Peter Wright advanced to the second round of the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam after surviving a scare from Fallon Sherrock.
In a rematch of last year’s Grand Slam of Darts, which Snakebite won 16-13, Sherrock hit all four of her doubles efforts in the first eight legs at the sold-out AFAS Live.
Her elegant finishing included a 73 on the bullseye on the dart board, and a 120 checkout in the eighth leg, as she continued to punish the world champion’s wastefulness on the outer ring despite a significant difference in their score.
However, the Milton Keynes star was unable to earn an attempt at a double in the last two legs, with Wright leaving her stranded on 82 and 56.
Despite missing eight of his 14 attempts at doubles, Wright averaged 103.52 during the 6-4 victory compared to Sherrock’s 88.18 while he hit four of the six 180s.
Danny Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode of the Netherlands won their home matches against Simon Whitlock and Haupai Puha, respectively.
Noppert beat Whitlock with a 170 clearance to earn a meeting with incumbent champion Jonny Clayton, while Van Duijvenbode won a last-leg showdown against New Zealander Puha and will now face Gary Anderson.
Vincent van der Voort failed to complete a hat trick of Dutch victories, falling 6-3 against Canada’s Matt Campbell, whose next test will be against world number one Gerwyn Price.
Michael van Gerwen will begin his quest for a fifth World Series Finals championship against Damon Heta, who defeated Gordon Mathers 6-3 in an all-Australian match.
Leonard Gates won his first TV match outside of the United States, defeating Devon Petersen 6-4 to set up a match with James Wade.
Danny Baggish, Gates’ countryman, was nearly defeated in a last-leg decider by Ryan Joyce, who will now face top seed Dimitri Van den Bergh, while Dave Chisnall defeated Jamie Hughes 6-3 and will now face Joe Cullen.
The victors of Saturday’s second round will return for Finals Day on Sunday, when the quarter-finals will be held in the afternoon before the semi-finals and finals in the evening.
