Gary Anderson was back in business as he raced through to the quarter-finals of the Melbourne Darts Masters.
But Kyle Anderson is out....beaten by his best mate on the opening night at the Hisense Arena.
The Team Unicorn duo were on course to clash in the last eight, but Kyle lost in a last leg decider to Damon Heta.
Gary was ruthless as he swept aside Aussie qualifier James Bailey. At one stage the Unicorn superstar was eyeing a record World Series average of 119!
He went 5-0 up in brilliant style with winning legs of 15, 11, 13, 14 and 12 Darts. And when Anderson started the 6th leg with a 177 the record was on.
But he had a couple of disappointing visits and his opponent took out 130 to get on the board. Gary eventually won 6-2 with an average of nearly 108.
Kyle and Heta are best mates going back to high school days in Western Australia but the Unicorn man just couldn’t get going, despite hitting four 180s.
He wasn’t ahead at any stage but did miss one dart at D16 in the deciding leg before Heta took the honours.
Team Unicorn ace Michael Smith got back to winning ways after his shock 1st Round exit in Auckland.
He beat Tim Pusey 6-2 and was more relaxed as clinical as he went 3-0 up and took
Control from the off.
Smith hit three 180s to set up a quarter-final clash with Rob Cross in Melbourne.
Melbourne Darts Masters 1st Round results:
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Ray O’Donnell
Michael Smith 6-2 Tim Pusey
Rob Cross 6-2 Haupai Puha
Gary Anderson 6-2 James Bailey
Peter Wright 6-0 Mike Bonser
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Raymond Smith
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Corey Cadby
Kyle Anderson 5-6 Damon Heta
Q/Finals:
Michael Smith v Rob Cross
Peter Wright v Raymond van Barneveld
Gary Anderson v Damon Heta
Michael van Gerwen v Simon Whitlock
Report from STUART PYKE at the Hisense Arena, Melbourne
Photos courtesy PDC
