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Photo: Lawrence Lustig/PDC

Simon Whitlock secured a hard-fought victory over Brendan Dolan in the second round of the second European Tour Event in Berlin, as he hit three ton-plus finishes, including a 170, in a 6-5 triumph on Saturday.

James Hubbard, Mark Webster, Raymond van Barneveld, Meryvn King and Co Stompe also progressed to the last 16 of the German Darts Championship.

Whitlock had to break Dolan in a tense last-leg decider to win a high quality match, in which ‘The Wizard’ also produced checkouts of 128 and 106.

“That was a great game. Brendan was fantastic,” said Whitlock, who will now face Kevin Painter on Sunday afternoon.

“I’ve always said that you need a little bit of luck and I had it there. I’m excited about Sunday now, Kevin is a fantastic player and I’ll be ready for a good match.”

Hubbard, who continues to impress on the professional tour, added a 6-3 triumph over Peter Wright to Friday’s defeat of World Champion Adrian Lewis.

The 19-year-old will face Mervyn King in the last 16 on Sunday afternoon after King progressed with a 6-3 triumph over Wayne Jones.

“Peter missed a few doubles and you’ve got to ride your luck sometimes if you’re going to win tournaments like this,” said the World Youth Champion, who only turned professional in January.

“Hopefully I can continue this tomorrow against Mervyn. I’ve known him for a long time and he’s been good to me and helped bring my game on.”

Webster beat Colin Osborne 6-4 to book his place in the last 16.

“We both missed chances and I’m just glad to be through,” said Webster, who faces van Barneveld on Sunday afternoon, after the Dutchman completed a 6-3 victory over Alan Tabern, with ‘Barney’ posting an average of 103.12 in his second round win.

Fellow Dutchman Stompe will play Justin Pipe in the last 16, after defeating Michael Barnard 6-5.

He said: “It’s important for my rankings to do well in this tournament so I’m delighted to come through a tough match like that.”

Paul Nicholson and Vincent van der Voort both missed out on last 16 spots, after Nicholson suffered defeat at the hands of an in-form Colin Lloyd, while van der Voort was beaten by Ronnie Baxter in a last-leg decider.

By Chris Murphy

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