Antrim's Rock advances at Swiss Darts Trophy, MVG out

Josh Rock advanced at the Swiss Darts Trophy as fifth seed Michael van Gerwen suffered a second-round exit after losing 6-4 to Mensur Suljovic in Basel. Antrim's Rock edged out Dave Chisnall 6-5 to seal his passage, where van Gerwen’s defeat was one of Saturday’s talking points. Austrian Suljovic averaged 91.51 to register a fourth successive victory over three-time world champion Van Gerwen. He will face 12th seed Ross Smith in Sunday’s last 16. Defending champion Stephen Bunting also exited the tournament. The seventh seed, who defeated Luke Woodhouse in last year’s final, lost 6-4 to Jeffrey de Graaf. Luke Humphries avoided a similar fate by surviving a deciding leg to beat Dutchman Kevin Doets 6-5. The top seed averaged 102.85 to set up a meeting with Krzysztof Ratajski. Jonny Clayton produced an impressive display with an average of 108.81 in a 6-1 success over Maik Kuivenhoven. Rob Cross awaits Clayton after he beat 2025 runner-up Woodhouse 6-4, while Dirk van Duijvenbode defeated fourth seed James Wade by the same scoreline. Second seed Gian van Veen enjoyed a more comfortable passage with a 6-0 thrashing of German Niko Springer. Australian Damon Heta and Spain’s Cristo Reyes will meet in the third round after respective victories over eighth seed Danny Noppert and ninth seed Ryan Searle. Michael Smith, Tom Bissell, Bradley Brooks and Karel Sedlacek also progressed on Saturday.