European Darts Open: Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross progress

By Sporting Life

21:59 · SAT March 23, 2019

Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross were among those to advance on day two of the European Darts Open.

Following a shock Premier League defeat on Thursday, all eyes were on MVG as he took on Mervyn King, but any hopes of an upset were quickly dashed.

Van Gerwen took the first leg on double 18 the second on double 10, on neither occasion under any real pressure, and it was 3-0 when an 88 finish capped a 12-dart leg.

King needed fireworks to keep in touch and found them in the next, hitting bullseye for a 121 finish, but van Gerwen responded by dominating the following leg for a 4-1 lead.

When King missed a dart to reduce the deficit, the game was essentially up, as Mighty Mike took full advantage before taking the final leg he needed with his opponent not yet down to a finish to win 6-1.

Fast start sees Cross cruise

Cross was made to work only a little harder in a 6-3 victory over Steve Beaton, who was on the back foot after missing five darts for the second leg as the former world champion took a 2-0 lead.

That soon became 3-0 before a sparkling 130 finish, complete on the bull, made it 4-0 to Cross and brought the prospect of a whitewash very much into the equation.

Cross then took his turn to miss five darts at double as Beaton got on the board before a 78 finish saw him claw back within two legs.

But Cross responded to steady the ship at 5-2 and while Beaton by now was competitive, it was too little, too late as the younger man - who averaged in excess of 101 - completed the job.

Dancing to victory

Earlier, Dimitri Van den Bergh impressed to beat Adrian Lewis 6-3, averaging 102.29 and taking out 161 in a high-class affair.

Dave Chisnall also averaged over 100 en route to a regulation win but the performance of the afternoon session came from Krzysztof Ratajski, who hit five maximums and averaged a huge 105.57 to beat Michael Smith 6-5.

Smith had rallied from 4-0 and 5-2 down to force a deciding leg in which he held the throw, but after missing two match darts he eventually saw his fightback come up short as the Pole hit double 10 to win.

Jermaine Wattimena did complete his fightback, however, beating Glen Durrant 6-5 from 3-0, 4-1 and 5-2 down.

Saturday March 23
Second Round (Best of 11 legs)
Afternoon Session (12pm GMT)