European Championship Darts 2016: Scores, Results, Updated Schedule After Friday
Mervyn King, Cristo Reyes and Ian White won their first-round matchups during Friday's 2016 European Championship Darts afternoon session at the Ethias Arena in Hasselt, Belgium. Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor and Peter Wright joined them in the next round during the evening session.
King needed 10 legs to make his way past South Africa's Devon Petersen, while Reyes pulled off a minor upset, beating Rob Thornton. White cruised to a 6-2 win over Terry Jenkins.
Van Gerwen needed some late heroics to beat Simon Whitlock, and world champion Gary Anderson lost a whitewash against James Wade.
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Here's a look at Friday's results:
| Jamie Caven | 3-6 | James Richardson |
| Daryl Gurney | 4-6 | Gerwyn Price |
| Chris Dobey | 2-6 | Joe Cullen |
| Ian White | 6-2 | Terry Jenkins |
| Cristo Reyes | 6-4 | Robert Thornton |
| Mervyn King | 6-4 | Devon Petersen |
| Michael Smith | 5-6 | Stephen Bunting |
| Max Hopp | 6-4 | Benito van de Pas |
| Jelle Klaasen | 6-3 | Steve West |
| Kim Huybrechts | 3-6 | James Wilson |
| Dave Chisnall | 3-6 | Kyle Anderson |
| Mensur Suljovic | 6-1 | Jermaine Wattimena |
| Peter Wright | 6-5 | Justin Pipe |
| Alan Norris | 3-6 | Phil Taylor |
| Michael van Gerwen | 6-5 | Simon Whitlock |
| James Wade | 6-0 | Gary Anderson |
The schedule for Saturday:
| Kyle Anderson | vs | James Richardson |
| Mensur Suljovic | vs | Ian White |
| Peter Wright | vs | Cristo Reyes |
| James Wilson | vs | Mervyn King |
| Jelle Klaasen | vs | Stephen Bunting |
| Phil Taylor | vs | Joe Cullen |
| James Wade | vs | Max Hopp |
| Michael van Gerwen | vs | Gerwyn Price |
Evening Recap
Van Gerwen's run for the European Championship almost ended before it ever truly began, as the current Order of Merit leader needed a late comeback to beat Whitlock.
Whitlock entered the European Championship in superb form, and it didn't hurt that Mighty Mike gave him some help early, as shared by Live Darts:
The Wizard took a one-leg lead into the interval, with Van Gerwen averaging just 90 and hitting on 11 percent of his doubles.
Whitlock continued his run with a fantastic 170 checkout to move within two legs of a major upset, but Van Gerwen would force a decider with a superb 12-darter. In that decider, Whitlock wired a dart for a 150 checkout, and the World Nr. 1 didn't hesitate, taking out double eight for the win.
As shared by PDC Results, Mighty Mike managed to boost his average in the end:
Taylor put up some fantastic numbers on his way to a routine win over Alan Norris and a spot in the second round. The veteran finished with an absurd average of 109, as shared by PDC Darts:
The Power won the final leg before the interval to take a 3-2 lead and came out firing after the break, doing better on the doubles than he did earlier in the contest.
Taylor is one of the favourites to win the European Championship, with several other top contenders struggling for form. Wright needed a decider to beat Justin Pipe, who missed two match darts in the 10th leg and couldn't take advantage of a horrid start for Snakebite in the decider.
Wright opened with a 22 to leave himself in a hole, but he recovered just in time to avoid an embarrassing loss. Per Live Darts, he and Pipe knew they had given the crowd in Hasselt quite the show:
The biggest shock of the day was still to come, as a struggling Anderson failed to win a single leg against Wade, losing the only whitewash of the opening round.
Afternoon Recap
King and Peterson served up a solid, high-quality clash in the afternoon, with both converting doubles at a solid rate and the former making the difference with his raw scoring.
Peterson only averaged just over 85, and while he did well to convert when he got chances on the checkout, he routinely fell behind the King and couldn't keep up in the latter part of the match.
The 2004 BDO World Masters winner wasn't happy with his performance, however, and dropped a bit of a bombshell in his post-match interview, via Live Darts:
Reyes and Thornton matched up in arguably the best encounter of the afternoon, and both players lived up to their reputations, with averages north of 93. The latter only had six chances all match long on the doubles, however, with Reyes on the front foot throughout the contest.
The 29-year-old, who made the last 16 of the tournament in 2015, took out 50 per cent of his chances on the doubles and led the way with a 96.83 average, nearly the highest of the afternoon session.
As shared by this fan, his win also had some serious implications on the seeding for the World Championships:
Stephen Bunting finished the afternoon with the highest average, just under 100 on his way to a decider win over Michael Smith.
Smith somehow kept up with the Bullet, who averaged well over 104 through the early portion of the match and was always in the lead. His opponent kept fighting back on the doubles and eventually forced a decider, where Bunting showed his class.
White dominated Jenkins on the doubles, converting six of his 17 chances, while his opponent only managed two of 14.
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