German Darts Masters: Michael van Gerwen powers through

The Dutchman. who is looking to win the title for a third successive  year, averaged a staggering 110.12 as he made light work of Greece's Michael.

Checkouts of 80 and 88 gave Van Gerwen a convincing start as he stormed  to a 3-0 lead. Michael then got his first leg on the board as he took  out 41 to trail by two.

Van Gerwen was rampant and quickly re-established his three-leg advantage as he moved closer to victory. His clinical finishing and  scoring power was proving too much for the Greek, and a brilliant 136  checkout sealed victory.

Peter Wright, who won the first European Tour title of 2017 in  Hildesheim, made a solid start in his quest for a second title - beating  Mark Webster 6-3. 

The pair traded blows in an intense opening few legs, before a brilliant  121 checkout for Wright put him in control. Webster clawed a leg back, but Wright then clinched the remaining two legs for victory, firing a 106 checkout for the match.

Eighth seed Alan Norris was sent crashing out in a tough affair with the unseeded Raymond van Barneveld.

In a scrappy affair, five-time world champion van Barneveld moved into a two-leg lead at 4-2 and looked good for victory before being pegged back by the Scot and had to rally to seal his place in round three.

Home favourite Steffen Siepmenn took out three ton-plus checkouts as he came from behind to beat Joe Cullen 6-5.

Cullen, who won a PDC ProTour event earlier this month, got off to a great start as he charged to a 2-0 lead. Siepmann then landed a 105  outshot on his way to drawing level.

He backed that up with a 100 checkout, but Cullen then asserted his superiority and moved to within the brink of victory at 5-4.  A missed dart for the match proved costly as Siepmann levelled things up, before taking out 100 once more in the deciding leg to continue his  run in Jena.

Austria's Mensur Suljovic also came through a last leg decider to book his place in the third round, beating Jamie Lewis 6-5.

Spain's Cristo Reyes was the third player of the evening to come through a last-leg  decider as he fended off Mervyn King.

Elsewhere, James Wade beat Robert Thornton in comfortable fashion 6-3, whilst Jelle Klaasen edged out Daryl Gurney 6-4.

In the afternoon session, Gerwyn Price devastated the home crowd with an excellent display to beat Max Hopp.

The UK Open Finalist made a vibrant start to the match and expertly took  out a 121 checkout on his way to an early 3-0 lead. Hopp then got a foothold in the match with D16, but this turned out to be little more  than a consolation as the Welshman raced to victory.

In-form Simon Whitlock was made to work for his 6-4 victory over Jonny  Clayton, while Michael Smith put in arguably the most impressive performance of the afternoon as he thumped Dragutin Horvat 6-1.

Rowby-John Rodriguez caused the shock of the afternoon as he sent fifth seed Benito van de Pas crashing out in Jena.

Another seed to fall to the wayside was Ian White, as Jeffrey De Graaf  produced an expert comeback to beat the 46-year-old in opening game of  the day.

Daniel Larsson's European Tour debut was brought to an abrupt end against a resilient Kim Huybrechts.

The Swede, who whitewashed Justin Pipe on Day One, matched Huybrechs in  the opening four legs, but his doubling began to let him down. Belgian Huybrechts then began to assert his dominance and sealed a 6-2 victory with a 145 checkout. 

Australia's Kyle Anderson was the other man to progress to the Third Round, beating the seeded Steve West 6-4.