Nathan Aspinall recovers from Premier League disappointment to win German Darts Grand Prix opener
![Nathan Aspinall PDC](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.planetsport.com%2Fimage-library%2Fland%2F700%2F1056605_nathan-aspinall-pdc-9-march-2023.webp&w=3840&q=75)
Nathan Aspinall swiftly put his Premier League disappointment behind him to coast into the second round of the German Darts Grand Prix with a 6-2 win over Michael Unterbuchner.
Aspinall lost to Luke Littler in the final of night nine in Belfast on Thursday.
‘The Asp’, though, showed no signs of any hangover as he opened up against Unterbuchner with a superb 132 checkout before racing into a 5-0 lead and then closing out a comfortable victory over the German.
Elsewhere in the second PDC European Tour event of the year in Munich, veteran Dutchman Raymond Van Barneveld was edged out 6-5 by compatriot Gian Van Veen.
Two-time world champion Peter Wright hit four 180s and averaged almost 104 as he beat Jose de Sousa 6-3.
In the opening match of the evening session, Ireland’s Steve Lennon ended the hopes of home favourite Lukas Wenig and then Daryl Gurney won five of the last six legs to dispatch James Wade 6-3, landing four 180s.
Joe Cullen beat former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding 6-2 before Martin Schindler delighted the home crowd with a 6-1 win over Vitezslav Sedlak.
In Saturday’s late match, Dimitri Van Den Bergh saved three match darts to battle past German number one Gabriel Clemens 6-5.
During the afternoon session, Chris Dobey averaged 103 and landed a 170 checkout in a 6-2 win over Sweden’s Viktor Tingstrom, while Brendan Dolan came from behind to dispatch Alan Soutar by the same score.
Cameron Menzies closed out a 6-4 win over Mike De Decker – the Belgian having earlier missed on double 12 for a nine-darter – and will go on to play tournament holder Michael Smith.
Luke Woodhouse, a late call-up to the event, edged out Niels Zonneveld in a last-leg decider to book a second-round date with world number one Luke Humphries.
Jermaine Wattimena beat Franz Roetzsch without dropping a leg while Dutch pair Jeffrey De Zwaan and Richard Veenstra also progressed along with Ryan Joyce.