MICHAEL VAN GERWEN made an excellent start in his bid to retain his HappyBet European Darts Grand Prix title in Saturday's second round at the Glaspalast in Sindelfingen.
Although only averaging a lowly 97 by his high standards, the world number one was rarely troubled as he quickly brushed aside Keegan Brown 6-2.
Alongside two breaks of throw, Van Gerwen landed a 100 checkout on his way to a 5-0 lead.
Former World Youth Champion Brown then started to find his rhythm and took out a match-high 120 checkout to avoid the whitewash and double ten to win a second leg, but it was too late as Van Gerwen cruised over the winning line.
Peter Wright, who has won two of the three European Tour events so far this year, booked his place in the third round at the expense of James Richardson.
Averaging just over 100, Wright - who lost in the final last year - surged into a 4-1 lead. Richardson managed to claw a leg back, but a 116 checkout put Wright three ahead once more before sealing a 6-2 victory.
In a tight affair, James Wade was the first seed of the evening to crash out as he lost 6-5 to Mark Webster.
Wade had moved into a 4-2 lead and looked destined for the win, before Webster found his resolve to level at 4-4.
Webster then moved ahead for the first time in the game as he clinched a third leg in a row. Wade forced the decider, but a missed dart inside tops allowed Webster to land double ten and clinch a 6-5 win.
Three-time European Tour winner Michael Smith was the second seeded player to crash out of the evening session as he lost 6-5 to Steve West.
Struggling for form, Smith was staring another defeat in the face as West moved 5-3 ahead. A late flurry from the 26-year-old brought him level, but West found double 12 for the win.
Ian White was also sent packing as he lost out 6-4 to unseeded Adrian Lewis in the final game of the evening, in a repeat of the 2012 European Tour final in Sindelfingen.
The pair traded blows for the opening eight legs, with White taking out 126 to level at four-all. Lewis then broke at the crucial time for the lead, before holding to run out a 6-4 winner.
Elsewhere, Austria's Mensur Suljovic beat Polish qualifier Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 and Gerwyn Price saw off Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3.
Earlier in the day, Dave Chisnall averaged an outstanding 112 as he put in the performance of the afternoon in a 6-3 victory over Matt Clark.
The 36-year-old fired a magnificent five 180s and landed 50% of his doubles as he quickly reached the third round, where he meets Lewis in a tasty Sunday afternoon fixture.
Ulf Ceder continued his brilliant debut on the European Tour with a 6-3 victory over Cristo Reyes, having overcome Steve Beaton in Friday's first round.
The Finn landed a match-high 114 checkout on his way to a 5-1 lead. Reyes then landed back-to-back legs, but it was too late for a comeback as Ceder chipped off double five to book a place in the third round.
Rob Cross continued his fine start to life as a PDC professional, beating the experienced Simon Whitlock 6-3.
The 26-year-old, who has already won a Players Championship in 2017, looked calm on the doubles by landing 50% of his attempts as he swept aside the Australian.
Jan Dekker’s fine form showed no signs of letting up as he reached the third round at the expense of Alan Norris.
The Dutchman, who reached a semi-final on the ProTour last weekend, was taken all the way to a decider by Norris - but landed an incredible 160 checkout to seal a 6-5 victory in sensational style.
Joe Cullen made light work of Jonny Clayton in a 6-1 thumping to move through to face Suljovic.
The 27-year-old was clinical on his doubles, landing 60% of his attempts including a brilliant 156 outshot to seal the victory.
Home hopes were ended as Max Hopp slipped to a 6-3 defeat against Kim Huybrechts, whilst Benito van de Pas edged out Joe Murnan 6-5 and Jelle Klaasen beat Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2.
The £135,000 tournament continues on Sunday with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, with all the action streamed for PDCTV-HD Subscribers worldwide via www.livepdc.tv as well as through a series of bookmakers' websites.
WATCH THE HAPPYBET EUROPEAN DARTS GRAND PRIX
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LIVE STATS
Follow stats throughout the HappyBet European Darts Grand Prix via the PDC Live Scores Website
HappyBet European Darts Grand Prix
May 5-7, Glaspalast, Sindelfingen, Germany
Saturday May 6
Second Round
Afternoon Session
Jan Dekker 6-5 Alan Norris
Ulf Ceder 6-3 Cristo Reyes
Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Rob Cross 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Matt Clark
Joe Cullen 6-1 Jonny Clayton
Benito van de Pas 6-5 Joe Murnan
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Max Hopp
Evening Session
Mark Webster 6-5 James Wade
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Steve West 6-5 Michael Smith
Daryl Gurney 6-4 John Henderson
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Peter Wright 6-2 James Richardson
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Keegan Brown
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Ian White
Sunday May 7
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Third Round
Mensur Suljovic v Joe Cullen
Mark Webster v Jelle Klaasen
Kim Huybrechts v Jan Dekker
Peter Wright v Daryl Gurney
Rob Cross v Steve West
Dave Chisnall v Adrian Lewis
Benito van de Pas v Gerwyn Price
Michael van Gerwen v Ulf Ceder
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Suljovic/Cullen v Webster/Klaasen
HuybrechtsDekker v Wright/Gurney
Cross/West v Chisnall/Lewis
Van de Pas/Price v Van Gerwen/Ceder
Semi-Finals
v
v
Final
v
Best of 11 legs.