MICHAEL VAN GERWEN began his challenge to win a fourth successive 2016 PDC European Tour event with victory over fellow Dutchman Remco van Eijden in the HappyBet European Darts Matchplay second round on Saturday.
Dutch star van Gerwen has won European Tour events in Venray, Munich and Gibraltar already this year, and after securing top spot in the Premier League table on Thursday he continued his superb form in front of a sell-out crowd in Hamburg.
The top seed produced legs of 14, 12 and 14 darts to open up an early 3-0 lead, and though Dutch qualifier van Eijden hit back with two of the next three, van Gerwen was too strong as he sealed a 6-2 win with another 12-darter.
Van Gerwen now plays Daryl Gurney in Sunday afternoon's third round in a repeat of February's Dutch Darts Masters final, after the Northern Irish ace landed a 170 finish and five 180s on his way to a 6-3 win over Mervyn King, in which he averaged 104.25.
World Champion Gary Anderson came from 3-2 down against former Austrian World Cup ace Maik Langendorf before winning four straight legs to claim victory.
Anderson now takes on left-hander James Wade, who overcame a tough challenge from Jonny Clayton after the Welshman led 3-2 early on before eventually falling to a 6-4 defeat.
Peter Wight had to survive a big scare against Darren Webster to book his place in the last 16, seeing the Norwich thrower move 5-2 up before the inspired world number five fought back to claim victory.
Webster hit 83% of his doubles, but that wasn't enough to see off Wright, who hit four maximums on his way to the deciding-leg win.
Wright now meets Jamie Caven, who held off Simon Whitlock's late rally to progress with a 6-3 win over the Australian.
The Derby ace raced into a 5-0 lead with the aid of two 13-darters and two 12-dart legs before enduring some nervous moments with five missed match darts before finally sealing his third round spot.
German favourite Max Hopp delighted the capacity crowd in Hamburg with a 6-2 win over Ian White, with the PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion pulling out from one-all to lead 5-1 before taking out 80 to seal a last 16 spot.
Hopp will take on Terry Jenkins in the third round, after the nine-time major finalist came from a leg down against Magnus Caris to reel off six successive legs, including a 127 bull finish, as he moved into the third round, hitting 50 percent of his darts at a double in a quick-fire victory.
Benito van de Pas produced the day's highest average of 107.35 as he came back from 3-1 down against Alan Norris - who landed a superb 170 checkout - to reel off five straight legs in an impressive display.
Van de Pas will take on Vincent van der Voort in an all-Dutch third round clash, following the former Austrian Darts Open's 6-2 win over Kim Huybrechts.
Michael Smith was next to put in a dominant display, knocking Rowby-John Rodriguez out with a 6-1 victory as he hit 46% of his doubles and won the final five legs of the match to set up a third round meeting with Mensur Suljovic.
Austrian ace Suljovic kicked off his clash with Mike De Decker with a 130 finish before producing a tidy display to whitewash the Belgian youngster 6-0.
Jelle Klaasen had to survive a match dart against Chris Dobey before securing his place in the third round in Hamburg.
With the scores locked at four-all, Dobey broke the Klaasen throw and had a match dart in the following leg to secure the victory, but his miss allowed the Dutchman to break back before he held his nerve in the deciding leg.
Klaasen now faces Adrian Lewis, who overcame both Rene Eidams and his supportive German crowd before making his way into the last 16.
Lewis missed ten darts at a double in the third leg to give Eidams and the crowd hope, but the two-time World Champion battled his way through to a 6-4 win, hitting three 180s in the process.
Dave Chisnall landed six 180s in his 6-2 victory over Dutch left-hander Ron Meulenkamp and will now meet John Henderson, who hit a key 160 checkout in his 6-4 win over Robert Thornton in their all-Scottish clash.
The HappyBet European Darts Matchplay concludes on Sunday, with the afternoon session's third round followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in the evening session.
Live coverage with faster streams is also available at the following betting websites:
Bet365 (Worldwide) – www.bet365.com
Betfair (UK, Ireland, Spain & Denmark) - www.betfair.com
Tempobet (Worldwide) - www.tempobet700.com
Live Scores will be available at the PDC Live Scores website, http://live.dartsdata.com .
HappyBet European Darts Matchplay
Saturday May 14
Second Round
Afternoon Session
Terry Jenkins (10) 6-1 Magnus Caris
Benito van de Pas (12) 6-3 Alan Norris
Simon Whitlock (15) 3-6 Jamie Caven
Ian White (7) 2-6 Max Hopp
Robert Thornton (11) 4-6 John Henderson
Mensur Suljovic (14) 6-0 Mike De Decker
Jelle Klaasen (9) 6-5 Chris Dobey
Mervyn King (16) 3-6 Daryl Gurney
Evening Session
Dave Chisnall (6) 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Kim Huybrechts (5) 2-6 Vincent van der Voort
Michael Smith (3) 6-1 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Adrian Lewis (8) 6-4 Rene Eidams
Peter Wright (2) 6-5 Darren Webster
James Wade (4) 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Gary Anderson (13) 6-3 Maik Langendorf
Michael van Gerwen (1) 6-2 Remco van Eijden
Sunday May 15
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Third Round
Michael Smith v Mensur Suljovic
Dave Chisnall v John Henderson
Max Hopp v Terry Jenkins
Peter Wright v Jamie Caven
James Wade v Gary Anderson
Vincent van der Voort v Benito van de Pas
Adrian Lewis v Jelle Klaasen
Michael van Gerwen v Daryl Gurney
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Smith/Suljovic v Chisnall/Henderson
Hopp/Jenkins v Wright/Caven
Wade/Anderson v van der Voort/van de Pas
Lewis/Klaasen v van Gerwen/Gurney
Semi-Finals
Final
All games are the best of 11 legs.
Michael van Gerwen v Remco van Eijden Video
This match has been uploaded to the OfficialPDC YouTube channel following technical issues with the LIVEPDC.TV Stream, and can be watched below
Match Stats
| Ave | 180s | High Finish | Ave | 180s | High Finish | |||
| 92.05 | 2 | 127 | Terry Jenkins | 6-1 | Magnus Caris | 85.67 | 0 | 72 |
| 107.35 | 7 | 97 | Benito van de Pas | 6-3 | Alan Norris | 98.79 | 2 | 170 |
| 90.15 | 1 | 80 | Simon Whitlock | 3-6 | Jamie Caven | 96.07 | 2 | 126 |
| 82.99 | 2 | 96 | Ian White | 2-6 | Max Hopp | 89.60 | 1 | 105 |
| 85.63 | 0 | 108 | Robert Thornton | 4-6 | John Henderson | 91.28 | 3 | 160 |
| 95.94 | 1 | 130 | Mensur Suljovic | 6-0 | Mike De Decker | 84.24 | 0 | - |
| 97.40 | 4 | 84 | Jelle Klaasen | 6-5 | Chris Dobey | 92.94 | 2 | 109 |
| 99.05 | 2 | 68 | Mervyn King | 3-6 | Daryl Gurney | 104.25 | 5 | 170 |
| 100.63 | 6 | 50 | Dave Chisnall | 6-2 | Ron Meulenkamp | 92.64 | 2 | 60 |
| 85.68 | 0 | 115 | Kim Huybrechts | 2-6 | Vincent van der Voort | 92.00 | 2 | 82 |
| 91.58 | 0 | 92 | Michael Smith | 6-1 | Rowby-John Rodriguez | 78.00 | 1 | 140 |
| 90.43 | 3 | 105 | Adrian Lewis | 6-4 | Rene Eidams | 84.47 | 2 | 76 |
| 99.31 | 4 | 116 | Peter Wright | 6-5 | Darren Webster | 93.58 | 0 | 124 |
| 100.88 | 1 | 81 | James Wade | 6-4 | Jonny Clayton | 98.33 | 5 | 58 |
| 90.70 | 1 | 130 | Gary Anderson | 6-3 | Maik Langendorf | 87.21 | 1 | 87 |
| 98.78 | 4 | 82 | Michael van Gerwen | 6-2 | Remco van Eijden | 89.34 | 1 | 40 |