman came up with – an 11darter, a 121 finish on D14 followed by a 121 check-out on the bull, then a 76 finish, a second 180 and 12 darter and at this stage he had hit six doubles from six attempts!
Walsh got a couple of legs back, but Barneveld saved the best for last – a fabulous 161 check-out on the bull to wrap it all up.
He averaged 102, to Walsh’s 100 – but Barney hit 10 doubles from 14 attempts…..it really was vintage Barneveld!
And James Wade produced the goods as well to prove that he is approaching his best!
He looked in trouble as he fell 0-3 down against Baxter, but it could and should have been worse, because ‘The Rocket’ missed four darts for a 4-0 lead and it changed the game.
Wade nailed 81 to get on the board….he was battling that’s for sure – hitting five 180s but Baxter edged 5-3 ahead.
But the Unicorn man reeled off five consecutive legs to take control! There were two 11 darters, two more maximums, a 12 darter and 105 finish!
An 8th 180 took him to 9-7 and he won it with a smooth 61 finish to average 102.
It should be a special day on Sunday as the tournament reaches its climax.
Wes Newton will be kicking himself…..beaten by the Belgian Huybrechts, but you can’t help but feel that he threw away a great chance.
It was some game as well….Huybrechts led 5-2 and actually missed ‘tops’ for a 6-2 advantage, before the Unicorn man produced, what we thought was a game-changer.
Newton nailed a quite brilliant 143 finish and he was back in it. He proceeded to win five out of the next six legs to regain the lead at 7-6.
The 14th leg was where it all changed…..Newton left himself 100 to break the Huybrechts throw and move 8-6 in front. He hit the T20 with his first dart to leave himself two chances at ‘tops’ but a loss of concentration saw him hit a single 5…..chance gone.
Huybrechts won the next three legs to go 9-7 up and although Newton held his throw, the Belgium No.1 held HIS nerve to set up that quarter-final with Lewis.
But there is no doubt that the Unicorn man was left reflecting on what might have been.
But all the talk in Germany is about the Sunday all Unicorn showdown between Phil Taylor and Paul Nicholson in THE stand out quarter-final.
A lot has been said between the pair over the last couple of weeks…..well now, they get the chance to let their darts do the talking!
Taylor was too good for Mervyn King, averaging 102.47, while Nicholson won the all Unicorn clash with Terry Jenkins….10-4 the score and Nicholson’s 101.61 was the first time he had managed to top the 100 mark in a TV tournament.
Their clash on Sunday should be something very, very tasty!
Unfortunately, Gary Anderson was out-of-sorts, as he slumped to a very disappointing 10-5 shock defeat to Peter Wright…..the Scot is now planning a holiday to recharge the batteries.
2nd Round results:
Wes Newton 8-10 Kim Huybrechts
Adrian Lewis 10-5 Dave Chisnall
James Wade 10-7 Ronnie Baxter
Raymond van Barneveld 10-5 Mark Walsh
Simon Whitlock 10-2 Colin Lloyd
Terry Jenkins 4-10 Paul Nicholson
Phil Taylor 10-3 Mervyn King
Gary Anderson 5-10 Peter Wright
Sunday Quarter-Final schedule (best of 19 legs):
Adrian Lewis v Kim Huybrechts
James Wade v Raymond van Barneveld
Phil Taylor v Paul Nicholson
Simon Whitlock v Peter Wright
By STUART PYKE at the European Championship in Dusseldorf
Photos courtesy Chris Sargeant