ADRIAN LEWIS survived three match darts to edge past Toni Alcinas 6-5 in round one of the German Darts Championship, as the European Tour event began in Hildesheim on Friday.
The two-time World Champion regained his composure at the end of a tense battle to pin double ten and progress to the second round of the weekend's £135,000 event.
Lewis, who has reached a semi-final and a final on his last two European Tour appearances, raced into a comfortable 4-1 lead before Spanish star Alcinas fought back to 4-4.
The Stoke thrower regained the lead before Alcinas once again pegged him back to take the tie to a crucial deciding leg which Lewis eventually won at the second time of asking.
I'll take the win but I got a bit lucky there
"I'll take the win but I got a bit lucky there," Lewis admitted.
"I started well and when I went 4-1 up I thought it was game over. Then I let him back in at 4-2 and after that I thought he was the better player.
"I knew I was going to be rusty after my break from the big stage so it was always going to be a tough game against Toni - he's a great player.
"It's been a good year so far, I've been very consistent in my form but I keep losing when I average over 100 and losing when I average under 100!"
Oh so nearly a nine-darter!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) August 31, 2018
Here’s a look back at @KyleDarts eight perfect darts earlier this afternoon... pic.twitter.com/mm8dTTDmVs
World Series of Darts ace Kyle Anderson came agonisingly close to a nine-dart finish in his 6-4 triumph over Lee Bryant.
The Australian number two struck eight perfect darts in leg eight before going on to secure a much-needed win after a slow start and he will now face World Champion Rob Cross.
Home crowd favourite and German Open champion Max Hopp was dumped out by Andrew Gilding who recorded an convincing 6-2 win on his first European Tour appearance of the year.
By contrast, Hopp's World Cup of Darts partner Martin Schindler delighted the crowd with a first German victory of the weekend thanks to his 6-4 triumph over Justin Pipe.
World number one Michael van Gerwen will meet Cristo Reyes on the second day of action after the Spaniard secured a much-needed 6-3 win over 17-year-old German Nico Blum.
Dutch star Ron Meulenkamp produced the highest average of the day, 102.31, in his 6-2 victory over Richard North to avenge his quarter-final defeat at the European Darts Open in Leverkusen in March.
It was a winning return for Welsh ace Mark Webster in his first European Tour appearance of the year with a nail-biting 6-5 success over Unicorn Development Tour Order of Merit leader Ted Evetts.
The clash between James Wilson and Jermaine Wattimena was another nip-and-tuck affair which saw the lead change hands five times before Wilson found a way to win 6-5.
Robert Thornton showed his battling qualities to come back from 5-3 down to claim a tense 6-5 victory over Germany's Robert Marijanovic, while resilient veteran Terry Jenkins picked up a second European Tour win of the year with a 6-3 success over Ross Smith.
ProTour winner Josh Payne recorded a 6-3 victory over European Darts Matchplay semi-finalist Andy Boulton, while a clinical finshing display from Darren Johnson saw him miss just two doubles as the Yorkshireman whitewashed German European Tour debutant Christopher Hänsch.
Jan Dekker reeled off six of the last seven legs to see off Darius Labanauskas 6-3 and progress to day two of a European Tour event for the third time in succession.
Krzysztof Ratajski fought back from 4-1 down to defeat former Austrian Darts Open winner Vincent van der Voort 6-4, while Austria's Michael Rasztovits also claimed a 6-4 success over David Pallett for a first European Tour win of the year and Ricky Evans raced through to round two with a 6-3 win over Danny Noppert.
Saturday's second round action sees the 16 seeded players enter the tournament, with coverage to be streamed from 1.15pm and 7.15pm local time.
The German Darts Championship will be broadcast throughout the weekend for PDCTV-HD Subscribers, and through a series of bookmakers' websites worldwide.
2018 German Darts Championship
Schedule of Play
Friday August 31
First Round
Afternoon Session (1pm local time, 12pm BST)
Josh Payne 6-3 Andy Boulton
Mark Webster 6-5 Ted Evetts
Kyle Anderson 6-4 Lee Bryant
Darren Johnson 6-0 Christopher Hänsch
Jan Dekker 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Richard North
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Max Hopp
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Evening Session (7.15pm local time, 6.15pm BST)
Martin Schindler 6-4 Justin Pipe
Michael Rasztovits 6-4 David Pallett
James Wilson 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Toni Alcinas
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Ross Smith
Robert Thornton 6-5 Robert Marijanovic
Ricky Evans 6-3 Danny Noppert
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Nico Blum
Saturday September 1
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1pm local time, 12pm BST)
Dave Chisnall v Mark Webster
Gerwyn Price v Jan Dekker
Stephen Bunting v Ron Meulenkamp
Joe Cullen v Josh Payne
Daryl Gurney v Darren Johnson
Michael Smith v Krzysztof Ratajski
Steve Beaton v Martin Schindler
Simon Whitlock v Michael Rasztovits
Evening Session (7.15pm local time, 6.15pm BST)
Darren Webster v Ricky Evans
Jonny Clayton v James Wilson
James Wade v Robert Thornton
Rob Cross v Kyle Anderson
Mensur Suljovic v Andrew Gilding
Mervyn King v Adrian Lewis
Michael van Gerwen v Cristo Reyes
Ian White v Terry Jenkins
Sunday September 2
Afternoon Session (1pm local time, 12pm BST)
Third Round
Evening Session (7.15pm local time, 6.15pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
Sunday’s games played in Draw Bracket order
Watch Online
PDC European Tour events can be watched online by all PDCTV-HD Subscribers worldwide - click here to visit PDCTV-HD.
Live coverage with faster streams may also be available at the following bookmakers' websites:
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Nike - www.nike.sk - Slovakia
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Tempobet - www.tempobet.org - Europe
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