European Championship Darts 2017: Scores, Results, Schedule After Saturday

Peter Wright survived a scare in the second round of the 2017 European Championship darts, beating Jonny Clayton 10-8 in a thriller on Saturday at Ethias Arena in Hasselt, Belgium.

Earlier, Michael Smith and Rob Cross had secured wins, with Daryl Gurney also booking his spot in the quarter-finals by beating Stephen Bunting 10-6.

Mensur Suljovic advanced to the quarters as well by virtue of a 10-4 triumph against Gerwyn Price.

For the full results, visit the PDC's official website.

Recap

Saturday's action kicked off with Suljovic, who fell behind Price 1-0 before reeling off the next seven legs to take a commanding lead.

Price battled back and managed to make it 7-3, but it wasn't long before the 2016 finalist finished him off 10-4 and booked his place in the quarter-finals.

In the next match, Smith started strongly and moved into a 5-2 lead before Benito van de Pas rallied and managed to get the gap down to 6-4 at the interval despite an average of just 87.

The Englishman then moved ahead again, making it 8-4, and put victory within sight. Yet back came Van De Pas, taking it to the decider, as PDC Darts' official Twitter account showed:

However, Smith held his nerve and finished strongly, coming up with a 118 checkout to clinch a 10-9 win.

Cross looked set for a tough test against Dave Chisnall and stormed into a 4-1 lead early on before Chizzy staged a spirited fightback.

Despite being clearly affected by a back injury, he pulled it back to 6-3 and was still able to show his class, as PDC Darts showed:

Chizzy battled back to 8-6 and then 9-7 but could not do enough to take victory, Cross seeing it out 10-7.

Gurney was next up and generally looked in control throughout against Bunting. He moved into a 5-2 lead and, although Bunting got it back to 6-4, finished strongly to take it 10-6.

Live Darts managed to break down Gurney's win:

That just left Wright and Clayton to battle it out, and Snakebite certainly looked in the mood, per PDC Darts:

However, Clayton made a great start, storming into a 4-0 lead, before Wright finally managed to get off the mark, finding a double 10 to make it 4-1.

Clayton missed chances to further extend his lead, allowing Snakebite to level it up at 5-5 with an average of 96.

The colourful Scot then moved ahead for the first time in the match at 6-5, but Clayton held on and brought it back to 7-7 to set up a tense finish.

The pair could not be separated, taking it to 8-8, before Snakebite's quality eventually prevailed after he sealed it 10-8.

It was an exciting end to the evening's action, Wright coming back from an awful start but showing his resilience to book a place in the last eight.

Sunday Schedule

Afternoon Session (12:45 p.m. UK Time)

Michael van Gerwen vs. Simon Whitlock

Kyle Anderson vs. Mensur Suljovic

Peter Wright vs. Daryl Gurney

Rob Cross vs. Michael Smith

Evening Session (7 p.m. UK Time)

Van Gerwen/Whitlock vs. Anderson/Suljovic

Wright/Gurney vs. Cross/Smith