Gerwyn Price started the World Darts Championship in London with a difficult victory on Monday. The number one in the world was 3-1 too strong for Luke Woodhouse. In the third round, Price may face Raymond van Barneveld.
The 37-year-old Price certainly did not show his best game against Woodhouse. ‘The Iceman’ was especially sloppy in the first part of the game and missed a lot of doubles.
After losing the opening set, Price recovered and started to throw better and better. The last six legs of the match were all won by the Welshman, who averaged 92.88. Woodhouse got stuck at an average of 89.05.
If Van Barneveld manages to beat Ryan Meikle on Tuesday evening, ‘Barney’ will be Price’s next opponent in the third round. Both Van Barneveld and Price had a bye for the first round.
Van Barneveld and Price also faced each other at the Grand Slam of Darts last month. Both the group stage match and the quarter-final match were won by Van Barneveld.
Van Trijp surprises former world champion Beaton
Danny van Trijp had an excellent World Cup debut earlier in the evening. The Dutchman defeated former world champion Steve Beaton 3-0 in the first round.
The 25-year-old Van Trijp, who was not yet born when Beaton became world champion at the BDO darts association in 1996, did not suffer from stage fright in Alexandra Palace. The number 127 in the world gave up only four legs in the entire match to 58-year-old Beaton, the global number 53.
In the second round, Van Trijp, who averaged 86.66 per three darts, has a tough job ahead of him as he takes on seventh-seeded Jonny Clayton. That game is scheduled for Friday.
Geert Nentjes lost 3-1 to the American Leonard Gates. It was the third time for the Dutchman in three World Cup participations that he was eliminated in the first round.
Earlier in the day, Danny Jansen did manage to reach the second round. ‘The Mullet’ won 3-2 against the Filipino Paolo Nebrida. Niels Zonneveld was eliminated by Lewis Williams from Wales, opponent of Michael van Gerwen on Wednesday.
