Daryl Gurney continued his rich run of form as he booked his place in the last 16 of the Dutch Darts Masters after comfortable 6-2 victory over an in-form Steve West. Gurney was fresh from World Series duty in New Zealand & Australia with some critics questioning whether or not the Northern Irishman would suffer from any jet-lag and whether or not that would affect his performance. The 31-year old silenced those critics to some tune as he averaged 102.8 in the contest as he stepped up his terrific scoring ability as he fired in six maximums and his finishing ability was in full flow as well as he hit six out of the eleven doubles he attempted.Gurney kicked off the contest with a superb 111 finish on the bull despite hitting a single one with his first dart, West was hoping for another visit as he left D18 but Gurney denied him the opportunity for a 1-0 lead. The first break of throw came in the fourth leg as West experienced some double trouble and in stepped Gurney to take out 25 for a 3-1 lead. Superchin extended the gap to three legs as he took out 89 for a 4-1 advantage. West fired in a 12-darter as he attempted to claw his way back into the match. After trebleless visits with his first nine darts, West was always chasing as the match was slipping away from him as Gurney took out D8 for a 5-2 lead and with the finishing line in sight, Gurney stepped his game up another gear as he sensationally fired in a stunning ten-dart leg as he hit back-to-back maximums to set up D8 in which he picked out at the first time of asking. The Northern Irish ace will face Nathan Aspinall in the last 16 tomorrow afternoon in Maastricht, but he will not be taking him lightly after the Stockport man averaged over 102 in his suprise 6-1 demolition of Benito van de Pas.
Sunday September 3
Afternoon Session (1pm – 5pm Local time, 12pm – 4pm UK time)
Last 16
Michael van Gerwen – Kyle Anderson
Daryl Gurney – Nathan Aspinall
Michael Smith – Joe Cullen
Simon Whitlock – Robert Owen
Peter Wright – Rob Cross
Christian Kist – Krzysztof Ratajski
John Henderson – Mike de Decker
Steve Beaton – Martin Schindler
Evening Session (7pm – 11pm Local time, 6pm – 10pm UK time)
Quarter-Finals
Van Gerwen / Anderson – Gurney / Aspinall
Smith / Cullen – Whitlock / Owen
Wright / Cross – Kist / Ratajski
Henderson / De Decker – Beaton / Schindler
