RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD produced a vintage display as he won through to the second round of the European Darts Grand Prix on Friday, while Steve Beaton, Mark Webster and Stephen Bunting enjoyed victories as the European Tour event kicked off in Sindelfingen.
Dutch star van Barneveld had come through Thursday's European Qualifier in Germany seal his place in the £115,000 tournament, and averaged 100 in a strong 6-3 defeat of Johnny Haines, who had won their two previous meetings.
Legs of 14 and 13 darts gave van Barneveld an early 2-1 lead before Haines landed a 180 to level - but the Dutchman replied with a 180 to regain the edge before breaking throw with a 14-darter.
Another 14-dart finish gave van Barneveld a 5-2 lead, and though Haines responded with another 180, tops in leg nine moved the five-time World Champion through to a meeting with Brendan Dolan.
Former Lakeside Champion Mark Webster made a confident start to his challenge in Sindelfingen with a 6-3 defeat of European Tour debutant Stephen Willard.
The Welsh left-hander had been a semi-finalist in last week's partypoker.com World Grand Prix, and won the opening five legs of his clash with Willard, including a 13-darter.
The Wiltshire ace replied to keep the game alive by winning the next three legs, landing two 180s and an 84 finish in the process, but Webster proved too strong in the ninth before landing tops to move through to face James Wade.
Another former World Champion, Steve Beaton, won four straight legs as he hit back from 3-2 down to defeat Mark Walsh 6-3 and move through to a second round game with Justin Pipe.
The pair shared the opening four legs before Walsh broke throw by finishing 80 on tops in the fifth leg.
However, missed doubles from Walsh in the next two legs allowed Beaton to wrestle back the lead before the former Sindelfingen winner took out a brilliant 124 to lead 5-3 and double 16 to seal the win.
Stephen Bunting defeated Alan Norris 6-4 in their rematch of the 2014 Lakeside Championship final, setting himself up for a second round clash with Vincent van der Voort.
Finishes of 76 and 68 ensured that Norris shared the opening four legs before Bunting broke throw on double eight and then finished a 13-darter to take a 4-2 lead.
Norris hit back with the aid of a maximum and both players then landed 180s in leg eight, but the Yeovil ace missed tops to level as Bunting took out double 16 to move 5-3 up.
A superb 161 checkout kept Norris' hopes alive, but a further miss at tops in the next allowed Bunting in to land double 16 for the win.
Dutch youngster Jeffrey De Zwaan wired double 12 for a nine-dart finish during his impressive 6-3 win over Rowby-John Rodriguez, as two of the sport's top emerging talents meet in the first round.
De Zwaan took the opening three legs without reply, and after trading 180s with Rodriguez in the fourth he missed doubles to extend his lead as the Austrian hit back.
Rodriguez also took out 52 to pull back to 3-2, but after the pair swapped 180s in leg six it was double ten which edged De Zwaan ahead before he kicked off the seventh with two 180s.
He continued his bid for a nine-darter - which would have been his second of the year and the seventh on the PDC European Tour - by hitting another treble twenty and treble 19, only to see his dart at double 12 land agonisingly just inside double nine!
De Zwaan eventually won the leg on double one to lead 5-2, and after Rodriguez landed a 180 to set up double 14 to keep his hopes alive, the Dutch qualifier posted a maximum of his own to seal the win and set up a second round meeting with Mervyn King.
Mensur Suljovic held off Mark Barilli's fightback to claim a 6-4 win and move through to meet world number one Michael van Gerwen on Saturday.
The Austrian ace - like Mark Webster earlier in the day still riding high following his run to the World Grand Prix semi-finals - made a strong start to win four of the opening five legs for a 4-1 lead.
Scottish qualifier Barilli hit back to level by taking the next three, but a 13-darter from Suljovic proved crucial in edging him back ahead before double nine secured his last 32 place.
The first round was a disappointing day, though, for the four Host Nation Qualifiers as the German quartet of Max Hopp, Jyhan Artut, Stefan Stoyke and Kevin Munch were knocked out.
Gerwyn Price silenced the German crowd with a narrow 6-5 comeback win over home favourite Hopp, who led 5-3 before seeing the Welsh ace edge through in a deciding leg.
Hopp made a superb start to win the opening three legs without reply by finishing double 15, 90 on the bull and a 14-darter by hitting a 180 and a 61 finish on double 18.
Price finished 80 and 60 to pull back to 3-2, with Hopp edging away before the Welshman hit scores of 180 and 168 before double four pulled him back to 4-3.
Hopp finished 60 to move to the brink of victory at 5-3, but missed two match darts at double 14 in the next as Price hit back, before tops forced a deciding leg, and when the German missed double 16 for the win, Price followed an earlier 177 with tops to snatch victory.
Artut, meanwhile, went down 6-3 to Lee Evans as the Gloucestershire thrower moved through to a second round meeting with Terry Jenkins.
Evans took the opening two legs in 15 and 14 darts in a confident start before the Host Nation Qualifier hit back to level.
The fifth leg went to Evans as he regained his lead before punishing missed doubles from his opponent to break throw and then move 5-2 up, with a 69 finish from Artut seeing him stem the tide with a 14-darter only for the UK Qualifier to seal the win in style with a 12-darter.
Jamie Caven knocked out Stoyke 6-4 as he moved through to play Simon Whitlock on Saturday.
After sharing the opening two legs, a break of throw helped Caven into a 3-1 cushion, and that advantage would prove crucial as Stoyke hit back with a 13-darter.
Caven edged 4-2 up with a 14-dart leg before Stoyke won two of the next three to keep his hopes alive at 5-4, but the home hope was denied the chance to force a decider when the Derby thrower landed double four to seal the win.
Left-hander Munch, meanwhile, was whitewashed 6-0 by Wales' Jonny Clayton, whose reward is a second round tie against new partypoker.com World Grand Prix champion Robert Thornton.
Clayton punished Munch for missed doubles in the opening leg before finishing 60 and 76 to move three legs up.
Double ten and double eight moved Clayton 5-0 up before another checkout of 60 sealed his place in the last 32.
Mickey Mansell capitalised on missed doubles from Robbie Green with a clinical display to claim a 6-1 win in the event's opening match.
Northern Ireland's Mansell capitalised on a total of nine misses from Green in three of the opening four legs as he took a 4-0 lead, despite the UK Qualifer hitting six perfect darts in one leg.
Green replied with a superb 156 checkout in leg five, but missed the bull for a 126 finish in the next before the left-hander booked a second round spot against Ian White.
Scunthorpe's Dave Ladley squeezed past Magnus Caris in a deciding leg as he won through to face Belgium's Kim Huybrechts in Saturday's second round.
After sharing the opening four legs, Ladley took three in a row to pull clear and move to the brink of victory at 5-2.
Swedish ace Caris hit back with three legs of his own to force a decider, but Ladley recovered from an earlier missed match dart to take out 96 with a single 20, double top, double 18 combination to snatch the win.
Joe Cullen raced into the second round with a 6-3 win over Spain's Antonio Alcinas, setting himself up to face Dave Chisnall on Saturday.
Alcinas held throw to win two of the opening three legs - and hit two 180s in the leg he lost - before Cullen edged the fourth and then broke with a 77 finish to lead 3-2.
Alcinas landed a 180 and tops for a 13-darter to level, but Cullen fired in a 177 score as he broke to move 4-3 up, landed a maximum in the eighth leg and then took out 96 to complete the win.
Jermaine Wattimena hit back from 5-2 down to edge out Robert Marijanovic 6-5 in a thriller between two of the European Qualifiers.
After Wattimena took out 82 to take the opening leg, Croatia's Marijanovic won the next three before the pair traded 180s in the fifth, which the Dutchman took on double 16.
Marijanovic then won the next two legs to move to the brink of victory at 5-2, but Wattimena hit a 174 before finishing 89 to keep his hopes alive, and then took out double two and double 16 to force a deciding leg, which he won on tops.
David Pallett, a semi-finalist in last month's European Darts Matchplay, landed five 180s in a 6-4 win over Ricky Evans as he moved through to meet Jelle Klaasen.
Evans finished 60 and 69 to take two of the opening three legs, Pallett landed his second 180 of the game as he levelled in the fourth before breaking on double eight and following a maximum with a 65 finish for a 4-2 lead.
The next two were shared before Evans punished a miss at tops from Pallett to keep the game alive on double 13 as he pulled back to 5-4, but the Kettering ace was unable to punish four more missed match darts in leg ten as his rival returned on double 11 to progress.
Dean Winstanley produced a thrilling 11-dart final leg to edge past Devon Petersen 6-5 and progress to a second round tie with number two seed Michael Smith.
Petersen opened with a 13-darter before Winstanley levelled by taking out 100, and the next four legs were also shared before the South African's 120 checkout, to lead 4-3, was bettered by a 132 bullseye finish in leg eight by his opponent.
Petersen landed double four to move 5-4 up, but Winstanley finished 60 on tops to force a decider before hitting a 180 to set up 58 as tops completed an 11-darter and sealed the win.
The 16 seeded players enter the tournament in Saturday's second round, which is played across two sessions in Sindelfingen, before the tournament concludes on Sunday.
The European Darts Grand Prix will be streamed live online through www.LIVEPDC.TV and a series of bookmakers' websites as detailed below.
Live Scores can be followed through the PDC Live Scores Website.
Tickets for the European Darts Grand Prix are available through www.pdc-europe.tv.
The European Darts Grand Prix will be screened live for all LIVEPDC.TV Subscribers worldwide, and will also be broadcast through the following bookmakers' websites:
www.betfair.com
www.coral.co.uk
www.ladbrokes.com
www.unibet.co.uk
2015 European Darts Grand Prix
Friday October 16
Afternoon Session
First Round
Robbie Green 1-6 Mickey Mansell
Mark Webster 6-3 Stephen Willard
Johnny Haines 3-6 Raymond van Barneveld
Jyhan Artut 3-6 Lee Evans
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Mark Barilli
Dave Ladley 6-5 Magnus Caris
Rowby-John Rodriguez 3-6 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Joe Cullen 6-3 Antonio Alcinas
Evening Session
First Round
Steve Beaton 6-3 Mark Walsh
Robert Marijanovic 5-6 Jermaine Wattimena
Max Hopp 5-6 Gerwyn Price
Ricky Evans 4-6 David Pallett
Devon Petersen 5-6 Dean Winstanley
Stefan Stoyke 4-6 Jamie Caven
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Alan Norris
Kevin Munch 0-6 Jonny Clayton
Saturday October 17
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Second Round
Brendan Dolan (8) v Raymond van Barneveld
Terry Jenkins (12) v Lee Evans
Mervyn King (16) v Jeffrey de Zwaan
Justin Pipe (10) v Steve Beaton
Kim Huybrechts (7) v Dave Ladley
Ian White (5) v Mickey Mansell
Benito van de Pas (15) v Gerwyn Price
Jelle Klaasen (11) v David Pallett
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Second Round
Dave Chisnall (9) v Joe Cullen
James Wade (3) v Mark Webster
Simon Whitlock (14) v Jamie Caven
Michael Smith (2) v Dean Winstanley
Robert Thornton (6) v Jonny Clayton
Michael van Gerwen (1) v Mensur Suljovic
Vincent van der Voort (13) v Stephen Bunting
Peter Wright (4) v Jermaine Wattimena
All games are the best of 11 legs.