MICHAEL VAN GERWEN began his bid to win a fifth successive tournament began with a 6-1 defeat of Alan Tabern in the Austrian Darts Open on Friday, but reigning champion Justin Pipe was amongst nine seeds knocked out of the European Tour event in Wiener Neustadt.
Dutch star van Gerwen has taken victory in a Players Championship, the McCoy's Premier League Darts, the European Darts Open and Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters this month in an incredible run of form.
His challenge to claim a second European Tour title of the year began in impressive style as he swept past left-hander Tabern by dropping only one leg.
The Dutchman now plays Wayne Jones in Saturday's second round, after the former European Championship finalist defeated Northern Ireland's Campbell Jackson 6-4 in the first round.
World number four James Wade was pushed all the way by Belgian qualifier Ronny Huybrechts, before taking out 91 in the deciding leg of their clash to progress to a second round meeting with Nigel Heydon, who knocked out Paul Nicholson 6-4.
Raymond van Barneveld, meanwhile, avoided a huge upset as Antonio Alcinas missed seven darts for victory in their clash before the Dutchman edged through 6-5, hitting back from 5-2 down to win the final four legs without reply.
"I didn't play well tonight but hopefully I'll be better tomorrow," said van Barneveld. "I'm really happy to have won this game because I should have lost."
Van Barneveld now meets Kevin Painter, who defeated Terry Temple 6-4 in the tournament's opening match earlier on Friday.
However, while Wade and van Barneveld narrowly avoided exits on Friday, 2012 Austrian Darts Open winner Justin Pipe was amongst nine seeded players to be knocked out, as he went down 6-3 to Kevin McDine.
Canadian legend John Part, who won March's UK Masters event, was also eliminated as he went down 6-3 to Kevin Dowling, the Coventry ace who will meet Phil Taylor in the Speedy Services UK Open next Thursday - although he will firstly take on Brendan Dolan in the second round of this event on Saturday.
In-form Kim Huybrechts was defeated 6-4 by Joe Cullen, who hit four 180s in the opening three legs of their game, while Ross Smith knocked out Ian White, John Henderson saw off Richie Burnett and Dennis Smith edged out Mark Webster.
Ronnie Baxter also came close to elimination against Peter Hudson, but hit an 11-darter to win the deciding leg of their clash, while Colin Lloyd punished Welsh youngster Jamie Lewis for missing his chance to claim victory as he hit back to win 6-5.
Germany's Tomas Seyler knocked out former World Youth Champion Arron Monk 6-2, while Steve West was a 6-3 winner against Colin Osborne.
Robert Thornton came close to being another seed to be knocked out, as he came from 3-0 and 5-4 down to defeat Vincent van der Voort in another tight clash - only two weeks after he clawed back from a five-leg deficit in the first round of the European Darts Open.
"I seem to be making a habit of comebacks, after going 5-0 down and winning 6-5 in Germany a couple of weeks ago," said Thornton. "Vincent missed a few big darts and let me off, but I'll take that."
Thornton now plays Mark Walsh, who overcame Austrian Christian Kallinger as all five home hopes in the tournament were knocked out in the first round.
Newcomers Andreas Pur and Gunther Rimser were whitewashed by Dave Chisnall and Terry Jenkins, Erwin Freidl took four legs from Steve Beaton before going down 6-4 and Austrian number one Mensur Suljovic was defeated 6-1 by a fine Andy Smith performance.
Jelle Klaasen won a quick-fire clash with Steve Hine 6-5 and now plays Seyler, while Jim Walker impressed with a 103 average in his 6-1 win over Holland's Leon De Geus, which sets him up for a second round game against Mervyn King.
Former Premier League champion Gary Anderson defeated John Bowles 6-3 to progress to a last 32 date with Ross Smith, while Dennis Smith's reward for his win over Mark Webster is a second round game with Peter Wright, who swept past German teenager Max Hopp.
Stuart Kellett, the UK Masters finalist, now plays Joe Cullen after his 6-4 win over Darren Webster, and Wes Newton's 6-4 win over Paul Barham sees him move through to meet Steve West.
Andy Hamilton's 6-4 win over Roland Scholten moves him into a last 32 clash with Lloyd, while in-form Jamie Caven - a double Players Championship winner last weekend - defeated Germany's Bernd Roith 6-2 and now plays Chisnall.
The second round of the £100,000 Austrian Darts Open will be played across two sessions on Saturday at the Arena Nova in Wiener Neustadt. Tickets are still available via www.pdc-europe.net.
The third round will be played on Sunday afternoon, before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are held on Sunday evening as the destiny of the £20,000 first prize is decided.
Live Scores
Although there is no live streaming of the Austrian Darts Open, fans can follow live scores from all matches in the event through the PDC Live Scores Website at http://live.dartsdata.com.
See Match Highlights from selected games exclusively in www.LIVEPDC.TV.
Austrian Darts Open
European Tour Event Four
Friday May 31
First Round
Afternoon Session
Main Stage
Kevin Painter 6-4 Terry Temple - highlights
Mark Webster 4-6 Dennis Smith
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Andreas Pur
Wes Newton 6-4 Paul Barham - highlights
Richie Burnett 3-6 John Henderson
Justin Pipe 3-6 Kevin McDine
Andy Hamilton 6-4 Roland Scholten
Paul Nicholson 4-6 Nigel Heydon
Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Peter Hudson
Terry Jenkins 6-0 Gunther Rimser
Stage Two
Peter Wright 6-1 Max Hopp
Colin Lloyd 6-5 Jamie Lewis
Ian White 4-6 Ross Smith
John Part 3-6 Kevin Dowling
Kim Huybrechts 4-6 Joe Cullen
Mervyn King Bye (Peter Martin timed out)
Evening Session
Main Stage
Gary Anderson 6-3 John Bowles
Mark Walsh 6-3 Christian Kallinger
Robert Thornton 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Andy Smith 6-1 Mensur Suljovic
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Steve Hine - highlights
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Alan Tabern
James Wade 6-5 Ronny Huybrechts
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Antonio Alcinas
Stage Two
Wayne Jones 6-4 Campbell Jackson
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Joe Murnan
Erwin Freidl 4-6 Steve Beaton
Colin Osborne 3-6 Steve West
Arron Monk 2-6 Tomas Seyler
Leon De Geus 1-6 Jim Walker
Stuart Kellett 6-4 Darren Webster
Jamie Caven 6-2 Bernd Roith