RODRIGUEZ DELIGHTS AUSTRIAN CROWD AT EUROPEAN DARTS MATCHPLAY
HOME HERO Rowby-John Rodriguez stole the show on the second night of the European Darts Matchplay, dumping out ninth seed Simon Whitlock at the Olympiahalle in Innsbruck.
21-year-old Austrian Rodriguez lost the first leg but brought the local fans to their feet by reeling off four legs in succession as he punished Whitlock for a spate of missed doubles.
Whitlock held his nerve to finish with 80 in leg six but the respite was temporary as Rodriguez pushed further ahead, winning leg seven after Whitlock missed an open double 10 bed with all three darts.
The dogged Australian took leg eight comfortably, but on his own throw Rodriguez sealed victory with the help of his third 180 as he moved into the third round on Sunday afternoon.
"It felt great having the crowd supporting me like this," beamed Rodriguez. "I didn't feel there was pressure on me because everyone was supporting me and I am happy to get through."
Five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld, who had come through the European Qualifier for the event, produced a clinical display to dispatch Stephen Bunting 6-2.
Breaks of throw in the third and seven legs, and a 50 percent checkout record were enough for the Dutch legend who averaged 105.64.
Van Barneveld will meet compatriot and top seed Michael van Gerwen on Sunday, after the world number one defeated Belgian Ronny Huybrechts in their second round contest.
Van Gerwen's average over the first three legs touched 120 as he took Huybrechts to task, but the Belgian stemmed the tide by winning three legs of his own before double three took van Gerwen to within a leg of victory and a 62 check-out saw him over the line.
Elsewhere, Alan Norris produced a sensational comeback to defeat second seed and last week's European Tour winner Michael Smith.
Smith, fresh from lifting the trophy in Muelheim, stormed in to a 4-0 lead and looked set for a routine path in to the last 16 before missed doubles proved costly.
He missed eight attempts at tops as Norris capitalised with a gutsy victory to progress through to the final day of a European Tour event for the second time.
Smith had a bounce out of the bull for a 170 finish in the third leg, which he won anyway, but after he wired tops for a 107 in the fifth leg, Norris stepped in and capitalised on his opponent's wasteful finishing.
"I got myself in front after a poor start and I performed better than yesterday in front of a fantastic crowd, so on to the next one," Norris said afterwards.
Another seed who tumbled out of the event was Jelle Klaasen, with the 15th seed coming up against an inspired David Pallett.
Pallett had impressed in his first round win over Jamie Caven, and against Klaasen he rattled off the first three legs and was on a nine-darter after six darts in the fifth, where his stats showed an average of over 112.
Klaasen stopped the rot with a 78 finish to cut the deficit to 4-2 and stayed in the game with a 122 on the bull in leg eight, but Pallett stayed composed to seal a fine victory, eventually recording notable statistics of a 104.83 average and 60 percent checkout ratio.
"That's a fantastic average – I've been playing well for a while now but I need to kick on and thankfully I took my form in practice on to the stage," said Pallett.
Peter Wright enjoyed a straightforward victory over Darren Johnson beating the Yorkshireman 6-2 to set up a meeting with Benito van de Pas.
Wright took the first two legs with rapid ease before Johnson spurned numerous chances to get back into the match in leg three.
Johnson held his throw in the fifth leg to get on the board and took out 90 to win the seventh, but he couldn't otherwise trouble the third seed, who sealed a 6-2 win with double 16.
Vincent van der Voort saw off the challenge of Andy Hamilton, sealing victory with a champagne moment as he nailed two bullseyes and double 16 for a 132 finish to complete a 6-3 win.
Hamilton couldn't repeat his ton-plus average of Friday as he dropped to the low 80s despite a 124 check out in the opening leg, and van der Voort's deadly finishing of six successful attempts from eight was enough to set up a last 16 match with Ian White.
Mervyn King had earlier progressed past Mickey Mansell 6-4 in the first match of the evening.
King opened with a 116 checkout and then in leg six took out a ton to move 4-2 in front, but Mansell wasn't in the mood to roll over and clawed the match back to all square again before his reached in to his reserves to take the next two legs and secure the win.
The afternoon session had seen Kim Huybrechts race into the last 16, taking just 13 minutes to defeat Darren Webster 6-2 at the Olympiahalle in Innsbruck.
The Belgian Premier League star barely drew breath as he took a 4-0 lead before allowing Webster to make his mark on the scorecard with back-to-back legs, the second of which came after Huybrechts had opened with successive 180s only to follow up on his attempt for the perfect leg with a score of just 21.
But Huybrechts didn't let the setback put him off as he checked out 84 to finish with the afternoon's highest average of 101.62.
"It didn't feel that good but I'm happy with it and to get a win too," Huybrechts said. "Last week in Muelheim was a good tournament for me and I've averaged over 100 three times in a row now and that means I feel good, which is important.
"Hopefully tomorrow will go well for me too."
Terry Jenkins survived a scare against Kevin Painter to confirm his spot in the last 16 alongside Huybrechts.
Painter notched an early 167 finish and broke Jenkins' throw with a 104 checkout to lead 4-3, but the nine-time major finalist fought back and held his nerve to ensure a Sunday return.
Jenkins averaged over 95 and managed an impressive 46 percent on the doubles, four of which were tops, as Painter missed the chance to record an upset.
Jenkins was joined by sixth seed Dave Chisnall, who looked impressive on his way to victory over Irishman William O’Connor.
Chisnall took a 3-0 lead before O'Connor stopped the rot by winning three of the next four legs, but sixth seed Chisnall kept his composure and averaged 99.34 as he closed out a 6-3 win.
Fourth seed Ian White was made to work for victory by rising Belgian star Dimitri Van den Bergh, finally prevailing 6-4.
The first four legs were shared before Van den Bergh broke with a 121 checkout, only to be immediately broken back by White, for whom a 108 finish to hold throw in the ninth leg proved decisive with the youngster ready to pounce.
Another player in the world's top ten, Robert Thornton, avoided an upset by defeating Maik Langendorf 6-3, sealing victory with a 127 checkout.
Thornton seemed to be having few problems dealing with the European Qualifier as he took a 3-1 lead, but Langendorf showed what he was made of to roll off back-to-back legs and draw level before the Scot re-asserted his superiority.
Young Dutchman Benito van de Pas was the first man to book his place in the last 16 after he defeated Croatian number one Robert Marijanovic 6-4.
Marijanovic hit a 170 checkout on the way to a 3-1 lead and also weighed in with four 180s but he spurned 15 darts at a double and van de Pas dug deep to edge ahead in the ninth leg before checking out tops for the win.
Brendan Dolan produced the comeback of the session, ousting Mark Walsh in a deciding leg in a clash where both players struggled throughout.
With averages hovering around 80, Walsh found himself 4-0 up before Dolan finally secured a dart at a double, taking out 101 to register on the scoreboard.
Walsh responded in kind with a 101 finish of his own to move a leg from victory but spurned three clear darts at tops in leg seven as Dolan finally broke the throw and then made his opponent pay by reeling off the last four legs to justify his status as fifth seed.
Justin Pipe, who won the Austrian Open three years ago, ensured he would be in action on Sunday by seeing off the challenge of Tony Newell.
Pipe landed a 170 finish to take the sixth leg and his superior experience proved telling as he held his nerve in the decider, kicking off with two 140s to edge through 6-5.
The European Darts Matchplay concludes on Sunday at the Olympiahalle in Innsbruck with the last 16 in the afternoon and last eight onwards in the evening.
The European Darts Matchplay will be screened live online throughout the weekend at www.LIVEPDC.TV and the websites listed below.
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European Darts Matchplay
Saturday September 19
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Benito van de Pas 6-4 Robert Marijanovic
Justin Pipe 6-5 Tony Newell
Dave Chisnall 6-3 William O'Connor
Terry Jenkins 6-5 Kevin Painter
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Mark Walsh
Robert Thornton 6-3 Maik Langendorf
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Darren Webster
Ian White 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Mervyn King 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Michael Smith 5-6 Alan Norris
Peter Wright 6-2 Darren Johnson
Simon Whitlock 3-6 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Jelle Klaasen 3-6 David Pallett
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Andy Hamilton
Stephen Bunting 2-6 Raymond van Barneveld
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Ronny Huybrechts
All games are the best of 11 legs
Sunday September 20
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Third Round
Peter Wright (3) v Benito van de Pas (14)
Dave Chisnall (6) v Terry Jenkins (11)
Justin Pipe (7) v Kim Huybrechts (10)
Alan Norris v Dave Pallett
Ian White (4) v Vincent van der Voort (13)
Brendan Dolan (5) v Robert Thornton (12)
Mervyn King (8) v Rowby-John Rodriguez
Michael van Gerwen (1) v Raymond van Barneveld
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Wright/van de Pas v Chisnall/Jenkins
Pipe/Huybrechts v Norris/Pallett
White/van der Voort v Dolan/Thornton
King/Rodriguez v van Gerwen/van Barneveld
Semi-Finals
Final
Sunday's games played in draw bracket order as displayed above.
All games the best of 11 legs.