The second round of the World Championship kicked off with three fantastic matches. On paper there was nothing to split Andy Hamilton and Richie Burnett and that proved to be the case. But it looked like both Dave Chisnall and Gary Anderson would have easier matches against the preliminary winners, Daryl Gurney and John Bowles, but both stumbled into the third round.
The afternoon session concluded with Anderson needing a tie-break against the fantastic Bowles to squeeze into the third round. The Scot again finished on a near 100-average and that began by taking the opening leg with a 142-checkout. Anderson then found a 118-checkout to force a deciding leg which he would win and take the lead. Bowles responded with a second set without conceding. meaning in match play Bowles would have lead 5-3.
Anderson hit a 124-checkout to take a 2-1 lead in the third set before making it 2-1 in sets with the following leg. Anderson missed seven darts to take the fourth set which Bowles recovered to level the match. Bowles then found a superb Shanghai 120-checkout to steal the fifth leg in the fifth set to move 3-2 ahead. This put Anderson on the back foot and he needed a 116-checkout to take a 2-1 lead before forcing a deciding set by taking the fifth leg to make it 3-3.
Bowles then went 2-0 up the final set and looked odds on to perform the fantastic shock victory. But the Widnes man would miss a couple of darts over the next two legs to win the match and Anderson had managed to force a tie-break situation at 2-2. Anderson had to level twice more to see the game go to 4-4 and two legs away from the first sudden death leg of the competition. The Scot finally managed to break Bowles and take a 5-4 lead before managing to hold throw and fall into the next round where he'll meet either Raymond Van Barneveld or Brendan Dolan.
Burnett found a brilliant 121-checkout to level the opening set 2-2 against Hamilton. The Hammer would the miss three darts to win the deciding leg before the Welshman took the set. Burnett found another three figure checkout in the second set on his way to again levelling it at 2-2. But this time it was Burnett who missed four darts to take a 2-0 lead and Hamilton gleefully levelled the match.
Burnett started the third set with a second 121-checkout but had to force a deciding leg in a set for the third time in the match. Hamilton would again take the fifth leg to make it 2-1. With momentum firmly in his grasp, Hamilton started the fourth set with a 120-checkout before making it 2-0 with an 86-finish on the bull. Burnett once again showed his resilience to once again force another deciding leg but Hamilton made it 3-1 with another sublime 138-checkout. That seemed to break Burnett's heart as Hamilton found a 108-checkout followed by a 110-checkout to win the set without conceding and winning the match 4-1.
It was the same scoreline for Chisnall, but a 4-1 victory is an extremely flattering scoreline. All five sets went the distance with the players separated by two points on the averages and a single percentage in the finishing. Chisnall had to level the opening set to force the deciding leg which he won to take the lead. It was deja vu in the second set as Chisnall once again found himself 2-1 behind before recovering to win it and take a 2-0 lead.
Chisnall then had to go one step further in the third set as Gurney went 2-0 ahead in the third set and missed darts to win the set. But Chizzy recovered yet again to take a 3-0 lead. He then finally managed took a lead in the fourth set with the opening leg, but he soon had to force a fourth deciding leg with a 107-checkout. This time, the Northern Irishman finally won a fifth leg in a leg to put a set on the board. Gurney once again missed darts to make it 3-2 after taking another 2-0 lead in the set. But, as per the rest of the match, Chisnall again reeled off three straight legs to claim the fifth set and book his place into the last-16.
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