Andrew Gilding dumped out home favourite Dimitri Van den Bergh on the opening day of the inaugural Flanders Darts Trophy, as Peter Wright survived a scare to begin his bid for back-to-back European Tour titles on Friday.
Belgian number one Van den Bergh was the star attraction on Day One in Antwerp, although he was dispatched by a nerveless Gilding, who emerged victorious in a battle of the two most recent UK Open champions.
Gilding – who also beat Van den Bergh at the Belgian Darts Open in Wieze two years ago - repeated the feat at the Antwerp Expo, averaging 101.41 to celebrate an emphatic 6-2 success.
“That was a massive win for me,” reflected the 2023 UK Open winner, who will play Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko for a place in the last 16.
“I felt really comfortable up there, and I’m looking forward to playing Ricardo tomorrow. We are good mates and he’s a lovely chap.”
Despite Van den Bergh’s early exit, Mike De Decker preserved home hopes with a 6-2 thumping of Richard Veenstra, which featured a sensational 170 finish in the second leg of the contest.
“If you have a crowd like that behind you, there is no way you can stay calm,” revealed De Decker – the solitary Belgian to progress to round two on home soil.
“The crowd kept shouting my name, so when that final double went in, I had to let the emotions go and that’s what happened. It is a brilliant feeling.”
Friday’s first round also saw newly crowned German Darts Champion Wright return to action following his exploits in Hildesheim last weekend, as he locked horns with fellow veteran Brendan Dolan.
The Scot served up a delightful 160 finish to establish a 3-1 cushion, but he was forced to recover from 5-4 down to break Dolan’s resistance, wrapping up proceedings with a 12-dart hold in the decider.
Elsewhere, Dirk van Duijvenbode continued his revival with a merciless 6-2 thrashing of Jonny Clayton, averaging 103.67, hitting seven 180s and pinning six of his 11 attempts at double to cap off a stellar display.
Raymond van Barneveld also produced glimpses of his vintage best in whitewashing his compatriot Maik Kuivenhoven, averaging 110 for much of the contest.
The Dutch icon won the first four legs in 12, 15, 13 and 12 darts, while landing an eye-catching 130 finish on the bull to set up an all-Dutch showdown against Danny Noppert on Saturday evening.
James Wade turned on the style in his comeback win over Cameron Menzies, converting 60% of his darts at double to overturn a 3-1 deficit and move through to a meeting against second seed Dave Chisnall.
Joe Cullen hammered in six 180s to defeat Callan Rydz 6-4 and progress to a tie against Ryan Searle, after Kevin Doets reeled off four straight legs from 4-2 down to topple Francois Schweyen.
Ritchie Edhouse will take on Luke Humphries in Saturday’s second round after impressing with a 104.63 average in his 6-3 success against Daryl Gurney – a semi-finalist in Hildesheim last weekend.
Luke Woodhouse and Jermaine Wattimena also averaged over 100 in wins over Host Nation Qualifiers Luc Bogaert and Brian Raman, while Scott Williams landed eight 180s to see off a tenacious Marko Kantele 6-3.
Gabriel Clemens sank a clinical 107 checkout to win through a deciding-leg clash against Martin Lukeman, as Robert Owen claimed the scalp of Krzysztof Ratajski, punishing a profligate display from Poland’s number one.
Earlier in the day, Alan Soutar eased to a six-leg sweep of debutant Jody Tobback, while Jitse Van der Wal ran out a convincing 6-2 winner against Sebastian Bialecki to secure his maiden victory on the European Tour stage.
The second round will take place across two sessions on Saturday, with world number one Humphries, teenage sensation Luke Littler and three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen all entering the fray.
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2024 Flanders Darts Trophy
Friday September 6
First Round
Afternoon Session
Jitse Van der Wal 6-2 Sebastian Bialecki
Scott Williams 6-3 Marko Kantele
Alan Soutar 6-0 Jody Tobback
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Luc Bogaert
Robert Owen 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Brian Raman
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Evening Session
Kevin Doets 6-4 Francois Schweyen
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Jonny Clayton
Mike De Decker 6-2 Richard Veenstra
Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Maik Kuivenhoven
James Wade 6-4 Cameron Menzies
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Peter Wright 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Joe Cullen 6-4 Callan Rydz
Saturday September 7
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Ryan Joyce v Alan Soutar
Gian van Veen v Robert Owen
Josh Rock v Jitse Van der Wal
Chris Dobey v Kevin Doets
Damon Heta v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dave Chisnall v James Wade
Ross Smith v Mike De Decker
Ryan Searle v Joe Cullen
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Stephen Bunting v Scott Williams
Gerwyn Price v Luke Woodhouse
Danny Noppert v Raymond van Barneveld
Michael van Gerwen v Gabriel Clemens
Martin Schindler v Peter Wright
Luke Humphries v Ritchie Edhouse
Ricardo Pietreczko v Andrew Gilding
Luke Littler v Jermaine Wattimena