The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsMax Hopp provided the shock of the day as he knocked out five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld, taking out 161 twice on his way to victory. On an eventful day one, Kevin Painter, Stephen Bunting and other big names booked their places in the second round.
Darren Johnson came back from the dead in the first match of the tournament to come back and win five legs on the bounce to progress to the second round. Johnson found himself 5-1 down but produced an excellent run to win the match 6-5 and make it through to the weekend.
Steve West secured a second round tie with Terry Jenkins on Saturday after a solid win over David Pallett. West raced into a 3-0 lead, and managed to close out the match 6-4 with a 90 average despite trailing 4-3 after he witnessed Yorkshireman Pallett win four straight legs.
Daryl Gurney never looked like losing his first round match against Mark Frost as he took out finishes of 80 and a superb 153 to secure his spot in the second round after racing into a 5-0 lead. He will meet number ten seed Mervyn King on Saturday.
European Qualifier Cristo Reyes completed a commanding 6-2 win over Irishman Connie Finnan, and was just a couple of darts away from a whitewash in a win that sees him through to the weekend, where he will come up against Brendan Dolan.
Home crowd favourite Jyhan Artut lost in his first round match against Jason Lovett in an eleventh and final leg decider. The German missed two match darts, allowing Lovett to return to the board and secure his place in the second round and a match against Benito van de Pas.
Jan Dekker ensured that he will appear in the second round on Saturday when he saw off Jamie Bain 6-3. The Dutchman hit a stunning 160 in the first leg after Bain missed six darts to claim the first leg. Scottish Bain did hit a 128 checkout, but he couldn’t stop Dekker claim the victory, who hit 85% of his doubles.
European Tour debutant Krzysztof Ratajski missed one match dart in a match that went to a last-leg decider against Adam Hunt. The debutant found himself 3-0 down and fought back, but couldn’t progress through to the second round as Hunt booked his ticket with a 92.6 average.
The lights went out in the final match of the afternoon session, but that didn’t stop Rowby-John Rodriguez sweeping aside a lacklustre James Hubbard, who averaged just 73 in a 6-1 defeat. The young Austrian will feature in the second round on Saturday where he will face Australian Simon Whitlock.
Christian Kist won a fantastic game in a last-leg decider against Host Nation Qualifier Dirk van Duijvenbode. The former Lakeside Champion hit an impressive six maximums on his way to booking a second round spot against Robert Thornton in the first match of the evening session.
Mensur Suljovic completed the first whitewash of the weekend, beating Christian Soethe in a composed performance. The Austrian hit D14 on a number of occasions on his way to a 6-0 victory with an average of 96.
Gerwyn Prive was dumped out of the competition in the first round by Andy Jenkins. Price was set for a good run in this tournament after making the last eight at the World Matchplay, but averaged just 85 as Andy Jenkins took advantage with some good finishing the win the match 6-1.
Stephen Bunting set up a mouthwatering second round tie with Ian White after averaging 93 in a 6-4 win over Mark Barilli. ‘The Bullet’ and White have shared some classic tussles recently, the World Matchplay being the best of them, a match that ‘The Diamond’ ended up winning 10-6.
Max Hopp shocked Raymond van Barneveld and sent him crashing out of the tournament in the first round. The German star took out 161 twice in the win that was interrupted by the lights going out, but there was no doubt that the crowd had an effect on Barney during the match. Hopp sets up a second round clash with Kim Huybrechts after averaging 96 in a 6-4 victory.
Play was then delayed by a fire alarm, but after the action got underway once again, Kevin Painter recorded a much needed win over Alan Norris. ‘The Artist’ moved into the next stage of the competition with a 6-3 win and will play Vincent van der Voort on Saturday.
Former Premier League star Wes Newton completed a 6-3 victory over Chris Dobey in style, taking out 125, Bull, 25, Bull. He hit 85% of his doubles just as Jan Dekker did earlier on the first day to book his place in the last thirty-two.
Nineteen-year-old Martin Schindler was competing in only his second European Tour event, and for the second time it was disappointment for the German, who had the home crowd on his side as he crashed out losing 6-4 to James Wilson, who averaged 96 to book his place in the next stage.
Friday September 11
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Mark Dudbridge 5-6 Darren Johnson
David Pallett 4-6 Steve West
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Mark Frost
Connie Finnan 2-6 Cristo Reyes
Jason Lovett 6-5 Jyhan Artut
Jan Dekker 6-3 Jamie Bain
Adam Hunt 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
James Hubbard 1-6 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Dirk van Duijvenbode 5-6 Christian Kist
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Christian Soethe
Gerwyn Price 1-6 Andy Jenkins
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Mark Barilli
Max Hopp 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Kevin Painter 6-3 Alan Norris
Wes Newton 6-3 Chris Dobey
James Wilson 6-4 Martin Schindler
Second Round
Saturday September 12
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Brendan Dolan (7) v Cristo Reyes
Robert Thornton (14) v Christian Kist
Justin Pipe (9) v Mensur Suljovic
Terry Jenkins (13) v Steve West
Benito van de Pas (16) v Jason Lovett
Mervyn King (10) v Daryl Gurney
Kim Huybrechts (12) v Max Hopp
Vincent van der Voort (15) v Kevin Painter
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Ian White (6) v Stephen Bunting
Dave Chisnall (8) v Jan Dekker
Adrian Lewis (4) v James Wilson
Michael van Gerwen (1) v Adam Hunt
Peter Wright (5) v Andy Jenkins
Michael Smith (2) v Wes Newton
James Wade (3) v Darren Johnson
Simon Whitlock (11) v Rowby-John Rodriguez
