With the first session of the Unibet European Darts Championship the grand finale of the 2020
European Tour began today at the König-Pilsener-ARENA in Oberhausen. It was an unprecedented
day of darts for the fans in attendance. In a huge session all 16 games of the first round were played
today in which the top 32 of the European Tour were in action.
Jose de Sousa provided the highlight of the day in the fourth game of the night: The Portuguese, who
won his first European Tour title in Sindelfingen two weeks ago, hit the perfect game against Jeffrey
de Zwaan in the second leg. A 180 was followed by a 177 and with a finish of 144 de Sousa delighted
the audience in Oberhausen. In the end he made it through to the second round with a 6:3 victory.
The number 1 of the world, Michael van Gerwen displayed a much improved performance after his
dip in form of the last months. MVG averaged 103.13 against Darius Labanauskas and left the
Lithuanian, who also had an average of over 100, no chance in the end with a 6:1 victory.
And also the number 2 of the order of merit impressed in Oberhausen: Gerwyn Price eliminated Kim
Huybrechts by 6:1, with an average of 103.68 and a sensational double percentage of 85%.
The former German number 1 Max Hopp, however, had to bow out in round one. In a good game at
eye level, the 24-year-old missed two match darts against Jonny Clayton from Wales and lost by the
narrow margin of 5:6.
Also for the second German in the event it was not enough to advance to the second round. Gabriel
Clemens, who has been Germany’s number 1 since last weekend, played an average of just over 100,
but in the end he hardly had a chance against world champion Peter Wright. “Snakebite” offered the
performance of the day with his average of 104.44.
There were also some surprises in store for the fans at the König-Pilsener-ARENA. Defending
champion Rob Cross (3:6 against Martijn Kleermaker), as well as Dave Chisnall (5:6 against Jamie
Hughes) and Krzysztof Ratajski (5:6 against Steve West) went out at the first hurdle of the EDC 2020.
Unibet European Darts Championship 2020, Thursday, Round 1
Jamie Hughes 6:5 Dave Chisnall
Steve West: 6:5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Ian White 6:2 Mervyn King
Jose de Sousa 6:3 Jeffrey de Zwaan
James Wade 6:5 Steve Lennon
Devon Petersen 6:1 Andy Hamilton
Michael Smith 6:5 Ross Smith
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6:0 Danny Noppert
Nathan Aspinall 6:3 Maik Kuivenhoven
William O`Connor 6:3 Joe Cullen
Martijn Kleermaker 6:3 Rob Cross
Jonny Clayton 6:5 Max Hopp
Michael van Gerwen 6:1 Darius Labanauskas
Gerwyn Price 6:1 Kim Huybrechts
Peter Wright 6:3 Gabriel Clemens
Mensur Suljovic 6:2 Daryl Gurney
That results in the following second round matches:
William O ́Connor – Jamie Hughes
Nathan Aspinall – James Wade
Devon Petersen – Martijn Kleermaker
Michael van Gerwen – Ian White
Gerwyn Price – Peter Wright
Mensur Suljovic – Steve West
Jose de Sousa – Jonny Clayton
Michael Smith – Dirk van Duijvenbode
