Five-time winner Michael Van Gerwen beat rival Gary Anderson, while defending champion Jonny Clayton scraped into the second round by coming from a set down to defeat 2020 finalist Dirk Van Duijvenbode; Peter Wright and Adrian Lewis also won through at the World Grand Prix
Tuesday 4 October 2022 07:41, UK
Michael van Gerwen won the battle between two darting giants as he set aside a nervy start to ease past Gary Anderson on the opening night of the World Grand Prix.
Van Gerwen - chasing a sixth World Grand Prix success - ran out a resounding 2-0 winner against two-time World Champion Anderson in a repeat of the 2016 final.
Jonny Clayton survived a scare as he began his title defence with a comeback victory over Dirk van Duijvenbode, while Peter Wright and Adrian Lewis also progressed in Leicester.
Van Gerwen reeled off a scrappy first set without reply, despite Anderson missing darts to win every leg - squandering 11 darts at double in total.
The Scot responded with a clinical 84 to seize control of the second set, but after firing back with a 15-dart riposte, 'The Green Machine' followed up his third 180 with a 106 finish to seal victory in 12 darts.
"The first round at the World Grand Prix against Gary Anderson is never going to be easy," admitted Van Gerwen, who averaged 101 in a superb second set display.
"You never know with Gary. He still has a lot of talent and is a brilliant player, so you have to perform well.
"We both missed so many doubles in the first set, but the second set is something to build on for the next round."
Clayton was handed a tough assignment against 2020 runner-up Van Duijvenbode in the unique double-start event, but recovered from a shaky start to book a showdown with Dimitri Van den Bergh at the Morningside Arena.
Van Duijvenbode dominated the opening exchanges, punishing a lacklustre start from the reigning champion to draw first blood with a sublime 156 checkout.
Clayton's terrific 130 finish midway through set two shifted the pendulum, and as an increasingly frustrated Dutchman faltered late on with 'The Ferret' capitalising to move through to a meeting against Van den Bergh.
"I'm glad to get through obviously, but Dirk should have won that game," conceded Clayton, who crushed fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price in last year's showpiece.
"I just couldn't get going tonight, but thankfully I managed to scrape through.
"Dimitri is a brilliant player, just like Dirk. Hopefully my game will improve on Wednesday. I'm going to come out of the blocks better than I did tonight."
Van den Bergh secured only his second victory on the World Grand Prix stage with a deciding-leg win over two-time finalist Dave Chisnall.
World Champion Peter Wright defied a spirited fightback from Kim Huybrechts to begin his bid for a maiden World Grand Prix crown with a 2-0 win in a high-quality affair.
And 2010 finalist Adrian Lewis made a winning return in his first World Grand Prix appearance since 2019, converting three ton-plus checkouts to close out an impressive 2-0 win over Jose De Sousa, who becomes the first seed to exit this year's tournament.
'Jackpot' will now play 'Hollywood' Chris Dobey, who produced a spectacular display of finishing to stun Luke Humphries and secure his first win at this event since reaching the 2019 semi-finals on debut.
Krzysztof Ratajski and Stephen Bunting also progressed with 2-0 victories, beating Callan Rydz and Brendan Dolan respectively.
The first round action draws to a close on Tuesday night, as world No 1 Gerwyn Price begins his bid for a second World Grand Prix crown against German debutant Martin Schindler.
Two-time winner James Wade faces another newcomer in Martin Lukeman, 2017 champion Daryl Gurney plays eighth seed Rob Cross, while Michael Smith takes on Nathan Aspinall in another tasty tie.
Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts. You can watch the 25th staging of the World Grand Prix 'Double in, Double out' set format on Sky Sports all the way through to the final on October 9 in Leicester.
