MICHAEL VAN GERWEN rewarded an incredible reception from his home crowd at the Dutch Darts Masters with a commanding 6-2 win over Mensur Suljovic in the second round of the PDC European Tour event at the Evenementenhal in Venray on Saturday.
The world number one began his bid to win an amazing fourth successive European Tour event this year with the performance of the second round in the £115,000 tournament, averaging 103.09.
He also landed four maximums against the Austrian qualifier, and sealed victory with an 11-dart finish to progress to a third round clash on Sunday afternoon with Dave Chisnall.
In-form Chisnall booked his spot in the last 16 as he held his nerve to win a final-leg decider against another Dutchman, Jelle Klaasen.
In a see-saw game, the opening three legs went with throw before four breaks in a row left Klaasen 4-3 up only for Chisnall to level before landing a 12-darter to move 5-4 up.
To the delight of a 4,500 crowd, Klaasen levelled, but Chisnall silenced the home support in the deciding leg to claim the win.
Terry Jenkins opened his Dutch Darts Masters account with a 6-3 win over Dutchman Jerry Hendriks, who broke in the game's opening leg but never recovered from seeing his rival take the next four for a 4-1 lead.
Hendriks took two of the next three to keep his hopes alive, but Jenkins was too strong as he progressed for a meeting with Brendan Dolan, who dropped only one leg as he knocked out another of the home hopes, Christian Kist.
Mervyn King, last year's runner-up to van Gerwen in the Dutch Darts Masters, marched into the third round with a 97.4 average in his 6-1 victory over Ricky Evans, taking the opening five legs without reply in a commanding display.
King now takes on Simon Whitlock on Sunday afternoon after the Australian brushed aside Germany's Max Hopp 6-3 in Saturday’s evening session.
After sharing the opening two legs, Whitlock won the next three without reply, including a 12-darter, before fending off Hopp's fightback to secure progression to the last 16.
An afternoon session littered with shocks saw both Holland's Vincent van der Voort and Betway Premier League star Stephen Bunting both being eliminated.
Van der Voort, who had the backing of a passionate home crowd, was sent crashing out in a last leg decider against the youngster Nathan Aspinall, whilst Stephen Bunting was beaten by another young gun, Josh Payne 6-4.
Aspinall, a debutant on the European Tour in this event, made a fine start as he took a 3-1 lead before van der Voort hit back to level before the pair traded legs to see the game go all the way.
Van der Voort had the advantage of throw, but a 14-dart finish from Aspinall sealed his victory and a third round tie with Justin Pipe, who also enjoyed a 6-5 second round win, against Austrian youngster Rowby-John Rodriguez.
Payne, meanwhile, capitalised on some poor finishing from Bunting to book his place in the third round, with the Kent youngster taking out 40 percent of his chances at a finish to set up a tie with Michael Smith.
Smith, a European Tour winner in Germany last year, booked his place in the third round with a 6-1 win over Greek ace John Michael, averaging an impressive 96.86 in the process.
Australia's Kyle Anderson knocked out world number five Peter Wright 6-2 to win through to the third round - continuing his push for qualification for next month's BetVictor World Matchplay - and he now plays Steve Beaton, who edged past Gary Stone 6-5.
Ian White knocked out Dutch youngster Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-4, while Kim Huybrechts enjoyed a 6-5 win over Ireland's William O'Connor and Jamie Caven produced the day's only whitewash as he swept past John Henderson.
The £115,000 tournament conlcudes on Sunday, with the afternoon session's third round followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in the decisive evening session.
Ticket information for the Dutch Darts Masters European Tour event can be seen at www.pdc-europe.tv , with any remaining tickets on sale at the Evenementenhal in Venray.
www.Bet365.com
www.betfair.com
www.coral.co.uk
www.ladbrokes.com
www.unibet.co.uk
Live Scores
Follow Live Scores throughout the tournament through the PDC Live Scores Website - http://live.dartsdata.com .
To see the tournament's full draw and schedule of play, click here .
All games are the best of 11 legs.
Dutch Darts Masters 2015
Evenementenhal, Venray, Netherlands
Saturday June 6
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Second Round
Ian White 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Steve Beaton 6-5 Gary Stone
Jamie Caven 6-0 John Henderson
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 William O'Connor
Justin Pipe 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Stephen Bunting 4-6 Josh Payne
Vincent van der Voort 5-6 Nathan Aspinall
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Christian Kist
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Second Round
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Jerry Hendriks
Mervyn King 6-1 Ricky Evans
James Wade 4-6 David Pallett
Michael Smith 6-1 John Michael
Peter Wright 2-6 Kyle Anderson
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Max Hopp
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Sunday June 7
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Third Round
David Pallett v Jamie Caven
Ian White v Kim Huybrechts
Nathan Aspinall v Justin Pipe
Michael Smith v Josh Payne
Kyle Anderson v Steve Beaton
Brendan Dolan v Terry Jenkins
Simon Whitlock v Mervyn King
Michael van Gerwen v Dave Chisnall
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Pallett/Caven v White/Huybrechts
Aspinall/Pipe v Smith/Payne
Anderson/Beaton v Dolan/Jenkins
Whitlock/King v van Gerwen/Chisnall
Semi-Finals
Final
All games are the best of 11 legs
The world number one began his bid to win an amazing fourth successive European Tour event this year with the performance of the second round in the £115,000 tournament, averaging 103.09.
He also landed four maximums against the Austrian qualifier, and sealed victory with an 11-dart finish to progress to a third round clash on Sunday afternoon with Dave Chisnall.
In-form Chisnall booked his spot in the last 16 as he held his nerve to win a final-leg decider against another Dutchman, Jelle Klaasen.
In a see-saw game, the opening three legs went with throw before four breaks in a row left Klaasen 4-3 up only for Chisnall to level before landing a 12-darter to move 5-4 up.
To the delight of a 4,500 crowd, Klaasen levelled, but Chisnall silenced the home support in the deciding leg to claim the win.
Terry Jenkins opened his Dutch Darts Masters account with a 6-3 win over Dutchman Jerry Hendriks, who broke in the game's opening leg but never recovered from seeing his rival take the next four for a 4-1 lead.
Hendriks took two of the next three to keep his hopes alive, but Jenkins was too strong as he progressed for a meeting with Brendan Dolan, who dropped only one leg as he knocked out another of the home hopes, Christian Kist.
Mervyn King, last year's runner-up to van Gerwen in the Dutch Darts Masters, marched into the third round with a 97.4 average in his 6-1 victory over Ricky Evans, taking the opening five legs without reply in a commanding display.
King now takes on Simon Whitlock on Sunday afternoon after the Australian brushed aside Germany's Max Hopp 6-3 in Saturday’s evening session.
After sharing the opening two legs, Whitlock won the next three without reply, including a 12-darter, before fending off Hopp's fightback to secure progression to the last 16.
An afternoon session littered with shocks saw both Holland's Vincent van der Voort and Betway Premier League star Stephen Bunting both being eliminated.
Van der Voort, who had the backing of a passionate home crowd, was sent crashing out in a last leg decider against the youngster Nathan Aspinall, whilst Stephen Bunting was beaten by another young gun, Josh Payne 6-4.
Aspinall, a debutant on the European Tour in this event, made a fine start as he took a 3-1 lead before van der Voort hit back to level before the pair traded legs to see the game go all the way.
Van der Voort had the advantage of throw, but a 14-dart finish from Aspinall sealed his victory and a third round tie with Justin Pipe, who also enjoyed a 6-5 second round win, against Austrian youngster Rowby-John Rodriguez.
Payne, meanwhile, capitalised on some poor finishing from Bunting to book his place in the third round, with the Kent youngster taking out 40 percent of his chances at a finish to set up a tie with Michael Smith.
Smith, a European Tour winner in Germany last year, booked his place in the third round with a 6-1 win over Greek ace John Michael, averaging an impressive 96.86 in the process.
Australia's Kyle Anderson knocked out world number five Peter Wright 6-2 to win through to the third round - continuing his push for qualification for next month's BetVictor World Matchplay - and he now plays Steve Beaton, who edged past Gary Stone 6-5.
Ian White knocked out Dutch youngster Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-4, while Kim Huybrechts enjoyed a 6-5 win over Ireland's William O'Connor and Jamie Caven produced the day's only whitewash as he swept past John Henderson.
The £115,000 tournament conlcudes on Sunday, with the afternoon session's third round followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in the decisive evening session.
Ticket information for the Dutch Darts Masters European Tour event can be seen at www.pdc-europe.tv , with any remaining tickets on sale at the Evenementenhal in Venray.
Live Coverage
www.LIVEPDC.TV - Worldwidewww.Bet365.com
www.betfair.com
www.coral.co.uk
www.ladbrokes.com
www.unibet.co.uk
Live Scores
Follow Live Scores throughout the tournament through the PDC Live Scores Website - http://live.dartsdata.com .
To see the tournament's full draw and schedule of play, click here .
All games are the best of 11 legs.
Dutch Darts Masters 2015
Evenementenhal, Venray, Netherlands
Saturday June 6
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Second Round
Ian White 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Steve Beaton 6-5 Gary Stone
Jamie Caven 6-0 John Henderson
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 William O'Connor
Justin Pipe 6-5 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Stephen Bunting 4-6 Josh Payne
Vincent van der Voort 5-6 Nathan Aspinall
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Christian Kist
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Second Round
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Jerry Hendriks
Mervyn King 6-1 Ricky Evans
James Wade 4-6 David Pallett
Michael Smith 6-1 John Michael
Peter Wright 2-6 Kyle Anderson
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Max Hopp
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Sunday June 7
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Third Round
David Pallett v Jamie Caven
Ian White v Kim Huybrechts
Nathan Aspinall v Justin Pipe
Michael Smith v Josh Payne
Kyle Anderson v Steve Beaton
Brendan Dolan v Terry Jenkins
Simon Whitlock v Mervyn King
Michael van Gerwen v Dave Chisnall
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Pallett/Caven v White/Huybrechts
Aspinall/Pipe v Smith/Payne
Anderson/Beaton v Dolan/Jenkins
Whitlock/King v van Gerwen/Chisnall
Semi-Finals
Final
All games are the best of 11 legs