Michael van Gerwen survived a major scare from German prospect Niko Springer as he opened his bid to win the Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Trophy for a third time.
Van Gerwen was victorious at the Lokhalle in Göttingen in 2017 and 2018, and will be amongst 16 players battling on Sunday to claim the Winamax European Tour title in the final stages of the event's return.
However, the 37-time European Tour event winner had to hit back from 3-0 and 5-3 down against Springer, before claiming victory by firing in a 14-dart deciding leg.
Van Gerwen now plays World Youth Champion Gian van Veen in Sunday afternoon's third round, but labelled Springer as potentially the best German player on the circuit following a high-quality clash.
"We all know good Niko Springer is and I had to fight really hard," said Van Gerwen. "I had to battle and that gives me energy - but I think there's a lot more in the tank. I'm going to make sure I keep my focus."
Luke Humphries needed a 134 finish of treble 18 and two double tops to finally end the resistance of Boris Krcmar, who averaged almost 103 in defeat to the world number one.
Krcmar took out 127 and 104 as he pulled back from 3-0 down to level after eight legs, and Humphries admitted: "I thought he played really well and I had to pull out some of my best stuff.
"I'm playing okay but I'm not getting results. It wasn't my best performance but I love the European Tour - I really feel up for it this weekend, I really want to prove something to myself and go on a decent run."
The stand-out display on a sensational day of second round action came in the opening tie, as Jermaine Wattimena produced his second-highest career average in a stunning win over Chris Dobey.
Wattimena's 6-4 triumph saw him produce legs of 14, 15, 15, 14, 13 and 11 darts as he averaged 111.07 to overcome the Premier League star, who took a 3-1 lead with back-to-back 12 darters early in the contest.
German number one Martin Schindler averaged almost 107 in an outstanding performance to overcome fourth seed Jonny Clayton 6-1 - opening his bid for a third European Tour title in style.
Gerwyn Price and Ryan Searle also produced an outstanding match, as the Welshman prevailed 6-4 and landed checkouts of 167 and 136 amongst six doubles from ten attempts.
Searle averaged 105.62 and fired in five 180s in defeat, with Price posting a 103.74 average as he powered into the third round.
World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker defied a late rally from Peter Wright to close out a 6-4 win over the two-time World Champion in a high-quality contest where both players averaged over 105.
Dave Chisnall powered through to a third round meeting with Ross Smith with a 6-1 defeat of Ricky Evans, landing six doubles from nine attempts in a clinical performance.
Smith followed up Friday's stand-out first round display with another high-quality performance, averaging over 99 as he saw off recent UK Open finalist James Wade 6-2.
Rob Cross claimed four straight legs on his way to victory over Andrew Gilding, while Michael Smith pulled clear from two-all to defeat Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 in a confidence-boosting display which sets up a tie against Humphries.
Wessel Nijman edged out fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert in a deciding leg, winning his first five legs on double eight before pinning double ten for victory.
Cameron Menzies punished Damon Heta for failing to close out victory in their tie, with the Scot claiming the final three legs to edge into the last 16, where he meets De Decker.
Van Veen landed a brace of 121 checkouts and averaged over 100 to take victory in a battle of the reigning and former World Youth Champions against Josh Rock.
Dimitri Van den Bergh was another seeded star to exit on Saturday afternoon, with the Belgian seeing Ryan Joyce power in a 167 checkout on his way to a 6-4 success.
Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson punished Luke Woodhouse for 15 missed doubles as the Scot hit back from 3-0 down to move into the final day with a 6-4 victory.
Nathan Aspinall set up a clash with Wattimena as he overcame Ritchie Edhouse in a deciding leg, despite the European Champion landing checkouts of 170 and 130 in a late rally from 5-2 down which took the tie all the way.
The Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Trophy concludes on Sunday, with the third round in the afternoon session ahead of the decisive quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in the evening session.
Live coverage from the European Darts Trophy will be streamed on DAZN for viewers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and through the DAZN Darts channel on Pluto TV.
Coverage will also be shown on PDCTV (excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and through bookmakers' worldwide.
2025 Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Trophy
March 21-23, Lokhalle, Göttingen
Saturday March 22
Second Round
Afternoon Session
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Danny Noppert
Ross Smith 6-2 James Wade
Rob Cross 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Cameron Menzies 6-5 Damon Heta
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Chris Dobey
Michael Smith 6-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Gian van Veen 6-4 Josh Rock
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Gary Anderson 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Ryan Searle
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Ricky Evans
Mike De Decker 6-4 Peter Wright
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Niko Springer
Luke Humphries 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Martin Schindler 6-1 Jonny Clayton
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Sunday March 23
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)
Third Round
Cameron Menzies v Mike De Decker
Rob Cross v Ryan Joyce
Gerwyn Price v Wessel Nijman
Michael van Gerwen v Gian van Veen
Dave Chisnall v Ross Smith
Martin Schindler v Gary Anderson
Nathan Aspinall v Jermaine Wattimena
Luke Humphries v Michael Smith
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
Sunday’s games played in Draw Bracket order