Michael van Gerwen is out of the Flanders Darts Trophy after Damon Heta edged a tight second-round clash in Antwerp, with neither player losing a leg against the throw. The Australian, who had won the crucial bull-off, held his nerve in the decider to edge out the Dutchman 6-5 and book his place in Sunday's finals day. It was the second deciding leg Heta had survived in 24 hours.
Heta had also ended Beau Greaves' tournament by the same scoreline on Friday night, with the 22-year-old unable to build on the history she made in Prague last weekend when she became the first woman to win a match on the European Tour. Nathan Aspinall was the most impressive winner of the evening session, sweeping aside Niko Springer 6-1 with an average just shy of 106. "It was a great performance," said Aspinall.
"I saw a stat that said I've been playing the fourth best for a couple of months, so tonight I tried to not put pressure on myself and enjoy it and I put in a great performance. "I finished really well, scored really well, gave the crowd something to cheer about and happy days – onto tomorrow!" Wessel Nijman then closed out the night in style, opening with a 170 checkout on his way to a 6-4 victory over Sebastian Bialecki to book his place at another European Tour finals day. Top seed Gian van Veen also progressed, with his 6-3 win over Gabriel Clemens ending the German's hopes of qualifying for the World Grand Prix.
Clemens was not the only casualty in the race for qualification, which concludes in Antwerp. Brendan Dolan's hopes were also ended when he was beaten 6-5 by Stephen Bunting on Saturday evening. Martin Schindler's last-ditch bid unravelled when he averaged 84.67 in a 6-4 defeat to Rob Cross, with the former world champion pouncing after Schindler missed a chance to take out 60.
Elsewhere, Kevin Doets survived a match dart to beat Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 in the pick of the afternoon's ties. The Dutchman led 4-1 before Ratajski won two legs on the spin and pinned double 10 to level at 4-4 and force a decider, where 'Hawkeye' held his nerve. Danny Noppert, Ryan Searle, Chris Dobey, Ross Smith, Jermaine Wattimena and Luke Woodhouse completed the afternoon's qualifiers, with Dobey dropping just one leg against Niels Zonneveld and Woodhouse accounting for William O'Connor 6-3.
Friday had already claimed Dirk van Duijvenbode, beaten 6-3 by Dolan, and Joe Cullen, who went down 6-3 to Belgian qualifier Andy Baetens. Home favourite Kim Huybrechts also suffered heartbreak, losing a decider to Sebastian Bialecki after a walk-on that whipped up the Antwerp crowd. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Saturday September 12Round TwoAfternoon Session (1200 BST)Kevin Doets 6-5 Krzysztof RatajskiJermaine Wattimena 6-3 Karel SedlacekRob Cross 6-4 Martin SchindlerDanny Noppert 6-2 Chris LandmanRyan Searle 6-2 Andy BaetensChris Dobey 6-1 Niels ZonneveldLuke Woodhouse 6-3 William O'ConnorRoss Smith 6-2 Jeffrey de Graaf Evening Session (1800 BST)Josh Rock 3-6 Ryan JoyceGerwyn Price 6-3 Bradley BrooksJames Wade 6-2 Jim LongGian van Veen 6-3 Gabriel ClemensMichael van Gerwen 5-6 Damon HetaNathan Aspinall 6-1 Niko SpringerStephen Bunting 6-5 Brendan DolanWessel Nijman 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki Sunday September 13Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)Round ThreeGian van Veen v Kevin DoetsRyan Searle v Chris DobeyRyan Joyce v Jermaine WattimenaGerwyn Price v Ross SmithJames Wade v Rob CrossDanny Noppert v Wessel NijmanDamon Heta v Luke WoodhouseStephen Bunting v Nathan Aspinall Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)Quarter-FinalsSemi-FinalsFinal Sky Sports remains the home of darts with the World Grand Prix (September 28-October 4), Grand Slam of Darts (November 14-22) and World Darts Championship (December 10-January 3) all live.
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