Day 2 darts evening session review: Eidams almost shocks MvG!

Holly Thackeray | December 18, 2015

Day two evening reaction

• Eidams beat preliminary opponent Gaweenuntawong 2-0
• K.Anderson whitewashed Dolan with a deadly display
• Pallet pulled off the shock of the round so far by dispatching Huybrechts
• Eidams almost ran Van Gerwen out of the competition, but the Dutchman triumphed 3-2

For more on tomorrow’s World Darts Championship action, take a peek at our afternoon and evening session previews.

Van Gerwen inches from an exit but reaches second round, Huybrechts out

World number one Michael van Gerwen almost came unstuck as Rene Eidams pulled off a stunning darting underdog display, coming within inches of delivering a ginormous first round shock, but Mighty Mike rallied to stay in the tournament.

Elsewhere on this enthralling evening, Aussie Anderson dumped out a sub-par Brendan Dolan and, in another big surprise of the night, Kim Huybrechts was ousted by an excellent Dave Pallett.

Thanawat Gaweenuntawong 0-2 Rene Eidams (2-3, 1-3)

An exciting start saw 180s from the first two visits, as both preliminary round arrowsmiths came out all-guns blazing, before the battle then simmered down.

Colourful Thai restaurateur Gaweenuntawong miscounted and made a meal of several throws, eventually allowing German foe Eidams to get ahead and finish double 20 at the second time of asking for the first set.

GREAT reaction from the crowd as Rene Eidams reaches the first round. #WHDarts https://t.co/7IxSK8mRc4

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 18, 2015

This pattern continued in the second set, with both failing on several attempts at easy finishes in the third leg, though The Cube eventually made sense of the mess and took the tie by two sets to nil to book his place opposite Van Gerwen.

Brendan Dolan 0-3 Kyle Anderson (2-3, 1-3, 2-3)

Aussie Anderson took to the oche with a spring in his step at the Ally Pally, showing his maximums menace early on and defiantly replying to anything Dolan could muster to sneak back in and claim first set blood.

Northern Irishman The History Maker was gifted a chance to go two legs ahead in the second, but fatally fluffed his lines to allow The Original to level on double one, which was a springboard for Anderson to go on deliver the knock-out blow, clocking up five 180s overall.

BIG 121 finish for @kyledarts to see himself into the next round. How far can he go this year? https://t.co/SNJ9F5IXJ9

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 18, 2015

The Southern Hemisphere star clearly held the mental edge, pouncing on almost every missed double by an evidently dispirited Dolan, which will come in handy with the likes of Vincent van der Voort and Gary Anderson potentially lying in wait ahead.

Kim Huybrechts 2-3 Dave Pallett (1-3, 3-1, 3-2, 1-3, 0-3)

This clash was one of the highlights of cracking day of darts. Heavy favourite The Hurricane started smartly enough, but surprisingly fell behind with sloppy finishing, losing an early set to upstart Pallett, who took out double 20 to squeeze into a lead. Though it appeared inevitable Huybrechts would hit back for victory, young Pallet never let the pace drop.

DISBELIEF from David Pallett as he knocks 12th seed Kim Huybrechts out of the world champs. #WHDarts https://t.co/u3keloXofx

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 18, 2015

A snarling Huybrechts fought tooth and nail against plucky Pallett to get back into groove, and did so by smashing in tops to reverse the last set scoreline and draw level. The second set similarly saw the frustrated Belgian struggle to wrestle the initiative from his younger peer, but Pallet missed his chance to hold the throw, allowing The Hurricane to steal ahead.

25-year-old Pallett was not going to be swept aside that easily, however, dazzling with a magnificently stacked maximum, but crucially scuppered the chance to seal the set again, which Huybrechts snatched instead by taking tops. Renewed intensity from the ambitious youngster then saw it two sets apiece, with two legs in favour of the Englishman before he slammed home a 132 checkout on a brilliant bull and back-to-back ton-plus finishes to finally sink the big-name Belgian.

DISBELIEF from David Pallett as he knocks 12th seed Kim Huybrechts out of the world champs. #WHDarts https://t.co/u3keloXofx — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 18, 2015

Michael van Gerwen v Rene Eidams (3-0, 3-0, 1-3, 3-0, 3-2)

Wow. What a match. Mighty Mike (11/10 favourite with Coral to be crowned world champion) looked like he would ahve fun flexing his muscles against Eidams, initially charging to six straight legs without breaking a sweat, in a breathtaking early display before facing a tougher tungsten challenge than expected.

Green Machine Van Gerwen did not look as though he would allow the German dartsman to come within a hairs breadth of capturing a single set but, to his credit, The Cube did not let his head drop and gallantly fought back against this sporting superstar, upsetting MvG by pinching a set with a 103 checkout. But that was only the beggining.

EIDAMS levels at two sets each and the place ERUPTS. This is a special match! #WHDARTS https://t.co/nObQKcC0lc

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 18, 2015

Almost unrecognisable from the preliminary round, Eidams really gave Van Gerwen something to think about, whipping up the crowd as he incredibly backed the world number one into a corner. Two maximums and seven 140s later, The Cube finally began to slow, and Mighty Mike snatched the chance to win by two clear legs. Just.

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