Unibet European Championship Darts 2015 Results: Scores from Saturday's Schedule
Dave Chisnall, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson all survived tricky Round 2 clashes during Saturday's Unibet European Championship Darts 2015 action, beating Stephen Bunting, Justin Pipe and Simon Whitlock, respectively.
The afternoon session saw few surprises, with John Henderson also cruising past Rowby-John Rodriguez.
During the evening session, Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor cruised to easy wins over Cristo Reyes and Michael Smith, respectively, while Peter Wright survived a tight battle with Kim Huybrechts and Jelle Klaasen was never troubled by James Wade. Here's a look at the full results and the schedule for Sunday:
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| Stephen Bunting | 6-10 | Dave Chisnall |
| John Henderson | 10-2 | Rowby-John Rodriguez |
| (6) Adrian Lewis | 10-7 | Justin Pipe |
| (2) Gary Anderson | 10-8 | Simon Whitlock |
| (4) Peter Wright | 10-8 | Kim Huybrechts |
| (7) James Wade | 5-10 | Jelle Klaasen |
| (1) Michael van Gerwen | 10-3 | Cristo Reyes |
| (3) Phil Taylor | 10-5 | Michael Smith |
| Quarter-Finals | ||
| John Henderson | vs. | Peter Wright |
| Michael van Gerwen | vs. | Dave Chisnall |
| Gary Anderson | vs. | Jelle Klaasen |
| Phil Taylor | vs. | Adrian Lewis |
| TBD | vs. | TBD |
Recap
Order of Merit leader Van Gerwen had no trouble dispatching of Reyes, conceding just three legs on his way to the quarter-final. Mighty Mike produced an 11-darter and finished with an average of 106.81, over 15 higher than his opponent.
NL Darts was impressed with Van Gerwen:
The defending champion wasn't perfect, recording a high finish of 81, but his explosive scoring easily carried him past Reyes, who couldn't even force a single break of throw.
It was a similar story for Smith, who had no chance against the four-time European champion Taylor. The Power built a quick four-leg lead and never looked back, recording an average of 105.25 and a sensational high finish of 161.
Per PDC Darts, Taylor is quite popular even in Belgium:
The Power will meet Adrian Lewis in the quarter-finals in what looks to be the marquee matchup of Sunday's afternoon session. Both did better than 50 percent on their checkouts on Saturday and both can score in bunches, although Taylor's experience will see him enter the match as favourite.
Local favourite Huybrechts kept things tight with Wright until the 17th leg, when Snakebite shifted gear and grabbed the last two legs to book his spot in the quarter-finals. In truth, he should have grabbed momentum far earlier, with Huybrechts struggling on the doubles, but the Belgian crowd did its very best to back their compatriot and seemed to mess with Snakebite's concentration at times.
Wright's class shone through in the end, however, with back-to-back checkouts of 116 and 101.
In the final match of the day, Klaasen set up a quarter-final date with Anderson, comfortably beating Wade with a late boost. The Dutchman finished the last three legs with checkouts of 118, 114 and 158 to send a clear warning sign to the rest of the field.
Chisnall and Bunting served up an entertaining, high-scoring match with a total of 10 breaks, with the former walking away with a 10-6 win. Both players averaged well over 100 and were solid on the checkout, as Chizzy finished with 48 per cent on his doubles and Bunting did even better, finishing with 55 percent.
The deciding moment in the match came in the seventh leg, as Bunting missed the chance to take the lead on double seven and Chizzy stepped in and stole the leg. His lead quickly grew to two legs, and the 35-year-old never looked back on his way to a comfortable win.
Adrian Lewis had some struggles in his 10-7 win over Justin Pipe, failing to put his opponent away despite a huge scoring advantage. As shared by PDC Results, the difference in averages was staggering:
Pipe broke throw in the first leg and was able to keep pace with Lewis for the first few legs, as Jackpot consistently missed key throws, particularly on the checkout. He even briefly trailed after 11 legs, before things finally clicked and he started playing his best darts, winning the final three legs.
Pipe even took to social media to let Jackpot know how close their match was:
"@jackpot180 if that was premier league that would have been a draw
— Justin Pipe (@Blewboy71) October 31, 2015"
Henderson cruised to a 10-2 win over Rodriguez, who struggled tremendously during the first match of the afternoon and couldn't get off the stage quickly enough once the match was over.
With an average under 75 and a checkout percentage of just 22 per cent, he never seemed likely to complete a comeback after dropping the first four legs. Henderson didn't look that much stronger, and his average of 84.38 will have to increase drastically if he's to have any chance in the quarter-finals.
In the final match of the afternoon session, Anderson needed 18 legs to get past the wildly talented but inconsistent Whitlock, who battled until the very end and made life hard on the reigning world champion.
Anderson needed four ton finishes and some clutch throws in the final legs, somehow keeping the Wizard at bay in consecutive legs that saw Whitlock land 180s. Both players landed a maximum in the final leg, before Anderson booked his quarter-final spot in style with a 136 checkout.
Whitlock left the stage smiling and with his arms in the air, however, playing one of his best matches in recent history.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
