Dimitri van den Bergh and Ryan Searle also fired in ton-plus averages on a thrilling day of action at Alexandra Palace.
Sunday 22 December 2019 00:10, UK
Daryl Gurney and Glen Durrant recorded emphatic straight set wins to set up a third-round showdown at the World Darts Championship, as Adrian Lewis fought back from two sets down to prevail in a five-set thriller at Alexandra Palace.
On a day which saw Fallon Sherrock once again steal the headlines following her sensational success against 11th seed Mensur Suljovic, Gurney, Durrant and Lewis avoided the same fate as 'The Gentle'.
Dimitri Van den Bergh produced the performance of this year's tournament to dispatch Josh Payne, whilst Ryan Searle also registered just the third ton-plus average of the competition earlier in the afternoon.
There were also wins for 2010 finalist Simon Whitlock and World Cup semi-finalist Seigo Asada, as the second round drew to a close in dramatic fashion in the capital.
Durrant enjoyed a dream Alexandra Palace debut as he swept aside Damon Heta in straight sets to set up a third-round showdown against Gurney.
'Duzza' switched to the PDC after scooping three successive BDO World Championship titles and he extended his winning sequence at the worlds to 16 games with a dominant display against the Australian qualifier.
Heta, who defeated James Wade, Gary Anderson, Simon Whitlock and Rob Cross to lift the Brisbane Darts Masters crown in July, reaffirmed his pedigree with an impressive first-round victory against Jose De Sousa.
However, he was unable to replicate that display against Durrant, who received a rousing reception from the capacity crowd and claimed a scrappy opening set without reply, before doubling his lead with a majestic 170 checkout - the sixth of this year's tournament.
'The Heat' raised his game in the third but the Teessider produced the goods in a crucial set decider - firing in back-to-back maximums and closing out a 12-dart break to seal his progression in style.
Only once has Gurney reached the last eight of the World Championship, but he got his bid for New Year's Day glory underway with a routine 3-0 victory over Justin Pipe on Saturday night.
Second and third-round exits in the last couple of years are barely fitting a player of Gurney's two major televised titles, and coming in under the radar this year he'll fancy his chance in a section of the draw that looks open.
Superchin got the evening session underway with a rousing rendition of Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline and despite losing the opening leg due to a sizzling 104 from Pipe, the sixth seed was soon into his rhythm.
He reeled off six legs on the bounce to take control of the match including a brilliant second set that saw him average 102 and take out combination finishes of 80 and 76 on his way to a position of authority.
Gurney took out the next couple of legs to leave Pipe on the point of no return and while the man from Somerset stopped the rot, it only delayed the inevitable as Gurney took out double 16 after Pipe had missed a dart to level the set to seal his place in round three.
Van den Bergh recorded the highest average of the tournament thus far to defeat Josh Payne in straight sets - in a repeat of the 2017 World Youth Championship final.
It was a sense of the calm after the storm following Fallon Sherrock's astonishing triumph, but Van den Bergh - a quarter-finalist at this event two years ago, underlined his credentials with a world-class display.
The Belgian averaged over 104 in the opening set but Payne almost snatched it - missing double five for a 130 checkout before Van den Bergh wrapped it up via double four.
The former two-time World Youth champion cruised to set two with legs of 13, 14 and 11 darts and after Payne wired one set dart at double 16 in set three, Van den Bergh sank double nine to prevail with a 103.81 average.
Two-time world champion Lewis survived a huge scare as he fought back from two sets down to defeat Cristo Reyes in another five-set thriller at Alexandra Palace.
Reyes punished a sloppy start from Lewis to regain the initiative but 'Jackpot' rallied - following up a clinical 82 kill with a classy 11-darter to reduce the arrears, before punishing missed opportunities from the Spaniard to force a fifth set.
Lewis missed double 12 for a nine-darter in leg two - which would have been his third perfect leg at the World Championship, but incredibly he lost the leg after squandering seven darts at double.
The pair continued to trade blows in a topsy-turvy decider, before the 13th seed eventually sealed his progression in a tie-break via tops.
In the afternoon's opener, Seigo Asada produced a remarkable comeback to stun former World Youth champion Keegan Brown and set up a meeting with seventh seed Peter Wright.
Brown stormed to the opening seven legs and appeared on the cusp of a whitewash success, but the Japanese No 1 rallied to force a decider - sealing the victory with an 11-darter in the tie-break.
Ryan Searle produced a terrific display to defeat 28th seed Steve West and set up a third-round showdown against two-time world champion Gary Anderson.
Searle - who reached the fourth round on debut at Alexandra Palace 12 months ago, averaged 101.54 and converted 43 per cent of his attempts at double to record a 3-0 success, despite West forcing a last-leg decider in all three sets.
Former finalist Simon Whitlock also breezed into the third round with a comprehensive straight-sets victory over debutant Harry Ward, dropping just two legs to set up a clash of the veterans against Mervyn King.
Michael van Gerwen returns to the Ally Pally stage to take on Ricky Evans when the third round gets underway on Sunday, as eight-time major winner James Wade meets the veteran Steve Beaton.
The evening's other round three tie sees Rob Cross' conqueror Kim Huybrechts play Danny Noppert, whilst the afternoon session features a tasty clash between UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall and Krzysztof Ratajski
Elsewhere, German No 1 Max Hopp locks horns with Darius Labanauskas, whilst Stephen Bunting and Jonny Clayton collide, with the winner potentially set to face Van Gerwen in the last 16.
Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts. The action is on Sky Sports Darts with live coverage from Alexandra Palace until the final on New Year's Day.
