Van Gerwen enjoys comfortable opening victory

1 day ago

Michael van Gerwen shouts aft winning a limb astatine nan World Darts Championship

Jonty Colman

BBC Sport journalist

Paul Higham

BBC Sport Journalist

Michael van Gerwen enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 triumph complete English debutant James Hurrell successful his opening lucifer of nan PDC World Darts Championship.

The three-time world champion has had a reliable twelvemonth by his standards, having fallen down Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, truthful a comparatively stress-free opening lucifer astatine Alexandra Palace was conscionable what was needed.

Hurrell, 40, offered immoderate guidance early connected erstwhile taking nan opening limb of nan match, but he would triumph conscionable 2 much arsenic Van Gerwen proved acold excessively strong.

The third-seeded Dutchman averaged 94.85, took retired 2 three-figure checkouts and deed 50% of his doubles - pinch six of his 9 misses coming successful 1 scrappy leg.

Van Gerwen, 35, will now look either Brendan Dolan aliases Lok Yin Lee successful nan 3rd round.

"I deliberation I played OK," Van Gerwen told Sky Sports aft his match. "Of course, I was a spot nervous. Like everyone knows it's been a reliable twelvemonth for me.

"Overall, it was a bully performance. I was confident. I won nan game, that's nan main thing."

Also connected Friday night, Germany's Florian Hempel showed why he loves playing connected nan Alexandra Palace shape pinch a thrilling 3-1 triumph successful a high-quality title against Jeffrey de Zwaan.

Both men deed 7 180s successful a lucifer played astatine a accelerated and furious pace, but 34-year-old Hempel's superior doubles gave him a 4th consecutive first-round triumph successful nan competition.

Hempel moves connected to a necktie pinch 26th seed Daryl Gurney but it was a damaging nonaccomplishment for De Zwaan, 28, who came done a precocious qualifier successful November and needed a bully tally present to support his PDC circuit paper for adjacent season.

Mickey Mansell earned a third-round day pinch world number 7 Jonny Clayton aft a scrappy 3-1 triumph complete Japan's Tomoya Goto, while Dylan Slevin came done an all-Irish necktie against William O'Connor to advancement to a second-round gathering pinch Dimitri van den Bergh.

Bunting sees disconnected Gotthardt to advance

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Stephen Bunting is successful nan 3rd information of nan PDC World Darts Championship for a 3rd consecutive year

In nan day session, Stephen Bunting came from down to hit Kai Gotthardt 3-1 and book his spot successful nan 3rd round.

Englishman Bunting, classed eighth successful nan world, dropped nan first group and almost went 2-0 down successful nan lucifer earlier staging an awesome recovery.

Tournament debutant Gotthardt missed 3 darts astatine double 8 to triumph nan 2nd set, allowing Bunting to return retired double 10 to level nan lucifer earlier powering distant to triumph by winning nan 3rd and 4th sets without losing a leg.

Victory for "The Bullet" sets up a past 32 gathering pinch nan victor of Dirk van Duijvenbode's gathering pinch Madars Razma aft Christmas.

Should Bunting advancement further, he would look world number 1 and defending world champion Luke Humphries successful nan quarter-finals connected New Year's Day.

Elsewhere successful Friday afternoon's session, nan Dutch duo of Alexander Merkx and Wessel Nijman precocious to nan 2nd information pinch wins complete Stephen Burton and Cameron Carolissen respectively.

England's Ian White was handed a walkover triumph against Sandro Eric Sosing of nan Philippines.

Sosing withdrew from nan title connected aesculapian grounds and was taken to infirmary pursuing thorax pains.