Cazoo World Darts Championship R32 day 2
The second day of the PDC Cazoo World Darts Championship R32 was another great one! For the second day in a row we’ve lost a former World Champion. With Gerwyn Price, Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross we’ve got 3 more left in the tournament. Read here all you need to know about R32 day 2 on the Cazoo World Darts Championship.
De Sousa versus Searle
In the first game of the afternoon it was José de Sousa who did José de Sousa things and got himself into trouble. He threw himself ‘to death’, miscalculated and missed arrows on the doubles at the important moment. As a result, he handed in the first set to Ryan Searle, who also took the next two sets. But The Special One did not give up, as he had not done against Simon Whitlock in the previous round when he was 2-0 down. Free bets which went in on De Sousa at 3-0 have paid some very nice profits.
Noppert versus Soutar
Against the Scotsman Alan Soutar, Noppert shot out of the starting blocks this afternoon. In the first leg, The Freeze immediately showed his calling card with eight triples and a break. And in no time he had taken the first two sets (3-1 and 3-0), with a nice average of 101. Soutar, who had eliminated 24th seed Daryl Gurney in the previous round, immediately struck and took the third and fourth set (1-3 and 0-3). He was allowed to start the fifth set himself and he also won, after which he immediately broke Noppert in the first leg of the sixth set. The Dutchman did not recover from that, which means that he is somewhat surprisingly out of the World Cup.
Anderson versus Dobey
But the afternoon session wasn’t over yet and neither were the surprises. Chris Dobey sent home his mentor Gary Anderson 4-1, which no one could have imagined after the swirling first set of the Scot with an average of over 115 points. After that, however, the party quickly turned. Dobey took control, finished deadly a few times and walked away from The Flying Scotsman. The two-time world champion did not see Hollywood again, even though he had a higher average and throwout percentage. Dobey will smell a quarterfinal place, because in the next round he will meet the winner of the match between Rob Cross and Mervyn King.
Cullen versus Heta
Cullen, seeded thirteenth, is having an excellent year in darts. At the end of January, he won The Masters, where he took his first major title. In June he also almost won the Premier League, but Van Gerwen was just too strong in the final. In the fourth round, Cullen will face the winner of the meeting between Michael Smith and Martin Schindler on Friday afternoon. That game is scheduled for later in the evening. A match earlier, Van Gerwen comes into action against the Austrian Mensur Suljovic.
Van Gerwen versus Suljovic
The 33-year-old Van Gerwen faced a remarkable amount of opposition from Suljovic, who was seventeen years older, number thirty on the placement list. The Austrian hit no less than 65 percent on his doubles and also recorded a good average of 98.90. Van Gerwen won the first two sets with an average of no less than 115.84, but then Suljovic came back brutally. De Brabander had to leave the third set to Suljovic and it was close to the born Serb also winning the fourth set. But Van Gerwen threw 180 twice in the decisive leg that Suljovic started and made it 3-1. In the fifth set, ‘Mighty Mike’ got a chance to win the match on 121. But instead of throwing a bull’s eye, Van Gerwen deliberately left 32. He just hadn’t counted on Suljovic to throw out 161 an inning later. The Austrian therefore came back to 3-2. Van Gerwen broke Suljovic in the third leg of the fifth set and did not relinquish the leg he started. With that he decided the best match of this World Cup so far.
Smith versus Schindler
Schindler came through the second round of the World Cup for the first time in his career last week, in his fourth World Cup participation. The 26-year-old darts player was also driven tonight in Alexandra Palace to offer a good match to Michael Smith, who reached the final on the same podium last year. The room – well filled with German fans – quickly cheered because Schindler cleverly took the first set from Smith by breaking him in the last leg.
After a set for Smith and a nice 170 finish, the leak seemed to be over for Bully Boy, but Schindler took the lead again in the third set. He did this by pushing hard again in the last leg. The fourth set also apparently went easily to the German darts player. From that moment on, Smith, who was throwing just a little bit better throughout the game, started throwing high finishes and 180’ers at the right times. It resulted in a thrilling denouement in which both darts players could smell the eighth finals. In the deciding set, however, it was Smith who pulled the longest straw and may keep his hopes for the overall victory alive.