Michael van Gerwen was on fire on night two as he beat up-and-coming Josh Rock 2-0; watch the double in, double out World Grand Prix Darts from the Morningside Arena in Leicester up until the final on October 8 - live on Sky Sports
Wednesday 4 October 2023 18:39, UK
Michael van Gerwen's defence of his World Grand Prix title got off to a perfect start as he dominated Josh Rock in a 2-0 victory.
The second set was then a complete domination, Rock struggling to get going on the doubles as van Gerwen showed his class, winning three straight legs for the set.
Jonny Clayton suffered a first-round defeat to Ross Smith despite putting up a fight in the 2-0 routing.
Both sets were battles but Smith was clinical on the doubles, clinching the second round spot with a clutch 130 checkout.
Peter Wright got off to an impressive start as he cruised to a 2-0 win over Gabriel Clemens.
Wright, despite a quick start from Clemens, looked commanding in the first set to take three straight legs for the 1-0 lead then continued his good form in the second, dropping just one leg to confirm a solid victory over the World Championship semi-finalist.
Cullen, Woodhouse, Searle, and Humphries progress
Elsewhere, Joe Cullen got off to a fast start in a 2-0 win against Mike De Decker.
After starting the match with an impressive 120 checkout, Cullen held off a De Decker fightback to break the throw in the deciding leg of the first set.
Despite De Decker then taking the first leg of the second set, Cullen responded to win three straight legs to take the victory and move into the second round.
Luke Woodhouse pulled off an upset to defeat Dave Chisnall 2-0 and seal his second-round spot.
After a relatively easy first set, in which Chisnall only took one leg, Woodhouse worked hard in the second as he and 'Chizzy' tussled back and forth, finally taking the match on D2.
Ryan Searle showed tough spirit to come back from one set down and seal a 2-1 win over Damon Heta.
Ever the showman, Heta found some great late darts to take the first set on his throw in the deciding leg but Searle fought back to take the second set in three straight legs and level the match at 1-1.
The last set was then a tussle, Searle breaking the throw on the deciding leg for the clash.
Chris Dobey battled hard to take a 2-0 win over Dimitri Van den Bergh, taking the deciding set in the second leg against the throw for the win.
Van den Bergh tried to take control but the 'Hollywood' stood firm to seal a spot in round two.
The final match of the night saw Luke Humphries show accuracy on the trebles to take the 2-0 win over 'Superchin' Daryl Gurney.
Gurney took the second set all the way but Humphries hit a huge maximum at the right moment to help himself to a D16 finish.
Michael Smith will be looking to continue his nice start in the second round on Wednesday as he faces Brendan Dolan. Andrew Gilding then faces another tough task when he meets in-form Gary Anderson.
Elsewhere, Gerwyn Price will face Krzysztof Ratajski and the first night of the second round finishes with Stephen Bunting up against Martin Schindler.
Watch the double in, double out World Grand Prix Darts at the Morningside Arena in Leicester every night up until the final on October 8 - live on Sky Sports. Stream the World Grand Prix and more with NOW for £21 a month for six months
