German Darts Grand Prix: Michael van Gerwen averages 111 in a nine-minute 6-0 victory in Mannheim
Michael van Gerwen averaged 111.33 in a nine-minute 6-0 victory on day two of the German Darts Grand Prix but Peter Wright crashed out in Mannheim.
The world number one and odds-on tournament favourite destroyed Richard North in their second-round encounter with powerful scoring, including three 180s, and a ruthless finishing percentage of 75% as he hit six of his eight attempts at doubles.
In this kind of form he'll be heavily expected to go on and win his second successive European Tour crown since returning to the oche after the birth of his first child Zoe having triumphed at last week's Dutch Darts Masters.
He told the PDC: "It's been a great last month and I'm really enjoying myself, and you could see that in my game last week. I played really well in Maastricht and I hope I can continue the good form.
"I've got the spirit and good motivation at the moment. You always need to be critical of yourself - I had two legs where I had some 57s and 59s, but for the rest I'm doing quite well and that's what I like to do."
His chances have increased further now that his chief rival Peter Wright is out.
The UK Open champion has enjoyed two final victories over MVG in European Tour events in Germany this season, including a 6-0 rout in Sindelfingen back in April, but his hopes of landing a 10th title of the campaign this weekend are over after a shock 6-2 defeat to Ronny Huybrechts.
Wright, who headed into the event as clear second favourite, managed an average of 96.74 but his poor finishing let him down as his Belgian opponent took full advantage by taking out six of his eight double attempts.
Snakebite wasn't the only seeded play to bow out during Saturday's evening session as Alan Norris and Kim Huybrechts suffered 6-3 and 6-4 defeats to Darren Webster and the in-form Kyle Anderson respectively.
Followers of our darts betting expert Chris Hammer will be pleased to learn that his 16/1 pick Daryl Gurney cruised into the third round with an impressive 6-1 victory over Keegan Brown in which he averaged 97.96, hit five 180s and nailed 60% of his doubles.
Mensur Suljovic will be his main rival in the top half of the draw after the Austrian, who became a father for a second time last month to daughter Ema, thrashed Ireland's Mick McGowan 6-1 and now faces Rob Cross.
During the afternoon session, Nathan Aspinall stunned Dave Chisnall with a 6-2 victory.
Chizzy, who won his first tournament of the season last month at Players Championship 18, would have been eyeing a run to at least the semi-finals this weekend but despite posting an impressive average of 97.74, the St Helens thrower was undone by his opponent's clinical finishing.
Aspinall only averaged 89.2 but he hit six of his nine attempts at doubles to set up a third-round meeting with Simon Whitlock, who came through a scrappy encounter against a below-par Daniel Larsson.
Joe Cullen produced by far the most eye-catching display of the afternoon session as he hit four 180s in an averagoe of 108.3 to sweep aside Tony Martinez and he'll now fancy his chances against Michael Smith, who beat Jamie Lewis 6-5.
Cullen has already won two Players Championships this season in April and July and will no doubt have backers to potentially claim his first European Tour title of the season - and indeed his career - on Sunday.
Cross was also in imperious form, averaging 103.81 and nailing three 100+ checkouts, including one from 150, in a 6-3 victory over Jan Dekker while Vincent van der Voort averaged over 101 as he edged a thrilling clash with Mervyn King 6-5.
Jelle Klaasen, Gerwyn Price, Ian White and Benito van de Pas all progressed to ensure Chizzy was the only seed to fall on Saturday afternoon.
Here below is a round-up of all the results on Saturday and a full schedule for Sunday while you can click here to place your bets with Sky Bet.
German Darts Grand Prix: Day two results & schedule
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Saturday September 9
SECOND ROUND
Afternoon Session
Ian White 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Joe Cullen 6-3 Paul Rowley
Benito van de Pas 6-2 Jamie Caven
Rob Cross 6-3 Jan Dekker
Dave Chisnall 2-6 Nathan Aspinall
Mervyn King 5-6 Vincent van der Voort
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Jamie Bain
Evening Session
Alan Norris 3-6 Darren Webster
Kim Huybrechts 4-6 Kyle Anderson
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Mick McGowan
Peter Wright 2-6 Ronny Huybrechts
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Richard North
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Keegan Brown
Michael Smith 6-5 Jamie Lewis
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Daniel Larsson
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Sunday September 10
Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm BST)
Third Round
Mensur Suljovic v Rob Cross
Daryl Gurney v Ian White
Darren Webster v Benito van de Pas
Ronny Huybrechts v Vincent van der Voort
Simon Whitlock v Nathan Aspinall
Michael Smith v Joe Cullen
Kyle Anderson v Jelle Klaasen
Michael van Gerwen v Gerwyn Price
Evening Session (6pm-10pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
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