German Darts Grand Prix: Raymond Van Barneveld edges Ian White in last-leg thriller
- Planet Sport writer
- 9 April 2023
Raymond Van Barneveld survived four match darts to edge out Ian White in a last-leg thriller and book his place in the second round of the Interwetten German Darts Grand Prix in Munich.
Both men failed to hold throw in an astonishing run of eight broken legs before White got himself within sight of victory at 5-4.
After White failed to take out 46 for the match, Van Barneveld produced a brilliant 131 finish under pressure to make the contest go the distance.
White again missed chances to secure victory in the deciding leg, which Van Barneveld finally claimed on double two.
The Dutchman, who retired in 2020 before making his comeback last year having gone through qualifying school, goes on to play Gerwyn Price, one of the 16 seeded players in Sunday's second round of the PDC European Tour event.
Masters champion Chris Dobey comfortably beat Tony Martinez 6-1, throwing five maximums, while Welshman Jim Williams reeled off three straight legs to clinch a 6-3 victory over Vincent Van Der Voort.
England's Ross Smith silenced the Munich crowd with a commanding 6-1 win over home player Florian Hempel.
German qualifier Liam Maendl-Lawrance, though, had the home fans back in full voice when he landed a 129 checkout to win a deciding leg against Robert Owen.
On his first European Tour appearance of the year, Cameron Menzies battled to a 6-4 victory over Northern Irishman Daryl Gurney and Steve Beaton edged to a 6-5 win over Australian Simon Whitlock, making two bullseye finishes.
In the final match of the evening, Germany's Gabriel Clemens came through 6-4 against Swedish debutant Oskar Lukasiak.
In the afternoon session, UK Open Champion Andrew Gilding safely progressed to the second round with a comfortable 6-1 victory over Poland's Tytus Kanik and will next play Jonny Clayton, winner of back-to-back PDC Premier League nights in Berlin and Birmingham.
German Dragutin Horvat delighted the home crowd with a 6-4 victory over former two-time BDO world champion Scott Waites and Lee Evans beat Alan Soutar 6-2 to set up a showdown with Peter Wright.
Dutchman Jeffrey De Zwaan edged out Northern Ireland's Brendan Dolan 6-5 to secure a second-round contest against top seed Luke Humphries, the defending champion.
There were also first-round wins for Berry Van Peer, Callan Rydz, Keane Barry and Adam Warner, who goes on to face world champion Michael Smith.
