Cameron Menzies delivered the performance of Saturday night at the Slovak Darts Open, thrashing Gerwyn Price 6-2 with a 106 average on a chaotic evening in Bratislava that also saw Rob Cross remove top seed Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen survive a deciding-leg scare.
Menzies had scraped through his opening match on Friday with a 78.74 average, but there was nothing laboured about his second-round display. The Scot opened with an early break, took out 144 for a 2-0 lead and then repeatedly battered the Price throw with maximum-heavy scoring. Price briefly threatened a response when he broke back on tops for 2-4, but Menzies immediately shut the door again. For the third time in four legs, he opened with back-to-back 180s, briefly threatening perfection before sealing victory with a 10-darter. The fourth seed averaged 96.74 and still found himself swept aside, with Menzies producing one of the standout displays of the tournament so far.
Cross added another major result to the night by beating number one seed Van Veen 6-3. Van Veen started with a 180 and held throw in the opening leg, but Cross soon took control, broke for a 2-1 lead and kept the Dutch number one at arm's length. Van Veen had chances to make the match tighter, including missed darts at double 16 and double 8 in the eighth leg, but Cross kept finding answers. A ruthless triple 16, double 18 combination helped him hold for 4-2, before he eventually sealed the win with a clinical two-dart 76 finish.
Van Gerwen also reached the last 16, though his route was far less convincing. The Dutchman led Krzysztof Ratajski 4-1, only for the Polish thrower to fight back with two ton-plus finishes and drag the match into a deciding leg. MvG missed five match darts at 5-4 and seven across the match, before finally landing double 20 to complete a tense 6-5 win. It was messy, but it kept him alive.
Tom Sykes backed up his superb European Tour debut by knocking out Martin Schindler 6-5. Schindler had the darts in the decider, but both players opened the final leg with 180s before Sykes left 58 after nine darts. He missed two match darts at first, but returned to pin double 10 after Schindler failed to take out 152. Ryan Joyce also came through a deciding leg, beating Jonny Clayton 6-5 after surviving a fierce Welsh fightback. Clayton had produced the shot of the match with a 170 checkout to break back, then forced the decider with a 76 finish, but Joyce held his nerve on double 8 for a 14-dart match-winner.
Stephen Bunting made much harder work of his 6-5 win over Niels Zonneveld. The Bullet led 5-2 and had seven match darts across two legs, only for Zonneveld to force a decider. With the Dutchman throwing first in the final leg, Bunting still earned the first clear chance and finally got over the line on double 18. Ross Smith closed the session with another deciding-leg win, beating Joe Cullen 6-5 in a scrappy finale. Cullen had led 4-2 after a 130 checkout on the bull and an 11-dart hold, but Smith fought back, forced the decider and sealed the final match of the night with a superb 114 finish. Nathan Aspinall had earlier opened the evening with a 6-4 win over Jim Long. The Asp led 5-1 before Long threatened a late fightback, but Aspinall eventually got over the line with a classy two-dart 72 finish.
