Michael van Gerwen begins quest for fourth successive European Championship with solid victory
Friday 27 October 2017 12:34, UK
Michael van Gerwen began his quest to claim a fourth successive European Championship by defeating compatriot Jan Dekker 6-2 in Belgium on Thursday.
The Dutchman has claimed the past three European Championship titles and confirmed his participation in Hassel despite concerns he would miss the event with an ankle injury, which impeded his challenge at the German Darts Masters challenge last week.
Despite an even start to the match, which saw Dekker share the opening four legs with his countryman, Van Gerwen claimed the next four legs to progress to a round-two clash with Ian White on Friday.
"It's a good start for me," said the world champion, who averaged 96.
"I was a little bit slow at the start but I got into my rhythm, and I can look forward to the second round now. It's a longer format, which suits my game."
White secured his spot in the last 16 with a thrilling 6-5 victory over Darren Webster, despite falling 3-1 behind after some poor finishing in the early stages.
However, White recovered before the match went to a decider, which Webster appeared certain to win only for him to miss two darts for the match before White closed out with a 93 finish.
"I could have been 4-1 up but I gave a few legs away and found myself 3-2 down," said White. "You shouldn't be missing the big numbers and when I was doing that Darren punished me.
"It was nice at the end to take out the 93 and I'm still in the tournament so I've got to knuckle down now and get ready for the next match. I've not had the best of luck this year but I'll keep going."
Meanwhile, 2016 European Championship finalist Mensur Suljovic held off the challenge of Kim Huybrechts with another 6-5 victory.
Huybrechts, the Belgian home favourite, battled back from 5-3 down against the Austrian to force a decider but Suljovic recovered to close out the tie with a tops finish.
Huybrechts' elder brother Ronny also lost out in a deciding leg after Gerwyn Price, the UK Open finalist, produced a stirring fightback to secure a 6-5 win at the Ethias Arena and a round-two meeting with Suljovic.
Meanwhile, Kyle Anderson swept past John Henderson 6-1 with a ruthless performance as the Australian, who averaged 97, finished with tops and a double five to complete the victory.
The 2016 quarter-finalist will next meet Jelle Klaasen after the Dutchman whitewashed injury-troubled Christian Kist 6-0 in their all-Dutch encounter.
Simon Whitlock, chasing a second European Championship title, progressed to a second-round tie with Alan Norris after the Australian fought back from a slow start against the Englishman to record a 6-3 victory with finishes of 68 and 64 in the final two legs.
Norris overcame Mervyn King 6-4 with a comeback victory of his own from 4-3 down closing out the win after taking out 121 on the bull and tops to finish the match.
European Championship
First Round
Friday, October 27
Afternoon Session (12.45pm UK time)
Jonny Clayton v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Dave Chisnall v Cristo Reyes
Benito van de Pas v Vincent van der Voort
Daryl Gurney v Steve Beaton
Michael Smith (3) v Nathan Aspinall
Rob Cross (6) v Martin Schindler
Joe Cullen (7) v Stephen Bunting
Peter Wright (2) v Krzysztof Ratajski
Evening Session (7pm UK time)
Second Round x4
Saturday, October 28 (7pm UK time)
Second Round x4
Sunday, October 29
Afternoon Session (12.45pm UK time)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (8pm local time, 7pm UK time)
Semi-Finals
Final
The Grand Slam of Darts gets underway live on Sky Sports as the best of the PDC compete against the best of the BDO - the action from the Wolverhampton Civic Hall begins on Saturday, November 11 with a double session.
Keep up to date with the news as the tungsten enters its busiest time of year with the PDC World Championships just around the corner get all the latest at www.skysports.com/darts and join in the conversation @SkySportsDarts.
