For the first time in the history of a European Tour event, nine German players were in the main field of participants. Due to some player cancellations, a total of six German starting places were played out at the Host Nation Qualifier on Thursday. All nine players were in action on Friday.
The first surprise was provided by 26-year-old Ricardo Pietreczko, who clearly beat Tourcardholder Luke Woodhouse 6:1. For Pietreczko it was the first victory on the European Tour ever. “An awesome feeling”, said Pietreczko after the match. World Championship participant Nico Kurz is also in the second round of the European Darts Grand Prix. However, Kurz had to survive a match dart of his opponent. The Swiss qualifier Stefan Bellmont was unable to take a 4:1 and a 5:3 lead over Kurz, so that the German finally beat him 6:5.
Kai Gotthardt (3:6 against David Evans) and Michael Unterbuchner (4:6 against Darius Labanauskas) were less successful. At the end of the afternoon session, the winner of the last European Tour event in Hildesheim, Devon Petersen, won 6:1 against Harry Ward. On Saturday the rematch between Petersen and current World Grand Prix Champion Gerwyn Price will take place. In the last duel in Hildesheim, Petersen was able to defeat the “Iceman” 6:5 on the way to his title.
In the evening session the fans could look forward to the “Maximiser” Max Hopp. Hopp played against the Croatian Pero Ljubic. Ljubic managed to hold the match at level for a long time, although Hopp almost constantly scored 15 points more in the average over the whole match. Towards the end Hopp managed to win the match in his favour. Hopp won 6:4 and played a tight 100 average.
The highlight of the evening was certainly the German encounter between Steffen Siepmann and Gabriel Clemens. Siepmann managed to keep the match balanced at the beginning, before Clemens managed the decisive break in the seventh leg to finally get a 6:3 win. “With his performance Siepmann would probably have won some other matches today. In the end Clemens won three Legs in a row and won 6:3. “With his performance Siepmann would probably have beaten one or the other player today. But I am happy to have played really well for a long time”, Gabriel Clemens also praised Siepmann after the match.
The evening was opened by Kim Huybrechts and John Henderson, with Huybrechts winning 6:2. Adam Hunt also played a 100 average in his clear 6:1 win over Damon Heta of Australia. In the top game of the evening William O’Connor also won 6:3 against Chris Dobey, despite both men didn’t play their a-game.
All results at a glance:
Afternoon session:
Maik Kuivenhoven 6:4 Jonathan Worsley
Mervyn King 6:5 Mindaugas Barauskas
Ricardo Pietreczko 6:1 Luke Woodhouse
Kai Gotthardt 3:6 David Evans
Scott Waites 6:5 Jason Lowe
Nico Kurz 6:5 Stefan Bellmont
Darius Labanauskas 6:4 Michael Unterbuchner
Harry Ward 1:6 Devon Petersen
Evening session:
Kim Huybrechts 6:2 John Henderson
Max Hopp 6:4 Pero Ljubic
Derk Telnekes 6:3 Robert Marijanovic
Steve Lennon 6:3 Madars Razma
Markus Buffler 3:6 Martijn Kleermaker
Adam Hunt 6:1 Damon Heta
Steffen Siepmann 3:6 Gabriel Clemens
Chris Dobey 3:6 William O’Connor
Following pairings will take place on Saturday (17.10.2020):
Afternoon session:
Daryl Gurney : Maik Kuivenhoven
Ian White : Scott Waites
Michael Smith : Derk Telnekes
Glen Durrant : Nico Kurz
Jose De Sousa : Ricardo Pietreczko
Dave Chisnall : Darius Labanauskas
Joe Cullen : Kim Huybrechts
Jamie Hughes : Steve Lennon
Evening session:
Krzysztof Ratajski : Martijn Kleermaker
Rob Cross : Adam Hunt
James Wade : Gabriel Clemens
Gerwyn Price : Devon Petersen
Mensur Suljovic : David Evans
Michael van Gerwen : Mervyn King
Nathan Aspinall : William O’Connor
Vincent van der Voort : Max Hopp
