European Championship 2013 - Report Second Day, Statistics

VAN GERWEN AND LEWIS PROGRESS IN PARTYPOKER.NET EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP AS NICHOLSON ENDS HOPP HOPES
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN and Adrian Lewis both won through to the second round of the partypoker.net European Championship with victories on Friday night, but 2012 runner-up Wes Newton was dumped out of the event by Jelle Klaasen in Muelheim and Paul Nicholson ended German hopes by seeing off Max Hopp.

World number two van Gerwen, the tournament favourite, dropped only one leg in a 6-1 defeat of Belgium's Kurt Van De Rijck as he swept into the last 16. However, the Dutchman admitted that he must improve if he is to claim the £50,000 first prize on Sunday night after missing 16 darts at a double during the contest.

"I didn't play well but I did enough to get the win and 6-1 is a good result," said van Gerwen. "I knew Kurt wasn't at his best and it affected me, and I lost some of my concentration so I know I must improve. I want to do well this weekend and I know I'm going to have a tough game against Mervyn King in the second round, so I'll have to prepare myself for that."

King had earlier booked his second round place with a narrow 6-5 defeat of Ronnie Baxter, saving his only 180 of the game for the deciding leg before sealing victory on tops.

"Ronnie's a great stalwart of the game and a great competitor, so I'm really pleased to have come through that game," said King. "He played a typical Ronnie Baxter game and didn't give me many opportunities. You know you've got to take your chances against him and I'm delighted that I managed to do that in the final leg."

Number three seed Adrian Lewis, meanwhile, came from 3-1 down to defeat Austrian number one Mensur Suljovic 6-4 in their first round clash at the RWE Sporthalle. Suljovic took command early on but missed his chance to take a 4-1 lead as Lewis stepped in with a key 80 finish, and the two-time World Champion won four of the next five legs to progress.

"Mensur started well and took his chances but the 80 was massive and it was the big moment in the game," said Lewis. "I hit some sloppy scores but the important thing was getting through."

Lewis now plays Kevin Painter, after the former Players Championship Finals winner defeated John Part 6-4 in a tight battle.
Painter took an early 4-1 lead before Part, aided by a 170 checkout, hit back to level the game with three successive legs. However, Part missed the bullseye for another maximum finish as Painter hit double 12 to lead 5-4 before sealing the win on double eight.

"We always seem to have great games and this was another battle," said Painter. "I thought I had it wrapped up at 4-1 but John came back well and had me sweating there - if he'd hit that second 170 I'd have probably walked off stage and gone home! I had to hold myself together and make sure I didn't make any mistakes on my throw in the latter stages, and I did that well so I'm delighted to get the win."
Part admitted: "The 170 got me going and I felt it hit Kevin hard, but he played a really good game. He made a great start and deserved it - I gave it a good go but didn't quite do enough to win."

Justin Pipe, meanwhile, dedicated his 6-4 win over Finland's Jani Haavisto to the memory of his late brother Mark, who passed away suddenly last weekend while the world number ten was competing in the Gibraltar Darts Trophy.
Pipe had led 5-1 against the Finnish number one before Haavisto hit back to win the next two legs, but he regained his composure to secure passage to the second round in Muelheim.
"I'm so proud to have won that because it's probably the toughest match I've ever had," said Pipe. "It's been such a tough week for all my family and that win's for them - although I was beginning to worry at one stage.I probably felt the winning line coming and that was when I missed a few doubles, so it's a huge relief to have finally got the winning double. It would be amazing to win again on Saturday and to get through to Sunday, but it's just a relief to have come through this match."
Pipe now takes on Jelle Klaasen in Saturday's opening second round clash, after the Dutchman enjoyed a brilliant 6-4 comeback win over Wes Newton, last year's European Championship finalist.
Newton hit back from 2-0 down to lead 4-2, hitting an 11-darter in the process, but Klaasen levelled before taking out 129 and 112 in successive legs to grab victory.

"After Wes got back level at two-all, I missed a few chances and that got in my head but I stayed calm and the big finishes were important at the end," said Klaasen. The 129 finish was special and I knew that I'd try to go for treble 19 and two double 18s because that's my favourite double, and the 112 was nice as well. It was good enough to win tonight but not really good, and normally if my scoring's better I wouldn't need the big finishes."

Paul Nicholson ended home hopes in the tournament with a battling 6-4 win over 16-year-old Frankfurt-based prodigy Max Hopp, who led 3-1 and 4-3 before being overhauled.

"It's a very big win because I knew it would be a really tough match in Max's home country, and I was a bit nervous in the early legs," admitted Nicholson. "Under pressure I play my best darts and that's what I did in the second half of the game. Max is a young kid who's done exceptionally well in the last year and I know he's got a big future, but I had to go up there and do a job and beat him, so I'm ecstatic to do that."
Nicholson's win earns him a last 16 tie with world number six Andy Hamilton, who edged out Terry Jenkins 6-5 in a thriller.



Statistics
Ave180sDoublesPlayervPlayer Ave180sDoubles
90.7303/9Haavisto 3:6Pipe93.9216/18
79.0704/15Hopp 4:6 Nicholson88.2306/15
89.0026/12Hamilton 6:5 Jenkins88.9855/17
87.1725/15Baxter 5:6 King88.1818/18
92.8834/13Newton 4:6 Klaasen93.1326/11
86.1936/22Van Gerwen 6:1 v.d.Rijck75.7821/7
90.2226/18A.Lewis 6:4 Suljovic90.8314/8
94.9146/13Painter 6:4Part91.3334/13








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