FORMER champion James Wade held his nerve with two victories to progress to the third round of the Speedy Hire UK Open, but Peter Manley and Wayne Mardle were casualties on the opening night of the tournament at Bolton's Reebok Stadium.
A dramatic first night in the £200,000 event saw Wade survive matches with amateur qualifiers Davey Dodds and Dave Prins to win through to the last 64 of the event on Friday night.
Wade, the 2008 UK Open winner, continued the form which saw him end the 888.com Premier League Darts season well by progressing to join big-name rivals Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson and Adrian Lewis in Friday's games.
"It's good to have played well and to have come through two matches is a big relief for me tonight," said Wade. "I am feeling good, and the results are starting to come out now, and hopefully I can go on through the UK Open now to Sunday night."
Wade will now take on Northern Ireland's Michael Mansell in the third round, after the left-hander overcame Gordon Foster and Antonio Alcinas without dropping a leg on Thursday.
There was disappointment in Bolton for two of darts' biggest characters, Peter Manley and Wayne Mardle, who were amongst the 108 players eliminated on Friday night as the original 172-man field was whittled down to 64.
Manley went down 4-2 in the first round to Widnes' John Bowles, while Mardle overcame Speedy Hire Qualifier Darrin Pugh in his opening game but lost to Hull's 19-year-old Reece Robinson in the second round.
Robinson's reward is a clash with 2010 European Championship finalist Wayne Jones on Friday, while Bowles' second round win over South African Devon Petersen sees him paired with Justin Pipe.
2004 UK Open winner Roland Scholten defeated Kevin Edwards and Nick Fullwell to win through to the last 64, where he meets John Part in a repeat of the clash which they fought out for the title seven years ago.
Colin Lloyd, the former world number one, overcame Holland's Jelle Klaasen and Under-21 World Champion Arron Monk to win through to round three, and will play Wales' Richie Burnett on Friday night.
World number one and reigning champion Phil Taylor begins his challenge for a third successive Bolton win on Friday against Stoke rival Mark Frost, while World Champion Adrian Lewis plays Terry Jenkins in one high-profile clash.
Two-time winner Raymond van Barneveld has drawn Steve Brown, while Co Stompe will open the third round against Australia's Simon Whitlock on the main stage.
Gary Anderson, the 2010 runner-up who recently won the 888.com Premier League Darts, will play Stoke's Ian White, while Mervyn King - who hit a nine-darter in last year's event - plays Mark Walsh.
Salford's Peter Hudson delighted his local following with a stunning comeback win over Magnus Caris in round two, with the Swede missing a host of darts as he was pegged level before the 27-year-old local hit a brilliant ten-darter in the deciding leg to win 4-3, earning himself a game with colourful Peter Wright.
Former World Champion Steve Beaton hit back from 2-1 down to defeat Coventry's Scott Rand 4-2 in the first round, hitting two 180s in the fourth leg and finishes of 146 and 160 to seal victory, which he followed with a defeat of Steve Werrett to set up a game with Jamie Caven in round three.
Two top young talents will clash in the third round, with 18-year-old Rileys Qualifier Sam Hill, from Leicestershire, defeating Irish pair Aodhagan O'Neill and William O'Connor to set up a clash with St Helens' 20-year-old Michael Smith, who was one of the 32 players seeded through to the third round after winning one of the eight professional qualifying events.
The last 64 players in the event include ten of the Rileys Qualifiers, who won through knockout events held in Rileys Darts Zones to win through to join the top professionals in Bolton.
They include local ace Joe Murnan, who will play former World Championship finalist Mark Dudbridge in the third round, Suffolk's Andrew Gilding, who drew Andy Hamilton, and Oxford's Richard North, who will meet Bolton debutant Dave Chisnall on Friday.
A number of tickets for Friday's third round and Sunday's two sessions for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final remain available for sale through the Reebok Stadium Box Office on 08448 712 932, but Saturday's sessions are sold out.
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Speedy Hire UK Open
Preliminary Round
Dave Prins 4-3 John Donaldson
Louis Blundell 4-0 Duncan Hastings
Michael Rosenauer 4-0 Peter White
Bruce Harrison 4-1 Curtis Hammond
Paul Harvey 4-2 Mick Todd
Nigel Heydon 4-0 Chris Thompson
Dave Ladley 4-3 Mark Lawrence
Phil Daniels 4-1 Nicky Bache
Nick Fullwell 4-2 Tony Broughton
Michael Barnard 4-0 Eddie Lovely
Wayne Atwood 4-1 Lee Rose
Andy Pearce 4-1 Eddy Martin
First Round
Steve Beaton 4-2 Scott Rand
Mark Stephenson 4-1 Ben Burton
Wayne Mardle 4-0 Darrin Pugh
Mark Hylton 4-1 Brian Woods
Colin Lloyd 4-3 Jelle Klaasen
John Bowles 4-2 Peter Manley
James Wade 4-2 Davey Dodds
Devon Petersen 4-2 Stuart White
Reece Robinson 4-0 Barrie Bates
John Henderson 4-1 Lee Palfreyman
Brandon Walsh Bye (Mensur Suljovic timed out)
Shaun Griffiths Bye (John MaGowan withdrew through injury)
Justin Pipe 4-0 Gary Welding
Kirk Shepherd 4-1 Paul Cartwright
Steve Grubb 4-1 Andy Beardmore
Roland Scholten 4-0 Kevin Edwards
John O'Shea 4-1 Alex Roy
Robbie Green 4-2 Steve Clews
Ryan Murray 4-1 Colin Monk
Stuart Monaghan 4-0 James Richardson
Steve Werrett 4-0 John Kennedy
Peter Hudson 4-3 Steve Evans
Andy Pearce 4-1 Matt Jackson
Andy Boulton 4-3 Jimmy Mann
Jamie Ellam 4-2 Ian Moss
Andy Smith 4-0 Mick McGowan
Arron Monk 4-3 Steve Hine
Ian Covill 4-2 Stuart Daniels
Rocco Maes 4-0 Colin Appleton
Steve Maish 4-3 Martin Perring
Dave Prins 4-1 Jon Jukes
Wayne Atwood 4-3 Louis Blundell
Michael Mansell 4-0 Gordon Foster
Mark Jones 4-0 John Jackson
Tony Eccles 4-0 Bruce Harrison
Dan Butler 4-3 Jason Crawley
Craig Mucklow 4-3 Matt Padgett
Richard North 4-3 Paul Whitworth
Jon Bott 4-2 Michael Rosenauer
Conan Whitehead 4-0 Charlie Cooper
Antonio Alcinas 4-1 Mareno Michels
Tony Ayres 4-1 Jyhan Artut
Richie Howson 4-2 Stephen Hardy
Chris Jones 4-0 Danny Jones
Joe Murnan 4-3 Damian Sherwood
Steve Douglas 4-0 John Keating
Paul Harvey 4-0 Charlie Burns
Matthew Edgar 4-2 Nigel Heydon
Michael van Gerwen 4-0 Dean Stewart
Martyn Turner 4-0 Tommy Little
Matt Clark 4-3 Jamie Hagen
William O'Connor 4-1 Darren Hawken
Dennis Priestley 4-3 Dave Ladley
Peter Wright 4-2 Phil Daniels
Magnus Caris 4-2 Kevin McDine
Ian Gleeson 4-0 Kirk Gordon
Geoff Whitworth 4-1 Kevin Simm
Co Stompe 4-0 Terry Temple
Jamie Robinson 4-0 Michael Barnard
Graham Hollis 4-3 Matthew Jordan
Shane O'Connor 4-3 Chris Aubrey
Sam Hill 4-3 Aodhagan O'Neill
Nick Fullwell 4-1 Dennis Smith
Andrew Gilding 4-0 Brendan Dolan
Second Round
John Henderson 4-1 Ian Covill
Michael Mansell 4-0 Antonio Alcinas
Michael van Gerwen 4-2 Shane O'Connor
Peter Hudson 4-3 Magnus Caris
Mark Hylton 4-1 Geoff Whitworth
Co Stompe 4-3 Chris Jones
Martyn Turner 4-2 Ryan Murray
Andrew Gilding 4-2 Matt Clark
Sam Hill 4-1 William O'Connor
Andy Smith 4-0 Craig Mucklow
James Wade 4-2 Dave Prins
Mark Jones 4-3 Ian Gleeson
Steve Beaton 4-2 Steve Werrett
Dennis Priestley 4-2 Robbie Green
Justin Pipe 4-1 John O'Shea
Reece Robinson 4-0 Wayne Mardle
Stuart Monaghan 4-2 Jamie Robinson
Joe Murnan 4-0 Steve Douglas
Steve Maish 4-2 Mark Stephenson
Roland Scholten 4-1 Nick Fullwell
Graham Hollis 4-1 Jamie Ellam
Richard North 4-0 Dan Butler
Andy Boulton 4-1 Jon Bott
Wayne Atwood 4-2 Conan Whitehead
Richie Howson 4-0 Tony Ayres
Kirk Shepherd 4-0 Rocco Maes
John Bowles 4-3 Devon Petersen
Matthew Edgar 4-1 Andy Pearce
Colin Lloyd 4-2 Arron Monk
Peter Wright 4-0 Steve Grubb
Tony Eccles 4-0 Shaun Griffiths
Paul Harvey 4-0 Brandon Walsh
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Third Round Draw & Schedule of Play
Friday June 3 (7pm Start)
All games the best of 17 legs
Main Stage
Co Stompe v Simon Whitlock
Steve Brown v Raymond van Barneveld
Phil Taylor v Mark Frost
Terry Jenkins v Adrian Lewis
Board Two
Mervyn King v Mark Walsh
Ian White v Gary Anderson
Roland Scholten v John Part
Richie Burnett v Colin Lloyd
Board Three
Darren Johnson v Kirk Shepherd
Richard North v Dave Chisnall
Justin Pipe v John Bowles
Robert Thornton v Wayne Atwood
Board Four
Andy Hamilton v Andrew Gilding
Andy Jenkins v Mark Hylton
Wes Newton v John Henderson
Colin Osborne v Mark Jones
Board Five
Sam Hill v Michael Smith
Denis Ovens v Kevin Painter
Vincent van der Voort v Andy Boulton
Mark Dudbridge v Joe Murnan
Board Six
Wayne Jones v Reece Robinson
Joe Cullen v Stuart Monaghan
Alan Tabern v Dennis Priestley
Martyn Turner v Matthew Edgar
Board Seven
Mark Webster v Tony Eccles
James Wade v Michael Mansell
Richie Howson v Michael van Gerwen
Jamie Caven v Steve Beaton
Board Eight
Steve Maish v Ronnie Baxter
Peter Wright v Peter Hudson
Graham Hollis v Paul Nicholson
Paul Harvey v Andy Smith
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