Mike De Decker delighted his home crowd at the Lecot Belgian Darts Open with a sensational defeat of Luke Humphries in Saturday's second round, as Luke Littler began his title defence with victory.
De Decker stunned Humphries in the Boylesports World Grand Prix final last October, and enjoyed another memorable win over the world number one at the Oktoberhallen in Wieze.
De Decker will be the sole Belgian representative on the final day of the year's opening European Tour event, after defeating Humphries 6-4.
The pair shared the opening six legs, with De Decker missing two darts to break in the seventh before regaining his composure to reel off the next three - including a key 122 finish - to reach the last 16.
"To beat the number one of the world in my home country is amazing," said De Decker, who averaged 100.45.
"I'm just glad to get through but today was a big game and I'm really glad that I played well and I won.
"The fans are really supportive for all the Belgian players, so to reach the Sunday is an amazing feeling."
De Decker's third round opponent on Sunday afternoon will be Martin Schindler - who knocked out Belgian number one Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 in the last 32.
Schindler won a brace of European Tour event titles in 2024, and finished six doubles from 13 attempts to punish a below-par display from Van den Bergh.
Reigning champion Littler opened his title defence with a 6-3 win against Ryan Searle, setting up a last 16 clash with Luke Woodhouse.
Woodhouse took out finishes of 170, 124 and 110 during his 6-2 win over Gary Anderson to book his spot in the final day in Wieze.
"I'm happy to get the first win here, settle in and I'll come back tomorrow afternoon," said Littler, who won the Ladbrokes UK Open last Sunday and Thursday's BetMGM Premier League night in Brighton.
"It's very good to be back and I've got to play better than I did tonight - I'm sure Luke will be up for the task and I'll be up for it as well."
Ross Smith and Gerwyn Price rose to the occasion at the Oktoberhallen with stand-out displays as they starred in Saturday's second round.
Smith posted a tournament record average of 112.60 in a stunning 6-2 win over Rob Cross, missing just one dart at a double in a battle of the former European Champions.
Price, meanwhile, averaged 112.42 and finished six doubles from eight attempts as he retained an unbeaten record against World Youth Champion Gian van Veen with a 6-2 success.
The packed crowd serenaded Price with a rendition of "happy birthday" after the contest, and the Welshman said: "Because I'm 40 now, maybe double tops will be a bit better. I still feel 20 and look 21 so happy days!"
Price added: "He's a fantastic player and I know I need to play those sort of averages to win, so thankfully I pulled it out of the bag."
Price's third round opponent will be Australian number one Damon Heta, who whitewashed Michael Smith by hitting six doubles from 11 attempts.
Ross Smith, meanwhile, takes on Matt Campbell in round three after the Canadian raced into the final day with a 6-2 win over Peter Wright, following up Friday's narrow defeat of Cameron Menzies by sending another Scot packing in Wieze.
Croatia's Boris Krcmar enjoyed a memorable win over Michael van Gerwen, with a 6-4 victory against the three-time World Champion seeing the East Europe Qualifier reach the final day of a European Tour event for just the third time.
Krcmar now plays UK Open finalist James Wade, who held off Raymond van Barneveld's fightback from 3-0 down before claiming a 6-4 win over the Dutchman.
Elsewhere, 2022 champion Dave Chisnall kicked off his campaign with a routine 6-3 win over Ricardo Pietreczko, and he will now take on Ritchie Edhouse for a place in the last eight, after the European Champion edged out Nathan Aspinall in a deciding leg.
Stephen Bunting enjoyed a welcome return to winning ways in Wieze, reeling off six consecutive legs from 3-0 adrift to dump out Jermaine Wattimena.
Bunting’s reward is a last 16 clash against Daryl Gurney, who produced a five-leg burst of his own to dispatch Danny Noppert 6-2 - avenging his defeat to the Dutchman at last weekend's UK Open.
Winmau World Masters runner-up Jonny Clayton defied a hat-trick of 12-darters from Wessel Nijman to come through a last-leg decider, despite Nijman averaging 99 in defeat.
Clayton's third round opponent will be Dirk van Duijvenbode, who also prevailed in a deciding leg after Chris Dobey spurned eight match darts in a dramatic conclusion to Saturday's action.
The year's first of 14 European Tour events concludes on Sunday, with the afternoon session's third round followed in the decisive evening session by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
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2025 Lecot Belgian Darts Open
Saturday March 8
Second Round
Afternoon Session
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Danny Noppert
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Gary Anderson
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Wessel Nijman
Ross Smith 6-2 Rob Cross
Damon Heta 6-0 Michael Smith
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Evening Session
James Wade 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Matt Campbell 6-2 Peter Wright
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Gian van Veen
Martin Schindler 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Mike De Decker 6-4 Luke Humphries
Luke Littler 6-3 Ryan Searle
Boris Krcmar 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Chris Dobey
Sunday March 9
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)
Third Round
Mike De Decker v Martin Schindler
Damon Heta v Gerwyn Price
Ross Smith v Matt Campbell
Stephen Bunting v Daryl Gurney
Luke Littler v Luke Woodhouse
Dave Chisnall v Ritchie Edhouse
Boris Krcmar v James Wade
Jonny Clayton v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
Sunday’s games played in Draw Bracket order