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World Grand Prix darts: Peter Wright and Mensur Suljovic survive scares as James Wade crashes out
Peter Wright survived an almighty scare at the World Grand Prix while Mensur Suljovic scraped through in Dublin. We have a full round-up of Monday's action as well as match-by-match statistics and updated Sky Bet odds.
Snakebite became the Sky Bet's new favourite to win the double-start tournament without throwing a dart on Sunday when Michael van Gerwen suffered a shock exit to 500/1 outsider John Henderson and world number two Gary Anderson withdrew due to the impending birth of his next child.
The opportunity for the UK Open champion to grab his second major televised title grew even more when fellow big names Adrian Lewis, James Wade and Michael Smith also crashed out but his first job was to avoid a slip-up of his own against Stephen Bunting - a player he'd beaten seven times in a row.
However it the St Helens thrower, who found belated form by reaching a Players Championship final on Saturday, blasted out of the blocks by taking the first set 3-1 thanks to clinical checkouts of 64, 76 and 78.
Wright promptly got his act together with a sublime display of high scoring and solid finishing at both ends of a leg to race through the second set 3-0 but the wheels quickly fell off again as Bunting went 2-0 up in the decider.
After pulling one back easily enough, the 47-year-old Scotsman failed to hit a starting double in his first five darts of the next leg and it should have proved costly as Bunting moved clear to leave himself a chance to take out 42 for the match.
But he missed both his darts at double 16 and 5/2 favourite Wright capitalised on double 11 before running away with the last leg to set up a last-16 meeting with Mervyn King, who defeated tournament debutant Ronny Huybrechts in straight sets.
HEARTBREAK FOR BUNTING | Peter Wright edges though...JUST...#Unibet180 pic.twitter.com/pO6EPML6Sa
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) October 2, 2017
Meanwhile, Suljovic also had to come through a deciding set to see off Ian White 2-1.
The increasingly popular Austrian, whose stock has rocketed since defying pre-tournament odds of 40/1 to win the prestigious Champions League of Darts title last month, made a nervous start as Diamond too the opening set 3-1 thanks to superb checkouts of 160, 84 and 71.
Suljovic found his rhythm in the second set and went 2-0 up when taking out 94, but White produced back-to-back finishes from 63 and 87 to move to within one leg of causing another upset on the Dublin stage.
With White waiting on 92, Suljovic held his nerve on double 10 to force a deciding set which he comfortably won 3-0 to book his place in the last 16.
The 45-year-old, who won his third PDC title at the most recent Players Championship event on Saturday, will next play Steve West, who caused the latest shock of the tournament by defeating Wade.
The 2007 and 2010 World Grand Prix champion has endured a poor season by his high standards and this is the fourth major televised tournament in 2017 that he's crashed out at the first hurdle, having also done so at the Masters, UK Open and World Matchplay.
It's also the second successive year West has enjoyed a shock victory in the opening round having memorably defeated 11-time winner Phil Taylor in 2016.
Wade only had three darts at doubles against the world number 36, who had never beaten him in their previous three meetings, as he lost both sets 3-1 while West hit three 100+ checkouts and impressively hit six of his nine attempts at finishing doubles.
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World Grand Prix: Sky Bet odds
Seventh seed Smith was sent packing by UK Open runner-up Gerwyn Price, who had his clinical finishing doubles to thank for his 2-1 victory.
The Welshman nailed seven of his 13 attempts and also managed a high checkout of 105 while he also out performed Smith 3-2 on 180s.
Price next plays Benito van de Pas after the Dutchman came through a three-set battle with Spain's Cristo Reyes.
After the first two sets were shared, 'Big Ben' moved into a 2-1 in the decider and then punished Reyes for a miss at double 18 for a 113 checkout by nailing double tops for the victory.
Simon Whitlock edged out Christian Kist in one of the most entertaining matches so far as he survived a match dart in a deciding leg before coming back to nail a winning 108 checkout - much to the Wizard's obvious relief.
Whitlock, who hit five 180s and managed a high checkout of 153 in the opening leg, has never gone beyond the last eight here in his seven previous appearances but with no Anderson in his quarter of the draw following the Scotsman's withdrawal, he'll now be hopeful of achieving his best ever run.
Tournament debutant Richard North set up a clash with the Aussie after he blitzed Anderson's replacement Mark Webster 2-0 for the loss of just one leg.
North's finest moment came with a 145 checkout but he was aided by Webster missing 10 of his 11 darts at a finishing double.
Mervyn King, the runner-up here in 2012, defeated but he'll need to improve on his finishing doubles if he's to go much further.
Monday's World Grand Prix results & statistics
Click here for the full tournament schedule & results
Seedings in brackets
Benito van de Pas 2-1 Cristo Reyes
- Three-dart averages
Van de Pas: 83.59
Reyes: 84.47 - 180s
Van de Pas: 2
Reyes: 1 - 100+ checkouts
Van de Pas: 144
Reyes: 104 - Finishing checkout percentage
Van de Pas: 43.75% (7/16)
Reyes: 35.29% (6/17)
Mervyn King 2-0 Ronny Huybrechts
- Three-dart averages
King: 85.36
Huybrechts: 81.83 - 180s
King: 1
Huybrechts: 0 - 100+ checkouts
King: N/A (Highest 48)
Huybrechts: N/A (Highest 40) - Finishing checkout percentage
King: 25% (6/24)
Huybrechts: 30% (3/10)
Steve West 2-0 James Wade
- Three-dart averages
West: 85.08
Wade: 85.67 - 180s
West: 1
Wade: 2 - 100+ checkouts
West: 114, 101, 101
Wade: N/A (Highest: 70) - Finishing checkout percentage
West: 66.67% (6/9)
Wade: 66.67% (2/3)
Simon Whitlock 2-1 Christian Kist
- Three-dart averages
Whitlock: 89.31
Kist: 81.65 - 180s
Whitlock: 5
Kist: 2 - 100+ checkouts
Whitlock: 153, 108
Kist: N/A (Highest: 68) - Finishing checkout percentage
Whitlock: 44.44% (8/18)
Kist: 40% (6/15)
Mensur Suljovic (6) 2-1 Ian White
- Three-dart averages
Suljovic: 85.89
White: 85.34 - 180s
Suljovic: 1
White: 3 - 100+ checkouts
Suljovic: N/A (Highest: 94)
White: 160 - Finishing checkout percentage
Suljovic: 63.64% (7/11)
White: 38.46% (5/13)
Michael Smith (7) 1-2 Gerwyn Price
- Three-dart averages
Smith: 80.7
Price: 86.36 - 180s
Smith: 2
Price: 3 - 100+ checkouts
Smith: N/A (Highest: 98)
Price: 105 - Finishing checkout percentage
Smith: 38.46% (5/13)
Price: 53.85% (7/13)
Mark Webster 0-2 Richard North
- Three-dart averages
Webster: 78.41
North: 75.21 - 180s
Webster: 2
North: 2 - 100+ checkouts
Webster: N/A (Highest: 38)
North: 145 - Finishing checkout percentage
Webster: 9.09% (1/11)
North: 37.5% (6/16)
Peter Wright (3) 2-1 Stephen Bunting
- Three-dart averages
Wright: 95.9
Bunting: 83.58 - 180s
Wright: 4
Bunting: 4 - 100+ checkouts
Wright: N/A (Highest: 51)
Bunting: N/A (Highest: 78) - Finishing checkout percentage
Wright: 58.33% (7/12)
Bunting: 35.71 (5/14)
Tuesday's World Grand Prix Schedule
Second Round (Best of five sets)
TV Channel: Sky Sports Main Event (1900 BST)
Sky Bet odds in brackets
- Dave Chisnall (1/3) v Robert Thornton (23/10)
- Daryl Gurney (1/2) v Joe Cullen (13/8)
- John Henderson (7/4) v Alan Norris (4/9)
- Raymond van Barneveld (2/7) v Steve Beaton (13/5)
Click here for the full tournament schedule & results