Petersen's Comeback Win In Dusseldorf

DEVON PETERSEN produced an incredible comeback to beat Andy Jenkins 6-5 as the first round of the HappyBet European Darts Open came to a close in Dusseldorf.

After the pair traded the opening four legs, Jenkins raced to a 5-2 lead and looked poised for victory only for Petersen to then show unwavering resilience to fight back.

Having held his throw in the eighth leg, he then landed an 81 checkout to break and close the gap to one at 5-4.

A delightful 105 checkout from the South African ace forced a deciding leg but he still needed a break for victory.

Jenkins then missed three match darts at a 32 checkout and Petersen capitalised by landing the 54 required to seal his passage to the second round.

It wasn’t the only deciding-leg thriller of the evening however, with Andy Boulton and Kyle Anderson also coming through in 6-5 victories.

Boulton silenced the home crowd as he sent PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion and home-favourite Max Hopp crashing out of the tournament.

The 19-year-old couldn’t capitalise on an opening leg break in Dusseldorf, as Boulton used his experience to hold strong and set up a second round clash against James Wade.

Australia’s Anderson survived a late scare to seal his progression. After racing into a 5-3 lead, he was sitting comfortably until some sloppy finishing allowed Reyes to claim a crucial break and level at 5-5.

With the darts in hand, Reyes looked the favourite to clinch a remarkable comeback but with both players struggling to cross the line, it was Anderson who sealed victory on tops.

Stefan Stoyke gave his home crowd something to cheer as he beat Mark Frost to become the only German to reach the second round.

In a bizarre encounter, Stoyke stormed into a 5-0 lead before failing to find that crucial double – allowing Frost to pull four legs back.

However, it proved too big of a task for the Englishman as Stoyke landed double nine for a passage to Day Two and a clash against Stephen Bunting.

Holger Rettig, a European Tour debutant after winning through the Host Nation Qualifier, couldn’t capitalise on a bright start as he succumbed to a 6-3 defeat to Steve West.

Jamie Caven also produced some dazzling darts as he won five straight legs to beat Christian Kist 6-2.

He will now face Michael van Gerwen in the second round, and will be looking for revenge after suffering a 10-0 whitewash recently in the opening round of the BetVictor World Matchplay.

Elsewhere, Belgium’s Dimitri Van den Bergh posted the highest average of the evening session with 93.57 as he beat fellow youngster Jeffrey de Graaf 6-2.

Dutchman de Graaf made a positive start as he landed a 160 checkout - the highest of the opening day - before Van den Bergh showed his talent to claim the next five legs for victory.

In the final game of the opening round, Gerwyn Price put Tony Newell to the sword in a 6-3 victory.

Earlier in the day, recent World Matchplay qualifiers Daryl Gurney and Robbie Green battled out a 6-5 thriller.

Green had raced in to a 4-1 lead before Gurney strung together a sequence of four consecutive legs to wrestle the initiative back from his opponent.

42-year-old Green then took out a brilliant 120 checkout against the throw to take the match to a deciding leg.

The pair both missed match darts before Gurney found double five to take the match 6-5, averaging 92 to Green’s 96.

The afternoon session began with Jan Dekker producing a solid display to knock out John Henderson, 6-4.

Ritchie Edhouse booked a second round clash with Jelle Klaasen after beating Harry Ward 6-4 in the second match of the afternoon.

Edhouse had trailed 4-2 before an impressive run of four consecutive legs sealed the win for the Englishman.

The next match saw former European Tour event winner Wes Newton squander a 5-3 lead and miss six match darts before eventually overcoming Shaun Griffiths in a last leg decider, whilst Finland’s Kim Viljanen comfortably dispatched Germany’s Martin Schindler 6-1.

Daniele Petri made history as became the first Italian to play in a European Tour event as he faced James Richardson, but despite making a strong start, was put to the sword with some impressive finishing from the Englishman in a 6-3 victory.

In the final two games of the afternoon, Greece's John Michael silenced the home crowd with a 6-0 thumping of Fabien Herz, whilst Jonny Clayton posted the highest average of the competition (96.53) as he beat Andy Hamilton 6-3.

The HappyBet European Darts Open continues on Saturday with the 16 seeded players entering the competition at the second round stage, with play across two sessions.

The HappyBet European Darts Open will be streamed worldwide through www.LIVEPDC.TV for all subscribers.

Live coverage with faster streams is also available at the following betting websites:
www.bet365.com - Worldwide
www.betfair.com - UK, Ireland, Spain & Denmark
www.tempobet700.com - Worldwide
www.fonbet.com/en - Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia

Live Scores will be available at the new-look PDC Live Scores website, http://live.dartsdata.com.

HappyBet European Darts Open
Friday July 29
First Round
Afternoon Session
John Henderson 4-6 Jan Dekker
Ritchie Edhouse 6-4 Harry Ward
Wes Newton 6-5 Shaun Griffiths
Kim Viljanen 6-1 Martin Schindler
James Richardson 6-3 Daniele Petri
Robbie Green 5-6 Daryl Gurney
John Michael 6-0 Fabian Herz
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Andy Hamilton

Evening Session
Mark Frost 4-6 Stefan Stoyke
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Jeffrey de Graaf
Holger Rettig 3-6 Steve West
Jamie Caven 6-3 Christian Kist
Andy Jenkins 5-6 Devon Petersen
Max Hopp 5-6 Andy Boulton
Cristo Reyes 5-6 Kyle Anderson
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Tony Newell

Match Stats