Mensur Suljovic (Picture: PDC/Chris Dean)
Mensur Suljovic (Picture: PDC/Chris Dean)

Champions League of Darts: Mensur Suljovic and Michael van Gerwen make perfect starts in Brighton


Mensur Suljovic booked his place in the Paddy Power Champions League of Darts semi-finals as he continued his stunning tournament record in Brighton - while Michael van Gerwen has all but qualified.

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW DAY TWO OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OF DARTS

Defending champion Suljovic and world number one MVG both recorded two wins on the opening day of the BBC-televised tournament at The Brighton Centre, but Simon Whitlock and Dave Chisnall were the first to be eliminated.

Van Gerwen was at his relentless best, producing two ton-plus averages in his victories over Chisnall and Daryl Gurney in Group A as he bids to win the third staging of this tournament for the first time.

He faces Gary Anderson in his third group game but there is a slim chance he could still go out if he suffers a heavy defeat and Daryl Gurney is able to pick up a big win over Chizzy.

The Dutchman averaged 111.23 in his 10-2 demolition of Chisnall, missing just two darts at double and limiting his opponent to four darts at the outer ring.

Van Gerwen followed up his afternoon success by racing into a 5-0 lead over Gurney before the Northern Irishman battled back to 9-7 and then missed two darts to make it 8-9, only for Van Gerwen to punish his misses to wrap up a 10-7 win.

World Grand Prix champion Gurney had earlier got his campaign off to a terrific start with a 10-8 triumph over Gary Anderson.

A clinical performance from the world number five saw him hit 55.6% of his attempts at double and three ton-plus checkouts, including a magnificent 158 checkout.

However, Anderson's comfortable 10-3 win over Dave Chisnall during the evening session elevated the Scot to second in Group A heading into the second day of action, with Gurney also still in the mix to progress.

In Group B, Suljovic began the defence of his title with a hard-fought 10-8 win over world champion Rob Cross in the opening game of the tournament.

After a tense start, the Austrian found his stride in the second half of the contest to get his first two points on the board and followed that up with a 10-7 victory over Peter Wright, averaging 105.53 in the process.

World number two Wright staved off a comeback from Simon Whitlock to win 10-7 in their opening Group B tie which saw 13 180s hit, while Cross recovered from a disappointing start to the day to see off Whitlock 10-8.

With both Wright and Cross now tied on points and leg difference, their clash on Sunday afternoon will be a straight shoot-out to decide who will qualify from Group B alongside Suljovic.

Champions League of Darts results, schedule & tables

SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Group Stage Matches (Best of 19 legs)

  • Rob Cross 8-10 Mensur Suljovic (B)
  • Peter Wright 10-7 Simon Whitlock (B)
  • Gary Anderson 8-10 Daryl Gurney (A)
  • Michael van Gerwen 10-2 Dave Chisnall (A)

SATURDAY EVENING
Group Stage Matches (Best of 19 legs)

  • Rob Cross 10-8 Simon Whitlock (B)
  • Peter Wright 7-10 Mensur Suljovic (B)
  • Gary Anderson 10-3 Dave Chisnall (A)
  • Michael van Gerwen 10-7 Daryl Gurney (A)

SUNDAY AFTERNOON, BBC 2, 1315-1630 BST
Group Stage (Best of 19 legs)

  • Mensur Suljovic v Simon Whitlock (B)
  • Rob Cross v Peter Wright (B)
  • Daryl Gurney v Dave Chisnall (A)
  • Gary Anderson v Michael van Gerwen (A)

SUNDAY EVENING, BBC 2, 1830-2200
Knockout Stages (Best of 21 legs)

  • Semi-finals & Final

Group Standings

GROUP A

  1. Michael van Gerwen P 2 W 2 L 0 LegDiff +11 Pts 4
  2. Gary Anderson P 2 W 1 L 1 LegDiff +5 Pts 2
  3. Daryl Gurney P 2 W 1 L 1 LegDiff -1 Pts 2
  4. Dave Chisnall P 2 W 0 L 2 LegDiff -15 Pts 0

GROUP B

  1. Mensur Suljovic P 2 W 2 L 0 LegDiff +5 Pts 4
  2. Peter Wright P 2 W 1 L 2 LegDiff 0 Pts 2
  3. Rob Cross P 2 W 1 L 1 LegDiff 0 Pts 2
  4. Simon Whitlock P 2 W 0 L 2 LegDiff -5 Pts 0

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