Dave Chisnall survives scare as Cameron Menzies exits European Darts Trophy

[p]The Englishman, 45, reeled off six straight legs to defeat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-zwaan-jeffrey/OhBeEpuL/"]De Zwaan[/a] 6-5, surviving three match darts along the way.[/p][p][b]“It was a weird game. I’d rather start the match in pieces than end it,”[/b] joked [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chisnall-dave/vRDFv29c/"]Chisnall[/a], who faces former European Champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smith-ross/l8mIsYNm/"]Ross Smith[/a] on Saturday.[/p][p][b]“That last leg was a bit weird; we both didn’t score well. But I took the finish, and I’m happy."[/b][/p][embed guid="c5da1ffa-062b-41ee-8c3d-aca81be3b454" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2032525608215839052?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]“I’ve got to play a lot better tomorrow than I did tonight. Ross Smith is a great darts player," Chisnall added.[/p][p][b]“He’s beaten me in seven of the last seven games, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-gerwen-michael/SU4UkKsm/"]Michael van Gerwen[/a] had beaten me 26 out of 26 games, and I did get one win eventually.”[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/menzies-cameron/2NUpDqVt/"]Menzies[/a] was beaten 6-4 by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/krohne-paul/44Fv5e3F/"]Paul Krohne[/a] in their first-round meeting, with the German holding firm despite a late rally by the Scot to claim his first career European Tour win and set up a tie with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rock-josh/xKxxNY1P/"]Josh Rock[/a].[/p][image alt="Menzies in Poland earlier this year" id="55190e7f-e915-4fef-a1dc-7f0bc31402d4" credit-line="Konrad Swierad / Alamy / Profimedia" guid="9f32972f-1c4a-41b5-b1d3-efe9097f8940" original-width="1400" original-height="933" /][p]Elsewhere, Ireland’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barry-keane/Ycu2Oplg/"]Keane Barry[/a] suffered a 6-1 defeat to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zonneveld-niels/MeTrr5Fk/"]Niels Zonneveld[/a], who will face three-time champion Van Gerwen in round two, as English pair [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gilding-andrew/x2eT5hRq/"]Andrew Gilding[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/evans-ricky/GA3fKcWh/"]Ricky Evans[/a] endured contrasting fortunes.  [/p][p]Gilding lost 6-3 to Lithuania’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/labanauskas-darius/xEYlNLtI/"]Darius Labanauskas[/a], but Evans progressed with a comfortable 6-0 win over German [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/preis-florian/fXCnjb3b/"]Florian Preis[/a].[/p][p]England’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gurney-daryl/UBbHHv2p/"]Daryl Gurney[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cullen-joe/A5nTHxhe/"]Joe Cullen[/a] later came through tests against Polish duo [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bialecki-sebastian/neVAFdz5/"]Sebastian Bialecki[/a] 6-4 and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brulinski-wojciech/UkexbAne/"]Wojciech Brulinski[/a] 6-3 respectively, with Cullen now set to face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/price-gerwyn/8dDDoW0B/"]Gerwyn Price[/a]. Their compatriot [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/woodhouse-luke/QyQzAjPh/"]Luke Woodhouse[/a] beat Germany’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/horvat-dragutin/fRgT1ecJ/"]Dragutin Horvat[/a] 6-0. [/p][p]Ireland’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/o-connor-shayne/fuD0zC76/"]William O’Connor[/a] lost 6-2 to Austria’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/suljovic-mensur/Y73gOXrH/"]Mensur Suljovic[/a], while Dutchman [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nijman-wessel/xCX137Ee/"]Wessel Nijman[/a] fought back from 3-0 down to beat Spain’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/reyes-cristo/Wd5006ea/"]Cristo Reyes[/a] in a last-leg decider to round off the day. [/p][p]Earlier, Dutchman [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/doets-kevin/I14LCcyQ/"]Kevin Doets[/a] produced the standout performance of the opening session, averaging 117.12 -- the highest ever recorded at the European Darts Trophy -- in a 6-0 whitewash of Finland’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/masalin-jonas/xWEiZrmp/"]Jonas Masalin[/a]. [/p][p][b]“That was good, right?”[/b] quipped Doets, who will face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/crabtree-cameron/KQt8l5u6/"]Cam Crabtree[/a] in round two on Saturday evening. [/p][p][b]“I don’t know what happened, I just felt very comfortable."[/b][/p][embed guid="baa4eb47-b4c0-4edd-8493-f83dd73e3504" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2032440358785659333?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]“I started to feel comfortable when Jonas missed those darts for 1-1, but I don’t expect Cam to miss those chances tomorrow,"[/b] Doets added.[/p][p]“I’m in a really good place right now, I’m very confident, and I think I’m going to win tomorrow as well.”[/p][h2]Results[/h2][p][i][b]Afternoon session[/b][/i][/p][p]Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Andrew Gilding[/p][p]Kevin Doets 6-0 Jonas Masalin[/p][p]Ricky Evans 6-0 Florian Preis[/p][p]Niels Zonneveld 6-1 Keane Barry[/p][p]Paul Krohne 6-4 Cameron Menzies[/p][p]Richard Veenstra 6-3 Florian Hempel[/p][p]Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Shane McGuirk[/p][p]Lukas Wenig 6-3 Ryan Joyce[/p][p][i][b]Evening session[/b][/i][/p][p]Dave Chisnall 6-5 Jeffrey de Zwaan[/p][p]Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Mario Vandenbogaerde[/p][p]Luke Woodhouse 6-0 Dragutin Horvat[/p][p]Daryl Gurney 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki[/p][p]Joe Cullen 6-3 Wojciech Brulinski[/p][p]Niko Springer 6-5 Kai Gotthardt[/p][p]Mensur Suljovic 6-2 William O'Connor[/p][p]Wessel Nijman 6-5 Cristo Reyes[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/darts/europe/european-tour-2/"]Follow the European Tour with Flashscore[/a][/h2]