RUTHLESS Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright began their bids for their fourth European Tour titles of 2017 in dominant fashion in Saturday's HappyBet European Darts Open in Leverkusen.
World Champion Van Gerwen showed no mercy to close friend Vincent van der Voort with a 6-0 whitewash in their all-Dutch clash, as he continued the form which saw him win last week's Austrian Darts Open.
Van Gerwen led 2-0 before punishing five missed doubles from Van der Voort in the third, before powering home a 160 checkout in leg five as he closed out victory with six doubles from nine attempts.
Number two seed Wright - another three-time winner on the European Tour this year - dropped only one leg and took out finishes of 116 and 96 to kill off Robbie Green's hopes in their second round tie.
Wright now faces former Lakeside Champion Stephen Bunting, who landed a 161 checkout as he came back from 3-2 down to defeat German qualifier Steffen Siepmann 6-4.
Dave Chisnall won the battle of top-ten players with James Wade as he averaged 100 and finished six doubles from ten attempts in a 6-2 victory, with a 161 finish from the left-hander coming in vain.
He now plays qualifier James Richardson, who followed up a 160 finish in his clash with Benito van de Pas by landing two of his eight maximums in a deciding leg as a 12-darter edged the Englishman into the last 16.
Daryl Gurney also fired in eight 180s, and two in the deciding leg, as he sneaked past Dutchman Jerry Hendriks to set up a third round meeting with Michael Smith.
May's Gibraltar Darts Trophy winner Smith was a 6-3 winner against Peter Jacques in their second round tie as he opened his bid for a second title of the year.
Rob Cross, the emerging star of 2017 who was seeded for the first time on the European Tour, enjoyed a 6-0 whitewash of German's Robert Allenstein as he set up a third round meeting with Van Gerwen.
South Africa's Devon Petersen won through to the last 16 of a European Tour event for the first time since February 2016 as he saw off Jelle Klaasen 6-4.
Petersen now meets Mervyn King, who impressed with a 102.49 average in his 6-2 defeat of Ian White, landing a 130 finish and hitting 60 percent of his darts at a double.
Austria's number three seed Mensur Suljovic came from 2-0 down to defeat Christian Kist, hitting key finishes of 112, 81 on the bull and 104 as he moves through to the final day.
Suljovic's third round opponent will be Joe Cullen, who made light work of Krzysztof Ratajski, averaging just under the 100 mark as he raced to a 6-2 victory.
John Henderson put in one of his best performances of the year as he sent Belgium's Kim Huybrechts packing at the Ostermann Arena.
The Scot broke in the fifth leg to take the advantage, and never looked back as he rounded off a 6-4 victory with a brilliant 120 checkout.
Henderson now meets Scottish-based Alan Norris, who was a 6-2 winner against Aden Kirk as he began his bid for a second European Tour title, with finishes of 112 and 97 against the throw helping him into a 4-0 lead as he powered through.
Gerwyn Price came from 2-0 down and defied a 140 finish from Mark Walsh before taking a 6-4 win in their battle of former UK Open finalists.
The Welshman now meets Dimitri Van den Bergh, who landed a 180 and took out 72 in the deciding leg of his clash with Australian ace Simon Whitlock.
The £135,000 tournament concludes on Sunday, with the third round being played in the afternoon session before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final take place in the evening session.
The HappyBet European Darts Open is being streamed worldwide for PDCTV-HD Subscribers, as well as through a series of bookmakers' websites.
HappyBet European Darts Open
Saturday July 1
Second Round
Afternoon Session
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Jerry Hendriks
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Mark Walsh
Alan Norris 6-2 Aden Kirk
Joe Cullen 6-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
James Richardson 6-5 Benito van de Pas
John Henderson 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Steffen Siepmann
Evening Session
Dave Chisnall 6-2 James Wade
Michael Smith 6-3 Peter Jacques
Mervyn King 6-2 Ian White
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Christian Kist
Peter Wright 6-1 Robbie Green
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Vincent van der Voort
Devon Petersen 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Rob Cross 6-0 Robert Allenstein
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE THIRD ROUND FIXTURES, EVENT RESULTS AND LIVE STATS IN THE MATCH CENTRE
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