The big names involved in the German Darts Championship all progressed through Saturday's second round but in-form Damon Heta suffered a surprise defeat.
Heta, a quarter-finalist at the recent UK Open, lost 6-5 to Martin Lukeman in the only major upset of the afternoon, before an engrossing evening session also went largely to the form book.
Jose de Sousa was made to sweat in a 6-5 victory over Kim Huybrechts, as was Dave Chisnall as he won a decider against Gabriel Clemens, but there were no such alarms for those towards the top of the betting.
In-form Michael Smith responded to Thursday's Premier League disappointment with a front-running, 6-4 win against Devon Petersen, before Michael van Gerwen saw off Jose Justicia 6-3 with an average north of 104.
Jonny Clayton, flying the flag for Wales following the withdrawal of Gerwyn Price, was a 6-2 winner against former BDO world champion Scott Waites, while Peter Wright got the better of home hope Martin Schindler 6-4.
After some close encounters throughout the day, it ended with the only two whitewashes courtesy of Mensur Suljovic and Karel Sedlacek, who saw off English duo Callan Rydz and Chris Dobey respectively.
German Darts Championship results & schedule
Saturday February 26
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Second Round (Best of 11 legs)
- Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Jamie Hughes
- Rob Cross 6-2 Martijn Kleermaker
- Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
- Damon Heta 5-6 Martin Lukeman
- Ryan Searle 6-4 Vincent Van der Voort
- Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Alan Soutar
- Luke Humphries 4-6 Daryl Gurney
- Joe Cullen 6-3 Ricky Evans
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
- Jose de Sousa 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
- Michael Smith 6-4 Devon Petersen
- Gabriel Clemens 5-6 Dave Chisnall
- Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Jose Justicia
- Peter Wright 6-4 Martin Schindler
- Jonny Clayton 6-2 Scott Waites
- Callan Rydz 0-6 Mensur Suljovic
- Chris Dobey 0-6 Karel Sedlacek
Sunday March 13
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Third Round (Best of 11 legs)
- (1) Jose de Sousa v Karel Sedlacek
- (8) Rob Cross v (9) Dirk van Duijvenbode
- (4) Jonny Clayton v Mensur Suljovic
- (5) Joe Cullen v Daryl Gurney
- (2) Michael Smith v Dave Chisnall
- (7) Ryan Searle v (10) Dimitri Van den Bergh
- (3) Peter Wright v (14) Krzysztof Ratajski
- (6) Michael van Gerwen v Martin Lukeman
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Quarter-finals (Best of 11 legs)
Semi-finals (Best of 13 legs)
Final (Best of 15 legs)
- Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2
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