Live darts has celebrated a successful comeback in Germany. At the Halle39 in Hildesheim fans returned for the first day of the German Darts Championship 2020. And the support visibly helped the German players. With Lukas Wenig (6:4 against Cody Harris), Dragutin Horvat (6:4 against Ronny Huybrechts), Gabriel Clemens (6:1 against Steve West), Nico Kurz (6:4 against Jason Lowe) and Max Hopp (6:2 against Reece Robinson) five of the seven qualified players of the host nation made it into the second round. Franz Roetzsch (5:6 against Jeff Smith) and Steffen Siepmann (1:6 against Mervyn King) had to admit defeat. A novelty in the history of the European Tour, which now includes 80 events.
“It is fantastic to be able to play in front of an audience again,” said Max Hopp. “It’s just not the same without the fans. It’s great what has been put together here. The German Darts Championship is the first European Tour event in seven months. In close cooperation with local authorities and offices, the PDC Europe successfully submitted a concept, which was approved by all committees.
Dutchman Danny Noppert averaged 102.5 in his 6:2 victory against Josh Payne, the highest average of the day. Tomorrow, Saturday, he will face the two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis in the second round. The 32 qualifiers traditionally meet on Friday. The winners of the 16 games will play against the seeded professionals on Saturday. The World No. 1 Michael van Gerwen will face the Irishman Steve Lennon in the evening session. The “Iceman” Gerwyn Price, who won the World Series of Darts Finals last weekend in Salzburg, will meet fan favourite Devon Petersen.
In the final match on Friday evening, Michael Smith won 6:2 against Alan Tabern. “The first game in a tournament is never easy,” said the current world number four. “Most of the time, you work your way into an event from game to game. Tomorrow it will not be an easy task against Peter Wright.”
Due to travel problems, James Wade’s match against Nico Kurz will be postponed to the evening session, so that nine games will be played in this one. The afternoon session will start at 1 pm, the evening session at 7 pm. Box office will be open at the venue and tickets are also available online.
The results of the day in the overview:
SESSION 1
Scott Waites 6:3 Darren Penhall
Daniel Larsson 1:6 William O’Connor
Ron Meulenkamp 5:6 Richard North
Boris Koltsov 2:6 Steve Lennon
Franz Roetzsch 5:6 Jeff Smith
Lukas Little 6:4 Cody Harris
Ronny Huybrechts 4:6 Dragutin Horvat
Steffen Siepmann 1:6 Mervyn King
SESSION 2
Danny Noppert 6:2 Josh Payne
Steve Brown 3:6 Adam Hunt
Steve West 1:6 Gabriel Clemens
Jason Lowe 4:6 Nico Kurz
Reece Robinson 2:6 Max Hopp
Jeffrey de Zwaan 3:6 Devon Petersen
Chris Dobey 6:3 Ryan Murray
Michael Smith 6:2 Alan Tabern
This results in the following second round pairings for Saturday:
SESSION 3 (1pm – 5pm)
Dave Chisnall – Lukas Wenig
Jermaine Wattimena – Mervyn King
Adrian Lewis – Danny Noppert
Daryl Gurney – Gabriel Clemens
Nathan Aspinall – Dragutin Horvat
Glen Durrant – Scott Waites
Rob Cross – William O’Connor
SESSION 4 (7pm – 11pm)
Jonny Clayton – Chris Dobey
Ian White – Max Hopp
Scale Suljovic – Jeff Smith
Michael van Gerwen – Steve Lennon
Peter Wright – Michael Smith
Krzysztof Ratajski – Richard North
Gerwyn Price – Devon Petersen
Joe Cullen – Adam Hunt
James Wade – Nico Kurz
