Glen Durrant stormed into the next stage of the PDC Home Tour with three successive victories and an evening average that hovered tantalisingly short of three figures.
The three-time Lakeside world champion saw off Dutch pair Vincent Van Der Meer and Maik Kuivenhoven, and his good friend Justin Pipe in a high-quality display that saw him average 99.85.
Durrant admitted he has struggled to adapt to the new format, telling the PDC’s live stream: “I’ve tried this online darts over the past couple of weeks and it’s not been for me, but I practice for two hours every night and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Durrant, the current Premier League leader, averaged 101.8 in his opening 5-1 win over Van Der Meer but Pipe followed up with victory over Kuivenhoven by the same score.
After Kuivenhoven eased through the all-Dutch battle, Durrant clinched a good-natured clash with Pipe with a 5-3 success that hinged on a stunning 164 checkout in the fourth leg.
DURRANT WINS THE GROUP! It's three wins from three from Glen Durrant to top the group on Night 19 of the Unibet Home Tour, and he's played some excellent stuff!#UnibetHomeTour pic.twitter.com/GDE34MplRy — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) May 5, 2020
Pipe’s subsequent 5-2 win over Van Der Meer left Durrant needing just four legs in his final clash with Kuivenhoven to guarantee top spot.
A 110 checkout with Kuivenhoven poised on double 10 for a 3-1 lead swung the tie in favour of Durrant, who followed up with a 97 checkout to seal a 5-3 win and guarantee victory.
