Gian van Veen preserved his hopes of securing BoyleSports World Grand Prix qualification with a 6-2 victory against Brendan Dolan in Friday's Hungarian Darts Trophy first round.
Dutch prospect Van Veen is one of the players bidding to snatch a place in the double-start event following this weekend's PDC European Tour event in Budapest, which is the final tournament before the cut-off for World Grand Prix spots.
Van Veen led 2-0 and 4-1 before Dolan responded with an 11-darter, but Van Veen closed out the tie to set up a mouth-watering second round contest against World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall on Saturday.
Van Veen will move into the provisional qualification places with victory over Aspinall, after Ricardo Pietreczko suffered a shock defeat against Host Nation Qualifier Nandor Major.
Pietreczko, who currently occupies the final qualification spot, was beaten 6-4 by debutant Major, who won five of the last six legs to become the first ever Hungarian to win a match on the European Tour.
Luke Woodhouse kept alive his hopes of snatching World Grand Prix qualification on Friday, as he sealed a 6-3 win over Hungary's Gabor Jagicza with a sensational 160 finish, to follow up an earlier 100 checkout to move through to face Rob Cross.
Jermaine Wattimena kicked off Friday's action with a hard-fought win against Joe Murnan, pinning 50% of his attempts at double to set up a showdown against eighth seed Jonny Clayton on Saturday evening.
The Dutchman could still secure a World Grand Prix place if he claims the Hungarian Darts Trophy title - having expressed his relief after securing a first European Tour win of 2023 at the sixth time of asking.
Elsewhere, experienced star James Wade set up a tie with reigning Hungarian Darts Trophy champion Joe Cullen, courtesy of a hard-fought 6-3 win over Irish ace William O'Connor at the MVM Dome.
Jose de Sousa will take on World Champion Michael Smith in round two - but only after edging out Daryl Gurney in a decider, having missed nine match darts before finally closing out victory.
Reigning European Champion Ross Smith averaged 100 in an impressive 6-2 win over Welsh qualifier Robert Owen, setting up a clash with Michael van Gerwen on Saturday.
Smith raced through the first five legs without reply, landing a 152 finish in the process, and after Owen posted a 121 combination to pull back a second leg, the Dover ace closed out the win in leg eight.
Keane Barry also kicked off his campaign in style, racing to a 6-3 victory against Gabriel Clemens, despite the German number one crashing in five maximums in a high-scoring affair.
Mike De Decker produced finishes of 144, 122 and 100 as he ousted UK Open champion Andrew Gilding with a 6-4 success to move through to a second round tussle with Josh Rock.
Rock's compatriot Nathan Rafferty earned a clash with Gerwyn Price following a high-quality 6-4 win over Stephen Bunting, with the Northern Irish prospect averaging over 99 in an eye-catching display.
Earlier in the night, Hungary's Patrik Kovacs was punished for five missed match darts as Rowby-John Rodriguez took victory in their clash in a dramatic last-leg shoot-out.
Sweden's Anton Ostlund dispatched Denmark's Vladimir Andersen in a battle of the European Tour debutants, landing five 180s and converting a 145 checkout to see off his Scandinavian counterpart.
Scott Mitchell also celebrated victory on his European Tour bow, producing a 13-dart break in his deciding-leg win against Andy Boulton to create a showdown against top seed Dave Chisnall.
Mitchell was joined in Saturday's second round by another former Lakeside Champion, as Scott Waites defied a late fightback from Madars Razma to secure his first win on the European Tour in 2023.
Scott Williams punished a profligate display from Richard Veenstra to move through to a meeting with fourth seed Dirk van Duijvenbode, winning four of the last five legs to run out a 6-3 winner.
Earlier in the day, Poland's Sebastian Bialecki breezed through to round two with a 6-1 win against Hungarian debutant Mihaly Vida, who raised the roof with a spectacular 161 finish in the penultimate leg.
Saturday's second round sees the 16 seeded stars enter the action for a huge day of darts at the MVM Dome, with Sunday's final stages featuring the third round in the afternoon session and the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in the decisive evening session.
The tournament is being broadcast live on Viaplay, DAZN and PDCTV (excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and through bookmakers' websites worldwide.
Click here to follow live scores and match stats.
2023 Hungarian Darts Trophy
Friday September 22
First Round
Afternoon Session
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Joe Murnan
Anton Ostlund 6-2 Vladimir Andersen
Sebastian Bialecki 6-1 Mihaly Vida
Scott Waites 6-4 Madars Razma
Scott Mitchell 6-5 Andy Boulton
Scott Williams 6-3 Richard Veenstra
Mike De Decker 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Gian van Veen 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Evening Session
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Gabor Jagicza
Ross Smith 6-2 Robert Owen
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Patrik Kovacs
James Wade 6-3 William O'Connor
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Nathan Rafferty 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Nandor Major 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Keane Barry 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Saturday September 23
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Martin Schindler v Sebastian Bialecki
Danny Noppert v Anton Ostlund
Ryan Searle v Rowby-John Rodriguez
Josh Rock v Mike De Decker
Rob Cross v Luke Woodhouse
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Scott Williams
Damon Heta v Nandor Major
Joe Cullen v James Wade
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Nathan Aspinall v Gian van Veen
Luke Humphries v Keane Barry
Peter Wright v Scott Waites
Gerwyn Price v Nathan Rafferty
Michael Smith v Jose De Sousa
Michael van Gerwen v Ross Smith
Dave Chisnall v Scott Mitchell
Jonny Clayton v Jermaine Wattimena