Dirk van Duijvenbode and Ryan Searle served up a classic at the Players Championship Finals, the former winning 10-9 to advance to Sunday's quarter-finals.
Van Duijvenbode averaged 112, little more than two points shy of the televised record for a match of this length, yet still needed a deciding leg to get the better of Searle in one of the matches of the year.
😲 What an incredible game!
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) November 26, 2022
🎯 Dirk van Duijvenbode averaged 112.05 and hit 55% of his doubles... and needed a decider to win
🔢 His average is just a couple of points shy of the all-time TV record for a game of this length
🙇♂️ Take a bow both men!pic.twitter.com/H4KPDjvqIp
Twenty-one maximums and five 100-plus checkouts were the final tallies at the end of a game whose tone was set in the opening leg, one won by Searle in 12 darts.
The pair exchanged blows until Searle broke to lead 5-3 and then took the following two legs to open up a big lead, but van Duijvenbode got his first break back when his opponent missed two darts for a hold of throw, and then took out 146 to level at 7-7.
Searle responded by taking out 121 and repeated that finish to move within a leg of victory, only for van Duijenbode to conjure one final rally and win courtesy of a decisive break of throw.
It was a breathless end to the day's play on stage two, where Callan Rydz beat Keane Barry 10-8, Jonny Clayton thumped Ryan Joyce 10-3, and Danny Noppert was taken the distance by Matt Campbell only to prevail 10-9.
Over on the main stage, Luke Humphries impressed in a 10-7 victory over Krysztof Ratajski and so did Michael van Gerwen as he averaged a hair shy of 106 to beat Dimitri Van den Bergh 10-6.
Rob Cross didn't need to be at his best to see off Martin Schindler 10-6 and the same goes for Joe Cullen, who rounded off the day with a regulation 10-7 defeat of Scott Williams.
SHEER BRILLIANCE FROM MvG! 🇳🇱
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 26, 2022
A marvellous performance from Michael van Gerwen who hits 10 180s and averages 105 in a dominant 10-6 victory over Van den Bergh!
Up next 👉 Scott Williams v Joe Cullen#PCFDarts | L16
📺 https://t.co/AcwE3ykeQh pic.twitter.com/i2UHi9WdkB
Saturday November 26
Afternoon Session (12.45pm)
Second Round (Best of 11 legs)
Main Stage (TV Coverage: ITV4)
- Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Daryl Gurney
- Ritchie Edhouse 5-6 Dimitri Van den Bergh
- Rob Cross 6-5 Gary Anderson
- Ross Smith 5-6 Jonny Clayton
- Luke Humphries 6-4 Mike De Decker
- Danny Noppert 6-1 James Wade
- Cameron Menzies 4-6 Michael van Gerwen
- Joe Cullen 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Stage Two
- Ricardo Pietreczko 3-6 Callan Rydz
- Andrew Gilding 5-6 Keane Barry
- Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Jose De Sousa
- Martin Schindler 6-5 Chris Dobey
- Ryan Joyce 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
- Martijn Kleermaker 4-6 Matt Campbell
- Dave Chisnall 4-6 Scott Williams
- Ryan Searle 6-1 Jamie Hughes
Evening Session (7pm)
Third Round (Best of 19 legs)
TV Coverage: ITV4
Main Stage
- Rob Cross 10-6 Martin Schindler
- Luke Humphries 10-7 Krzysztof Ratajski
- Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-10 Michael van Gerwen
- Scott Williams 7-10 Joe Cullen
Stage Two
- Callan Rydz 10-8 Keane Barry
- Ryan Joyce 3-10 Jonny Clayton
- Matt Campbell 9-10 Danny Noppert
- Dirk van Duijvenbode 10-9 Ryan Searle
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